By JOEL GEHRKE (@JOELMENTUM) • 5/14/16 8:32 PM
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged college graduates who seek to “preserve liberty” to do so by fulfilling the duties of their daily vocations rather than attempting to achieve sweeping political goals.
“At the risk of understating what is necessary to preserve liberty in our form of government, I think more and more that it depends on good citizens, discharging their daily duties in their daily obligations,” Thomas said Saturday during a commencement address at Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts college in Michigan.
Thomas lamented various aspects of contemporary society, especially with regard to colleges and universities. He diagnosed what he regards as a contemporary tendency to take pride in having “grievances rather than personal conduct” and to focus on individual rights as citizens, rather than responsibilities. “Hallmarks of my youth such as patriotism and religion seem more like outliers, if not afterthoughts,” Thomas said.
