Article August 18, 1997 Issue

Virtue and the free society

by Kim Shippey

IMPRIMIS

American business executive Jeb Bush has proposed some old-fashioned remedies for the moral dilemmas of our age. He is chairman of a nonprofit organization, Foundation for Florida's Future, and was speaking in Oklahoma City at one of Hillsdale College's seminars, "Educating for Virtue: The New Values Revolution." Here are excerpts from his speech:

Only a virtuous people can secure and maintain their freedom. . . . Virtue is indeed the oxygen of a free society. As it fills our lungs, we become a people of strength capable of vigorously exercising the kind of self-governance that our Founding Fathers expected of us. Without virtue, however, there can be no self-governance. We become strangled and weak, incapable of handling our own day-to-day affairs. . . .

Without virtue, we turn to nationalized health care, V-chips for every television set, metal detectors in all public schools, volunteers paid by the government to volunteer. . . .

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Want to reach us?
August 18, 1997
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit