My Grandfather, who you will hear about often in these pages, was a primary influence on me and my life. He hated what he called “the entitlement culture” so prevalent in America today. When I saw the short “creed” below, I thought of my Grandfather.
[Dean Alfange was an American statesman born December 2, 1899, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of ‘’22. Alfange was the American Labor candidate for governor of New York and a founder of the Liberal Party of New York. He wrote a creed on what it meant to him to be an American.
I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon..If I can. I seek opportunity..Not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, “this, I have done”.
All this is what it means to be an American.
As an aside, I have often seen this reprinted, but with the last word changed to entrepreneur. While that would make a great creed too, that is not how Mr. Alfange wrote it.