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№ 2009.020 — University of Portland — Commencement address
Paul Hawken
Field: letters
Paul Hawken tells the University of Portland's Class of 2009 that they are entering a world where every living system is in decline, and challenges them to help build a new way of living on earth. He argues that a vast, largely invisible global movement of ordinary people and organizations is working to restore the planet and aid the poor, tracing its roots to the abolitionists who first organized on behalf of strangers. He contrasts an economy that 'steals' the future through exploitation with one that 'heals' it through restoration, and urges graduates to be hopeful and act despite seemingly impossible odds.
Key moments
- 01 Declaration that 'you are brilliant, and the earth is hiring'
- 02 Both pessimism (from the science) and optimism (from the people restoring the earth) are justified
- 03 Abolitionists as the first movement to defend the rights of strangers
- 04 Distinction between an economy that heals the future versus one that steals it
- 05 Reflection on the body's cellular complexity and humanity's interconnectedness
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording