Fourth of July Challenge
During Jimmy Carter’s term in office, the 39th president expressed concerns about the complacency of the American public. Not surprising, considering America was not far removed from the conflict in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. At the end of his term, the country was experiencing high unemployment, an energy shortage, inflation, and of course the Iran hostage Crisis.
Yesterday, I was asked to recite a patriotic reading as part of the Northfield 4th of July festivities. I chose a passage from Jimmy Carter’s farewell address delivered from the White House January 14, 1981. The President’s speech was delivered with the hope of reawakening American citizens to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence. He spoke of human rights around the world and our nation’s obligation to serve as a beacon to oppressed people everywhere. He also spoke of our own country’s rights and values. His vision is still so relevant today:
“We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. It will be a period of tensions both within nations and between nations — of competition for scarce resources, of social political and economic stresses and strains. During this period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations.
We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries but necessities — not the salt in our bread but the bread itself. Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad — greater even than the bounty of our material blessings.
Remember these words:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This vision still grips the imagination of the world. But we know that democracy is always an unfinished creation. Each generation must renew its foundations. Each generation must rediscover the meaning of this hallowed vision in the light of its own modern challenges. For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival; liberty is human rights; the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants.”
As we celebrate this 4th of July weekend, we should all work for the values this nation was founded to secure. That is the citizen Jimmy Carter has become. It is the type of citizen we should all strive to become.
