“America,” says Dr. Ben Carson in a new Goldwater Institute video, “is the only country that has a dream.”
“It’s a place of promise, a place where you can come and work hard, study hard, and achieve your goals,” adds Dr. Carson, who headlined Goldwater’s 2024 Freedom Gala. In this season of giving thanks, we’re grateful for the American Dream—the opportunity to succeed and make something of your life, no matter who you are or what you look like.
Raised in poverty in the slums of Detroit, Dr. Carson overcame obstacle after obstacle to become one of the most accomplished pediatric neurosurgeons in the country and eventually the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He is living proof that the lofty ideals our nation was founded on—justice, liberty, equality under the law, bravery, opportunity—make the American Dream attainable.
“But you’ve got to work for it,” Dr. Carson says. “You can’t expect someone to just give it to you.”
Indeed, our work at the Goldwater Institute to defend the American Dream would not be successful without the courage and determination of all Americans who stand firm against the tyranny of government. Their actions inspire what we do and remind us of the continuous effort required to preserve the freedoms we hold dear.
We’re grateful for small business owners like Joe and Debbie Faillace of Phoenix who ran a successful sandwich shop in downtown Phoenix for nearly 40 years. They saw their dream threatened when Phoenix officials started shunting homeless people into a nearby open-air encampment called “The Zone” with zero regard for the law-abiding taxpayers who would suffer. Aided by the Goldwater Institute, the Faillaces, 2024 recipients of the Goldwater Freedom Award, sued the government for maintaining a “public nuisance” and won a groundbreaking decision when a trial court ordered the city to clean up The Zone. Their advocacy was also instrumental in Arizona’s adoption of Prop 312, a first-in-the-nation Goldwater-designed reform that gives property owners their tax dollars back when cities fail to use those funds for their intended purpose: to protect residents from crime.
We’re grateful for brave parents like Rosemary McAtee and Velia Aguirre, homeschool moms who want to give their children the education that best meets their needs. With the Goldwater Institute’s help, Rosemary and Velia are challenging a government decree that blocked their purchases of kids’ books, basic school supplies, and even the U.S. Constitution under Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
“A good education is critical in our society if you want to succeed,” Dr. Carson explains. Velia and Rosemary know it, and they’ll stop at nothing to make sure their kids get the education they deserve.
We’re grateful for bold freedom fighters like Arizona State University (ASU) professor Dr. Owen Anderson, who refuses to take the government-run school’s “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) training because he can’t in good conscience go along with discrimination masquerading as “diversity.” Goldwater is suing ASU on Dr. Anderson’s behalf for using taxpayer funds to mandate DEI training. “A lot of public education now has been infiltrated by Marxists,” Dr. Carson says. But faculty like Dr. Anderson are on the front lines of fighting back.
To each and every one of our supporters, clients, and advocates, whose courage and commitment to liberty are essential to our mission, we say thank you. Dr. Carson put it best: “You really can’t be the land of the free if you’re not the home of the brave.”
