[ BEST ] Motivational Speech From BARACK OBAMA IN 2020

[ BEST ] Motivational Speech From BARACK OBAMA IN 2020

Point number one: When you hear someone longingfor the “good old days,” take it with a grain of salt. Take it with a grain of salt. We live in a great nation and we are rightlyproud of our history. We are beneficiaries of the labor and thegrit and the courage of generations who came before. But I guess it’s part of human nature, especiallyin times of change and uncertainty, to want to look backwards and long for some imaginarypast when everything worked, and the economy hummed, and all politicians were wise, andevery child was well-mannered, and America pretty much did whatever it wanted aroundthe world. Guess what. It ain’t so. 

The “good old days” weren’t that good. Yes, there have been some stretches in ourhistory where the economy grew much faster, or when government ran more smoothly. There were moments when, immediately afterWorld War II, for example, or the end of the Cold War, when the world bent more easilyto our will. But those are sporadic, those moments, thoseepisodes. In fact, by almost every measure, Americais better, and the world is better, than it was 50 years ago, or 30 years ago, or eveneight years ago. And by the way, I’m not — set aside 150years ago, pre-Civil War — there’s a whole bunch of stuff there we could talk about. Set aside life in the ‘50s, when women andpeople of color were systematically excluded from big chunks of American life. 

Since I graduated, in 1983 — which isn’tthat long ago — I’m just saying. Since I graduated, crime rates, teenage pregnancy,the share of Americans living in poverty — they’re all down. The share of Americans with college educationshave gone way up. Our life expectancy has, as well. Blacks and Latinos have risen up the ranksin business and politics. More women are in the workforce. They’re earning more money — althoughit’s long past time that we passed laws to make sure that women are getting the samepay for the same work as men. Meanwhile, in the eight years since most ofyou started high school, we’re also better off. You and your fellow graduates are enteringthe job market with better prospects than any time since 2007. 

Twenty million more Americans know the financialsecurity of health insurance. We’re less dependent on foreign oil. We’ve doubled the production of clean energy. We have cut the high school dropout rate. We’ve cut the deficit by two-thirds. Marriage equality is the law of the land. And just as America is better, the world isbetter than when I graduated. Since I graduated, an Iron Curtain fell, apartheidended. There’s more democracy. We virtually eliminated certain diseases likepolio. We’ve cut extreme poverty drastically. We’ve cut infant mortality by an enormousamount. Now, I say all these things not to make youcomplacent. 

We’ve got a bunch of big problems to solve. But I say it to point out that change hasbeen a constant in our history. And the reason America is better is becausewe didn’t look backwards we didn’t fear the future. We seized the future and made it our own. And that’s exactly why it’s always beenyoung people like you that have brought about big change — because you don’t fear thefuture. That leads me to my second point: The worldis more interconnected than ever before, and it’s becoming more connected every day. Building walls won’t change that. Look, as President, my first responsibilityis always the security and prosperity of the United States. And as citizens, we all rightly put our countryfirst. 

But if the past two decades have taught usanything, it’s that the biggest challenges we face cannot be solved in isolation. When overseas states start falling apart,they become breeding grounds for terrorists and ideologies of nihilism and despair thatultimately can reach our shores. When developing countries don’t have functioninghealth systems, epidemics like Zika or Ebola can spread and threaten Americans, too. And a wall won’t stop that. If we want to close loopholes that allow largecorporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, we’vegot to have the cooperation of other countries in a global financial system to help enforcefinancial laws. The point is, to help ourselves we’ve gotto help others — not pull up the drawbridge and try to keep the world out. 

And engagement does not just mean deployingour military. There are times where we must take militaryaction to protect ourselves and our allies, and we are in awe of and we are grateful forthe men and women who make up the finest fighting force the world has ever known. But I worry if we think that the entire burdenof our engagement with the world is up to the 1 percent who serve in our military, andthe rest of us can just sit back and do nothing. They can’t shoulder the entire burden. And engagement means using all the leversof our national power, and rallying the world to take on our shared challenges. 

