"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that
incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate,
sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these
same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that
tyranny always lurking just around the corner. YOU SHOULD REJECT THESE VOICES. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and
unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we
can't be trusted.
"We have never been a people who place all our faith in government to
solve our problems. We shouldn't want to. But we don't think the
government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we
understand that this democracy is ours. And as citizens, we understand
that it's not about what America can do for us, it's about what can be
done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely
necessary work of self-government. And class of 2013, you have to be
involved in that process."
--from President Barack Obama's address to the graduating
class of Ohio State University on May 5, 2013 in
Columbus, Ohio.
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