The "Why so?" of this quotation comes from the rest of it: "We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

Our children will develop a set of personal values. It is natural, we have all done it. The questions is whose values, those of their families or those of the people they regularly come in contact with, whether their friends, their teachers, or the media they watch and listen to regularly.

We must teach the next generation what freedom really is and is not. To me, freedom is the ability, if we work for it, to have the opportunity to be the person we wish to be, to go where we want to go, to live where we wish to live, say what we wish to say, and associate with those we want to associate without government interference or fear of retribution.

It is not our being able to get whatever we want, at the expense of others, and having someone else pay for it. It is not being told what we can say and not say, what food to eat, car to buy, house to live in, or which career we will pursue. Using business terminology, it is a decentralized management approach where decisions are made at the lowest possible level, the family or the individual rather than a one size fits all top down model.

As parents and grandparents, we must pass our values on to the next generation. This does not come through demanding adherence. Rather, it comes from taking time to explain what we believe and, most importantly, why we believe, most times over and over again throughout life.

We live in the greatest country ever known to man. We need to do our part to preserve and improve it for future generations. We do this by, not only passing down our values but also, what we have learned in life. This is continuous improvement, always learning, always improving, and teaching those who come after us all about it.

What are your values? What are you doing to pass them on to the next generation.

Jim