布隆伯格在华大毕业典礼的演讲：民主到了危机时刻！
星期六
陌上美国
5月17日星期五上午8:30，位于圣路易斯的华盛顿大学（华大）举行了第158届毕业典礼。前纽约市长、亿万富翁迈克尔·布隆伯格(Michael R. Bloomberg)先生，被邀请为毕业典礼演讲嘉宾。
华大校报
演讲全文翻译如下：
大家早上好。 你好华大，都好吗？
让我从今天最重要的一句话开始：祝贺了不起的2019届毕业生！
欢迎大家在这里——也感谢Wrighton校长发出邀请。我认识Wrighton校长十多年了，祝贺他为提升华大实力和科研学术水平所做的一切。
同时很高兴在场的华大老校友，祝贺你们回到自己的母校（参加毕业典礼）。我可以实话告诉你们，如果现在让我申请华大，估计很难被录取。可以说，我是那种成绩普通的学生。
各位毕业生，很荣幸成为你们的毕业典礼的演讲人。我得接受一个事实，我本来不是你们首选的演讲嘉宾。但不幸的是，T-Pain（编者注：艺术家、成功的非裔歌手）无法到场。他最近需要保护嗓子。实际上，这也是我昨晚不出去唱卡拉OK的原因（众笑）。
今天天气棒极了。但这里是圣路易斯，所以在今天早上离开酒店之前，我还带了一件冬装派克大衣。
我开车到这里，很幸运地在西校区找到了一个非常方便的停车位，然后乘坐校车到达。这很值得。多么美妙的校园。除了这，我还能在哪里看到兔子和DUC（华大校园建筑，丹佛斯大学中心）？
尽管如此，我感到遗憾的一点是，我这一路上，错过了学校最著名的建筑：忍者神龟(Ninja Turtle Backpack Guy)。德米特里(Demetri)，随心灵节拍自由舞蹈的人。
在座的毕业生们，在今天这个重要的日子里，你们可能问自己一些重要问题，比如如何谋生？将来会成为一个衣食无忧富有的人吗？以后会体验优步无人驾驶技术吗？
最重要的问题是，在Wrighton校长退休之后，他还会穿双排扣西装吗？我要对这个问题说“是”。
今天，你将不得作别那些在紧张困难时候，帮助你渡过难关的习惯和支撑物。像老泰的啤酒，烤饺子，老约翰的甜甜圈，粘粘的黄油蛋糕等。谢天谢地，华大的医疗中心是全世界最好的之一。
现在，在我往下演讲之前，让我花点时间祝贺今天在座的另一群人，我指的是你们的父母和家人。让我们一起为他们鼓掌。
他们现在喜气洋洋，甚至忘记了为你们付学费的成本。我相信他们中的一些人也很激动，因为你们中有些人将搬去跟父母一起住（或许是住回家里的地下室）。
无论在不远的将来你决定去哪里，我都想跟大家分享一些思考，让我开始言归正传。
在撰写我的讲稿时候，我想到华大最初被命名为艾略特神学院。其中一位创始人是威廉·艾略特牧师。然而，他并不喜欢以自己名字命名一个学院（这类居功的事）。因此，当时的董事会给学校改名，以纪念乔治·华盛顿（总统）。
我很欣赏艾略特牧师的处理。我讨厌那种喜欢拿自己名字命名的人——我们最近在彭博电视和彭博电台上在播放相关的事，也可能是在彭博商业一周或彭博新闻上讲到过，管他呢。
认真地说，董事会当时选择华盛顿做校名，是做了一个鼓舞人心的决定。有些糊里糊涂的人会以为华大是在D.C.或西雅图附近。
近几十年来，以华盛顿命名的院校，在总统选举中发挥了如此重要的作用。 华大主持了一系列的（总统选举）全国电视辩论，包括你在2016年看到的最后一场辩论。
很少的学校能有机会主持总统竞选辩论，让学生得到这些经验。尽管我希望能，但我不能站在这里告诉你，这是提供了一个很棒的公民课的机会。
那场辩论主要话题不是在关注国家所面临的各种重大问题，而是变成在更多地关注“更衣室的（男性）谈话”和“把她关进监狱”。很公平地说，完全不是林肯与竞争对手道格拉斯之间那样的高水平总统竞选辩论。
这让我想到了网红的炒作。我们可以把辩论质量低轻易地归结成指责候选人或主持人水平差。但其实问题严重得多。
