The Final Frontier...
I'm gonna get artsy on you guys in my next post, tying up the recounting of my trip to San Juan. But, before I go there, I wanted to post this amazing quote that I ran across in my friend Amy's senior thesis about wanderlust and the American myth of the frontier. In his acceptance of the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1960, John F. Kennedy said,
"But I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. Beyond that frontier are...unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric..."
When was the last time Americans heard a speech like that from a leading politician? I, for one, am fed up with our settling for good intentions and rhetoric rather than taking the sacrificial actions necessary to take on war, ignorance, prejudice, and poverty. I looove to talk about these things, but don't do nearly enough.
Thanks for documenting such a fine speech and letting your dorky friend read your senior thesis, Amy.
*Edit: Ah, the dangers of quoting out of context! Reading just one paragraph further brought this juicy tidbit of irony. Amy says,
"However, after his acceptance speech, Kennedy only used the frontier metaphor explicitly when talking about 'the uncharted areas of science and space.'"
How's that for good intentions and high rhetoric?
"But I tell you the New Frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. Beyond that frontier are...unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink back from that frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric..."
When was the last time Americans heard a speech like that from a leading politician? I, for one, am fed up with our settling for good intentions and rhetoric rather than taking the sacrificial actions necessary to take on war, ignorance, prejudice, and poverty. I looove to talk about these things, but don't do nearly enough.
Thanks for documenting such a fine speech and letting your dorky friend read your senior thesis, Amy.
*Edit: Ah, the dangers of quoting out of context! Reading just one paragraph further brought this juicy tidbit of irony. Amy says,
"However, after his acceptance speech, Kennedy only used the frontier metaphor explicitly when talking about 'the uncharted areas of science and space.'"
How's that for good intentions and high rhetoric?