We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of
freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as
well as change.--John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural
address on January 20, 1961
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| JFK's Inauguration Speech. (Photo from NP.org) |
In the current situation, and following
Barack Obama's eloquent, elegant, and deeply meaningful Farewell address last night,
it seems appropriate today to tweak those words a bit:
We observe today not a celebration of freedom, but a victory
of party--symbolizing an end to civility and democracy, as well as a
beginning--signifying reversal, as well as demise.--Lynne M. Hinkey, in my paraphrasing of Kennedy's speech.
I've been
succumbing to the temptation to follow Timothy Leary's advice and "turn
on, tune in, and drop out." In my case, the turning on involved a lot of
wine, the tuning in focused on the news (not the fiction fed to gullible folks
via Breitbart, Fox, and other propaganda sources but the real news, found
through due diligence, investigation, and critical thinking, that takes some effort),
and the dropping out of the echo chamber
of Facebook.
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| Timothy Leary at UC Berkely (Photo from NBCUniversalArchives.com |
Last night, hearing Obama's inspiring words recounting his feats (made more remarkable because they were achieved despite an obstructionist GOP Congress doing all they could to bring the country to its knees), and urging us all to stay engaged, I started to rethink my dropping out. Obama reminded us of George Washington's words to "be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task we’ve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen."
Those words
resonated with me, with my beliefs, my life, with all I've worked for
throughout my life: to continuously improve this great nation. My small piece
of that very large picture has been in the realm of marine science and science
literacy, whether in community outreach and extension programs, science communication, training coastal resource management professionals, or instructing the next generation, my mission has focused on ensuring the development or use of critical thinking skills, finding and evidence-based information derived from rigorous scientific process rather that opinion pulled out of someone's ass because it;s comfortable, easy, or benefits some person or company's bottom line.
It's not much,
but it's what I can do. Now, more than ever, we all have to do our parts, small
as they may be. (Given the global implications of our science literacy or our science ignorance with regard to climate change, food security, energy independence and renewables, maintaining academic and scientific integrity and rigor in STEM fields isn't small at all, is it?)
Kennedy's
speech is primarily remembered for the line, "Ask not what your country
can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." Despite my revision
above, much of Kennedy's
Inauguration Speech is as instructive and relevant today as it was fifty-six
years ago. It's worth a thorough read, worth a reminder. Worth reiterating this
notice:
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and
foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans —
born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace,
proud of our ancient heritage — and unwilling to witness or permit the slow
undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed,
and to which we are committed today at home and around the world...
Perhaps Russia
had in mind these words from Kennedy when they chose to interfere in our
elections, promulgating fake news stories and feeding them to the gullible
folks at Breitbart to be passed on to their equally gullible readers: United, there is little we cannot do in a
host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do — for we dare
not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
In the words of
Abbie Hoffman, "The only way to support a revolution is to create your
own." My revolution is a commitment to sound, solid science education, to
ensuring critical thinking skills. I will provide my students with a secure
foundation for reasoning, demonstrating and demanding not only the questioning
of information, but also helping them to develop the research skills that will
enable them to find and evaluate factual, relevant information. I refuse to
surrender to ignorance, to legitimizing opinion over evidence.
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| Abbie Hoffman (photo from maxskansascity.om) |
Obama reminded me that turning on, tuning in, and dropping out aren't what's needed, especially now. "Ultimately, that’s what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there’s an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime..."
I am sincerely grateful to this president, our president, Barack Hussein Obama, for reminding me that my responsibility to this country and to democracy is not to recoil in horror and
hide when it's threatened by the overwhelming, blatant ignorance as it now is.
My responsibility--all of our responsibility and what's demanded of each of us as good citizens of this
country, now more than ever is to
Show up. Dive in. Persevere.
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| Barack H. Obama II, 44th President of the USA. (Photo from Elle.com) |
