Posts Tagged ‘hope’
twenty minutes of eternity January 21st, 2009
for twenty minutes last night, the World stood still. There was a restlessness in the air. There were murmurs and there were tears, there were reflections and there were hopes, dreams had now become realities. The day was here.
For twenty minutes, the World put aside its differences, its preoccupations, and listened. For twenty minutes, the World had all of eternity; to look back at, to look forward to.
Will we see the promises of the past year fulfilled? Those twenty minutes of eternity gave new life to the growing myth. Will the myth give life to the new histories that we hope to write? I don’t know, and it won’t be easy. But I think if we do our best, keep our focus, we can.
Yes, we can.
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
Serious challenges
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
Nation of ‘risk-takers’
We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
‘Remaking America’
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Restoring trust
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
‘Ready to lead’
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
‘Era of peace’
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
‘Duties’
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
‘Gift of freedom’
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
“Let it be told to the future world… that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive… that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
Tags: eternity, hope, new dawn, Obama, yes we can
Posted in Politics/Ideas, reflections | Comments (1)
on protest and activism December 7th, 2008
there’s been a lot said and shouted and argued in this past week about us needing to do something. We need to; but it’s always good to have that tempered by what the past has taught us. Came across this on the New York Times, written by one William Ayers, made re-famous by Republicans who said “Obama palled around with terrorists” and stuff, the essay by itself makes good reading, you can find that here
the part of the article I’m referring to is here:
The Weather Underground crossed lines of legality, of propriety and perhaps even of common sense. Our effectiveness can be — and still is being — debated. We did carry out symbolic acts of extreme vandalism directed at monuments to war and racism, and the attacks on property, never on people, were meant to respect human life and convey outrage and determination to end the Vietnam war.
Peaceful protests had failed to stop the war. So we issued a screaming response. But it was not terrorism; we were not engaged in a campaign to kill and injure people indiscriminately, spreading fear and suffering for political ends.
I cannot imagine engaging in actions of that kind today. And for the past 40 years, I’ve been teaching and writing about the unique value and potential of every human life, and the need to realize that potential through education.
I have regrets, of course — including mistakes of excess and failures of imagination, posturing and posing, inflated and heated rhetoric, blind sectarianism and a lot else. No one can reach my age with their eyes even partly open and not have hundreds of regrets. The responsibility for the risks we posed to others in some of our most extreme actions in those underground years never leaves my thoughts for long.
The antiwar movement in all its commitment, all its sacrifice and determination, could not stop the violence unleashed against Vietnam. And therein lies cause for real regret.
We — the broad “we” — wrote letters, marched, talked to young men at induction centers, surrounded the Pentagon and lay down in front of troop trains. Yet we were inadequate to end the killing of three million Vietnamese and almost 60,000 Americans during a 10-year war.
Tags: activism, history, hope, New York Times, protest, William Ayers
Posted in Politics/Ideas, interesting reads, reflections | Comments (0)
such a perfect day November 28th, 2008
Today’s going to be perfect, I know it. I just confirmed my reservation… I have it all planned out. We’re meeting at Wasabi today, she loves Japanese food; and then again, it’s where we had our first real date. I went and bought her an engagement ring yesterday, I hope she likes it. I’m so nervous. I know it will be OK. I know she’ll say yes, I’m so sure. Today’s going to be perfect, I know it.
Today’s going to be terrible, I know it. She’s going to visit her mother for two weeks. I’m going to be so lonely without her. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’ve taken a half day today, so I can spend some more time with her and see her to the station in the evening. CST. Why does it have to be at the other end of town? Countless hours lost in travel, hours I’d want to rather spend in quiet with her. But I’ll do my best, every last moment counts. Today’s going to be terrible, I know it.
Today’s going to be awesome, I totally know it. Not that it could go any other way, you understand. I graduated top of my class, and am going for an interview today. It’s at the Taj. You can’t begin to imagine how excited I am… This is a place I have never been to. Mum bought me a new shirt, wishing me luck. I’m so excited. Today’s going to be awesome, I totally know it.
Today’s been good so far. No major flare-ups, no major troubles. The politicians are still on my case about that whole nationalist affair, but then, that’s the price you have to pay for telling the truth. Some clown threatened to kill me, but nothing on that either. Just a few more hours for the day to end. Today’s been good so far.
Today’s been so good. Came down from London yesterday. And here I am, at one of the Greatest Hotels in the World. So much history, so much grandeur. This place is breath-taking. I meet investors tonight. This is where it all comes together. My legacy. Today’s going to be so great.
Today’s been pretty nice. Work was the usual, 8 parts mundane, 1 part exciting, 1 part idiotic. Is that what they meant by the 80-20 rule in school? Well that’s not quite right. More like 80-10-10. Point is, work’s been mundane so far. I like her, I think I do. We spoke a bit today, and that probably redeemed the day. Today’s been pretty nice. I think I’ll take a drive on Chowpatty, and just think about things for a bit.
Today’s been pretty hectic. We had class all day, and project work for hours thereafter. No time to think, and my Master’s application looks like it’s getting nowhere atm. I really need to get some time off, some time to myself. Dad called, asking when I’d get home. I’m done and ready to go home, but don’t quite feel like it yet. Think I’ll take a stroll down Chowpatty for a bit. Today’s been pretty hectic.
