An excerpt from the Day of Affirmation Address by Senator Robert Kennedy, which was delivered to students at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1966.
The second danger is that of expediency; of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course if we must act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing that President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feeling of young people across the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspiration and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs – that there is no basic inconsistency between ideals and realistic possibilities – no separation between the deepest desires of heart and of mind and the rational application of human effort to human problems. It is not realistic or hard-headed to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgement, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief; […].
UBC Science student Yan Xu wonders if most people believe that we need to sacrifice some of our ideals in order to be realistic.
At EIESL, we have a team of dedicated research staff, formally supported by over twenty faculty at UBC alone. Since International Engagement and Service-Learning will carry on whether this project exists or not, our responsibility is to ensure that as UBC works with and for communities, we 1) select and achieve morally acceptable ends and 2) morally acceptable means to those ends.