A tribute to the role of the State in society:

“It is the State which educates its citizens in civic virtue, gives them a consciousness of their mission and welds them into unity; harmonizing their various interests through justice, and transmitting to future generations the mental conquests of science, of art, of law, of human solidarity.”

The Chief Executive of the United States has a plan. He outlined it in the broadest terms during his inaugural address and has been, more or less, following through with his subsequent actions. The above quote, by the way, is not from him though one might be tempted to think it was.

According to Kenneth J. Moynihan in writing on January 22, 2009 about Obama’s inaugural address, it “…was a call to civic virtue.”  And while on the subject of educating citizens, Obama on behalf of the State said: “The challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom,” as he addressed a Hispanic group on education reform. If there is any doubt about his goal of “welding” people into unity or “harmonizing their various interests” and “transmitting…the mental conquests of science, of art, of law, of human solidarity,” consider this from the inaugural address:

“For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.”

Trouble is, as I mentioned, Barack Obama is not the one who is credited with the opening quotation. It is attributed to another advocate of the role of the State in society and in National Planning. He was Benito Mussolini, aka Il Duce, fascist dictator of Italy who held political office from 1922 until his death in 1945.

Copyright 2009 Edward Podritske