You look at something like trade, for example. We live in an age of global supply chains,and cargo ships that crisscross oceans, and online commerce that can render borders obsolete. And a lot of folks have legitimate concernswith the way globalization has progressed — that’s one of the changes that’s beentaking place — jobs shipped overseas, trade deals that sometimes put workers and businessesat a disadvantage. But the answer isn’t to stop trading withother countries. In this global economy, that’s not evenpossible. The answer is to do trade the right way, bynegotiating with other countries so that they raise their labor standards and their environmentalstandards; and we make sure they don’t impose unfair tariffs on American goods or stealAmerican intellectual property. That’s how we make sure that internationalrules are consistent with our values — including human rights. And ultimately, that’s how we help raisewages here in America. That’s how we help our workers compete ona level playing field. 

Building walls won’t do that. It won’t boost our economy, and it won’tenhance our security either. Isolating or disparaging Muslims, suggestingthat they should be treated differently when it comes to entering this country — thatis not just a betrayal of our values — that’s not just a betrayal of who we are, it wouldalienate the very communities at home and abroad who are our most important partnersin the fight against violent extremism. Suggesting that we can build an endless wallalong our borders, and blame our challenges on immigrants — that doesn’t just runcounter to our history as the world’s melting pot; it contradicts the evidence that ourgrowth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability toattract strivers from every corner of the globe. That’s how we became America. Why would we want to stop it now?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Four more years! Can’t do it. Which brings me to my third point: Facts,evidence, reason, logic, an understanding of science — these are good things. These are qualities you want in people makingpolicy. These are qualities you want to continue tocultivate in yourselves as citizens. That might seem obvious. That’s why we honor Bill Moyers or Dr. Burnell. We traditionally have valued those things. But if you were listening to today’s politicaldebate, you might wonder where this strain of anti-intellectualism came from. So, Class of 2016, let me be as clear as Ican be. 

In politics and in life, ignorance is nota virtue. It’s not cool to not know what you’retalking about. That’s not keeping it real, or telling itlike it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talkingabout. And yet, we’ve become confused about this. Look, our nation’s Founders — Franklin,Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson — they were born of the Enlightenment. They sought to escape superstition, and sectarianism,and tribalism, and no-nothingness. They believed in rational thought and experimentation,and the capacity of informed citizens to master our own fates. 

That is embedded in our constitutional design. That spirit informed our inventors and ourexplorers, the Edisons and the Wright Brothers, and the George Washington Carvers and theGrace Hoppers, and the Norman Borlaugs and the Steve Jobses. That’s what built this country. And today, in every phone in one of your pockets— we have access to more information than at any time in human history, at a touch ofa button. But, ironically, the flood of informationhasn’t made us more discerning of the truth. In some ways, it’s just made us more confidentin our ignorance. We assume whatever is on the web must be true. We search for sites that just reinforce ourown predispositions. Opinions masquerade as facts. 

The wildest conspiracy theories are takenfor gospel. Now, understand, I am sure you’ve learnedduring your years of college — and if not, you will learn soon — that there are a wholelot of folks who are book smart and have no common sense. That’s the truth. You’ll meet them if you haven’t already. So the fact that they’ve got a fancy degree— you got to talk to them to see whether they know what they’re talking about. Qualities like kindness and compassion, honesty,hard work — they often matter more than technical skills or know-how. But when our leaders express a disdain forfacts, when they’re not held accountable for repeating falsehoods and just making stuffup, while actual experts are dismissed as elitists, then we’ve got a problem. You know, it’s interesting that if we getsick, we actually want to make sure the doctors have gone to medical school, they know whatthey’re talking about. 

If we get on a plane, we say we really wanta pilot to be able to pilot the plane. And yet, in our public lives, we certainlythink, “I don’t want somebody who’s done it before.” The rejection of facts, the rejection of reasonand science — that is the path to decline. It calls to mind the words of Carl Sagan,who graduated high school here in New Jersey — he said: “We can judge our progressby the courage of our questions and the depths of our answers, our willingness to embracewhat is true rather than what feels good.” 

The debate around climate change is a perfectexample of this. Now, I recognize it doesn’t feel like theplanet is warmer right now. I understand. There was hail when I landed in Newark. But think about the climate change issue. Every day, there are officials in high officewith responsibilities who mock the overwhelming consensus of the world’s scientists thathuman activities and the release of carbon dioxide and methane and other substances arealtering our climate in profound and dangerous ways. A while back, you may have seen a United Statessenator trotted out a snowball during a floor speech in the middle of winter as “proof”that the world was not warming. 

