Business

Economic Freedom Improves Human Well-Being: Free Enterprise Group Addresses Hispanics & Welfare in Touching Video

Growing up the son of Mexican immigrants in a “shed” with no running water, Daniel Garza learned something important about the value of freedom in America. He learned that anyone can succeed in this country if they work hard and rely on themselves and their communities for their own success.

Despite the poverty, Garza says his father never accepted welfare and instead relied on hard work to improve his family’s economic lot. Now as executive director of the nonprofit group The Libre Initiative, Garza is on a mission to show members of the Hispanic community that welfare is an “American nightmare” and that the true American dream can only be achieved through self-reliance.

As part of its campaign to better the Hispanic community, The Libre Initiative released on Monday a video underscoring its mission statement, namely, that everyone should be allowed the freedom to grow and to create prosperity for themselves, their communities, and the country.

In the video, Garza talks about his experiences growing up as a first generation American:

“I grew up picking crops with my family,” Garza recalls, “My parents were immigrants from Mexico with nothing but a 4th grade education.”

“We were so poor, my siblings and I would have to miss school to work in the fields. Our home was the size of a tool shed. We had no running water,” he adds.

Yet, despite their poverty, Garza’s family was determined to remain independent and dictate the own fate.

“My father never took welfare because he didn’t want to depend on anyone,” Garza said, “he’s a proud and noble man.”

And without depending on the “generosity” of government, Garza’s family was able to move up and improve their economic fortunes on their own.

“My family and I have succeeded by following the path to freedom,” he adds, “but that path is on the verge of vanishing. What we’re starting to see here in America now is the growth in the size and the scope of government that is now starting to look like the governments that we left behind.”

The video ends with these strong words:

We know advancing economic freedom is the best way to improve human well-being …

Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico? Hispanics leave countries that have been ruined by tyranny to come to America, the land of the free. They don’t just believe in the cause, they lived it.

It is a privilege to live in the United States because this is a nation where you dictate your destiny. No other nation has fulfilled more dreams and more aspirations than this country.

To have been born here — I’m just grateful to God for that.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Click here for more information on The Libre Initiative.

This story has been updated.

Comments (46)

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  • Lawlessness Brings Destruction
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:14pm

    Has ANYONE looked at the Libre Initiative site???
    This is a wolf in Conservative clothing! Garza speaks the same racist/ethnocentric political propaganda as groups like La Raza.
    http://thelibreinitiative.com/public/daniel-garza-people-are-not-illegal-110.html
    “What is more, few concede the Nation’s need for agricultural labor is indispensable. Listening to those who call for mass deportation, you would think fruits, vegetables, and meats magically appear on store shelves, and at cheap prices – and always will. You would also think there is a long line of aggrieved Americans, upset their farm jobs were taken from them. Neither assumption is true.”

    This is in keeping with the illegal alien supremacist hate groups LIE that illegal aliens do the jobs Americans won’t do and ignores wage depression caused by illegal hiring that also drives tax evasion by both employer AND illegal worker!
    “As many of our members commented on Roy’s blog, Americans aren’t having the same luck that I had several years ago. Despite the nation’s current jobless rate approaching 10%, the service industry, farmers and construction firms want you to believe that Americans won’t clean rooms, work in the mud or pave highways, but that’s what Americans have been doing for decades. If the wage is right and it helps put a roof over their heads and food on the table, Americans will do anything.”
    https://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/cchmielenski/june-30-2009/numbersusa-members-l

    Report Post »  
    • FreedomWitness
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:56pm

      In most countries where they don’t have a huge influx if illegal aliens to work the fields, they use automation. The USA is decades behind in this because of this cheap (to the growers, not the taxpayers) labor force. We should have been automating our fields since the end of WWII.

