Issues- Immigration

The United States of America has traditionally been a land of immigration, diversity, and fresh starts. When one chooses to expel these fundamental ideas, one chooses to expel the main theory of this country. Most people born in the USA are indirect descendants of colonists from Europe, without realizing that many from the other areas of the Americas share the same common origin; they both struggled for independence from colonial powers elsewhere. We must embrace our origins and truly realize that America is a country of inclusion and diversity.

Issues- Gun Control

It is my belief that if one does not possess a weapon, one cannot possibly use a weapon. The main point on which to compare whether a gun should be used or not is if a gun is truly needed in any situation. Unfortunately, many citizens do not draw the line of distinction correctly. I believe that only several circumstances actually require the use of a firearm. Please, gun owners everywhere, use proper JUDGMENT.

The Environment

To suggest that Global Warming is a myth is not just an act of stupidity, it is an act of childish ignorance. Whatever the problems with the environment are, it is our mutual responsibility to cure the earth to make your children and grandchildren a safer, more comfortable planet.

Issues- Energy and Gas

The basic cause of the gas prices dilemma  is the simple fact that America has grown far TOO reliant on gas and oil. I know that there will not be one simple alternative energy source, so we should embrace and use ALL of the sources that we can. Wind, Solar, Hydro, Electricity, everything can be used as a fuel to power energy! This way, there WILL be enough energy for all of everyone’s needs.

Issues- Gay Rights

I am a staunch proponent of Marriage
Equality.

I believe that everyone has an absolute right to love whoever they want, regardless of orientation and gender. It is completely ridiculous that one is denied privileges to marry or love based on whether they are straight or not. In short: Gays deserve as many rights as non-gays.

 

(NOTE: see my speech about Marriage Equality here)

Issues- Abortion

I will be brief here, because this is undoubtedly a sensitive issue and should be treated as such. I believe that every woman has every right to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion, and that the hospitals must comply.

Issues- Immigration

The United States of America has traditionally been a land of immigration, diversity, and fresh starts.

When one chooses to expel these fundamental ideas, one chooses to expel the main theory of this country.

Most people born in the USA are indirect descendants of colonists from Europe, without realizing that many from the other areas of the Americas share the same common origin; they both struggled for independence from colonial powers elsewhere. We must embrace our origins and truly realize that America is a country of inclusion and diversity.

Issue- Gun Control

It is my belief that if one does not possess a weapon, one cannot possibly use a weapon.

The main point on which to compare whether a gun should be used or not is if a gun is truly needed in any situation. Unfortunately, many citizens do not draw the line of distinction correctly. I believe that only several circumstances actually require the use of a firearm. Please, gun owners everywhere, use proper JUDGMENT.

Speeches

 

“E Pluribus Unum”

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

I, Zachary D. Larkin, officially stand before you today a candidate for the office of President of the United States of America during the 2032 Election.

I know what you’re thinking. What’s a kid doing running for president?

Good question.

Throughout my life, I’ve experienced the many follies of older generations, which all resulted in crisis to day; including a polluted planet, unnecessary wars, and genocide in all of the forgotten corners of the world, to list a few.

My generation is not ignorant about the world’s problems.

I believe that the people of my generation, as well as every other generation, have the potential to change the world, for the better, or for the worse.

I believe that we can absolutely fill that potential to make the world a better place.

The only ignorant thing about this is ignoring it.

My generation absolutely has the potential to change and fix the world, and here’s why:

My generation has a fresher; more neutral “new perspective” about the world’s problems.

We will not begin to influence the future tomorrow, we will begin influence the future today.

We see, entering the world and society as newcomers, that changes are needed, policies rethought, and problems fixed.

I am here today, a presidential candidate, because I believe that we, as a whole, can unite to fix the problems dividing us today.

For we are a divided people. And divided people fall together.

But I believe that we all can unite for any common cause and every common cause. Today, this cause is a call for unity.

So today, each and every one of us must answer this call, because only together will we prevail.

The founders sought a nation of stability, a nation where in which their families could live in peace.

There were no political parties, an idea which was looked down upon at the time.

There was little division.

There was a common goal, a common belief, a commonality to stand together against the face of tyranny, corruption, and injustice, as well as a belief of Unity that our country was founded upon. “E Pluribus Unum”, out of many, one.

We will have given up this idea of freedom and unity when we forget our past.

And again, almost a century later, the country was plunged into another major war.

But this war had much higher stakes and expenses:

The Civil War.

Didn’t we, the American people, learn almost one and a half centuries ago, that more blood is shed when brother fights brother than in any other war we’ve ever participated in?

Didn’t we learn, during that civil war, that united we stand, and only divided we may fall?

America was tested during those two points in time upon whether it could remain one united nation.

A nation of equality, a nation of hope, and a nation of the people.

It almost didn’t.

But coming out of both wars, the new United States of Americas learned that it could only survive as one.

Many lives have been lost, so that you today can stand proud and free.

That is something worth preserving.

