“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” JFK, Inaugural Address, 1961
Despite generational differences in priorities, information sources, and modes of communication, a majority of Americans now say that a job in public service would be appealing. Yet, 60% of those under age thirty say they have never been asked to consider a job in government. However, if asked by their parents (33%) or the newly elected President in 2008 (29%), a significant share of Millennials say they would give such a request a great deal of consideration. In fact, the newly elected President in 2008 tops the list of motivators for those over thirty, with 30% saying they would give a great deal of consideration to this “ask.”
. . .
In addition, Millennials would also give a great deal of consideration to a job in government if asked by teachers or professors (27%) and other young people already working in government (22%).
The earliest Millenials are children of the 1980s, a decade of extreme excess and greed. After being brought up in a society that puts corporate profit ahead of a nation’s citizens, it’s no wonder Millennials respond well to being given permission to put fiscal profit on the back burner.
I bring up this study published last month because Sen. Obama filled in for Sen. Ted Kennedy at Wesleyan University’s commencement today. His speech focused on how graduates could serve their nation, and is worth a read in full. I’ve posted an abridged version below or you can watch the twenty minute video on YouTube.
. . . the history of this nation tells us . . . that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us –
by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both. . .
Each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the years to come. And I say “chance” because you won’t have to take it. There’s no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should by. You can choose to narrow your concerns and live your life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America’s.
But I hope you don’t. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, though you do have that obligation. Not because you have a debt to all those who helped you get here, though you do have that debt.
It’s because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story. . .
At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again. . .
And so, should you take the path of service, should you choose to take up one of these causes as your own, know that you’
ll experience frustrations and failures. Even your successes will be marked by imperfections and unintended consequences. I guarantee you, there will certainly be times when friends or family urge you to pursue more sensible endeavors with more tangible rewards. And there will be times when you are tempted to take their advice.
But I hope you’ll remember, during those times of doubt and frustration, that there is nothing naïve about your impulse to change this world. Because all it takes is one act of service – one blow against injustice –to send forth that tiny ripple of hope that Robert Kennedy spoke of.
You know, Ted Kennedy often tells a story about the fifth anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. He was there, and he asked one of the young Americans why he had chosen to volunteer. And the man replied, “Because it was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country.”
I don’t know how many of you have been asked that question, but after today, you have no excuses.
Sometimes all you have to do is ask. North Carolina Governor Easley learned that lesson last fall when he asked state residents to cut back on water consumption because of severe drought conditions. While the path of least resistance is often taken, some haven’t considered that the outcomes of the harder path might contribute to a greater good, that can’t be measured at the outset, as well as start a ripple that becomes a tidal wave of change.
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