TO BRING US TOGETHER

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #425

My longtime and great friend Judge Andy Guilford (Ret.) gave me a suggestion for a 2 Paragraphs piece which provides suggestions about how we can better brings ourselves together as a country. And here they are:

• Support and promote volunteerism;
• Oppose special interest politics and politicians who seek to divide us;
• Support parties beyond the two existing parties (I particularly like this one . . .);
• Celebrate Washington and Lincoln birthdays;
• Declared July “Pride in American Values Month;”
• Replace income tax with taxing the second transfer of inherited wealth;
• Resist legacy college admissions;
• Stop the interference of government entities into the press and campuses;
• Elevate the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you;
• Make a few old-time classic movies that elevate American values;
• Use gender-neutral words;
• Support Federalism;
• Support a non-activist US Supreme Court;
• Celebrate the genius of our Founding Documents;
• When teaching American history include the bad along with the good;
• Don’t overdo Critical Race Theory;
• Fly the American flag on appropriate holidays;
• Stand for the National Anthem;
• Return to the end of Presidential Speeches: “And God Bless America;”
• Don’t let singers at events dishonor the National Anthem;
• Don’t support athletes who dishonor the American flag;
• Start school and other events with the National Anthem;
• Oppose reparations; and,
• End Affirmative Action, after all of these years.

I agree with Andy’s approach. He, like I and most people, understands that our country has some deep blemishes in our history, certainly including slavery, Jim Crow laws, internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the way we treated our Native Americans, wrongful government taking of property and more, but we basically have been moving in the direction of Liberty. (In fact that was the theme of the YouTube show two friends and I created and broadcast, which was called “Becoming America: America is a Perfect Idea; the United States of America is a Work in Progress,” which I believe captures the essence of who we are as a country. You can hear all of the 19 episodes through my website at www.JudgeJimGray.com.) As such I believe we were a better country 20 years ago than we were 30 years ago, and we are a better country now than we were 20 years ago. But with both the divisiveness and increasing culture of victimization now permeating our society it is not really clear whether we will be a better country 10 years from now unless each of us takes steps to change our direction. So please give this situation some thought, select some of Andy’s suggestions and add some of your own and then not only practice them but spread the word to your children, friends and other contacts to help bring all of us Americans together! Because that is fundamentally who we are – from the beginning: “E Pluribus Unum” – out of many, one!

Quote for the week: “Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.“ Hermann Hesse