Unity. A simple word with a convoluted meaning; “one”.

Without unity, society condemns itself to failure.

One and a half Millennia ago, the Roman Empire collapsed, and only decades ago, the Soviet Union disintegrated.

Why was this?

These two powers shared two core problems:

Government corruption and a sharp divide in ideologies.

A sharp divide in ideologies causes a sharp divide in people.

Sound familiar? I think so. It’s happening today.

Right here. The “United” States of America.

For we are in the midst of another battle, with stakes that can potentially become just as significant as they were one and a half centuries ago.

And that’s why we ought to be concerned.

This huge cultural, psychological, and political civil war has been dividing America for years and continues to divide us today.

The combatants?

Are they the democrats and republicans? The poor and the rich? The left and the right? Black and white? Jews, Catholics, and Muslims? Religious and secular?

All of them, and none of them, in a way. For the real threat to our unity is not any particular conflict. The reality of the situation is not as simple.

The real threat towards America, democracy, and the World is the fact that the named conflicts, and so many more exist and perpetuate.

The fact that these conflicts divide us is the real culprit.

But we must come together by settling our differences, and only once that has happened can we take on the world’s problems.

If we are to solve the world’s problems, we must unite immediately.

Because procrastination is not an answer. In order to achieve unity, we MUST unite.

A president needs to be the one who steps up and resolves conflicts to heal the nation and the world.

And that’s the reason that America wants a President, and NEEDS a President who is going to strive for the rights of all Americans, as well as all the People of the World.

And that, my friends, is why  I, Zachary D. Larkin, now officially stand before you today, a candidate for the office of President of the United States of America.

 
 

Post Election Day Address

As some of you may know, Barack Obama’s grandmother passed away the other day. Our thoughts and wishes go out to the Obama family, because Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham will not live to see her grandson elected.

I address you today during the aftermath of this election day.

And what a historic election this was!

Because yesterday the unprecedented has occurred- the first African American in our nation’s history will be elected into the White House.

Barack Obama will be able to focus his efforts on some of the main themes I would like to fix.

Because he has been elected, we have finally grasped what we need, to fulfill new change and hope in our great country.

Yesterday, my friends- was a day of change.

A day of hope.

A day of renewal.

Yesterday, we celebrated our democratic roots from the Greeks, and our Revolutionary belief in patriotism and activism in government.

Yesterday, we finally fulfilled our long-standing creed: “We hold these trughts to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

‘Yes we Can’ has transformed- into ‘Yes we Did.’

Yesterday, all the voters, from California to Connecticut; Salem, Oregon, to Salem Massachusetts; from Montana to Mississippi decided.

We decided to make not only the right decision, but to vote.

This election, over 21 months, or even 232 years in the making, has absorbed unprecedented enthusiasm and action.

I guarantee you that this election has shattered boundaries, redrawn a map of people, restored faith and dignity to American government and politics, and encouraged action.

The real winners of this election were the people- who have chosen to reprent ourselves with Barack Obama.

With this movement- the first African american president has been elected.

With this movement- a Hispanic can become president.

With this movement- a women, a jew, a mormon, a gay person, a muslim, or anyone else can become president.

This movement has shook the foundations of american politics, has shattered almost every precedent imaginable, led only by three words- ‘Yes We Can.’

Yes we Did.

 
 

 
 

“the Manifest of Change”- New Year’s Day

My fellow Americans, and citizens of the world-
Now is our time.

Today, at this moment, we are but voyagers on an estranged ship.

Today, at this moment, we exist in a growingly divided country in an increasingly detached world.

Today, at this moment, we bear unavoidable burdens.
We must bear the burden of Change. We must defend the lives and liberties of those not only at home but abroad. We must save our environment, because our destruction of it only destroys ourselves.

Today, we are offered not only crossroads to determine January 1st, 2009, but a pivotal landmark in our history to erase the damages of selfish actions long forgotten.

In this year, at this newly born moment, we truly can alter the courses of our country and world.

Throughout this year, we have been hearing one word dominate most political dialogue:

Change.

Today, my friends we are closer to accessing true change than ever before.

People of the world, we have not simply been entrusted with some sort of token privilege- we have earned a responsibility, a job, an undertaking to bring about change.

What we observe and celebrate is none other than a manifest- the Manifest of Change.

The Manifest of Change may be non-binding, should we choose to ignore it, though at the same time non-redeemable.

The Manifest of Change encourages us to open our wallets, eyes, hearts, and minds to those in need.

The Manifest of Change is only accessible in times such as now, when we are at the brink of “a point of no return,” in which we can only succeed once we completely revolutionize our daily lives.

The Manifest of Change, throughout history, has left little untouched in its wake.

The Manifest of Change today can only make the appropriate reforms- from government to gas consumption, the status quo to domestic security- if it begins at the very bottom.

In our hands only this power resides.

Today, at this moment, We the People have been assigned the wheel of a turning point in history.