整个美国——无论是家庭聚会、社交场所和工作场所、大学校园、还是社交媒体上，美国人正在失去与持有不同政治观点的人进行文明和富有成效的对话的能力。
这深远影响我们运作一个高效率的社会的能力。毕竟，当人们无法互相交谈时，就无法达成互相的理解。当我们无法相互理解时，就无法一起工作。当我们不能一起工作时，我们就一事无成。至少无法做成重要的事情。
今天的美国面临许多艰难的挑战——从气候变化到枪支暴力，从质量下滑的教育到阿片类处方药和毒品成瘾危机。甚至在校园里，也出现了可怕的趋势，种族主义、性别歧视、仇恨、反犹太主义，以及对不同观点的不欢迎和对不同意见缺乏包容。
为了争取克服这些挑战，我们必须让那些阻止我们实现目标和贬低文明对话的人无法得逞。
你们每个人都可以参与实现这些——无论你的政治观点是什么，无论你追求什么样的生活。也许你的事业兴趣点是科学或环境或艺术或教育。或医药或保健。还可能是经商。但是，没有一个问题不受到政治辩论的影响。并且，没有一个问题不会因社会文明进步的倒退，而受到威胁。
因此，即使你讨厌政治——而且现在有很多理由讨厌政治——但是你也往往逃避不了涉及政治的对话。譬如，只是为了能与你疯狂的叔叔（或者其他家人）一起共进感恩节晚餐。如果你要理智地投票，你将不得不对候选人的观点做出判断。
我希望你们会问自己的问题是：你将以什么为依据做出判断？
一般大家会很自然地认为，美国一流大学毕业的学生具有成熟的政治判断力。但不幸的是，最近的一项研究发现，即使是最聪明、知识最渊博的选民，也可能做出最糟糕的政治判断。原因是他们最有可能根据党派站队，而不是按辩论本身作出判断。
听到这，我知道你在想什么。“我永远不会那样做，”你心里说。但这些事情总是下意识地发生着。人们倾向于觉得，只有跟自己立场相对的人才会有这些糟糕的表现。当遇到那些跟你观点类似的人时，他们往往看不到、听不到任何邪恶，并对做恶选择沉默。这就是为什么受过教育和知识渊博的人，会为道德上错误的行为辩解，甚至捍卫公然的谎言。
当然，有些人说，为立场强词夺理不就是政治的常态吗，但我不接受这种解释——我希望你们也不会。
当极端的党派关系取代理性、逻辑、事实和数据时，国家就会受到损害——特殊利益集团获胜。当触及枪支暴力，教育，公共卫生，甚至威胁我们未来的生活的气候变化问题时，我一次又一次地看到这些现象的存在。
昨天，我与华盛顿大学的下一任校长安德鲁·马丁和俄亥俄州立大学校长一起宣布，布隆伯格慈善基金将在明年赞助华大举办有史以来的第一届中西部大学气候峰会。
市长Lyda Krewson也加入了我们的行列，因为圣路易斯市和华大一样，一直是气候变化问题的真正领导者。
去年，圣路易斯市是我的基金会举办的气候竞赛的赢家之一。我们提供约250万美元的资源，以帮助圣路易斯提高能源效率和推广太阳能——这是华大帮助自己所在城市的目标之一。非常感谢你们。
大学在帮助我们的国家应对这些挑战时可以发挥关键作用，我要感谢华大所有的人，你们参与了这项工作。
真的没有时间可以浪费。气候变化带来的问题正在恶化——这就是你一生中所见到的。
密西西比河最近的洪灾，摧毁了中西部的一些农业地带，也影响了圣路易斯的生活。根据可靠的科学数据，随着气候变化问题加剧，这类型的自然灾害将继续恶化。
问题是，太多政治家对实实在在的科学不感兴趣。他们只对政治学感兴趣，只在意赢得选举。因此，他们忽略了这些数据，试图削减气候研究的资金——因为他们知道，这将导致他们的政治立场站不住脚。有时，他们甚至试图阻止公职人员说气候变化这个词。
你不能无视这些的存在。你只需要想想，他们试图隐藏什么？我得出的唯一结论是，他们要么隐藏自己的无知，要么隐藏自己的图谋。
