We're just getting started
- Johnson opens with reiterating the old "pursuit of happiness" objective for our nation.
- He does a quick history recap: the first hundred years of the nation were occupied with building a country and expanding its frontiers.
- Then came the age of invention to produce a degree of comfort and plenty for the citizens.
- Here's the question: can we keep building on that to make life even better and more fulfilling?
- Guess what? It's up to the grads to decide what kind of country we'll have.
- Will we be slaves to materialism or will we use progress for good?
- Fortunately, hard work and innovative thinking are part of the American DNA.
- He says that the challenge for the future will be to use that innovation to build a quality of life, not a quantity of stuff.
- Johnson introduces them to the "Great Society," which will be even better than a simply richer society.
- What's great about it?
- First of all, everyone will share in it. Poverty and racial injustice will be no part of this society.
- The Great Society is more elevated than a simply rich society, where people's physical and financial needs are taken care of.
- It has to include opportunities for everyone to reach their potential and satisfy those other needs for beauty and a sense of belonging to a community.
- It includes a love of art and nature; creativity; quality over quantity. But all this won't be easy.
- For a Great Society to exist, the work won't ever end. Johnson reminds the grads that it's a challenge "constantly renewed" as our ideas about what's right and what's possible continue to evolve.