For The Tribune
Author, retired neurosurgeon and conservative leader Ben Carson spoke to a crowd of more than 1,400 community leaders and concerned citizens at the Alabama Policy Institute annual dinner last week about the need to move forward from the current win or lose mentality in politics and to begin working for reasonable, conservative solutions to the nation’s problems.
“We have to embrace a dialogue where we can disagree with one another and not consider one another an enemy,” Carson said. “In our efforts to address the issues that face the United States, we cannot be offended, and we cannot be uninformed.”
Carson discussed the role that education can and must play in the development of youth, and how education carried him from abject poverty to his role as a leading conservative voice.
Ben Carson speaks at last week’s annual dinner.
photo courtesy of Alabama Policy Institute
Carson encouraged attendees to not be offended and not be distracted from U.S. issues. He challenged them to speak their minds and to weigh in on the debates about education, health care and equitable taxation in America.
“In order to put our nation back on track, we have to be willing to talk about the problems that plague our nation,” he said. “All of you have to lead that very necessary dialogue and propel us toward policies that provide real solutions to the issues our communities face.”
Carson is an emeritus professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for more than 25 years. He’s also the author of “America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great.”
