2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #101 “With Liberty And Justice For All”

                I will fly my flag today, as it is a celebration of Martin Luther King’s Birthday.  Dr. King stood then, and still stands today, as a representative of Liberty and Justice for all.  As such, I salute him.  As brought home by the current movie “Hidden Figures,” it was not that long ago, the 1960s, when numbers of places in our great country still had “Colored” bathrooms, drinking fountains and even coffee pots.  Now we look back in wonder, but it was Dr. King who literally led the march and stood for a society that treats everyone equally.  And in so doing, he caused millions of Americans to understand the wrongfulness of segregation.

It is truly difficult to change the direction of an ocean liner, and it takes time, distance and energy.  The same thing is true with cultures.  To my discredit, I still remember thinking and even saying in the early 1960s when I was at UCLA that “negroes should be patient in pursuing their civil rights” (I know myself pretty well, and totally doubt that if I had been black, I would have been patient), and accepting what the adult advisor of our fraternity told us was the rule that we couldn’t recruit any members who would not be accepted by all of our chapters nationwide (i.e. no Blacks of Jews).  I deeply regret my acquiescence.  So today, in remembrance of Dr. King, his spirit and all of the great things that he still represents, let each of us in our everyday lives reaffirm and continue to cultivate in our own way our great nation’s heritage of Liberty and Justice for all!  Amen!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #100 “The Liberty To Move Forward”

                Several things to celebrate.  First, this is the 100^th edition of our “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty,” and I thank you for your interest in stimulating and promoting thought and discussion on the issues of our day.  That is the express goal of this series, and every time I get feedback and hear that recipients have forwarded these articles on to more people, I feel that our goal is being realized.  Second, this is a New Year, and it will certainly be an interesting one.  But throughout all of the recent elections and commentaries I continue to be reminded that, in a republic like ours, we get the government we deserve.  So it is genuinely our responsibility to keep our hands on the reins of government by continuing to be engaged.

                With those thoughts in mind, we must decide how best to move forward.  Should we protest new developments where the old and outdated businesses and interests are being threatened?  Or should we face change (and reality), and actually embrace it?  Yes, technology, computers and robots are causing lost jobs, but automation also brings new and often more interesting jobs.  So far computers still need maintenance, and still do not have social skills.  In fact they need armies of support staff and technicians.  Foreign trade does take away some jobs, but it also creates and sustains others.  (Plus it provides consumers with lower cost and higher quality goods.)  And we will always need creative people in all phases of our lives, including work in medicine, the arts and personal assistance for our aging population, not to mention work with three-dimensional printing and aeroponic food production.  All of these results are consistent with Liberty (as well as reality).  So as we begin this interesting new year, let’s all resolve to embrace the changes and new challenges that will certainly come with it. Life is Good!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, 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.

 

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2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #99 “The Liberty To Be Left Alone”

            Clint Eastwood once said that “I don’t see myself as conservative, but I’m not ultra-leftist. You build a philosophy of your own. I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live.”  That was also the basic belief of our Founding Fathers, who literally believed that the most important feature of government is to secure individual liberties.  (The second most important is to keep us secure from foreign threats and from each other.)  Therefore, government should set up police, military and judicial systems to keep us safe, enforce voluntary contracts and warranties, and provide a system that encourages accurate information to be placed in the marketplace so that we adults can make informed decisions.  So of course the government will need to tax us for those necessary activities.  But otherwise, government should basically leave us alone.

Inevitably there are always people who use their positions of wealth or power to tell us how to live.  If that is done by persuasion, fine – but if is done by government power, it is not, unless our actions wrongly affect other adults to have the Liberty to live their lives as they choose.  Creating a dependence upon government not only robs people of their self-esteem, it also robs them of their incentives and their drive to be successful.  Yes, we should have a safety net below which people should not fall, not because we have to, but because that is who we are.  But otherwise people’s needs should be met by the people themselves.  (Of course, this can and will be augmented by the voluntary assistance of others.)  This is the system that is in our nation’s genes (i.e. our Constitution), and this is what works. So once again philosophy and pragmatism are successfully combined in Liberty. Happy New Year!

 

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, 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.

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