JFK: A Message to a Nation in Crises
In 1962 the US was threatened by the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal and dominance of space and by political turmoil at home that threatened to throw us back into another Civil War. On September 12 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University intended to inspire the nation to unite in the face of both staggering technological advancement and unprecedented global tensions. His words are as relevant now, 62 years later, as they were then. In part, he said:
We meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.
We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. . .
We choose to [do these things] not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win. . .
Kennedy was asking Americans to come together during a time when the Soviets were arming Cuba with nukes, the Freedom Riders and other anti-segregationists were being brutally beaten by white supremacists, and the Supreme Court was accused of bias as they forced the University of Mississippi to end its segregation policies. Kennedy appealed to the nation to rise above negativity and unite to accomplish what most thought was impossible.
The [do these things] above replaces his actual words of “go to the moon in this decade and do the other things.” The President was asking Americans to finance and support a space program that would defy all probability and attempt to send an astronaut to the moon in less than ten years. At that time, the US was losing the space race to its Cold War enemies. The Soviet Union had launched the first artificial satellite almost four years earlier and sent Yuri Gagarin soaring into space, the first person ever to accomplish such a feat. JFK spoke with passion about the urgency of his proposed program and emphasized that “only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war.” Although he did not live to see it happen, Kennedy's dream materialized in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Against all probability, it had taken less than a decade.
Kennedy proved that it is possible to accomplish the “impossible.” He understood that history is written by those who defy probability. As a student of the American Revolution, he often cited the victory of a ragtag American army against the most powerful military in the world in the mid 1700s as proof. The same spirit of surmounting overwhelming odds is crucial as we confront the crises facing us today. It is time to embrace that type of positive action now. It is time to defy probability at a moment when many:
believe the recent conviction of Donald Trump was unjust, and while others praise the jury for demonstrating the viability of the judicial system;
advocate US support of Israel, while others hold that the war against Hamas has reached criminal proportions;
believe the US should defend Ukraine, while others claim that Russia’s attacks are justified;
claim that vaccinations are part of a conspiracy while others see them as miracles of modern medicine;
insist that the last presidential election was stolen while others believe it was won fairly by President Biden;
believe that January 6 was an attack on US democracy, while others believe it was a legitimate expression of freedom of speech;
and on and on.
We in America are again arriving at a time of great confusion and discord. We threaten to self-destruct because we find ourselves caught up in divisive and vitriolic disagreements. We open the door to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran to take over world leadership because we wallow in partisan conflict.
This is the moment of truth. Are we a great nation or one that wallows in discontent? We face a crossroads that determines our future and that of the entire world.
To some it seems “impossible” to think we can come together to confront climate change, the growing dominance of China and its allies, and the problems created by a degenerative and outdated economic system. But now is not the time to give in to our baser instincts. Now is the time to defy probability and show the world that we can do the “impossible” once again. Let us in America “meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance,” and unite to take positive actions – “because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
It is time for Republicans and Democrats, despite their differences, to unite to make America truly great, to prove that our country will lead the world to a future generations will want to inherit.
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