A nation that closes its eyes is sure to stumble sometime

By James Depreist

The Portland Tribune, Jul 8, 2003, Updated Oct 30, 2009

On June 14, James DePreist, long the conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, delivered the commencement address for the graduating class of Portland State University. His speech, slightly condensed, appears below.

Graduates, the world in which we live is a mess. Myth masquerading as truth, our beloved United States in crisis, many of its fundamental principles under assault.

And yet a goodly number of your fellow Americans seem oblivious É sleepwalking through these alarming times, heedless and gullible beyond belief. Our country simply cannot afford this, and our hard-won freedoms cannot long bear the weight of an unenlightened citizenry. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the unspeakable horror of Sept. 11 or the very real menace of world terrorism. History has clearly shown that the ultimate weapon of mass destruction for any society is ignorance.

Those poor young souls whose promise spilled red onto the beaches of Normandy É that tragic society of the abridged, abed in Arlington, did not so bravely fall in order to preserve a nation that would so easily allow the raging torrent of their authentic patriotism and courage to become mere rivulets of passivity and acquiescence.

If some can sacrifice their lives, then surely the rest of us can give our attention.

I am certain that you are not graduating from this wonderful university in order to join the choir of the complacent. That chorus is large enough, and sadly includes much of our once-vibrant press. Former Vice President Spiro Agnew, the phrase-fashioning future felon of the Nixon administration, delighted in characterizing the media as “those nattering nabobs of negativism.” But with few exceptions, it seems to me, the nattering of the nabobs has become the silence of the lambs.

In a democracy, a free press is a vital bulwark against the excesses of those in power É Democrats and Republicans alike. This is not a matter of partisan politics; rather, it concerns the role of a populace in a government of Ñ by Ñ and for Ñ the people. Yes, a free press is essential to a free society. All we ask Ñ tell us the truth.

It is our free press that should distinguish spin from substance, and not add posturing and platitudes to the national discourse. The stakes in a democracy are too high to allow us a swing in the hammock of simplistic thinking. We must demand more of those in power, no matter the political party. Stupidity is an equal-opportunity failing.

To the noble enterprise of participatory democracy, we must bring ideas that will enhance the public good. Cynics chuckle at this notion, but cynicism is the refuge of the impotent and the badge of those who really don’t give a damn.

You can help change all that. You can change it with quality ideas and inspired execution. Be assured that others will be at work to stop you.

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