Delroy Chuck THE DEATH of Ronald Reagan afforded the opportunity for commentators to reflect on his contribution as the 40th President of the USA. During his lifetime, he was much reviled and severely castigated by the neo-liberal and left wing detractors who viewed him as a right wing demagogue who preached his own form of economics. However, in death, his remarkable and outstanding leadership, vision and policies are highlighted and praised.
In the decade of the eighties, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher led the free world in the re-assertion of capitalism as the best economic system to create wealth, inspire individual effort and improve people's quality of life. To their credit, capitalism and imperialism are no longer bad words and are now seen as vehicles for economic co-operation. In fact, globalisation of the world's economic systems gathered momentum in the eighties. Michael Manley abandoned socialism and confessed that Ronald Reagan's speech in Cancun, Mexico, in 1982, converted him to the efficiency and supremacy of the free market system.
TRIUMPH
Since Reagan and Thatcher, capitalism has triumphed everywhere, even though reluctant Governments are only slowly allowing it to take their economies to higher levels. Reagan emphasised throughout his presidency the worth and triumph of freedom. He thought that through the free press, the free market, the free movement of people and the freedom of the human spirit, mankind could take giant leaps to a better life. In his address before the British Parliament on June 8, 1982, Reagan said, inter alia: "What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term - the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people. So let us ask ourselves, 'what kind of people do we think we are?' And let us answer, 'Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well'. Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best - a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move towards a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny."
THE FREE WORLD
Reagan may well be remembered as the leader of the free world who started the movement to bury communism, socialism and other forms of collectivism. When Reagan, standing just a few yards from the Berlin Wall, uttered that famous phrase "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" few would conceive that the Berlin Wall, that caused so much painful separation and symbolised for the world the tyranny and unkindness of communism, would disappear so quickly. But, the Wall not only disappeared, the so-called evil empire - the Soviet Union - also disappeared into the ash heap of history. Now, the countries that made up the Soviet Union are struggling to come to terms with the free market system and to enjoy their newly acquired freedoms.
Reagan believed in the power and strength of the individual to look after his own interest, without being fettered, pampered or dependent on the state. He strongly believed that "individuals should take priority over the state." He was sceptical of collectivism, which he said, "stifles all the best human impulses." During his presidency, the top tax rate on individuals moved down from 78 per cent to 35 per cent, which had a profound impact on the economy and the drive to inspire individual initiative and creativity. Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute in discussing the tax cut noted: "The nation was in quite a deep hole of economic collapse when Reagan was elected. We were in the midst of the worst economic depression in 1980-81 than at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Reagan's tax cuts - combined with his emphasis on sound money, deregulation and free trade - created a mighty economic expansion. The expansion carried through the 1990s as well - creating America's greatest sustained wave of prosperity ever."
ECONOMY GREW
In fact, the American economy grew by more than one-third, producing a 15 trillion dollars increase in American wealth. Perhaps, the lessons of the Reagan era should be learnt by our present government - the emphasis on sound money, deregulation and free trade - which are some of the fundamentals of capitalism. When asked by his former speech writer, Peggy Noonan, what he thought his legacy would be, he wrote a single sentence: "He tried to expand the frontiers of freedom, in a world at peace with itself." We too should ask how do we provide an environment of peace, justice and freedom to inspire our people to a sense of their own boundless possibilities.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at Delchuck@Hotmail.Com
