Wednesday.....Culture.....Alert And Knowledgeable Citizenry

Forty-nine years and one week ago John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as the nation's 35th President but it was the speech of the day before that I would like to comment on here. Farewell speeches are sometimes remembered more than any speeches of that person while in office or authority. Dwight David Eisenhower's farewell speech has been quoted often. It was given on January 17th, 1961. Short and solemn, he said I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all, but lamented that with a definite sense of disappointment.....he could only "wish" I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight. He saw the world threatened by the conflict now engulfing [it.] Describing Communism as a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method he saw the conflict as being of indefinite duration. Eisenhower was prescient in foreseeing two potential threats in the immediate future of that day, his comments taking many by surprise. Stating first that a vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Admitting that we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions, it was his warning on the potential abuse of this new industry that has drawn so many to quote him today. We must not fail to apprehend its grave implications he began and continued In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. Eisenhower's wisdom was evident in this, WE SHOULD TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED, ONLY AN ALERT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE CITIZENRY CAN COMPEL THE PROPER MESHING OF THE HUGE INDUSTRIAL AND MILITARY MACHINE OF DEFENSE WITH OUR PEACEFUL METHODS AND GOALS, SO THAT SECURITY AND LIBERTY MAY PROSPER TOGETHER. There was another warning the retiring President gave that day, The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present-and is gravely to be regarded. Dwight Eisenhower saw the potential of the university becoming, primarily, a tool of government. What he did not see was it, all too often, becoming a tool of an ideology; not "serving" society, but being served and "enjoying the best seats in the symposiums" to paraphrase a biblical verse. Eisenhower knew and warned that we must avoid the impulse to live only for today and that we cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. He was not too timid to admit the possibility of the demise of democracy itself where it would become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. He concluded his farewell with a prayer and this advice, you and I-my fellow citizens-need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations' great goals. The essence of President Eisenhower's message then and applicable today is that men with power and influence are vulnerable to abusing those benefits. The criticisms that we are hearing on this administration and media today primarily concerns the abuse of these "powers", and should the Republican Party return to power, the admonition to be an alert and knowledgeable citizenry will remain.