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A few days ago, Bill Clinton addressed the Class of 2010, sending them off into the world with a few observations, a few opinions, and a common message. He observed that our world was too unequal, too unstable, and too unsustainable, and urged the graduating seniors to work together and do public good as private citizens for the good of the world overall. He decried cynicism, calling it a self-fulfilling prophecy, and touched on the state of the world while emphasizing his theme of this world’s inequality, instability, and insustainability. I did feel that his address, meant to be a message to the graduates, at times felt more like politics: the whole “do good” bit felt a little tacked on at the end. But nevertheless, he made a few observations that are worth thinking about.
His first and most striking observation was that, genetically, we are at least 99.5% identical. Metaphorically, he’s right: we often forget that we are all human, that we’re all bound by a common destiny of humanity. Recent technology has only pulled us closer together, entwined our fates even tighter with others’. We are, however, still constantly at odds with one another. Especially in this country, we remain divided economically, ethnically, religiously, ideologically. Millions of people wake up every morning wondering why we all can’t just get along, from the refugees in Sudan to the civilians in Palestine. Clinton wasn’t the first to make this message: one of Barack Obama’s favorite lines during his campaign in 2008 was “what unites us is greater than what divides us.” Yet all around the world, there are people who wake up every morning thinking about how to best attack others. Clinton urged the Class of 2010 to overcome these divisions, realize our common humanity, and work positively in the face of today’s challenges.
That was his second point: positive work. To me, this was his most powerful, yet subtle point. He first referred to the primordial ooze, and how life was able to develop from nothing because there were more positive charges than negative charges. He adapted this into a personal aphorism: whenever he makes a decision or chooses a stance, he chooses the side in which the positive overweighs the negative for all. He chooses the side in which there exists a non-zero sum, game theory code for a win-win scenario.
His other points were quite generic, as far as commencement speeches go: you’re the future, do good, etc. What really struck me, though, was how much science he referenced. Obviously, he’s a smart man – he went to Yale Law after all – but his awareness of current science and research really speaks to his curiosity and the breadth of knowledge that brought him to the White House. That, along with Al Gore’s work in climate change, shows that there are politicians out there who aren’t completely ignorant. Unfortunately, the ignorant ones often shout the loudest, to the detriment of the others.
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