We Need Personal and Societal Reform

Today is January 1 of a new year.  It’s important to remember personal and societal progress are not inevitable. 

Change, whether slow or rapid, will occur.  We can regress without diligent, intelligent, responsible decisions and actions.  Improvement requires our conscious attention.

Our core beliefs and cherished rights as a free nation are not self-executing.  We must live up to our ideals, if we are to be good stewards of liberty.  Future generations depend upon all of us.

Whatever our differences, they need to be acknowledged and addressed respectfully and honestly.  In the United States of America, we need to be more accepting of each other.  Public discourse amongst our so-called leaders is caustic and divisive.  We are dividing ourselves and pitting ourselves against each other through massive misinformation and deceit, and we refuse to engage in honest, respectful communication.

We refuse to engage in self-examination and assume our entrenched, absolute positions.  Whatever we lack in self-awareness and shortcomings, we need to seek out and admit to ourselves.  We must recognize our biases and rid ourselves of irrationality and disrespect of others different than us.

Wherever our country is broken, we must be open to reform.  To find what is broken, we have to admit our personal limitations and resist our pride and self-interest, both of which interfere with a responsible approach to a thoughtful, examined, meaningful life.