Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at Hillsdale College recently. What he said about freedom isn’t being said on anyone’s campaign trail.
He was raised by his grandfather and grandmother starting at age nine. He said, ‘They made me what I am today. I always take offense when I hear it said that Yale or some other institution is responsible.?
Hillsdale students questioned him about his book, My Grandfather’s Son. I especially liked his answer to the question, ‘What is the most important lesson you learned from your grandfather??
He told the students, ‘What my grandfather believed was that people had responsibilities, and that if they are left alone to fulfill their responsibilities, that is freedom. Honesty and responsibility, those are the things he taught.
‘It’s the same thing in a civil society. We’re too focused on the benefits of a civil society and we think too little about the obligations we have — the obligations to be civil, to learn about our history and our government, to conduct ourselves in a disciplined way, to help others, to take care of our homes. Too many conversations today have to do with rights and wants. There is not enough talk about responsibilities and duties.?
Amen!
You don’t, and will not hear, talk like this on any of the campaign trails. Today it’s promises. Shades of Teddy Roosevelt, ‘A chicken in every pot!?? Or, the guy who promised, ‘Two cars in every garage.? (Today that would have to be three cars.)
Now, the newspapers and airways are filled with office seekers promising total and complete medical care all the way to interment.
‘What industry can’t afford to do, I promise you my administration can.?
I’m sure I heard one of them promise me free lottery tickets with 90 to 10 chances to win every week.
Health care and education are not your responsibility, they are your government’s. It’s not your duty, it’s the government’s.
Repeat it often enough, as attributed to Hitler, and people will come to believe it. So, the giving story is repeated often, with the ‘how you going to pay for it?? never being brought up.
And, the food keeps being eaten, then some not-so-good food enters, and the result is pain only relieved by an enema. Be ready by having accepted your responsibilities.
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After that serious stuff you deserve my kind of relief: Horses can’t vomit, butterflies taste with their feet, most lipstick contains fish scales and in every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
? It’s physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.
? The ‘sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick? is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
? Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
? If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U. S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?
(That one reminds me of our Department of Natural Resources law outlawing killing cougars, while at the same time it said none existed in Michigan.)
? It’s physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
? 23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.
? The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
? Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
? Almost everyone who reads this will try to lick their elbow.