无论哪种情况，当政府试图歪曲抹黑科学家并审查我们的结论时，请注意这些现象并勇敢地说不。
美国的进步取决于遇到问题采取解决的态度，而不是把问题变成政治斗争。两党都有无视数据和事实，捍卫错误立场的行为。在你们读大学的这几年，党派政治中充斥的虚假和错误信息又创新高，美国已经到了临界点，我相信，这样下去任何民主都难以为继。
正如开国元勋所理解的那样，我们的民主不仅仅依赖于选票。乔治·华盛顿在他的告别演说中写道：“道德或美德的清泉是受民众欢迎的政府的基础。”
如果清泉干涸，民主就会枯萎——而我们所拥有的权益就会消失。
毕业生们，现在需要你们去保护美德的清泉。毫无疑问，当下是美国现代历史上，毒性对话污染最严重的一个时期。
好消息是，从你的毕业文凭封面上的三个单词中，可以找到清理污染的方法。这是伟大的华盛顿大学的座右铭：'Per Veritatem Vis'（力量源自真理）。这是一个与乔治·华盛顿大学完美契合的座右铭。
1794年，在华盛顿总统的第二任期内，有一个派系开始想分裂国家。华盛顿承认它所构成的威胁——但他相信他们不会成功。他在一封信中写道：“短期内，通过隐瞒事实并夸大歪曲其他人，来误导善良的人，并不困难。”
他继续说道，“但是，经过曲折和磨难，真相最终会重见光明。”
现在，我知道“pains is taken”这种说法，可能会让每个英语专业的感到不适。早在孩童时代，我们就被告知华盛顿总统从不说谎。但他们从未告诉我们，华盛顿在语法上会遇到麻烦。
为了公平对待华盛顿，“pains is taken”是当时的语法习惯。如果在今天，华盛顿可能会说“take pains”。或者干脆说T-Pain（编者注：用因故无法出席的原演讲嘉宾名字开玩笑）。
但实际上，我希望你们所有人都能牢记——这也跟华盛顿的观点以及华大的座右铭一致——经过曲折和磨难，真相最终会重见光明。力量源自真理。
每一代人为追求真理和进步都经历了痛苦和牺牲，这是为什么国家在1794年或1861年没有被分裂。废奴主义者，女权主义者和民权游行者以及平等婚姻倡导者所经历的磨难和付出，让美国被核心真理照亮：所有人都是平等的。
今天，因为传播谎言的工具比以往任何时候都厉害，因此坚守真相所需要的付出比以往任何时代都要大。
自民主诞生以来，借用苏格拉底的话，一直有这样的人，他们试图让较弱的论点看起来更强大，更关心赢得辩论而不是传播真实。
在古希腊，这些人被称诡辩者(Sophists)——他们肯定会喜欢Twitter和Facebook。
社交媒体带来了诡辩的新黄金时代——被盲目的党派立场借力和怂恿。克服它的唯一方法——将我们国家从被带沟里去的方向解救出来的唯一方法——就是听取华盛顿的话，为捍卫真理付出努力和牺牲。
这些痛苦，是民主制度下公民的一种责任和义务。受过好的教育的人责无旁贷。我相信，对于一所名字叫华盛顿的大学的毕业生来说，尤其如此。
你们所有人都是华大倡导和行动的悠久传统的传承者。不要失去这种光荣传统。捍卫它，接受挑战，让真相重见光明。
为了帮助您入门，让我提供一些快速建议，如何对付那些试图掩盖、否认真相的现代Sophists。
当那些处于政治舞台上的人从事辱骂和在校园叫喊（歧视语言）时，他们是在试图将注意力从实际问题上分散开来。这是因为他们无法解决这些问题，或者他们不愿意提出切实可行的解决方案——不要被这些行为误导。
当他们容忍对少数群体的攻击，特别是将某些信仰宣扬成威胁时，他们是在鼓动那些传播仇恨的人——不要容忍这些恶行。
当他们谴责记者是“国家的敌人”，并把任何重要的报道都攻击成“假新闻”，将谎言称为“另类事实”时，他们是在试图欺骗你只相信他们传的新闻。——不要被愚弄。
当他们夸大我们面对移民所面临的风险，而不谈论移民给我们国家带来的所有好处时，他们正在煽动人们的恐惧——不要让他们侥幸得逞。
