If my own memories as a law student are a reliable guide, the farthest thing from your minds tonight is your retirement from business or whatever professional field you may enter.  Your interest is naturally in the beginnings of your careers.  You are curious about whom you will work for, what kind of business or occupation you will engage in. And rightly so.  But by the year 2000, 35 years from now, a good many of you will be retiring, and certainly all of you will be approaching the end of what I hope will be rewarding and satisfying working lives .

        You will be living in a different America then.  Our urban population will have doubled. City land will have doubled.  By the time we enter the 2lst Century, we will have to build as many new houses, schools, apartments, parks, and offices as we have built since the first settlers arrived in the new world.

        This means that during the next 35 years, the years when you will be taking your place in the scheme of things, we will have to build a brand new physical America--and you will play a major part in this undertaking.

        When people hear of this great challenge, they tend to think of the steel and glass and concrete and wood that will be needed to recreate our material world.  In itself, this is a staggering task.  I would like to focus tonight, however, on some of the other facets of the new world we will be creating, and on what all of this has to do with you.  And make no mistake about it, we will be creating a new world, a world completely different from the one we know today.

        What we propose to build is nothing less than a society which is free from poverty and ignorance.  We are not content simply to develop mechanisms for treating these problems.  We intend to eliminate them at their roots, by eradicating their causes.  No other nation has ever had the audacity to attempt such an objective.  The pioneering national programs of thirty years ago were concerned primarily with trying to save our institutions from the economic chaos that threatened to engulf us.  Our aspirations for the next 3-1/2 decades are much broader than merely preserving our present way of life.  They are revolutionary in scope.

        That term was first applied to this country in connection with the original American Revolution.  I think the analogy is quite apt today. Some people seriously question the notion of attempting to eliminate poverty and ignorance.  The Bible is cited as authority for the axiom that we will always have the poor with us.  The idea of creating a new world seems rather preposterous.  But there were doubters in 1776, too.  They said the idea that the people could be trusted to govern themselves was sure to fail.  Our existence as a nation today, however, demonstrates the fundamental soundness of the political revolution we waged in 1776.  Moreover, that revolution has been adopted by people all over the world who want to rule themselves in a free and democratic way.  In a sense, we were the first nation to export a revolution.  The difference, and it is a significant difference, is that we do our exporting by the example we set, and not by subversion, intrigue, and terror.

        Creating this new world poses a great challenge to democracy as a political philosophy.  Is democracy effective enough to produce this new world?  Can it move rapidly enough to bring about change in a large, complex, interdependent society?  Creating this new world also poses a challenge to the economic system we have today, and to the basic principles underlying our economic way of life.  Can an economy in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned meet the broader objectives of society at-large?  Are the motivations and rationale of a private economy compatible with the needs of all the people?  Is private leadership broad enough and far-sighted enough to encompass within itself the aspirations of a nation?  

        The issue here goes much deeper than the relationship between business and Government.  The critical point is that both democracy and our free economy are in the spotlight of world scrutiny.  The developing nations are still in the formative stages with respect to their form of government and the character of their economic systems.  They are looking for models to follow--successful models.  Forms of government which are totalitarian in both their political and economic philosophy offer one model.  We offer another.  The ultimate choice, for most nations, will be made, not on the basis of ideology, but on the answer to the simple question--which system achieves the best results ?

        In this connection I might note that there are some rather profound and startling changes beginning to emerge in the countries of Eastern Europe, and in the Soviet Union itself.  These changes have to do with the basic foundations of their economic systems.  The new directions are not the result of some flash of genius on the part of the ideologists, or some fresh revelation concerning the true meaning of Das Kapital.  These changes are being made because their system simply doesn't work well enough.  The lesson, I am sure, is not lost on the developing nations of the world.

        One might well ask why it is that we are willing to expose ourselves to the risk of failure in this drive to eliminate poverty and ignorance.  Part of the answer is that we want to do it regardless of external considerations.  We want to do it for ourselves.  The whole fabric of life in this country is based on the assumption that we can improve our lot through knowledge and work.  The philosophy of passively accepting the trials and tribulations of an indifferent world is completely foreign to our thinking.

        Beyond this, the national conscience demands that we make the attempt.  We are not willing to stand idle in the face of social problems, when we believe the means of solution are at hand.  Furthermore, the function of our private enterprise society is not limited to the production and distribution of material goods.  It also embraces the quality of people's lives.  What gives new meaning to this concept today is that we now have an economic machine which is capable of matching both our material and our human aspirations.

        What sort of new world will we be building?  The question would more properly be put to you because you will have more to do with it than members of my generation.  One striking comment I can make about the nature of this new world is to compare it with the ancient world.  The seven wonders of the pre-Christian era include such things as the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes.  These magnificent achievements demonstrated man's ability to change the physical face of the world, to add to the natural world in massive form.  These accomplishments, of course, derived from the physical strength of man.  They were limited by the use of his own muscle power, coupled with simple mechanical devices.