I mean, listen, climate change is not somethingsubject to political spin. There is evidence. There are facts. We can see it happening right now. If we don’t act, if we don’t follow throughon the progress we made in Paris, the progress we’ve been making here at home, your generationwill feel the brunt of this catastrophe. So it’s up to you to insist upon and shapean informed debate. Imagine if Benjamin Franklin had seen thatsenator with the snowball, what he would think. Imagine if your 5th grade science teacherhad seen that. He’d get a D. And he’s a senator! Look, I’m not suggesting that cold analysisand hard data are ultimately more important in life than passion, or faith, or love, orloyalty. I am suggesting that those highest expressionsof our humanity can only flourish when our economy functions well, and proposed budgetsadd up, and our environment is protected. And to accomplish those things, to make collectivedecisions on behalf of a common good, we have to use our heads. We have to agree that facts and evidence matter. And we got to hold our leaders and ourselvesaccountable to know what the heck they’re talking about. All right. I only have two more points. I know it’s getting cold and you guys haveto graduate. 

Point four: Have faith in democracy. Look, I know it’s not always pretty. Really, I know. I’ve been living it. But it’s how, bit by bit, generation bygeneration, we have made progress in this nation. That’s how we banned child labor. That’s how we cleaned up our air and ourwater. That’s how we passed programs like SocialSecurity and Medicare that lifted millions of seniors out of poverty. None of these changes happened overnight. They didn’t happen because some charismaticleader got everybody suddenly to agree on everything. It didn’t happen because some massive politicalrevolution occurred. It actually happened over the course of yearsof advocacy, and organizing, and alliance-building, and deal-making, and the changing of publicopinion. It happened because ordinary Americans whocared participated in the political process. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Because of you! Well, that’s nice. I mean, I helped, but —Look, if you want to change this country for the better, you better start participating. I’ll give you an example on a lot of people’sminds right now — and that’s the growing inequality in our economy. Over much of the last century, we’ve unleashedthe strongest economic engine the world has ever seen, but over the past few decades,our economy has become more and more unequal. The top 10 percent of earners now take inhalf of all income in the U.S. In the past, it used to be a top CEO made20 or 30 times the income of the average worker. Today, it’s 300 times more. And wages aren’t rising fast enough formillions of hardworking families. Now, if we want to reverse those trends, thereare a bunch of policies that would make a real difference. We can raise the minimum wage. We can modernize our infrastructure. We can invest in early childhood education. 

We can make college more affordable. We can close tax loopholes on hedge fund managersand take that money and give tax breaks to help families with child care or retirement. And if we did these things, then we’d helpto restore the sense that hard work is rewarded and we could build an economy that truly worksfor everybody. Now, the reason some of these things havenot happened, even though the majority of people approve of them, is really simple. It’s not because I wasn’t proposing them. It wasn’t because the facts and the evidenceshowed they wouldn’t work. It was because a huge chunk of Americans,especially young people, do not vote. 

In 2014, voter turnout was the lowest sinceWorld War II. Fewer than one in five young people showedup to vote — 2014. And the four who stayed home determined thecourse of this country just as much as the single one who voted. Because apathy has consequences. It determines who our Congress is. It determines what policies they prioritize. It even, for example, determines whether areally highly qualified Supreme Court nominee receives the courtesy of a hearing and a votein the United States Senate. And, yes, big money in politics is a hugeproblem. We’ve got to reduce its influence. 

Yes, special interests and lobbyists havedisproportionate access to the corridors of power. But, contrary to what we hear sometimes fromboth the left as well as the right, the system isn’t as rigged as you think, and it certainlyis not as hopeless as you think. Politicians care about being elected, andthey especially care about being reelected. And if you vote and you elect a majority thatrepresents your views, you will get what you want. And if you opt out, or stop paying attention,you won’t. It’s that simple. It’s not that complicated. Now, one of the reasons that people don’tvote is because they don’t see the changes they were looking for right away. 