If we are to harness the Manifest of Change for our generation -and prove that no matter the challenge, we shall overcome, and that there are no threats too insurmountable towards us if we are truly one-then dare we not squander this glorious New Year.

 

 

Life, Liberty, and other Unalienable Rights

 
 

A California Ballot Measure, Proposition 8, passed last year.

This hateful act was designed to ban same-sex marriage.

While I know that not everyone will see eye-to-eye on their beliefs about marriage, we all can still agree that everyone should be equal.

I’m sure that the opponents of Proposition 8 will file a very professional lawsuit against discrimination.

And when gay marriage is finally recognized, and ALL married couples have equal rights, California will be redefined as an engine of change.

 
 

Prop 8 should have never been put on the ballot for a simple reason, which is simple: equality and love are not political issues- they are moral ones.

When we revoke the rights of any certain people, our hatred can lead to pure evil.

As Martin Niemöller once said:

“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist… Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” We simply cannot allow this to occur again, whether it be Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Mormons, gays, the elderly, Asians, Mexicans, or anyone.

Also, whenever we attempt to we eradicate anyone’s rights, engage in a divisive debate over what an “unalienable right” truly is.

Some would argue that an unalienable right is marriage, others somehow oppose it.

It is this argument that has prompted the proposition to appear on the California ballot this year.

My personal opinion, which I believe is not only true, but morally right, is that everyone, must be treated completely equally, especially in cases of love.

 
 

To quote the latest statement from the No on 8 campaign, “… you made the case to the people of California and to the rest of the world that discrimination — in any form — is unfair and wrong… victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over.”

Discrimination is wrong. It always has been, and always will.

No matter what a state decrees, any person deserves equality in its complete form.

In the United States Constitution, the 14^th Amendment guarantees that, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Why hasn’t this been enforced? Because it never technically says that the gays can marry. Doesn’t it mean the same thing?

In the Declaration of Independence, the rebels who embraced enlightenment and classical liberalism declared “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Why hasn’t this been enforced? Because it never says that gay people can marry?

This shallow disregard of basic human rights and governmental protection mandates has gone on for far too long.

 
 

In President Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address, he stated ” If by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution.”

It certainly would! But Gay People don’t want a revolution- they just want (and deserve) the right to marry.

This was the first-ever Republican President, and he would be completely disgusted by the fact that the Republicans and Conservatives have spearheaded this hateful effort.

The man who freed the slaves; reunited the union; said that “A house divided upon itself cannot stand.”

Today, we are a house divided, and Proposition 8 represents our partisan deadlocks and the power of the Religious Right.

 
 

Gay Marriage needs to be treated as an equivalent of heterosexual marriage, and this is why:

My opposition, The Proponents of Proposition 8, claims that “By saying that a marriage is between ‘any two persons’ rather than between a man and a woman, the Court decision has opened the door to any kind of ‘marriage.’ This undermines the value of marriage altogether at a time when we should be restoring marriage, not undermining it.”

Since when has expanded the rights and promises of marriage undermined it? This is simply not the case.

Gay marriage is as much as an attack on marriage as interracial marriage.

Gay marriage is even less of an attack on marriage as divorce and young, foolish marriages. Instead of taking steps to protect our children from “schools [that] will now be required to teach students that gay marriage is the same as traditional marriage,” or marriage equality, we should be taking steps to prevent our young generations from failed marriages that may ruin his or her future.

 
 

For those who say that my ideas are radical, and that things are fine the way they are, you are living in the past.

Because the exact same attitude of “it’s fine, the way it is” was employed by the British loyalists during the Revolutionary War. Was the revolution radical? You bet, but it was necessary.

“It’s fine, the way it is” was said by the slave owners, who would rather continue oppression than lose crop sales. Was emancipation radical? Absolutely, but it was just as necessary.

“It’s fine, the way it is” was said by those who opposed the rights of Women and African-Americans to vote. Was voting equality radical? Certainly, but now our democracy is even finer with diversity.

“It’s fine, the way it is” was used only 50 years ago, when an African-American could not marry a white person. Was marriage inequality radical? How is it different, at all?

This is exactly the same.

It is most certainly NOT fine, and things desperately REQUIRE to change.

 
 

 
 

You’d think that a liberal state like California would believe reason and logic, and shoot down this act.

Nevertheless, Proposition 8 somehow passed.

However, we will continue to work hard, and strive for equality for all.

I am positive that equality will triumph once again someday.

Though there will always be people who are deluded into thinking gay marriage is wrong, I know that we all have to set aside our differences, just like we are all going to do under our next president, and ” stand together, knowing our dawn will come.”

9/11

Last weekend, I began to draft a speech addressing the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Today, I planned to post the transcript, and then it struck me. This was all too real. There is no way I can possibly put this in words.
So I decided to be brief, in honor of the men, women, and children, the Democrats and Republicans, the Black and the White, the poor and the rich alike who are silent.
I thought to myself, “today, I will be silent for them.”
So all I have left to say is this: Let us never forget September 11th, 2001.