“I’m Ben Carson and I’m a candidate for President of the United States.” With those words, the retired neurosurgeon electrified a crowd at Music Hall for Performing Arts in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
“America remains a place of dreams and a lot of people are down on our nation and they want to point out all the bad things that happened here,” Carson said, adding a lot of people are trying to get into America, but not a lot are trying to escape. “That says something.”
He said he believes government has a limited role defined by the Founding Fathers.
“The government was to respond to the will of the people,” Carson explained. “We’ve allowed the whole thing to be turned upside down.”
“I think the government as described in our Constitution is wonderful,” he said. “I have no desire to get rid of safety nets for people who need them. I have a strong desire to get rid of programs that create dependency in able bodied people.”
He said by taking care of people and creating a dependent class, the government isn’t doing people a favor. Carson said socialists do this, but all these societies end up looking the same with a small group of elite at the top controlling everything and a vastly expanding poor class.
“That was not the intention of this country,” Carson said.
He said he believes the real problem in America is that individuals are losing hope and don’t believe there is a better way to get what they desire. “Stop being loyal to a party or a man,” Carson said. “Think for yourself.”
“I think it’s time for the people to rise up and take the government back.”