Kucinich talks to students
EXETER - Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic candidate for president, doesn’t just want to lead the country - he wants to change the world.
Invited to speak by students at both Phillips Exeter Academy and Exeter High School, he told the group of teenagers and community members at PEA Friday night about his vision for America and for humanity.
He began by quoting Wordsworth, the 18th-century Romantic English poet, "Whither is fled the visionary dream?" and launched into a provocative attempt to answer that question.
He noted that many young people harbor "a great deal of cynicism" and fee* our political institutions are out of touch." In his travels throughout the country, he has observed "a hunger, especially among young people, for sustainability and renewability."
He proposed that government and individuals adopt an entirely different approach to life itself: "When we come from a place which is whole inside of ourselves and when we see the world holistically, from such a world view comes the belief that we can work to make war archaic."
Kucinich believes that many global problems result from what he calls "compartmentalized thinking," which leads people to see the world in terms of difference and conflict, "us vs. them, rich vs. poor, black vs. white." This thinking, said Kucinich, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads to war.
He has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives, now endorsed by 50 others, to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace that would apply the thought of advocates of non-violent social change like Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to address domestic issues like domestic, interracial and homophobic violence.
Kucinich’s vision rests upon the sense that all classes, races and groups of people have more commonalties than differences.
"We need to seize upon that essential unity and make out of it a new nation," then "use that unity to work with other nations."
Accordingly, he is a proponent of engagement with all the governments of the world, including, he said in response to a student’s question, Cuba, which has been isolated by every American administration since Fidel Castro led a revolution there in 1959.
Kucinich believes that having a dialogue with nations rather than excluding them from the international community is the way to bring about positive change. He advocates working with the United Nations to defeat terrorism, emphasizing the importance of "understanding the causal links" that lead to terrorism.
Kucinich’s ultimate goal is to "create a world where each person could unfold to his or her potential, where we could answer Wordsworth’s question, ‘My friends, it is here.’"
Kucinich is trailing most candidates in polling numbers and money raised. He is generally not considered a serious contender for the nomination.
Most of those present at PEA on Friday night found him to be an inspiring candidate, however.
Subscribe to this blog's feed