        The wonders of the world of the future will be largely the product of men's minds.  They reflect our determination to master the world through our intellectual resources.  The monument we leave behind will be a long lifetime for all people, filled with years of quality.  This goal involves a number of facets of life.  

        People's lives will be relatively free from the physical and mental diseases which attack us today.  

        Education will be a continuing part of everyone's life, its availability limited only by a person's needs, desires, and ability.  Achievement of this goal will bring both mental and material enrichment to people's lives.  But it will also be sought for the broader, social reason that a democracy such as ours, particularly in a highly technological society, cannot function without educated citizens.

        We will manage and control our physical environment in such a way that clean water and air are available to meet all the requirements of agriculture, industry, commerce, transportation, recreation, health, and esthetics.

        Because our urban population in the year 2000 will be twice as large as it is today, we will have to devise ways in which people can interact with their cities as a harmonious system, rather than in an enervating, frustrating struggle.

        Nuclear power will become commonplace during the next 3½ decades.  Aside from the intellectual satisfaction and the technological advantages that this provides, the power of the atom will open up a virtually limitless source of energy.

        We can also foresee the day when science will provide us with custom-made materials, designed in such a way that the characteristics needed for a particular application will be built into the material itself, removing the causes of failure and deterioration.

        As we now explore the mysteries of outer space, we will also move to exploit the natural resources of the oceans through sea farming and sea mining.

        For the individual, this new world will be characterized by a higher level of income, and a higher standard of living.  These trends, together with the tendency to employ machines for routine, drudgery-type activities will have profound effects on the way we spend our time.

        During the past hundred years, technology has been increasingly applied first to agriculture, and then to manufacturing industries.  Together with improvements in capital and labor, the size of markets, transportation networks, advances in business organization, this has resulted in unprecedented improvements in productivity.  One consequence is that we enter the work force at a later age, retire at an earlier age, work fewer hours per day, fewer days per week, and fewer weeks per year.  In sum, the total amount of time in the average person's life that is devoted to productive labor has been getting smaller and smaller.

        This trend has profound consequences for society as a whole.  What will people do with their increased proportion of non-work time?  It would be naive to assume that the average man will now devote great segments of his waking hours to philosophical contemplation.  But there may be some upper limit on the amount of time that people will spend on hobbies, recreation, and entertainment.  Clearly, there will be consequences in the political life of the nation when we reach the point at which most of the population of voting age are not members of the labor force.  Until recent times , the bulk of political appeals lay in economic issues.  We may be facing a completely new situation in this respect in the future.  The first waves of this trend are already upon us.  The most recent political campaigns have turned not upon bread and butter issues, but upon such questions as our position in the world at large, the national spirit, and our ability to live up to our national potential.  Other issues will no doubt appear in future years.

        It's easy enough to lay out the blueprint for this new world, but there are some hard questions that must be raised at the very beginning.  What makes us think we can bring this revolution off?  Can we afford to pay for it?  And can we organize ourselves to accomplish the objectives we seek ?

        Without getting into a discussion of the "new economics", I think we would have to give the American economy high marks, for both recent performance, and future promise.  Projections of Federal revenue based on growth in the Gross National Product, indicate a sizeable amount of funds, which will be available for the public investment so necessary for the future I have described.  It would perhaps be unrealistic to assume that the economy will continue indefinitely to reach new highs in practically all the economic indicators.  Nevertheless, there is no valid reason to assume that we are in for a substantial downswing simply because we haven't had a slump in a long time.  There is no natural law which contravenes the fundamentally sound conditions responsible for our present high prosperity.

        The rate of business investment and the relatively stable prices of recent times give rise to honest optimism for the short term future.  In the long run, the most hopeful sign is an almost universal understanding that business and Government are now partners in shaping the economic future of the nation, and that if conditions require Governmental action, action will be taken.  In other words, it is somewhat unthinkable that the nation would ever be allowed to drift helplessly into an economic decline such as those we have experienced in times past.

        Furthermore, the continued application of new technology in our economy will result in additional increases in productivity.  We are only now beginning to apply technology to the service fields, which account for most of the labor force in the country today.  Economic benefits arising from this development are still ahead of us.

        Science and technology have come to serve a dual purpose with respect to our plans for the future.  First, new knowledge is needed to solve some of the substantive problems before us, in the life sciences, for example, and in the technology having to do with the physical environment.  

        Second, the application of new knowledge is one of the prime contributors to increased national wealth.  There has been a great deal of speculation in recent years on the ultimate conditions which this process may create.  Some social critics link the issue with computers and automation, and this immediately raises the specter of displacement of workers by machines.  At the extreme, science and technology are seen as threatening to eliminate scarcity as an economic factor in society.  This possibility is regarded as a threat, not because scarcity is thought to be desirable -- quite the contrary.  But because we simply aren't prepared at the present time to cope with an economic way of life in which the satisfaction of a person's needs would be provided for without regard to the work a person performs.