      Report Post » FreedomWitness  
    • loriann12
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 6:40am

      Tht’s part of the problem. Americans have had it so good for so long. They have forgotten the Great Depession, when people stood on street corners selling apples individually that they had bought by the bushel, or picked themselves. American Teenagers don’t want to flip burgers, they come out of college not wanting an entry level job at anything. They want to jump in at mid-management. My husband flipped burgers in High School. I handprinted signs for JCPenney between High School and the military. When Penney’s found out I was in the delayed entry program for the Navy, they suddenly had no need for my position. I don’t mind immigrants who come here legally, work legally, accept no welfare except tax deductions, pay their taxes, etc. It’s the ones who sneak across the border, work as their own “independent contractor” thus avoiding taxes, use a fake ss number and tell the government they don’t have a job so they can also collect welfare and food stamps.

      Report Post »  
    • Thatsitivehadenough
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 6:54am

      Picking most fruits cannot be done by machines.

      Report Post » Thatsitivehadenough  
    • THX-1138
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 10:45am

      “Picking most fruits cannot be done by machines.”

      Yet.

      Report Post » THX-1138  
    • kenboo1
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 11:27am

      The underlying lesson here is work hard, make good choices and save money. Take the money you save and invest it into a profitable venture. There are no guarantees in life or in America. You may fail in which case you have to get up and try again.

      However, the incentive is to no longer work hard, but to sit on the couch and wait on a government check. Since the Post Office is loosing money, and the Government employees are a burden on the taxpayer as well, how many workers does it take to pay enough tax to support not only the person on welfare, but also the welfare employees (govt) and the people that deliver the check (post office(govt)). The government needs to shrink and stop spending us into oblivion.

      Report Post »  
    • mtcountrygrl
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 1:12pm

      My family is white. My mom picked fruit as a summer job in High School in the 60′s. She said all her friends did, because it paid better than all the other summer jobs available. The problem now days is the “entry level” (non skilled) jobs are taken by illegals and our young people are lazy thugs. Same goes for mowing yards. When I was in High School I mowed yards in the summer and worked for my dad’s landscaping company in California. Now all landscaping and lawn mowing in California is done by illegals – my dad’s business went under because his prices were not low enough to compete. The construction industry in border states is also being devistated by illegal labor – it is a myth that these are jobs Americans won’t do. The truth is the rates illegals charge, American‘s can’t compete with.

      Report Post »  
  • bdandsl
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:10pm

    That which is given and not earned is not held in high esteem.

    Report Post » bdandsl  
  • the blazer
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:07pm

    Bless you and you father Mr. Garza. He taught you well and you both exemplify founding principles which require individual responsibility to protect individual rights in order to pursue individual success and happiness under rule of law.

    I wish all of us would do our proper job of civic duty now that we have seen the consequence of our laziness. If we had done our duty, politicians would not have been able to impoverish any of us while fattening themselves and their cronies without consequence to themselves for breaking the law.

    Report Post »  
  • bdandsl
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:59pm

    People of that character can come to America legally all day, everyday, we don’t need any more poor or criminals.

    Report Post » bdandsl  
  • PASSIONFORCHRIST
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:52pm

    At least this man has the passion NOT to see his culture of people depend on a government they LEFT BEHIND! Also tells them what the true AMERICAN DREAM is and HE IS the PROOF to back himself up!!!

    GOD BLESS YOU DANIEL, FOR BEING A GREAT PATRIOT TO AMERICA!!!

    Report Post »  
  • Aerocog
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:08pm

    The three things you need to be successful: God, good credit and Freedom…you just got to love that!

    Report Post »  
    • nzkiwi
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 4:41am

      Indeed you do.

      It should be hung on the wall of every classroom.

      Report Post »  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:04pm

    Central planners create and perpetuate poverty in America and every other country it’s tried.We‘ve had a war on poverty since the 60’s and all it’s done is create more poverty and the only answer to reducing poverty is to have unfettered free market capitalism.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:45pm

      I‘ve seen what you’ve just said claimed a lot on the right but do you know of any kind of consensus among economists that this is true? I’ll accept your premise if there is a consensus. Until then, it’s just another assertion without evidence to me.

      Report Post »  
    • progressiveslayer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:59pm

      Ever hear of the roaring 20′s? Unfettered free market capitalism reigned and produced the most powerful economy on earth and the more government gets involved in business the more it restrains business,through regulation and taxation.

