Cautiously hopeful

Daniel Jamison’s opinion piece, “Demographics are destiny …” in the April 18 issue of the Spokesman-Review, clearly captures the thesis that our steadily diversifying demographic is reducing the influence of white people in our country. This trend is both inevitable and irreversible.

I certainly hope, however, that the new demographic retains a few past practices that have proved in my estimation to be effective. First, I hope that advancement will still be based on merit. Any other approach would fail given our competitive world. Second, I hope that we do not use political machinations to destroy our two-party system and join such luminaries as Cuba, North Korea, Syria, China and Russia.

Third, I hope that the First Amendment be retained in its present form. Without these freedoms, we have nothing. Fourth, I hope that policing be improved but retained. There has never been a society in world history that I am aware of that did not have some type of policing function. And last, I hope that the nuclear family not be abandoned as a worthwhile goal.

To current, malicious critics of our country, I would simply quote the following from Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Ron Dugan

Spokane