My first attempt at politics was running for president in 1988. While unqualified for the job, I was able to write some things that were true. One was, “If you elect one more president who doesn’t love you, you will no longer be living in a free country.”

Thirty years later, I can tell you exactly why we have lost more of our freedoms year after year, no matter who was in office or what party was in control. First, we didn’t keep our eye on the ball. Second, most don’t even know what the “ball” is, and finally, we almost never vote for anyone who does know what the “ball” is.

Unfortunately, we were poorly educated and grossly misinformed about how to be responsible citizens. We don’t know where to focus our attention in order to become citizens living in a free and just society. And that’s why our elected and unelected officials don’t either, for it is no longer part of their culture — assuming it ever was.

Few, if any, of our elected or unelected officials, even know what their job is. Americans will only vote for someone they think can win, not someone who strives to strives to keep their word. To honor their oaths of office they would have to understand what the following six words mean and attempt to live by them: truth, honor, dignity, compassion, courage, and love.

That’s what we should be voting for in our leaders and looking for in ourselves. If we never vote for what we believe in or don’t know what to believe in or what to strive for, we will never live in a free and just society.

— Mark Goldman