US Ambassador Speaks at Wollundry Rotary
Posted by Paul J Murray
on Dec 11, 2012
The guest speaker at the Tuesday Dec 11th Wollundry Rotary club meeting was Jeffrey Bleich, American Ambassador to Australia. Mr Bleich and his wife Rebecca came to Wagga Wagga as guests of the Australian American Association and were hosted by Paul and Carolyn Murray.
As a "recovering lawyer" Mr Bleich made some very interesting comments on law and how it related to society, suggesting that the more laws there were the less free the society in which we live.
When we pass laws he said, we are showing that something in our social code is not strong enough. We shouldn't need a law against littering, or discrimination or animal cruelty. Good behaviour and mutual respect have created large zones of peace in our world. With America, the fact that we have very few agreements means that we do have a great friendship and mutual respect for each other. Clubs such as Rotary have done much to foster this.
He went on to say that as important as Diplomacy is, as important as the Law is, the values of service are where all our futures rest. The speech was very well received by the Club with a standing ovation. John Gray gave the vote of thanks and a bottle of great Wagga Wagga olive oil.