Well, guess what — none of the great stridesin our history happened right away. It took Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP decadesto win Brown vs. Board of Education; and then another decade after that to secure the CivilRights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And it took more time after that for it tostart working. It took a proud daughter of New Jersey, AlicePaul, years of organizing marches and hunger strikes and protests, and drafting hundredsof pieces of legislation, and writing letters and giving speeches, and working with congressionalleaders before she and other suffragettes finally helped win women the right to vote. Each stage along the way required compromise. Sometimes you took half a loaf. You forged allies.

Sometimes you lost on an issue, and then youcame back to fight another day. That’s how democracy works. So you’ve got to be committed to participatingnot just if you get immediate gratification, but you got to be a citizen full-time, allthe time. And if participation means voting, and itmeans compromise, and organizing and advocacy, it also means listening to those who don’tagree with you. I know a couple years ago, folks on this campusgot upset that Condoleezza Rice was supposed to speak at a commencement. Now, I don’t think it’s a secret thatI disagree with many of the foreign policies of Dr. Rice and the previous administration. But the notion that this community or thecountry would be better served by not hearing from a former Secretary of State, or shuttingout what she had to say — I believe that’s misguided. I don’t think that’s how democracy worksbest, when we’re not even willing to listen to each other. I believe that’s misguided. If you disagree with somebody, bring themin — and ask them tough questions. Hold their feet to the fire. Make them defend their positions. 

If somebody has got a bad or offensive idea,prove it wrong. Engage it. Debate it. Stand up for what you believe in. Don’t be scared to take somebody on. Don’t feel like you got to shut your earsoff because you’re too fragile and somebody might offend your sensibilities. Go at them if they’re not making any sense. Use your logic and reason and words. And by doing so, you’ll strengthen yourown position, and you’ll hone your arguments. And maybe you’ll learn something and realizeyou don’t know everything. And you may have a new understanding not onlyabout what your opponents believe but maybe what you believe. Either way, you win. 

And more importantly, our democracy wins. So, anyway, all right. That’s it, Class of 2016 — a few suggestionson how you can change the world. Except maybe I’ve got one last suggestion. Just one. And that is, gear yourself for the long haul. Whatever path you choose — business, nonprofits,government, education, health care, the arts — whatever it is, you’re going to havesome setbacks. You will deal occasionally with foolish people. You will be frustrated. 

You’ll have a boss that’s not great. You won’t always get everything you want— at least not as fast as you want it. So you have to stick with it. You have to be persistent. And success, however small, however incomplete,success is still success. I always tell my daughters, you know, betteris good. It may not be perfect, it may not be great,but it’s good. That’s how progress happens — in societiesand in our own lives. So don’t lose hope if sometimes you hita roadblock. Don’t lose hope in the face of naysayers. And certainly don’t let resistance makeyou cynical. Cynicism is so easy, and cynics don’t accomplishmuch. As a friend of mine who happens to be fromNew Jersey, a guy named Bruce Springsteen, once sang — “they spend their lives waitingfor a moment that just don’t come.” Don’t let that be you. Don’t waste your time waiting. 

If you doubt you can make a difference, lookat the impact some of your fellow graduates are already making. Look at what Matthew is doing. Look at somebody like Yasmin Ramadan, whobegan organizing anti-bullying assemblies when she was 10 years old to help kids handlebias and discrimination, and here at Rutgers, helped found the Muslim Public Relations Councilto work with administrators and police to promote inclusion. Look at somebody like Madison Little, whogrew up dealing with some health issues, and started wondering what his care would havebeen like if he lived someplace else, and so, here at Rutgers, he took charge of a studentnonprofit and worked with folks in Australia and Cambodia and Uganda to address the AIDSepidemic. “Our generation has so much energy to adaptand impact the world,” he said. 

“My peers give me a lot of hope that we’llovercome the obstacles we face in society.” That’s you! Is it any wonder that I am optimistic? Throughout our history, a new generation ofAmericans has reached up and bent the arc of history in the direction of more freedom,and more opportunity, and more justice. And, Class of 2016, it is your turn now — toshape our nation’s destiny, as well as your own. So get to work. Make sure the next 250 years are better thanthe last. Good luck. God bless you. God bless this country we love. Thank you.