We must have hope

In eulogizing his brother Robert, forty-two years ago, Ted Kennedy quoted him, “There is discrimination in this world ... Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere ... few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence.

Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

Today, despite the passage of time, not a lot has changed.

Discrimination still rears its head in the continued denial of gay rights, and the rejection of American Muslims’ civil rights. Inequality continues to increase more than ever before, while in the name of national security, repression grows.

Three years ago, then Senator Barack Obama sought the office of the presidency, under the banner of hope and change, much as the Kennedy family sought to change the world for a better tomorrow in the 1960s.

Yet merely the idea of change in our society created a torrential backlash from some, perhaps confirming RFK’s words that “There are those in every land who would label as Communist every threat to their privilege. But may I say to you as I have seen on my travels in all sections of the world, reform is not communism.”

And despite President Obama’s stark contrast from Senator Obama, the hope for a better tomorrow through democratic, reasoned change remains an idea scorned by a section of the population.

This is the section who sees no conflict between mocking the change Senator Obama spoke of, and immediately crying for change once Senator Obama was elected president.

Though their change was a return to their government, it was not a true change.

Those who now seek their own version of “change” are the people whom RFK called “those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas.”

Though President Obama and Senator Obama are starkly contrasting figures, we must not let the voices of greed, fear and paranoia dominate the dialogue.

To live in fear of the future by propping up a false image of the past cannot advance society.

If President John F. Kennedy or the current President had today stated the words “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country...” the response might well have been “I’ve got mine, screw you.”

Freedom is more than merely the rights to accumulate firearms and wealth.

Society cannot advance if at every turn, every attempt to so much as vocalize the burden on the less well-off is irrationally decried as a communist or fascist takeover.

As Ted Kennedy spoke of Robert in eulogy, “...he has tried to engender a social conscience. There were wrongs which needed attention. There were people who were poor and needed help. And we have a responsibility to them and to this country.”

Wrongs still exist, people are still in need of help, and it is our responsibility to help each other.

To attempt to right wrongs, to change the path we are headed on, is not communist.

It is not a threat to our society, but the belief that we must work together to create a better world.


E-mail: mrstraw@indiana.edu