A THOUGHTFUL AND INTELLIGENT ASSESSMENT

One of the most challenging things I read each month is Hillsdale College’s Imprimis. It is intellectually stimulating and culturally relevant.  I don’t pretend to understand everything I read there, but isn’t that the nature of a challenge? 

The edition I just read [July/August 2025/Volume 54, Number 7/8] did not miss the mark. It was an encapsulation of the recent 2025 Commencement Address delivered by Victor Davis Hanson [who many of us see occasionally making contributions on the various conservative news networks].

His introductory remarks were warm, personal and real, as he reflected on his first visit to Hillsdale College in 2004. He reflected on three observations made during that visit:

1.   He left a bicycle unlocked on campus overnight and found it the next morning neither vandalized or stolen.

2.   While visiting the campus bookstore he noticed no therapeutic course titles like peace studies, environmental studies, leisure studies, film studies, gender studies, or sexual studies. Instead, there were courses in all classical aspects of philosophy, literature, languages, history, mathematics, and science.

3.   Upon arriving he observed that students, faculty, and staff at Hillsdale College are happy. “They smile. They say hello to strangers. They shake your hand.”

I will not replicate his remarks – except a few that particularly struck me. He challenged the graduating class with corresponding points about honor, tradition and optimism.

I underlined the following:

“When individual behavior and decorum falter, so does a country, which is, after all, only the common reflection of millions of its individuals.” [p.3]

Immediately thoughts of violence, looting and destroying property leaped to the foreground of my memory. Thoughts about the unsympathetic exchanges between our two political parties and the angry tirades we watch on the floor of our Congress disturbed my mind.

Granted, those who propagate these vehement expressions of anger and discontent are a minority, however, they inevitably taint the bigger picture of our COUNTRY! 

The fact that these exchanges take place as frequently as they do mars the good reflection that we desire!

I also took note of Dr. Hanson’s words regarding tradition:

“So often in the present age, we in our narcissism and arrogance confuse our technical and material successes with automatic moral progress. We seem unaware that thinkers of the past – as early as the Greek poet Hesiod, some 2,700 years ago – worried about just the opposite: they worried that material progress and greater wealth would result in moral regress, given the greater opportunities to gratify the appetites with perceived fewer consequences and to use sophistry to excuse the sin.”

 

[I had to look it up: sophistry means slightly deceptive reasoning.]

Would anyone argue this point? Has moral behavior been improved by our material gain and technological prowess?

I don’t think so.

Cite the diminishing impact and influence of the church in America as a consequence of our wealth and sophistication. It’s a good question for debate: Does the declining influence of the church correspond to the increase of immorality? What do you think?

However, Dr. Hanson deliberately closes his remarks “on a happy note”. He looks to the generation he is addressing in this speech for optimism. He states that “the strength of this country - even in its darkest days like those of April 12, 1861 [the Battle of Fort Sumpter], or December 7, 1941 [the attack on Pearl Harbor] or September 11, 2001 as evidence that even in its darkest days - has always been its singular ability to remain not just unshaken, but confident in its values, its resilience, and its inherent strength to overcome all challenges.” [p.5]

I’m 73½. 🙂  [I’m remembering George Carlin’s bit that states when you reach a certain age, you start counting ‘half-years’ again!]

In short – I’m an old guy. Although I’m still aware of the contributions of Abraham, Moses, Samuel and quite a number of older folks who made major contributions to history [His story]. I’m also aware that our president is 79 years of age – and sets a pace that few can sustain.

However, the future will be more likely impacted by a new and younger generation. Let’s hope and pray that those who cherish values like faith, freedom and respect will lead us into a future that protects those of all ages, finds creative and fair solutions to the complex issues of the global community, and propagates democracy as a preferred system of government.