WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 435

As I have expressed before in this series, I fear that our Great Country today is lacking leadership in the areas that our Founders built our country upon and that have continued to make us strong. And what are those? Of course from the Bill of Rights, certainly including Freedom of Speech, Religion, Association and the rest, but also the Freedom to live our lives without undue interference from government. Regretfully, as a country we continue to get more polarized, and most of our governments are becoming increasingly more involved in our lives. In addition, our governments are spending so much money that it is putting our children and grandchildren’s futures at risk. Thus I believe that our Founders would be truly upset with us for allowing these things to happen!

So where should we go from here? Back to traditional values. For example, and I take this from a speech given by President Reagan in 1988 in Moscow to an audience of college students:

“Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. It is the continuing revolution of the marketplace. It is the understanding that allows us to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions. It is the right to put forth an idea, scoffed at by the experts, and watch it catch fire among the people. It is the right to follow your dream, or stick to your conscience, even if you’re the only one in a sea of doubters.”

In other words, we must go back to what works. And what is that? Lowering our voices but openly, honestly and fully discussing the issues of our day with each other (and listening when other people attempt to do that with us). And, in so doing, we must remember that we are dealing with human beings regarding all of issues before us, including immigration, criminal justice (including offenders, victims and taxpayers), the politization of our electoral districts by gerrymandering, and the attacks upon our Judicial System. In other words, we should all appreciate our good fortune to live in this country, and should also understand that we could very well lose what has made it great by our polarization and lack of respect for people with different points of view. Let us all please act accordingly!

(NOTICE: As you know, I have written this 2 Paragraphs series for the past 433 weeks, and I will continue to do so. But starting now I am going to cut back a bit and not provide an edition each week. In short, you will keep receiving them, but not every week. Thank you for understanding, and Best Wishes to All of our 2 Paragraphs Family!)

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President

Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely issues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.