I ran across this excerpt from a speech of Sen. Robert Kennedy on a blog the other day. I needed a inspiring photo to complement it. But read the speech, you will see what the photo has to do with it."We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods.
"We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them.
"The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missles and nuclear warheads.... It includes... the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children.
"And if the Gross National Product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike.
"It does not include the beauty of our poetry, or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials...
"The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America -- except whether we are proud to be Americans."
Sen. Robert Kennedy --two months before his assasination March 18, 1968 University of Kansas
-- steve buser
8 comments:
I loved reading this! Your skies are always fascinating!
Thanks so much for sharing those moving and SO TRUE words. Makes you wonder where we'd be now if he'd lived and been elected. Fabulous Sky Watch photo!
Gorgeous photo. Sepia and the square format were excellent choices. It's a beautiful natural scene with striking evidence of the works of man.
Words and picture that go so well together.
Love the photo and the post!
umm ... reaching for the stars? This is an intruiging post, Steve. The image and the text complement each other so well. That was a terrible time - June 1968. He was a complex man, RFK; and words, though important, are not as important as deeds. The speech writer is correct though: the GDP does not measure what makes life worth living because these things are priceless.
What a great photo, Steve! A magnificent sky!
this is a great photograph but an even better post. thank you.
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