Thanks, Bruce Allen, for Your Critique

What are we trying to do here at the Herald? We are trying to foster a range of discussions within this community. When we get letters to the editor which challenge us, we welcome them. A great flow of different ideas is what this county needs to address its declining population; an influx of well-reasoned and well thought out ideas is essential. 
Last week Bruce Allen wrote a letter to the editor titled “County’s Unattractive to Young, Bright.” He made some good points but also points that I would like to address.
Many people have doubts about old ideas just because they’re ‘old,’ but others seem to cling to old ideas for that very reason. Conservatism itself is not even necessarily a good thing; if the old ideas are bad, what good does it do to keep them? So, there needs to be a constant evaluation of any idea or belief to see if it is worth holding onto.
Conservatism is largely contextual; to be a conservative, as Bruce Allen pointed out in his letter, is to be skeptical of sweeping change and is to refer back to long-standing tradition. But if you lived in North Korea, maybe that standing tradition isn’t quite worth safeguarding.
Here in America, I like to think our ideas and traditions have served us very well. That being stated, it is always helpful to challenge and to think deeply about why some of us still cling to conservative ideas. Few ideas are completely sacred, and if new ones come around that are better than the last, I welcome them. The conservative’s qualm with new ideas is that many of them are yet unproven.
It is unconstructive to make a sweeping statement that all conservatives believe in “old myths,” and that conservatives do not engage in “educated analysis” and “intelligent discussion.” Sweeping generalizations about entire swathes of people are not helpful in promoting discussion, and statements like this are just as unhelpful as disparaging all Democrats or liberals because one’s life experiences don’t support that viewpoint.
While I often believe in the ideas found in the Wall Street Journal opinion pages, the Heritage Foundation, etc., we would highly value contrary opinions. We value letters to the editor to the Herald and encourage people to write in and to voice those opposing views; to that end, we wish that Bruce Allen would write more often. It is never good to have a singular voice, singing a song with only one note. 
Cape May County should not be an echo-chamber nor should it be a place where young people feel out of place because of a perception that the county is intellectually insular. Cape May County should strive to be a place where ideas of all stripes are respectively considered, even by those who disagree.
It is not healthy for the county to have only one perspective in discussion as we face the full range of issues before us, but I will also not shy away from writing about what I see as good and true. I have my perspective, but this community needs a full range of viewpoints both to achieve our potential and to attract our nation’s youngest and brightest.