Why don't we live the values we preach?

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday last Monday has kept me thinking of the phrase: Freedom is not a state of tranquility; that the rights won once must be fought over and over again. That has been the history of our nation, and the framers of our Constitution assumed that it would always be the case. As a columnist, I have tried to bring to the public's attention what I see as some of the serious problems we face, such as the current legislative effort to repeal the Utah law allowing non-citizen children to pay in-state college tuition.

Long ago I learned (often the hard way) that there is not "the" solution, rather several — only limited by our own imagination and version of reality. As a former college professor teaching graduate students about social change, I tried to teach how to analyze problems and seek solutions. I shared with them my youthful mistakes in trying to solve social problems. Back when I knew it all, my approach was, "The only way is to ... yes, but," then walk away in a self-righteous way thinking how ill informed was the other person (some say I haven't changed). I tried to teach students that when we commit ourselves to one point of view, we limit ourselves to one solution. How we define the problem is how we define the solution. I soon discovered one way to teach them about solving problems was to have them think about the then-popular song "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" — "make a new plan, Stan ... get on the bus, Gus ... no need to be coy, Roy ... just get yourself free."

As I write, I try to be aware that my own life experiences influence how I see the world. Having been born, raised and educated in this community, and like others born here of immigrant parents, I am able to view our society through different prisms. One of the more difficult problems we face is the polarization of our citizens over illegal immigration. And, as I point out the various sides of the issue, I have received some mean-spirited comments such as, "Why don't you go back to Mexico?" and "What part of illegal don't you understand?" My response is that I do understand what is legal and what is not. What I don't understand is why some seem to pick and choose which laws they enforce and which they ignore; why they espouse to uphold the common values taught in our homes, schools and places of worship, yet fail to live their lives accordingly. And why some of our elected leaders find it hard to live up to the moral and ethical standards people expect from their leaders.