(no subject)
So, let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
--John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963.
I’ve found myself chanting the last few lines in my head like a mantra these past few days. Sure, JFK was talking about the US and the USSR, but nowadays the rift between liberals and conservatives, the coast and the heartland, left-wing and right-wing, seems about as wide and as stark.
God, sometimes it’s just so much easier to call the other side flaming idiots and have done with it [I know I’ve been guilty of that lately (see previous entry) - it’s and understandable knee-jerk reaction for me to assume that people that disagree with what I consider to be well-reasoned opinions (hey, of course they’re well-reasoned! I came up with them, didn’t I? :)) are morons], but I’m thinking that if we have any hope as a country - and if I have any hope of surviving the next four years with sanity intact - I’m going to need to do my part by looking for some common ground. It’s gotta be there somewhere...
I love this whole speech, but especially the above snippet. I wish we had politicians today who could give a speech and make me feel the same sort of hope and purpose that JFK’s stuff does, even 40 years later. Though Obama does come close...
--John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963.
I’ve found myself chanting the last few lines in my head like a mantra these past few days. Sure, JFK was talking about the US and the USSR, but nowadays the rift between liberals and conservatives, the coast and the heartland, left-wing and right-wing, seems about as wide and as stark.
God, sometimes it’s just so much easier to call the other side flaming idiots and have done with it [I know I’ve been guilty of that lately (see previous entry) - it’s and understandable knee-jerk reaction for me to assume that people that disagree with what I consider to be well-reasoned opinions (hey, of course they’re well-reasoned! I came up with them, didn’t I? :)) are morons], but I’m thinking that if we have any hope as a country - and if I have any hope of surviving the next four years with sanity intact - I’m going to need to do my part by looking for some common ground. It’s gotta be there somewhere...
I love this whole speech, but especially the above snippet. I wish we had politicians today who could give a speech and make me feel the same sort of hope and purpose that JFK’s stuff does, even 40 years later. Though Obama does come close...