当他们试图告诉你哪些人才可以爱，或者是告诉你可以成为什么样的人的时候，他们要么正在争取选票要么想扮演上帝——不要忍受这些。
当他们向你保证免费午餐，免费大学，免费医疗或免费收入时，请记住账单总是会来的——不要让他们逃避说清钱从哪里来。
当他们阻止一些人的声音被听到，通过辱骂让人禁言或为阻挡不同意见开路的时候，他们是在试图通过凌霸和审查而不是事实和理由赢得辩论。 忍受可悲的、错误的言论，也胜过压制言论自由。 保护他们的发言权是保护自己的发言权的唯一途径。
当人们将过去浪漫化时，记住一位活到102岁的母亲告诉我：过去的时光并非描绘的那样美妙。
最后，当领导者用国旗或国歌包装自己，并试图让你认为批评政府的人不爱或不尊重我们的国家时，真正的爱国主义并不是局限在对符号性质的爱国元素的尊重。真正的爱国主义是让真相重见光明，当需要采取行动时，就站出来采取行动。
换句话说，真正的爱国主义是关于付出（和牺牲）。所以，如果你今天没有记住其他，至少请记住这句话。或者，为了使它更简单，只需记住：T-Pain。
毕业生们，当你离开这所伟大的大学时，我希望你们能够付出行动，承担保护和发展民主所必需的磨难。承受磨难，了解不同的声音。承受磨难，与谎言斗争。承受磨难，拒绝替罪羊和仇外心理。承受磨难，拒绝不过脑的简单的答案。承受磨难，让我们的领导人对他们的言行负责。
如果你这样做，我毫不怀疑真相和国家将获胜。当我们这一代人将领导火炬传递给你们时，将可以像华盛顿在生命最后一刻时一样，说出同样的话：真好！
因此，今晚，让我们最后聚杯，也许是在T's酒吧里，按照自己的节奏或忍者神龟的节奏跳舞。明天，投入新的工作。世界比以往任何时候都更需要你们。
恭喜，祝你好运。
https://source.wustl.edu/2019/05/michael-bloombergs-2019-commencement-address-at-washington-university-in-st-louis/
Well good morning, everyone. Hello, WashU, how is everyone doing?
Let me start with the most important words I can say today: Congratulations to the distinguished graduates of the great class of 2019.
I’d like to welcome everyone here — and Chancellor Wrighton for extending the invitation. I’ve known the chancellor for more than a decade, and I want to congratulate him for everything he has done to both transform this campus and raise academic standards.
If there are any older alumni present, be glad you applied back when you did. I can just tell you that certainly I would not have gotten into WashU today. For the record, I was the kind of student who always made the top half of the class possible.
