“We aren’t used to hearing that word love. Especially when love is mentioned as a power. In the corridors of world power, many things are more potent than love—money is power, consensus is power, votes equal power, military force is power...Yet within a world of riots, and murders and napalm and ‘burn, baby, burn,’ some men and women are turning to love.”
Our Quote of the Week reminds us that choosing love over more blunt means of influence and control is the most powerful thing we can do.
This week, we return to one of our favorite quotes of Sargent Shriver’s. Taken from fiery 1967 Address at the University of California, Shriver quotes everyone from Leo Tolstoy and Ghandi to Sonny and Cher. Shriver begins the speech with a series of self-deprecating jokes that both capture the politics and culture of the late 1960s and also resonate with us today:
“Every hot issue that seems to come up in the United States or even around the world plagues me or the Peace Corps, or the OEO. We have the church/state fight. We have the birth control fight. We’ve got the race fight. We’ve got the War in Vietnam Fight. The riots fight. [...] I’ve personally been described as a spy by TAS, a hog-butcher from Chicago, and a Wall Street Imperialist. I thought that last one wasn’t too bad for a democrat. Of course there were the allegations that we were an arm of the CIA—but who isn’t.”
All of the criticisms and accusations Shriver jokingly lists point to the same underlying suggestion: that his work leading the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity (the office of the War on Poverty), has disrupted the public order—and the power structure.
Sargent Shriver wears the badge of disruptor with honor. In the speech, he recounts stories from his time leading the Peace Corps and building the programs of the War on Poverty. He also makes specific recruiting appeals for some of the programs of the War on Poverty, including Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA, now known as AmeriCorps VISTA) and Head Start. Drawing from his personal experiences and from world events, Sargent Shriver admits that there are many examples of poverty, injustice, inequality, and violence occurring at home and abroad. In his inimitable style, he enthusiastically talks about love as the antidote to these ills—love that inspires action, service, communion with others.
Sargent Shriver’s words continue to challenge us. In an environment where tearing others down feels all too easy, he asks us to lift others up—using the power of love.
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