Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 54
I want the freedom of choice to select my options.
I prefer the beckoning of challenge to a
guaranteed existence.
It is my heritage to rely on my god and myself, to
be an individual in my thoughts, decisions and
actions.
I find satisfaction in the thrill of accomplishment
and too many restrictive burdens in the socialist
system.
I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to
build, to attempt and to succeed.
If in trying I fail, I ask for the chance to try again.
I refuse to exchange my right to exercise my
initiative for a promise of state supplied
security.
I believe in a social system which allows me to
face new challenges, to develop opportunities
for myself and others, and to justly enjoy the
benefits of my creations.
I find no substitute for freedom.
As I tell later, I moved to Texas from Bolivia, a country on one of the front lines where
the cold war was raging - communism vs. freedom. I could see the effects of both
ideologies right in front of my eyes. I could feel the methods the combatants were using
to defeat each other. It is important to my story that the political environment where
these thoughts were congealed be understood.
The period of foreign policy paralysis ushered by the Lyndon Johnson administration
handling of Viet Nam in the late 1960’s, gripped America not only in the theater of
operations, but it also set it up for even greater failures in the next decade. President
Nixon managed to steer us away from the shoals and President Ford kept us floating,
but not with much steam. Using Cuba’s Castro as its surrogate, the Soviet Union
launched wars of liberation throughout Africa and South America. The map of the world
was turning red in Southeast Asia, Africa, Central and South America. In the Western
Hemisphere Nicaragua was virtually lost. Chile was Castro’s favorite stop in his Latin
America lecturing circuit. El Salvador was besieged. Bolivia was fighting “Che”
Guevara’s invasion.
The communist pressure was on and the response from the U.S. was erratic at best. In
my eyes Jimmy Carter was not just a bad steward of the fight against communism; he
was close to incompetent. I am sure that in the eyes of Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran and
Anastacio Somoza of Nicaragua, he was a traitor. These two heads of state, frail with
defects as they might have been, were staunch defenders of our country and our way of
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