Graduates, it’s a great honor to be your Commencement speaker. I accept the fact that I wasn’t your first choice. But unfortunately, T-Pain couldn’t make it. Mandatory vocal rest, he said. Actually, that’s the same reason I didn’t go out last night and sing karaoke at T’s.
Today’s a beautiful day. But this is St. Louis, and so before leaving my hotel this morning I also packed a winter parka.
I drove over here, and I was lucky: I found a very convenient parking space — on West Campus — so I took the shuttle over. It was worth it. What an amazing place this is. Where else could I see the bunny? And the DUC.
Still, I was disappointed that, in all my walking around, I did not get to see the school’s most famous icon: Ninja Turtle Backpack Guy. Demetri, way to dance to your own beat.
Graduates, you’re probably asking yourself some big, important questions right now on this important day, like how am I going to make a living? Will I ever have a mattress as nice as the one I had in the Forty? Will I ever again experience the magic of free Uber rides?
And the biggest question of all, after Chancellor Wrighton retires, will he still wear double-breasted suits? I’m going to say yes to that one.
Today, you’ll have to say farewell to many of the things that served as your support system and that got you through these stressful times. Things like Ted Drewes, toasted ravs, John’s Donuts, gooey butter cake. Thank goodness WashU has also one of the world’s best medical centers.
Now, before I go any further, let me take a moment to congratulate another group who is here today and deserves a lot of credit, and I’m talking about your parents and your family. How about a nice round of applause for them.
They’re out there beaming, not even thinking about the cost of tuition, and I’m sure they are just thrilled that some of you will be moving back into their basements.
Wherever you’re headed in the days and months ahead, I want to leave you with some food for thought, so let me turn to the real message of my speech.
In composing my remarks, I thought about the fact that WashU was originally named Eliot Seminary after one of the founders, Reverend William Eliot. Apparently, he was uncomfortable naming things after himself. So the Board of Trustees at the time changed the name of the school to honor George Washington.
I can appreciate what Reverend Eliot was thinking. I hate it when people name things after themselves — we had a story about that recently on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio, maybe it was in Bloomberg Businessweek or Bloomberg News, who knows.
In all seriousness, the board back then made an inspiring decision to choose Washington. And anyone who thinks this school is in D.C. or near Seattle clearly hasn’t been paying attention.
It seems fitting that an institution named for Washington has played such an important role in presidential elections in recent decades. WashU has hosted a number of nationally televised debates, including the last one you saw in 2016.
Hosting a presidential debate is an experience that few schools or students get. But I can’t stand here and tell you it provided a great civics lesson. I wish I could.
Instead of focusing on the critical issues facing the country, that debate was more about locker room talk and ‘lock her up.’ Lincoln-Douglas, I think it’s fair to say, it was not.
That brings me to the topic du jour. It would be easy to blame the candidates or the moderators for the poor quality of that debate. But the problem runs much deeper.
All across America — at family gatherings, in social settings and workplaces, on college campuses, and certainly on social media, Americans are losing the ability to conduct civil and productive dialogue with those who hold different political views.
That has profound implications for our ability to function as a society. After all, when you can’t talk with one another, you can’t understand one another. When we can’t understand one another, we can’t work together. When we can’t work together, we can’t do anything. At least not anything big and important.
We face a lot of hard challenges in America today — from climate change to gun violence, to failing schools to the opioid epidemic, and on campuses, from the frightening trend toward racism, sexism, hatred, anti-Semitism and intolerance of unpopular views and opinions.
To have any hope of overcoming these challenges, we have to start by reclaiming our civic dialogue from those who are debasing and degrading it — and preventing us from getting things done.
All of you can help do that — no matter what your politics are and no matter what line of work you pursue later on. Maybe your passion is science or the environment. Or the arts or education. Or medicine or health care. Or business. There is not a single issue that isn’t affected by political debates. And there is not a single issue that isn’t threatened by the breakdown in our civic discourse.