Today had better be good. He has such a temper, but I’ve managed to get him to finish work early. It’s our anniversary today. We’ve been married five years. I’ve made a reservation at Tiffin. He really loves the place, and it’s close to work, so he won’t be fussy about the travel. Last time we were there, though, he wasn’t really happy with the service. I even told the manager when I made the reservation. Today had better be good.
Today’s going to be so sad. I’ve lived in this city for the last three years, as I worked on my degree. I’ve graduated now, and need to return home for a bit. I’ve met so many fantastic people here, had such a great life here, I can’t stand the thought of leaving. The city’s always bursting with energy and life. All my friends are coming to see me off. Today’s going to be so sad.
Today’s been pretty dull. These SSC classes are really taking their toll on me. I didn’t really sign up for this level of rigor. I just wanna go home. College is in Sion. My classes are in Vile Parle, and I live in Borivli. I do the best I can, but it never really feels good enough. Think I’ll go grab a bite at Jumbo Vada Pav outside the station when these classes end. Mum and Dad are out of town, and I don’t really feel like making food today. Today’s been pretty dull.
Today’s been terrible. Work sucked, and she wouldn’t speak to me. I don’t know what else I can do. Maybe work sucked because she wouldn’t speak to me. I don’t know, I don’t know any more. Think I’ll go over to Leopold’s with some friends, and just get drunk. Today’s been terrible.
Today’s been just another day. No more bar dancers to ban, no random biharis to be shot down (what kind of dumb guy was that anyways? Kya usse pata nahi tha, ki hum goli ka jawaab goli se deenge?.) Same old, same old. Today’s been just another day.
Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for. Our revenge, for our people. Why? Who cares? They will all pay. For what, I probably have no idea. Why, I probably don’t know. What right do they have to be happy? What right do they have to live and prosper? Why should they not be held responsible for their happiness, their lives, their prosperity. They will pay, all of them. Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for.
We’re at Leopold’s now. I ordered a beer, Ok, I ordered three. I can take five times that much, it’s all good. Oh no. Today’s been terrible.
Today’s been pretty nice so far. But wait. There’s a call. It seems someone’s been in a shootout at Leopold’s. Come on boys, suit up. No one messes with my city.
Today’s been terrible. We were stuck in traffic for hours. I barely got to say goodbye, the train’s just left. I look around now, and see other people saying their goodbyes too. Is it this hard for everyone? Oh no. I hope she’ll be OK. Today’s been terrible.
Today’s been so sad. We just got here, and we’re saying our goodbyes. I’m going to miss all these people so much. Oh no. What’s going on? Today’s been so sad.
Today’s been so hectic. This walk was just what I needed. The cool Mumbai sea breeze. It’s the best thing about the city. I love this place. I hear sirens. Must be some VIP coming again. Wait. There’s gunshots. Oh no.
Today’s been terrible. I’m driving down Marine Drive now, still wondering why she wouldn’t speak to me. Or maybe it’s work that’s worrying me. In these economic times, “investment banker” isn’t the best job description to have. But we’ll smooth things over, ride out the storm, come out the other end. We always do. Wait. what’s that? Oh no. Today’s been terrible.
This day just got interesting. We have no time for back-up. These guys are serious. It may be dangerous, but then, that’s why I signed up for this job, to keep these freaks off my city’s streets. I’m going in.
She’s sitting across me now. We’re at Wasabi. She looks gorgeous today. I’m so lucky. My palms are sweating, I’m really nervous. She even said I’m being a bit strange today. I can’t possibly be so nervous. Things will work out. I know it. Today’s going to be perfect.
So I met my to-be employer, I totally nailed it with the handshake. I know it’s going to be awesome. Oh no. What’s that happening? Oh no.
I greeted my guests at the lobby. They seem to be excited, too. This is my moment. Today’s going to be great. What’s that sound? Oh no.
I’ve been shot thrice in the chest. These guys were prepared and well armed. I shot one, but I don’t know if I managed to kill him. I hope they get him. They won’t be allowed to mess with this city. We won’t let them.
The dinner’s going fine so far. The manager has been extra-careful since I warned him. Oh no. There’s gunmen in the room. They’re covered with blood, not their own. Oh no.
Gunmen opened fire in the hotel. I don’t know what’s going on. They took us through the kitchen, we’re hiding in the safe room now. I hope it’ll be OK. For her, for myself, for all of us. We can hear footsteps. They are coming. Save us, someone, please.
I just heard about the incidents in the city. No bar dancers to tackle, no petty criminals. These are organized terrorists. What do we do now?
We’re making our last stand. Everyone else is dead. But we showed them. We showed them they don’t deserve to be happy, or to have wonderful, fulfilling lives. Who did they think they were? We showed them. We brought them into our own personal hell.
And though the small battles might be won, everyone’s lost. The World might change forever, or it may remain the same. There is no justification for terrorism. There never has been, there never will be.
“Forgive them father, for they know not what they do,” he once said. We take that back today, in the name of all civilization. Amen.
Tags: 26-11-2008, as the world changed, crimes, grief, hope, life, Mumbai, terrorism
Posted in Politics/Ideas, reflections | Comments (11)
