thanks for such good replies...i must admit this question was not original with me, but it touched me so deeply i wanted to share the conversation...it was posed by matt spaulding of the Heritage Foundation at the state Tea Party convention recently..i have been pondering it ever since...i am sure that other leaders had dreams of empire or grandeur or unity, but no one before or since has lifted up the worth of the individual as did our founding fathers. and now the cancer of "collectivism" is threatening to rob us of our birthright. please pose this question to your fellow americans and ask them to really think about why our country has been so great until now and whether they think it may be in decline.