Jim Gilbert's Austin Real Estate Blog

JFK's Wisdom

Last week the USA was saddened by the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. While some treasure his legacy and others do not, he still was a towering figure in the U.S. Senate and in national politics.

None of us who were alive in the 60's can forget that Senator Kennedy's two brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy (who served as Attorney General under JFK), were assassinated. I remember where I was the day the news of JFK's murder was broadcast. I was in study hall in the high school library at Dayton High School in Dayton, Texas. The news left me saddened and shaken. I have some good memories of JFK: his handling of the Cuban missile crisis (was that a scary time!) and the push to beat the Russians to the moon, for example.

What I remember best about JFK, though, was a line out of his inaugural address on January 20,1961. I took the time last week to read that line in its context. It came very near the end of his address, after he had spoken to peoples around the world (both friend and enemy) about a number of issues of that time. Overall the address seemed to be both a celebration of freedom and a pledge to extend and to preserve freedom in the USA and around the world. JFK was quite interested in peace, but peace that came through strength, including military strength. He was definitely interested in negotiation to solve problems, and in using science to improve life on earth. He was not afraid to quote the Bible in this address, or to say that "the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."

There is much more in the address that is worthy of note, but I will encourage you to read it for yourself.

Now, what is that statement I remember so well? It is the third paragraph from the end: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." Through the years since 1961, I have remembered this statement often, and have quoted it many times. It is a statement with great wisdom.

Today, I wonder what JFK would have to say about what he sees happening in the USA in early September 2009. In many ways, we have become a nation of groups and individuals who are asking (sometimes demanding) that our country (i.e., our government) do something for us. Surely government has its place, but to me at least that place is being stretched beyond what is good for us and for the country. I believe that JFK was on to something, and expressed it very wisely!

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