Statecraft Informer

“…America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.”

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So said President Dwight Eisenhower some 45 years ago.

Anyone seeking the complete text of Ike’s farewell address from 45 years ago can drop by http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html., or any number of other such sites.

I won’t make a case for President Eisenhower’s proper place in the pantheon of U.S. presidents or generals, except to say he was neither entirely preeminent nor essentially commonplace.

I credit him with a particular wisdom and tolerant depth of spirit, which seems lacking in most public figures these days. Perhaps he is a reflection of a different era, but the times through which he lived were certainly as complex, dangerous and confusing, as are those we share today.

In the context of that tumultuous past, and these paroxysmal days, I am drawn to his words, which would do well to echo now through the halls of power and politics in this country.

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“Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology — global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration.

To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle — with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research — these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs — balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage — balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future.

Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.”

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Lately I have been amazed by the tremendous lack of balance, moderation and tolerance of my fellow citizens and of those who would lead us.

I have been ridiculed by those of this new era’s partisan establishments as impotent or truculent, ignorant or intellectually obtuse, and worse, all because I believe irrevocably in the power of reason, and the righteousness of the middle ground.

Some folks say the center is for cowards and being pragmatic means “do it my way.”

I beg to differ.

When the world is caught up in an endless array of wildly swinging pendulums, and extremists of every stripe are holding sway, the most dangerous place to stand is on the middle ground.

Being in the center requires an active consideration, and practiced appreciation for every point of view, including the extremes.

Being in the center calls for intellectual curiosity, applied selflessness, reasoned discourse and honesty.

Being in the center is a lot of work.

The military-industrial complex Ike spoke of is more than fifty years in the making now, and more powerful and pervasive than ever. Hundreds of billions of tax dollars are devoted to, and left largely unaccountable by, the U.S. Defense Department each year.

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“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development.

Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

We should take nothing for granted.

Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

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As we near Christmas and other traditional year-end celebrations in America, often flavored profusely by nostalgia, consider why your reminiscences are so comforting.

Could it be, perhaps, that once upon a time you were more interested in sharing with and caring for “you and yours?” Could it be that finding peace on earth was more important then, than getting the biggest piece of pie today?

Is it possible a lot of folks simply figure heaven can wait, life sucks, so why not take what you want when you can get it, and if it means screwing someone else in the process, who cares?

If any of that is true, then I ask you, what is the point of being a human being in America in 2006?

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“Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.”

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“The certain agony of the battlefield.”

Ike surely knew about that subject. He witnessed, experienced, and was responsible for, a great deal of agony. But like most people having lived through the fire of battle, came to understand the importance of reason, and the value of perseverance in the pursuit of peaceful goals.

I’m sure there are those today who might consider President Eisenhower a weak man, or naive, perhaps, for espousing these ideals.

What I guess I’ll never understand is exactly when did reason, common sense, and looking out for the other guy, become sure signs of a faint and feeble mind?

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“You and I — my fellow citizens — need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation’s great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”

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And for what it’s worth, I hope someone, somewhere, having read these words, realizes a new understanding of humanity’s potential within themselves, and decides to tough it out in the middle.