Meet The Challenges by Stephen Breyer

Stephen Breyer - Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court

As a whole, the Constitution gives us the freedom to choose; it does not tell us what to choose. Rather it forces us, as a community, to choose democratically how we will solve our nation’s problems. It therefore requires our participation, for without that, our Constitution and our country cannot work.

You do face inner cities where the greatest threat to children’s lives is homicide; where drugs and crime are prevalent but education, jobs and hope are scarce. You do face the ever-shrinking world, with its growing populations and rapid development, with threats of terrorism and ethnic wars. You do face the cutting down of forests, the heating up of climate, the overfishing of the sea, which threaten our Earth’s environment. You do face the challenge of building a multiracial society. The challenges are there. And they are clear.

Society changes; notions of right and wrong may change to a degree, but only at the edges. We do know right from wrong; you do know right from wrong. Personal integrity – that rock – at the core remains the same. Let each choose a life of passion, action, integrity and participation.