Thursday, March 28, 2024

How Can We Unite a Divided America? Talk to Each Other…

This article is part of series focusing on Lens of Liberty, a project of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation.

It’s been awhile since Americans have seen this level of social unrest and division. One would be hard pressed to find a nightly news program without at least one clip of intense protests, flag burnings, black-masked Antifa members assaulting cops, or even the KKK and neo-nazis.

All of this division and controversy has sparked a new debate over freedom of speech.

In a Liberty Minute entitled “Talk to Each Other,” Helen Krieble implores all Americans to discuss current events with their families friends and neighbors, rather than attempting to involve the government to solve all our problems:

Many of us grew up in families where the dinner table conversation often centered on the day’s events, national news, and politics.

Sadly, many families have gotten away from that great tradition—too busy with their hectic daily schedules. That’s one reason when people see something wrong, they instinctively say “there should be a law.”

Looking to government to solve all our problems, but if we look through the lens of liberty, we see that the first step toward change is talking to each other. To our families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We always find others who agree, and that is how grassroots activism begins.

In America, that is how change begins, not in the White House, but in your house.

In the tumultuous times that we currently live in, Krieble’s words could not be more apt. Unfortunately, dinner table conversations and friendly debate have given way to vitriol and division.

There are ways that we, as Americans, can come together to solve our problems peacefully, and without ceding any more rights and privileges to government. However, it seems as if cultural elites are hellbent on making sure this doesn’t happen, and our elected officials are too afraid to condemn the violence and hatred on both sides.

American families need to instill in their children the values that encourage open discussion and healthy debate, and the best place for these discussions is at the family dinner table. Talk with your spouse. Talk with your kids. Talk to your neighbors. Get involved in your school boards. Put down the cell phones. Turn off the televisions. Log off of social media. Engage in your community.

We’ve all become isolated in our own ways, whether we realize it or not. We have to stop this regression. United we stand, divided we fall.

Through the lens of liberty, we know that we can solve our own problems as friends and neighbors, without the need for heavy-handed government interference.

Photo credit: Karla Cote via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0

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