President's Message
Saving Freedom is Worthwhile Cause
August 2, 2002
This past Spring I had the great opportunity to attend the
Cato Institute's 25th anniversary gala in Washington, DC.
What a great time--and great sign of progress! Nearly 2,000
freedom lovers gathered to celebrate the scholarly and effective
work of the Cato Institute--one of the country's most widely
cited think tanks.
At the event, someone asked me if we (as a nation) are really
making progress in restoring our freedoms. My response was
that while liberty is spreading in some areas, we are not
advancing fast and far enough when it comes to health care.
In that area, we have lost many freedoms over the past 30
years and we are losing our privacy, too. I responded that
we still have quite a way to go, but that every step in the
right direction--no matter how small--is ever so much better
than standing still or moving backwards. I shared the story
about the young girl who was trying to save starfish from
dying. The story goes something like this (there are many
different versions, with author unknown):
Early one morning, an elderly man was walking along the seashore
when he spotted a young girl swiftly moving along the beach,
picking up starfish that had been stranded on the shore, throwing
them back into the ocean. He approached the girl and asked
what she was doing. "I'm saving the starfish," she said eagerly.
The man, glancing at the shore, turned to the girl and said,
"There are thousands of starfish stranded on the beach. You
can't save them all and one little girl is not going to make
a difference." The girl thought about this for a moment, then
she reached down and picked up a starfish, tossed it into
the ocean, and said, "But I saved that one. And I'm sure I
made a difference for that one."
Thinking about this story, I can only imagine what our current
laws would be like without the fine work of all the freedom
lovers in this country who are working endlessly to restore
our lost liberties. At times it appears that the tide is moving
in a direction that is going to destroy many more of our precious
liberties. It helps to realize that tides come and go, but
our commitment to defend freedom to our greatest ability at
any given moment is a worthwhile cause. Saving one freedom
is ever so much better than giving up because the tide appears
so powerful and there are too many freedoms that need to be
saved.
Sue Blevins
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