The Power of Young People

I am pinning my hopes on the power of young people. On May 25, 1961, shortly after the Soviet Union had beaten the United States in the race to space by sending its first cosmonaut into orbit in April, US President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge in a special address to Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” As the United States up to that time had accomplished nothing more than sending one astronaut by rocket on a suborbital flight, there were no solid technological grounds for believing that the moon mission was feasible. One wonders how many people believed that it could be accomplished so quickly. Speaking at Rice University in September 1962, Kennedy urged on his fellow Americans with these words: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” It was young people in large numbers who most eagerly rose to the occasion. Outstanding students from all over the United States were soon rushing to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the hope of taking part in the project, and in July 1969 the Apollo 11 mission successfully reached the moon. It has been reported that the average age in the project team assembled for the moon shot was around 26 or 28, which shows how students were at the forefront of those responding to Kennedy’s challenge.

Today we have no need to wait for a charismatic leader to emerge. Recognizing that Japan must transform itself into a leader in the drive to create the nuclear-free, low-carbon society that the times demand, we can place our trust in the emergent power that will result from actions undertaken by numerous individuals who display professionalism in their respective fields. On Facebook pages you can see how there is a growing chorus of calls across Japan for emergent destruction and emergent creation.

(Originally written in Japanese.)