Kennedy speech encourages environmental activism
By: Troy Montigney
Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: News
- < prev Page 2 of 2
"It was disappointing to sit through such a poorly-constructed speech that touched on the extremes of issues that are, in my mind, irrelevant to this year's DePauw Discourse, like campaign finance reform," Beeman said. "Frankly, I hope Kennedy was able to stop by the S Center for some pointers."
Beeman said he was also surprised at Kennedy's "silly and immature" usage of the term "son-of-a-b----" to describe an incumbent American president.
Kennedy also condemned the profiteering of corporate polluters. He asserted that these "fat cats" acquire wealth at the expense of the masses and undermine the nation's economic system.
"Corporations don't want democracy; ... they want profits," Kennedy said. "They raise standards of living for themselves by lowering quality of life for everybody else, and they do that by escaping the discipline of the free market. In a true free market economy, you cannot make yourself rich without making your neighbors rich."
Kennedy described environmental protection as "our obligation as a generation, as a nation, as a civilization." He said a fundamental principle must be adopted before the crisis can be solved: the principle that the fate of the environment is connected with the fate of Americans.
"We are protecting nature because we recognize that nature is the infrastructure of our communities," he said. "It is not just the destruction of our environment, it is the subversion and destruction of American lives."
Professor Linda Elman said she could not help being pleasantly reminded of a pair of fallen 1960s-era politicians while listening to Kennedy speak.
"I am of an age that remembers his uncle and father [John F. and Robert F. Kennedy], and they were quite visionary," she said. "It is wonderful to see that he has inherited their sense of justice and the passion for what America is supposed to be."
Beeman said he was also surprised at Kennedy's "silly and immature" usage of the term "son-of-a-b----" to describe an incumbent American president.
Kennedy also condemned the profiteering of corporate polluters. He asserted that these "fat cats" acquire wealth at the expense of the masses and undermine the nation's economic system.
"Corporations don't want democracy; ... they want profits," Kennedy said. "They raise standards of living for themselves by lowering quality of life for everybody else, and they do that by escaping the discipline of the free market. In a true free market economy, you cannot make yourself rich without making your neighbors rich."
Kennedy described environmental protection as "our obligation as a generation, as a nation, as a civilization." He said a fundamental principle must be adopted before the crisis can be solved: the principle that the fate of the environment is connected with the fate of Americans.
"We are protecting nature because we recognize that nature is the infrastructure of our communities," he said. "It is not just the destruction of our environment, it is the subversion and destruction of American lives."
Professor Linda Elman said she could not help being pleasantly reminded of a pair of fallen 1960s-era politicians while listening to Kennedy speak.
"I am of an age that remembers his uncle and father [John F. and Robert F. Kennedy], and they were quite visionary," she said. "It is wonderful to see that he has inherited their sense of justice and the passion for what America is supposed to be."
Be the first to comment on this story