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Hawaii’s World
THE most significant words I perceived among the acceptance speeches by the Republican and Democratic Party convention nominees were these from Sen. Joe Lieberman: Breaching the
Frontier Inside Us"We may wonder tonight where the next frontier really is. Tonight, I believe the next frontier isn't just in front of us, but inside of us."
I would just as soon he hadn't added: "...to overcome the differences that are still between us, to break down the barriers that remain and to help every American claim the possibilities of their own God-given lives."
Yes, yes, we want that, of course. But there's a lot more inside us that needs working on. In particular I think we are losing our old sense of community and community responsibility.
Self-interest is natural. Personal indulgence is natural. But they need to be reined in -- more than I think they are -- by a strong sense of obligation to those around us.
We have family obligations, community obligations, state obligations, national obligations and international obligations that seem to have been getting short shrift, maybe because times are just too good.
There is a New Frontier Inside Us that is even wider than the one of overcoming the religious prejudice that previously kept any Jew from running on a national presidential ticket.
Al Gore triumphed over that when he chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Gore's approval rating bumped up 2 percent with the choice, a good sign.
But there is so much more to do, so much more than is embraced by the term affirmative action.
The Frontier Inside Us probably cannot be tackled as methodically as we mapped our 1960s effort to land a man on the moon. But it deserves more attention than it gets.
It is not heartening to know that the most popular use of the Internet is to transmit pornography.
There is so much more that deserves our attention.
To make gains against the Frontier Inside Us we will have to put a lot of reliance on parents, on schools, and on leaders who will lead by example.
We will need to express the need for these gains in self-interest terms. Why should any human work against his or her own self-interest? But that may mean redefining self-interest in broader terms.
I suspect Hawaii's five new Medal of Honor winners saw a self-interest in not letting their buddies down. We need more of that. In the 21st century it will expand all the way from individual responsibility to international responsibility.
THAT'S a terrible burden to lay on anyone. It certainly can't be in the forefront of our minds in the many small daily choices and decisions we make. But maybe the battle against the Frontier Inside Us can at least plant some receptiveness to these wider considerations in the backs of our minds.
Maybe we will recognize international and national demagoguery more for the destructive forces they are and resist succumbing to them. Our self-interests in that are that it will be a step toward a more peaceful world.
Given the awesome weapons of destruction now at hand, that surely is one of the major steps we need to take in addressing the Frontier Inside Us.
There are many, many more. Each one can be small, even very, very small. But we should do our best to see that they point in the right direction.
I haven't noticed much media attention to Senator Lieberman's thought on where the New Frontier lies. I hope he won't drop it. And I hope he gets Al Gore to pick up on it. Let's have lots more talk about it. Maybe after Nov. 7 it even can be nonpartisan. It should be now.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.