So even if you hate politics — and there are a lot of reasons to hate politics these days — you will have to engage in political dialogue, if only to survive Thanksgiving dinner with your crazy uncle. And you will have to judge the arguments made by candidates if you are going to vote intelligently.
The question I hope you will ask yourself is: on what basis will you make those judgments?
It would be natural to think that a degree from one of America’s top colleges has prepared you as a skilled judge of political debates. But unfortunately a recent study found that the smartest and most knowledgeable voters can actually be the worst judges. And the reason is they are most likely to make judgments based on which party is making the argument rather than on the argument itself.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘I would never do that,’ you say. But it happens unconsciously all the time. People have a tendency to assume the worst about those on the other side of the aisle. And when it comes to those on your side, they tend to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. That’s why educated and knowledgeable people excuse these actions that are ethically wrong and defend statements that are blatant lies.
Of course, some people say defending the indefensible is just politics as usual, but I don’t accept that — and I hope you won’t either.
When extreme partisanship replaces reason, logic, facts and data, the country suffers — and special interests win. I’ve seen it time and time again, on issue after issue: gun violence, education, public health, and even one that threatens life as we know it: climate change.
Yesterday, I stood with WashU’s next chancellor, Andrew Martin, and the president of Ohio State University to announce that Bloomberg Philanthropies will help sponsor the first-ever climate summit of Midwestern universities next year right here on this campus.
We were joined by your mayor here, Lyda Krewson, because St. Louis, like WashU, has always been a real leader on climate change.
Last year, this city was one of the winners of a climate competition my foundation ran. And we are now providing about $2.5 million of resources to help St. Louis increase energy efficiency and expand solar power — a goal that WashU is helping the city to achieve. Thank you very much.
Universities have a critical role to play in helping our country tackle this challenge, and I want to thank everyone at WashU who has been part of that work.
There really is no time to waste. The problems driven by climate change are getting worse — and that’s something you’ve seen right here during your lifetime.
The recent Mississippi River floods have affected life in St. Louis and they have devastated farmers across the Midwest. Those types of natural disasters will continue to get more severe with climate change, according to the best scientific data.
The trouble is too many politicians aren’t interested in hard science. They’re only interested in political science and winning their next election. So they ignore the data, they try to cut funding for climate research — because they know it will undermine their political argument. Sometimes they even try to block public employees from uttering the words climate change.
You can’t make this stuff up. You just have to wonder, what are they trying to hide? The only conclusion I have drawn is that they’re either hiding their own ignorance or their own bad faith.
Either way, when government tries to gag scientists and censor our conclusions, watch out and speak up.
America’s progress depends on a dialogue that treats these issues not as pawns in a political battle, but as problems to be solved. Ignoring data and facts — and defending indefensible positions — happens in both parties. But during your time on campus, it has enabled new levels of dishonesty and wrongdoing and it has reached a point that, I believe, no democracy can long sustain.
Our democracy, as the Founding Fathers understood, relies on more than just votes. George Washington wrote in his farewell address, ‘Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.’
If the spring runs dry, democracy withers away — and the rights that we hold dear disappear.
Graduates, that spring of virtue is now yours to protect. And make no mistake, it is more polluted with toxic dialogue than it has ever been in modern history.
The good news is the way to clean up the pollution can be found in the three words written on the cover of your diploma. It’s the motto of this great university: ‘Per Veritatem Vis’ (strength through truth). And it’s a motto that fits perfectly with a university named for George Washington.
In 1794, during President Washington’s second term, there was a faction ginning up support for secession. Washington recognized the threat it posed — and he was confident that it would not succeed. He wrote in a letter, and I quote, ‘It is not difficult by concealment of some facts, and exaggeration of others to bias a well-meaning mind, at least for a time.’
But, he continued, ‘Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.’
Now, I know the phrase ‘pains is taken’ probably just horrified every English major here. As kids we were taught that Washington never told a lie, but they never told us he had trouble with subject-verb agreements.
