Clinton preaches cooperation, change and effort at lecture

Saturday, November 19, 2011
Bill Clinton visited DePauw's campus on Friday afternoon. During his visit he spoke to students and community not only about his book but life lessons as well. Clinton discussed the economy as well as addressing the subject of following your dreams, "I would advise the rest of you not to be big on quitting." When speaking of his dreams for president his inspiration was Martin Luther King Jr., "I just saw that if you believe in something you can really make a difference." Clinton spoke during the 25th anniversary of Ubben Lecture Series.

There's a lot of uncertainty in the world today and many problems, globally and nationally, that require solutions. And President Bill Clinton would love the opportunity to return to 21 years of age and see how the world plays out, being a part of the solutions that will change the world.

Clinton visited the DePauw University campus Friday as part of the Ubben Lecture series and its 25th anniversary. But for all he has done that has changed the world, as introductory speaker, DePauw alum and close friend Vernon Jordan said, Clinton acted as though there was still much left to do.

"It's easy to get weighed down by all the difficulties, but man I would love to be 21 years old," Clinton said. "The problems of the world are real and profound, but this is an exciting time to be alive."

After Bill Clinton finished his speech he sat down with Vernon Jordan, DePauw alum, for a question and answer session. The questions were submitted by DePauw students and included various topics, mostly dealing with the struggling economy.

Clinton had a vision for what he wants to see, and he shared it with the large crowd at the Lilly Center. Clinton said he wants to see a world willing to work together, willing to change and learn as it goes along, willing to put purpose over personal gain.

But he admitted it wouldn't be easy. It may in fact require an entire reboot of the way things are done and handled in the country. But in order to get something done, the question isn't what you want to do, it is how you are going to do it, Clinton said. And one of the solutions is to build systems that generate consistent success and can be updated easily.

"You should be thinking of how to reform a system," Clinton said.

According to Clinton, there are three main problems with the way things are in the United States. Things are too unequal, too unstable and too unsustainable. In his travels around the world to different countries, nations, cities and towns, he said that inequality is one of the most vexing and wide-spread issues facing the world today.

Inequality is driven by a lack of opportunity. Clinton said there are children in Africa as smart as any other person, but because they do not have access to the systems people in America take for granted. It is for this reason 25 percent of people who die every year are killed by the "diseases of the poor" such as cholera and dysentery, Clinton said. The lack of access to systems that generate education, health and financial gain generate an unequal situation.

Unstable situations arise when one side gets too much leverage. This is what Clinton said helped to lead to the U.S. financial crisis.

"There has to be a risk of failure for a possibility of success," Clinton said. "If there was no risk we would all vegetate. If there's too much it becomes like a computer virus that's impossible to control."

A system that effectively fights human nature can prevent instances like the financial crisis from happening again, but it takes more than just a system. People sacrificed the future to gain more in the present, a character flaw Clinton said must be changed. The unstableness creates fear and affects other issues as well, such as immigration, which has appalled Clinton for its over-the-top discussion.

Unsustainability speaks to the change in climate. Other countries have made attempts to fix the problem, or must deal with it in different ways. Clinton's favorite example is with Brazil. In many ways, it is a growing country, using new energy sources to help power its cities, particularly hydropower. However, the biggest source of hydropower is along the Amazon River, and building a plant requires tearing down rainforest. Building other hydro plants outside of the rainforest also pushes the soybean farmers, herders and other residents toward the rainforest, where they begin to cut it down in order to build homes.

When solving the problem, they asked Clinton for his advice.

"They had a different attitude, they wanted to figure it out," Clinton said, noting that it brought many different kinds of people together to work for the same cause.

Solving the problems of the world will require a different kind of thinking, effort, cooperation and the desire to make changes. Those who do this are the most successful countries today and throughout history, Clinton said. The U.S. doesn't have to be the military superpower it once was, but it can be a significant force for change and lead the way in other aspects, but it has to start by setting an example of smart decision-making in the government.

Clinton said he hopes to see a few things happen before he dies: cooperation over confrontation, the ability to visit Haiti as just a tourist and the solution to the energy crisis to name a few. But America, and other parts of the world, need to change the way they think and be willing to work for it.

"You need to know what you want the world to look like when the next students graduate from DePauw," Clinton said.

Comments
View 15 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • "Clinton said there are children in Africa as smart as any other person, but because they do not have access to the systems people in America take for granted. "

    Check out the sentence construction above.

    Africa and most third world countries were civilizations with large populations long before America was opened up and settled. What has kept them as third world nations over the centuries is dictatorial, tyrannical governments. What our founding Fathers gave to America was a governmental structure that allowed the individual to have the maximum freedom necessary to achieve great things. Sadly we now have a government that wants to punish individual excellence and redistribute their earnings to those who refuse to shoulder the responsibilities that individual freedom brings.

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 7:02 AM
  • VERY well said exhoosier2!! I'll bet the liberals get a totally different meaning out of this,and make OUR fault!!! DARN US!! Take our rights,and TAX us !!