      I rely on economists like Thomas Sowell,Milton Friedman and Hayek all free market capitalists.

      Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:11pm

      The problem with laymen relying on any particular group of economists is how do you pick which group is correct? I cannot test economic frameworks using my own ideology. I’m looking to line up my understanding of the world with whatever the evidence may point to. I don’t know enough, nor does any layman, to have a valid economic position.

      With regard to the 20′s, I could also point out that the following decade was brutal and the only reason we got out was because of the fiscal stimulus Roosevelt implemented and the war. However, I say this to illustrate a point. For every point you could put out, I could put a counter point out. But without evidence and a knowledge of the current state of the research, we cannot actually know with any real degree of certainty how correct our positions actually are.

       
    • BSdetector
      Posted on August 8, 2012 at 7:05am

      wvernon1981
      I‘ve seen what you’ve just said claimed a lot on the right but do you know of any kind of consensus among economists that this is true?

      Actually the consensus you’re looking for is among Historians because History is what proves his words true.

      Report Post » BSdetector  
  • franxpace
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:00pm

    I too was raised in south Texas by parents who had the same values as Daniel’s. I too went on to school, and had a very successful career in Federal Law Enforcement. We are a breed in demise and must do all we can to prevent such demise.

    Report Post »  
  • Black Manta
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:50pm

    Please…y’all some suckas….aint no hope for this wicked ass country…the problem with y’all sheeple is, you believe everything they put on the news or tv…and y’all fall for the smoke screen…destiny to do what?…sin against AHAYAH…y’all call this the country of freedom…your mind set of freedom is, homosexuallity, sin, evil, witchcraft, sorcery, hatred, Harry Potter, murder, theft, everything against what AHAYAH says…Rachetness over Righteousness…this is america…SAD…

    Report Post » Black Manta  
    • IOWAGIR
      Posted on August 13, 2012 at 12:46pm

      Your are wrong Blk. My family has a simular story. And I know a lot of folks who also made it by coming here. And the ones I know are did it leagaly including my family! They had set backs and didn’t give up. They made it! I have made it! My brothers and sisters are all eduacated and earn a good living. My parents didn’t strike it rich but they will never need anything because all 5 five of us kids will see to that. It is sad that you don‘t’ belive in the American dream. You are the one that sounds like a suck-ass. Are you waiting around for your gov. check? Food stamps or card…or whatever kind of stuff they give now. The dream is there, you just have to be smart enough to grab it. And no it’s not what Obama is handing out either!!!! Get real!

      Report Post »  
  • BSdetector
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:49pm

    Part of the problem IMO, is that non-immigrants have never had to experience their own Leftist, Totalitarian policies in action.
    People like this man’s father saw firsthand the stark contrast between Freedom and Oppression just like our Founding Fathers did, and cherish their Freedom all the more because of it.

    Those in America who are continuously pining to be oppressed, really need to spend some time abroad to rethink their self destructive yearnings…

    Report Post » BSdetector  
  • 80s_Kid_Wants_Rainbow_Back
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:48pm

    Very touching and very true. Glad to see this organization in the news. Good work Libre!

    Report Post » 80s_Kid_Wants_Rainbow_Back  
    • franxpace
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:56pm

      Yes, I relate to this man. You see I too, am a product of that generration in south Texas. I was raised the same way and I am also a successful rtiree that never took a handout.

      Report Post »  
  • nzkiwi
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:45pm

    Wow!

    That was a simple, short, but articulate and telling message.

    Everybody, not just Americans, should watch it. I’m going to pass it around in my country.

    Everybody should show it to those of their children who are old enough to understand it. And not just once, either. Drum it into them.

    Report Post »  
  • JULIKINS209
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:26pm

    Brought tears to my eyes.

    Report Post »  
  • 19RANDY59
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:26pm

    Amen, maybe there is hope for this country

    Report Post » 19RANDY59  
  • VoteBushIn12
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:23pm

    A touching video no doubt, but his claims are based on his singular experience – a galvanized and glorified opinion, but an opinion nonetheless.

