Recently, as I left the office of a doctor I’d just met through a referral, I felt a genuine sense of hope for my Country’s future after an informal chat with this particular physician. At some point, after our initial greeting, our talk settled upon today’s events, but with an actual easy and respectful dialogue between a Democrat and a Trumper. This exchange, in addition to his old-school doctoring, was certainly a pleasant surprise.
I mention this since open dialogue is where it’s at. Instead of today’s public disconnect and push-button anger, our curious nature is held back without an open mind. Reclaiming both could and should lead once again to a polite and respectful public exchange of ideas and positions. This reclamation is a must, especially when considering the alternative.
Later I thought about how, given our opposite beliefs, we were able to converse so easily. I realized how rare this was and what might happen if neutrality could be valued again.
The main obstacle to what I consider so beneficial was a Charley Reese commentary, appearing in the Orlando Sentinel back in 2000. He wrote about a survey of 55 leading colleges and universities, including Harvard and Princeton, with student scores of D and F from a “34-question American history test.” Naturally, this lack of understanding will denounce my belief that America’s neutrality still can be had from her Founding Era, but it’s a period that’s been tested, proven, and still remains applicable! So, why not try?
The good doctor and I proved that a thoughtful exchange of ideas, rather than these emotional verbal protests, still works. The Founder’s beliefs have been proven and still offer our remedy. The following quotes could form a monument, a foundation to own, protect, and preserve. At the very least, they are not irrelevant, just very neutral!
George Washington; If citizens take liberty for granted, if our culture – molded by journalists and writers, preachers and teachers – holds other values in higher esteem, then the spirit that gives life to the Constitution will flicker out.”
James Madison; “The latent causes of faction are sown in the nature of man.
Benjamin Franklin; “For when you offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty.” Also; “Think what you do when you run into debt; you give another power over your liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson; If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”
Booker T. Washington; “There is a class of people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the black race before the public.”
Daniel Webster; “– hold on to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once may not happen again.”