    -- Posted by Ya THUNK on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 9:01 AM
  • You can take one sentence or even a paragraph and twist it to meet your desired understanding, but you miss the whole point if you do not consider Mr. Clinton's remarks in their totality.

    -- Posted by Seagullslim on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 10:40 AM
  • I am truely sad about DePauw having him here to

    speak.

    Can't they find someone with better morales than

    a President that lied to the county?

    Dr. Humbert must be turning over in his grave

    if he could see how DePauw has changed.

    -- Posted by Voter on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 1:09 PM
  • why was this clown even here?

    -- Posted by GRNT on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 2:29 PM
  • Why be so disrespectful to a prior US president?

    -- Posted by citizenoftheworld on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 5:41 PM
  • I enjoyed the lecture very much although I felt that Clinton seemed tired. He is very intelligent and it always shows in this lectures and interviews.

    I have also enjoyed at Depauw PM John Majors, MLK3, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gen. Colin Powell, Karl Rove and Howard Dean. All these people have intelligent insight so even if their views are not my own I can still learn something from them.

    There are some speakers I would not go to see because their views are so radical or opposite from mine. I just don't go and I don't begrudge those that do. Just like tv or radio...don't want to hear or see something, turn the channel!

    -- Posted by ladyinthewoods on Sat, Nov 19, 2011, at 8:28 PM
  • Slick Willy was at Depauw thats awesome!

    -- Posted by 1stamendrights. on Sun, Nov 20, 2011, at 12:28 AM
  • "You should be thinking of how to reform a system," Clinton said...

    Way ahead of you sir. It was called the Glass--Steagall Act. I'm sure you've heard of it as you're the one who repealed it.

    -- Posted by westforty on Sun, Nov 20, 2011, at 9:48 AM
  • How was the Glass-Steagall Act changed by the 1980 Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act? I think the real start of the 30 year deregulation was here. George William Miller Secratary Treasure 79-80 was the first corprate man Fedral Reserve Bank director appointed. This opened the door for Secretary Treasure Don Regan Merrill Lynch CEO and NY Stock Exchange vice chairman. His term changed brokerage fees and rates to deregulate restrictions on wall street. What power was left in Glass-Steagall Republican backed repeal 54-44 sen. 343-86 house to get the repeal to confrence. The 1982 Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act also helped in the Wall Street runaway.

    -- Posted by farmer on Sun, Nov 20, 2011, at 12:57 PM
  • Gee dunno, farmer, maybe if you multiply your equation by N.A.F.T.A.

    If the answer is still not satisfactory, just throw a bunch of numbers in, big ones, like the federal reserve does in a bail-out.

    -- Posted by westforty on Mon, Nov 21, 2011, at 12:34 AM
  • Oh, Putnam County, especially the DePauw pukes, you never cease to amaze me with your liberal ideology. Here we have a man who brought utter shame to the United States Presidency being lauded like an emperor in Greencastle! Does anyone remember: Whitewater, Hillary's miraculous investment strategy in Cattlegate, the White House Travel Office debacle, Gennifer Flowers, Vince Foster (RIP), Paula Jones, the Lincoln bedroom for sale to political contributors, Clinton posing for pictures with drug ring leader Jorge Cabrera, Web Hubbell, campaign contributions from Communist China, and who can forget Monica Lewinsky, Kathleen Willey, surprise military attacks when the heat was on Willy, Jaunita Rodderick. When will Bill and Hillary bring back all the silverware, paintings, and furniture they took upon leaving the White House? The blatant manipulation and selling of pardons to the highest bidders?

    Shame on you DePauw, the city of Greencastle, and Putnam County for giving this POS such a warm welcome and putrid adulation.

    -- Posted by Really39760 on Mon, Nov 21, 2011, at 5:31 PM
  • What is with the lack of disrespect in our country? Whether you like him or not he was an American President. I also heard some of the crowd booing the first lady at the Nascar race. I just don't get it. RESPECT people.

    -- Posted by jakeboy on Tue, Nov 22, 2011, at 3:02 AM
  • New name for DePauw----- LIBPAUW Much more fitting!

    -- Posted by Ya THUNK on Tue, Nov 22, 2011, at 7:22 PM
  • It is not a matter of liking Slick Willy, it is what he did to the office that you so revere that is sickening. In my previous post I didn't even mention the missle attack he launched three days after his "apology" speech; the day after reaching a settlement with Paula Jones he made an aborted strike on Iraq to keep this out of the news; one day before he was impeached he called a surprise air attack on Iraq!

    If this guy was your neighbor you would be a states witness at his trial and hope he was locked up in Putnamville before he could get to your daughters!

    Disrespect has absolutely nothing to do with my views of Bill Clinton. In order for one to be respected, they must deserve it - he obviously does not fit that definition.

    The only bright spot is that the current man in the White House will make everyone forget about Clinton once people realize what he and the Dem's have done to this country in the last three years.

    Remember, January 20, 2013 will go down in history as the "End of an Error" when Obama is retired and can return to Indonesia.

    -- Posted by Really39760 on Wed, Nov 23, 2011, at 8:24 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: