○  energy and the national goals - a crisis of confidence  ○

dent, that government actions and legislation can be very important. that’s why i’ve worked hard to put my campaign promises into law, and i have to admit, with just mixed success. but after listening to the american people, i have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with america. so, i want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. i want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to american democracy.

i do not mean our political and civil liberties. they will endure. and i do not refer to the outward strength of america, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might.

the threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways.

it is a crisis of confidence.

it is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. we can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.

the erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of america.

the confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the fourth of july. it is the idea which founded our nation and has guided our development as a people. confidence in the future has supported everything else -- public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very constitution of the united states. confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. we’ve always believed in something called progress. we’ve always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.

our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to

上一页  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]  ... 下一页  >>