        The social problem of the future may have less to do with poverty and wealth, and more to do with how people can achieve meaningful experience in their lives.  I am sufficiently confident that we can pay for this new world, to suggest that some of you, in your lifetimes, may be attending national conferences to alleviate boredom.

        In looking ahead at our national goals, there is one great asset that has come into prominence within the past twenty-five years, which is sometimes overlooked.  This is our ability to organize ourselves and our resources in order to achieve national objectives.

        The Second World War, when looked at purely from a social organization point of view, illustrates this ability.  The Federal interstate highway system and the program to land men on the moon are other examples.  This ability to "get things done" is vital in a democracy as large as ours.  What it requires is a political system that is responsive to rapidly changing times, and a national character which permits diverse segments of society to work together toward common objectives, while still retaining their legitimate, vested interests.

        This latter element is extremely important, particularly as applied to the non-Governmental segments of society.  Where and how do they fit into the picture?  It is fallacious to assume that wherever we are going, the Government will somehow get us there.

        If we intend to meet our goals for the year 2000, we must have initiative, leadership, ideas, criticism, and the enthusiastic participation of all elements in American society.  And this is not a window dressing requirement.  It is an indispensable pre-requisite.

        What does this mean when we get down to cases?  As a general rule, the educational community, professions such as social work, and the private foundations, find it relatively easy to regard most public programs as roughly coinciding with their own objectives.  For a variety of very valid reasons, this situation does not obtain, or certainly not to the same degree, in the case of private industry.  It is as naive to think that business interests and public interests always coincide, as it is to think that they always collide.

        The truth lies somewhere in the middle, and it arises out of the vital functions which the private sectors of our society must perform, if the new world is to come about.  In the first place, there can be no question but that private groups must generally conceive, develop, produce, and sell the goods, and many of the services, which are necessary to meet society's needs.  The assignment of this function to private industry is basic to our thinking.

        Second, the national economy must be moved to levels which will generate sufficient tax revenues to support the public investments needed for our national goals.  Government, through its laws, policies, regulations, attitudes, can do a great deal to help create conditions which are conducive to a strong economy.  In the last analysis, however, the economy cannot be ordered to succeed.  Its success depends on stockholders, union members, religious followers, financial supporters, or whatever special group may be involved.

        Instead, business, education and labor are asked to consider the many ways in which their interests parallel broader, public interest.  Leaders in the private sectors of society must also fill the role of public statesman.

        At the time of the first American Revolution, we didn't have a Government or a bureaucracy, in the modern sense of these terms.  That struggle was won by farmers, merchants, craftsmen, mechanics, bankers, who were also soldiers and statesmen when soldiers and statesmen were needed.

        Life is more complex now. There is no Paul Revere to sound the alarm and call out the minutemen.  But the same kind of call is going out for public service, in whatever sphere of activity you find yourself.  And this call is directed not to organizations, but to people, to individuals, to you here in this room.

        Organizations do not determine the outcome of human events, people do.  The successes and failures, the values and motivations of business concerns, labor unions, or universities, are really the successes and failures, the values and motivations of people, individual people who are as real and as specific as you and I.

        Thus, the question that is most germane is not -- what will this or that organization contribute to society, but rather, what will I contribute, what will you contribute?  It is completely illogical to be concerned about the future course of the country if you do not yourself have a deep commitment toward some specific kind of future for the country.  This does not mean that everyone should become a Government administrator, or that everyone should run for Congress, or that everyone should take up social criticism as an active hobby.

        What it means is that our way of life depends, in an absolute sense, upon people in all walks of life becoming personally involved in the resolution of the great challenges facing us as a nation.

        This involvement can take many forms.  Some of you will no doubt go into public service.  Others will enter the private, non-profit world of study and research.  Most of you will go into private business or the professions.  Whatever your course, opportunities for public service abound.  The degree of involvement ranges from the personal expenditure of time, money, and energy, to the less obvious case of a business leader who conducts his overseas operations in the light of the nation's balance of payments problem.

        Whatever the future holds, and whatever degree of success we achieve in the new American revolution, you will be providing the major inputs, you as individuals, making specific judgments, taking specific actions.  Your judgments and your actions, of course, will be influenced by your attitudes toward life, toward work, toward other people.  You will obviously be motivated by forces and ideas which give some satisfaction to you.

        One of the most satisfying experiences in life is to discover something, which in your own eyes, is worthy of the full commitment of yourself.  If you can identify some facet of your life's work with the broader, public interest, and then commit some part of yourself to the fulfillment of public goals, then both you and the nation will be enriched.

        I am convinced that we are going to learn a fundamental truth about ourselves during the next 35 years in this country.  This truth is that American society in the latter half of the 20th Century is producing young people whose need for fulfillment is too generous and too strong to be contained within the cushioned confines of self-interest.  And I hope that you all enjoy the satisfaction of discovering this truth for yourselves.

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