In fairness to George, ‘pains is taken’ is the way they spoke back then. Today, Washington would probably say ‘take pains.’ Or maybe T-Pain.
But really, Washington’s point, and Washington U.’s motto, are principles I hope that all of you will take to heart: truth will prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light. And with truth comes strength.
The pains that every generation has taken to bring truth to light are why secession didn’t succeed in 1794 or 1861. The pains taken by abolitionists, and suffragettes, and civil rights marchers, and marriage equality advocates brought America’s core truth to light: that all people are created equal.
Today, the necessity of taking pains to bring truth to light is greater than ever because the tools for spreading lies are more powerful than ever.
Since the dawn of democracy, there have always been those, to paraphrase Socrates, who try to make the weaker argument appear the stronger and who care more about winning debates than being truthful.
In ancient Greece, these were called Sophists — and they would have loved Twitter and Facebook.
Social media has given rise to a new golden age of sophistry — aided and abetted by blind partisanship. The only way to overcome it — the only way to lift our national discourse out of the gutter — is to heed Washington’s words and take pains to bring truth to light.
Those pains are the burden of citizenship in a democracy. And a great education does not relieve them. It intensifies them. This is especially true, I believe, for graduates of a university bearing the name Washington.
All of you have been part of this institution’s long tradition of advocacy and activism. Don’t leave it behind. Carry it with you, and take on this challenge to bring truth to light.
To help you get started, let me offer some quick advice for dealing with modern-day sophists who try to obscure — and deny — truth.
When those in the political arena engage in name-calling and other schoolyard chants, and are trying to distract your attention away from the real issues and from their inability to address them or their unwillingness to put forward practical solutions — don’t be distracted.
When they tolerate attacks on minority groups, especially those who profess a faith that some find threatening, they are empowering those who traffic in hatred — don’t tolerate it.
When they denounce journalists as ‘enemies of the state,’ and declare any critical coverage to be ‘fake news,’ and dress up lies as ‘alternative facts,’ they are trying to fool you into trusting only the news that comes from their mouths — don’t be fooled.
When they exaggerate the risks we face from immigrants without talking about all the benefits they have brought to our country they are preying on people’s fears — don’t let them get away with it.
When they try to tell you who you can love, or even who you can be, they are either pandering for votes or playing God — don’t put up with it.
When they promise you a free lunch, or free college, free medical care, or free income, remember that a bill always comes due — don’t let them pass the buck.
When they prevent speakers from being heard, by shouting them down or creating spaces where differing opinions are not permitted, they are trying to win arguments by bullying and censorship instead of facts and reason. Don’t let them suppress free speech even when you find that speech to be deplorable. Protecting their right to speak is the only way to protect your right to speak.
When people romanticize the past, just remember something my mother, who lived to 102, told me: the good old days were never that good.
And finally, when leaders wrap themselves in the flag, or the national anthem, and try to make you think that critics of your government don’t love and respect our country, real patriotism isn’t about honoring symbols. Real patriotism is about bringing truth to light, and when action is required, standing up and taking action.
In other words, real patriotism is about taking pains. So if you remember nothing else from today, remember that phrase. Or, to make it even simpler, just remember: T-Pain.
Graduates, as you leave this great university I hope you will take the pains that are necessary to preserve and extend our democracy. Take pains to understand the other side. Take pains to expose lies. Take pains to reject scapegoating and xenophobia. Take pains not to fall for easy answers. And take pains to hold our leaders accountable for their words and their deeds.
If you do that, I have no doubt that truth — and America — will prevail. And my generation will be able to say as we pass the leadership torch to yours the same words that Washington spoke with his last breath: ‘Tis well.
So tonight, have one last drink, maybe at T’s, dance to your own beat or to the beat of Ninja Turtle Backpack Guy, and tomorrow, get to work. The world needs you more than ever.
Congratulations, and good luck.