2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #238 "THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE"

      Okay, what is the most important thing in life?  I know that’s a truly general question, so I will give you my one-word answer: Gratification.  Not power, love, prestige, success, money or fame, although one can get gratification from those things.  But gratification comes from the inner knowledge that the world is a somewhat better place because you have spent your span of years upon it.  This can occur by living an honest life, setting up programs to help those less fortunate, being involved in Saving the Whales or the Redwoods, or seeing one’s children grow up to be happy, well-adjusted and successful, etc.  And there is nothing better, particularly when that is combined with appreciation.

       Why bring these issues up now?  Because we are in the Season of Thanksgiving, which is truly one of the most important days of the year.  Why is that?  Because it is not a particularly commercialized occasion in which most of us get to spend time with family, enjoying each other’s company and being appreciative about what we have, where we live and who we are.  And that expressly includes being appreciative for our ability to live in the United States of America!  Just this past week I published my new book 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, which is composed of 180 of the more substantive editions of this 2 Paragraphs series.  And this country affords me the Liberty to spout off with my thoughts, which simply would not be true if I lived in places like China, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela.  I am thankful for that – and we all should be!  So Happy Thanksgiving, and as you pass the day with your family and friends, be extra appreciative, because that too brings gratification.

Story of the week: Have you heard about Old Ben?  He was a rooster on a chicken ranch which had about 100 hens, which they called pullets, and 10 roosters.  But the roosters were monitored by the owner to make sure they were “assisting” the hens so that they would lay eggs regularly.  (If they didn’t perform, they were soon placed in a frying pan and replaced by other roosters that would.)  But one day the owner decided to place little bells around the necks of his roosters so that he could monitor their involvement based upon the distinctive tone of each of the bells instead of having to go down to the yard.  For a few days he could tell that Old Ben was active, but soon Old Ben’s bell went silent.  So when the owner investigated, he found that Old Ben was taking the bell in his mouth so that it would not ring.  Then, particularly since the bells of the other roosters would warn the hens of their approach, he was able to have a field day with more of the hens.  The media soon found out about this sly Old Ben, which brought so much fame to him that he eventually was awarded the Nobel Piece Prize – and then later the Pullet Surprise!  Just thought you would want to know.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly 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.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on 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 entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #204 "THE GREEN BOOK"

        Easily one of the best movies I have ever seen is The Green Book, and I strongly recommend you see it as well.  The story is about a working-class Italian fairly racist bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) who becomes a driver on a concert tour from New York City through the Deep South for a truly refined and gifted African-American classical pianist (Mahershala Ali).  The title comes from a book called The Negro Motorist Green Book, which listed facilities like motels and restaurants in the South that would accommodate African Americans and, by 1962, it had a circulation of 2 million people.  But, as one reviewer said, this movie has family, culture, honesty, dignity, genius, respect, stereotypes, racism, music, class, friendship and fried chicken.  What I say is that it has character development almost beyond belief, and that it is simply laden with human and socially-redeeming value.  And, by the way, I understand that the fantastic piano playing was actually all performed by Mr. Ali, and who was born in Oakland!

        But why talk about a movie in this 2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty series?  Because it simply would never have been made except in a free society.  Repressive regimes like in Cuba, China or the former Soviet Union would never have allowed a movie depicting their police or people acting in such a racist and inhumane fashion!  Only with Liberty can artists truly create, publish and thrive in accordance with their own inner drives and desires, and we are all so much better off for it.  Only with Liberty would a film like this ever be allowed to be shown and openly discussed.  I’m sure that each one of us could come up with other similar examples, but my strong example is “The Green Book.”  If you don’t see it, you are missing a rare masterpiece! 

Quote for the week on a Father’s Day Card sent to me by my daughter: “Dad.  No matter what life throws at you, at least you don’t have ugly children.” 

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

By the way, these columns are now on 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.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #182 “CUBA NOW DESERVES LIBERTY”

     Way back in 1959 there was a popular uprising in Cuba against a ruthless and corrupt dictator named Fulgencio Batista, who had maintained power with the backing of the U.S. Government.  During his time in power it was widely known that Batista had forged a business partnership with the renowned gangsters Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano who had, for their part, turned Cuba into a veritable international drug and prostitution haven.  Yes, the revolution was led by Fidel Castro and, yes, when in power, Castro quickly formed a communist government that wrongly appropriated the land and assets of many innocent people.  And yes, as a result, our government immediately punished Cuba with economic sanctions and soon, in April of 1961, endorsed a failed military raid on the island that became a fiasco at the Bay of Pigs.  But that was long ago.

     Of course, since that time we have continued to punish Cuba with economic sanctions, even though we are virtually the only country on earth that continues to do so.  (And, ironically, this policy strongly helped to keep Castro in power, because he was always successfully able to blame almost everything that went wrong in his country on our sanctions.)  But at least with the fall of the Soviet Union, and Cuba’s incumbent loss of the subsidies that it received from that failed country, Cuba has increasingly turned to the Free Enterprise System.  And now with the death of Fidel, and his brother Raul transferring power to a new government, it is well past time for the United States to choose to stop punishing the people of Cuba with these sanctions.  Realistically Cuba poses no threat to the United States, and the People of Cuba are at least now entitled to Liberty!  And we should all do our part to make it so.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Quote of the week: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that

matter.”                                       

-Dr. Martin Luther King 

By the way, these columns are now on 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!