    “We know advancing economic freedom is the best way to improve human well-being, especially the bottom”.

    An absurd and unfounded comment. How do you KNOW it? Did God tell you? Well we know how much his word is worth… nothing.

    You blazers bust a nut whenever anyone says “freedom”. So predictable, naive, and immature. You’re like children, but more dangerous because you have actual responsibilities.

    Grow up.

    Report Post » VoteBushIn12  
    • termyt
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:38pm

      Because it works, tool. Over and over again. It is the story of American made from the filth the Europeans did not want in their own country and now the most powerful country in the world.

      It is the story of Australia, a country where the UK dumped its criminals. Hong Kong, kept free of Mao’s tyranny and thriving like the rest of China never had a chance to.

      Singapore, where the innovators and entrepreneurs now flock because the have the freedom to invent and innovate without the miles of red tape preventing the unestablished in America from getting their foot in the door.

      And yes, God did tell us so, you small minded person. Open up your mind, look around you and discover. What great innovation has any socialist created other than bureaucracy and crushed dreams?

      Report Post »  
    • soysauce
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:39pm

      Read a history book. Maybe that will make you feel better?

      Report Post »  
    • progressiveslayer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:11pm

      So what country do you suggest we emulate there Einstein? Cuba N.Korea the old Soviet Union?
      Your idiocy is showing and you’re embarrassing yourself. This country used to be the greatest country and economy on earth until big government and I’m not just talking about the current A HOLE
      Marxist POS impersonating a president destroyed it. That process began a century ago by central planners who think they know better but obviously don’t.

      Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • lperez
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:15pm

      It is a sad thing to be ill-informed and out of touch with reality. This man’s story is an inspiration to many immigrants currently struggling in this horrid economy and administration!

      Here’s a video that speaks to economic freedom.Watch it- you might learn something.
      http://youtu.be/v1U1Jzdghjk

      Report Post » lperez  
    • lperez
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 7:26pm

      You should really get informed on economic freedom…http://youtu.be/v1U1Jzdghjk

      This man’s story is an inspiration to many immigrants.

      Report Post » lperez  
    • FreedomWitness
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:00pm

      The LPEREZ dude is a total, he just joined The Blaze today 8/7/2012. Coincidence? I think not.

      Report Post » FreedomWitness  
  • geminicontender
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:20pm

    Bravo to this man and his family and his parents for showing them the right way to grow and succeed. We need more of this spread out through this country. Tyranny is at our doorstep and we must squash it before we lose everything we stand for.

    Report Post » geminicontender  
  • bdandsl
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:10pm

    This is the type of leadership hispanics and blacks need. The gov’t only enslaves you.

    Report Post » bdandsl  
    • goldmind
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:27pm

      This is the type of leadership, we all need. Dignified and honest. I would stack this mans integrity against ALL contenders for office. For me, this short clip invalidated Obama and Romney. You earned my vote, Daniel.

      Report Post » goldmind  
  • biohazard23
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:51pm

    But that’s racist!! Oh, wait….

    Report Post » biohazard23  
  • carbonated
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:29pm

    Wow!!! Awesome!

    Report Post »  
  • thibx
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:28pm

    when i grew up welfare consist of cheese, powered milk, eggs, peanut butter, flour, meal. we were farmers we all had to work things sometimes got hard but we would not get welfare. if i were president i would return welfare to the way it was back then.

    Report Post »  
  • CommonSenseRN
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:24pm

    Inspiring! Spread the word…

    Report Post »  
  • latina
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 5:15pm

    “The Us is starting to look like the governments we left behind” in Latin AMerica. OMG, that is so true.
    I am Latina and I APPROVE this message.

    Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:57pm

    These are the immigrants we want, though it doesn‘t mention his parent’s immigration status. At least they refused welfare.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • RightUnite
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:56pm

    Preach it! That is the way it is supposed to work. Immigrate legally.

    Report Post »  
  • Too_Far_Gone
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:35pm

    What’s to say, it’s true ..

    Comrades ..

    Report Post » Too_Far_Gone  
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