Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state have told us they have a utopian solution of peace without victory.They call their policy“accommodation”.And they say if we‘ll only avoid any direct confrontation with the enemy，he’ll forget his evil ways and learn to love us.All who oppose them are indicted as warmongers.They say we offer simple answers to complex problems.Well，perhaps there is a simple answer-not an easy answer-but simple：If you and I have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our national policy based on what we know in our hearts is morally right.
We cannot buy our security，our freedom from the threat of the bomb by committing an immorality so great as saying to a billion human beings now enslaved behind the Iron Curtain，“Give up your dreams of freedom because to save our own skins，we‘re willing to make a deal with your slave masters.”Alexander Hamilton said，“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master，and deserves one.”Now let’s set the record straight.There‘s no argument over the choice between peace and war，but there’s only one guaranteed way you can have peace-and you can have it in the next second-surrender.
Admittedly，there‘s a risk in any course we follow other than this，but every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement，and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face-that their policy of accommodation is appeasement，and it gives no choice between peace and war，only between fight or surrender.If we continue to accommodate，continue to back and retreat，eventually we have to face the final demand-the ultimatum.And what then-when Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be？He has told them that we’re retreating under the pressure of the Cold War，and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum，our surrender will be voluntary，because by that time we will have been weakened from within spiritually，morally，and economically.He believes this because from our side he‘s heard voices pleading for“peace at any price”or“better Red than dead”，or as one commentator put it，he’d rather“live on his knees than die on his feet”.And therein lies the road to war，because those voices don‘t speak for the rest of us.
You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery.If nothing in life is worth dying for，when did this begin-just in the face of this enemy？Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs？Should Christ have refused the cross？Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard round the world？The martyrs of history were not fools，and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn’t die in vain.Where，then，is the road to peace？Well，it‘s a simple answer after all.
You and I have the courage to say to our enemies，“There is a price we will not pay.”“There is a point beyond which they must not advance.”And this-this is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater’s“peace through strength”.Winston Churchill said，“The destiny of man is not measured by material computations.When great forces are on the move in the world，we learn we‘re spirits-not animals.”And he said，“There’s something going on in time and space，and beyond time and space，which，whether we like it or not，spells duty.”
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
We‘ll preserve for our children this，the last best hope of man on earth，or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.
We will keep in mind and remember that Barry Goldwater has faith in us.He has faith that you and I have the ability and the dignity and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny.
Thank you very much.
译文参考
抉择的时刻
——罗纳德·里根的竞选演讲
谢谢，非常感谢，晚上好，主办方已经确定了，但是与大多数的电视节目不同，这里不会给演员提供台词，所以我只能用我自己的语言来说一下，我是怎么看待数周之后的选举的。
我这辈子大部分的时间都是一名民主党员。直到最近，我才找到了一条比较适合我的路。我认为我们当前面临的是党派之间的问题。如今，另一半阵营告诉我们，本轮选举的主题是维护和平与繁荣。这话说的，“我们从来没有这么好过”。
令我感到不安的是当下的这个繁荣，那不是我们希望的未来。历史上没有任何一个国家可以让赋税占国民收入的三分之一，还要一直保持如此。但是如今，每赚一美元就有37美分要上交国库作为税收。而我们的政府每天都超支1700万美元。在过去34年间，有28年的财政预算就没有平衡过。在过去的一年里，我们已经把债务的上限提高了三倍。而如今，我们国家的债务现在是全世界国家总债务的1.5倍。而我们的国库只有150亿的黄金储量，但是里面却没有一盎司是属于我们的，外国储量已占去了273亿。正如我们刚刚说，现在一美元购买力总值只相当于1939年的4毛5分钱。
说到和平，我想知道的是，我们中间有没有人去了解那些士兵们的妻子和母亲们，他们的丈夫和孩子在越南牺牲了。你问问他们，是否到了无条件维护和平的时候了。他们不正意味着和平么？还是意味着我们只想要在伪和平中度日而已？如果还有一名美国人在世界某处为大家牺牲，就不能意味着真正和平的到来。我们现在遭遇的是人类有史以来最险恶的敌人。据说如果我们输掉战争，我们也将会失去自由。历史上会做这样的惊人记载，那些人之所以会一败涂地，是因为他们连最基本的阻击都没有做过。嗯，我认为是到了我们该扪心自问的时候了，我们是否确信知道那些先贤们为我们指明的自由之路。
不久前，我的两位朋友和一个古巴难民聊天，那个难民是当地的生意人，从卡斯特罗那里逃出来的。在古巴人述说他遭遇的时候，其中一个朋友对另一个说，“我们不知道我们有多幸运。”古巴人停了下来，说：“有多幸运？我只求有个地方避难，就行了。”他的这句话说明了一切。如果我们这里也失去了自由，那我们将无处可逃。因为这里是地球上最后的一片自由之地。
政府理应为人民服务，因为权力是由至高无上的人民所授予的，除此之外没有其他的来源。在人与人相处的历史长河中，这种理念仍然是最新、最独特的。
本轮选举的主题是：我们要相信自我管理的能力，还是要摒弃美国革命的理念，承认国会里有一小撮精英可以为我们的生活作计划，而且计划得比我们更好。
我和你们一样，被越来越多的人要求选择是左派还是右派。嗯，我想说的是，别管什么左派右派的。我们这里只有向上派或向下派：向上，这是人们古老的梦想，是个体自由的目标，它与法律和秩序是一致的。所谓向下，就是像工蚁一样，甘愿自己被极权主义压在底层，不管真心诚意也好，或是出于人道主义也罢，他们都会以安全为由，出卖我们的自由，走上这条沉沦的道路。
在这个争夺选票的时刻，他们所说的“伟大社会”这番话，或者像几天前总统和我们所讲的，我们必须接受“政府进一步对于民事的干预”。要继续接受他们那含糊其辞，模凌两可的回答。我所讲的这一切，你们都能在报纸上看见。这些不是共和党的指控。比如说，他们说：“我们接受不民主的社会主义时，冷战就结束了。”还有的说，“争夺利润的激励制度已经过时了。应该由国家福利激励机制来取代。”或者说，“我们个人自由的传统体制无法解决20世纪的复杂问题”。参议员富布赖特在斯坦福大学说过，宪法已然过时了。他说总统是“我们的道德导师，是我们的领袖”，他说，他的工作被这篇限制权力的“古文”束缚了。应该给他更多的“自由”，让他能“尽心尽力地为我们做”他认为最好的事情。还有一位发言人，他是宾夕法尼亚州参议员克拉克，他直截了当把“自由主义”定义为“通过集权政府的所有权力来满足民众的物质需求”。