Well, I admit there is enough truth in that critique to justify feeling disconnected and alienated. But at bottom, that’s a personal cop-out and a national peril. Political conditions maximize the conditions for individual opportunity and responsibility as well as community. America corps and the Peace Corps exist because of political decisions. Our air, water, land and food will be clean and safe because of political choices. Our ability to cure disease or log onto the Internet have been advanced because of politically determined investments. Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo ended because of political leadership. Your parents and grandparents traveled here by means of government built and subsidized transportation systems. Many used GI Bills or government loans, as I did, to attend college.

我承认，人们批评的人类情感淡漠和疏远很多都是事实。但实际上，这只是个人托辞和国家危难。政局最大限度地扩大了个人机会和个人要承担的责任，同时也最大限度地扩大了社会机会和社会所要承担的责任。美国军团和美国和平部队因政治决策而存在。我们的空气、水、土地和食品因政治决策而安全卫生。以政治为导向的投资使医疗技术和网络技术取得了新的发展。政治领导结束了科索沃(南斯拉夫自治省名)的种族净化。你们的父母、祖父母能够到此旅游得益于政府资助修建的交通运输系统。和我一样，很多人在美国退伍军人权利法案和政府贷款条例的帮助下完成了大学教育。

Now, I could, as you might guess, go on and on, but the point is to remind us all that government is us and each generation has to stake its claim. And, as stakeholders, you will have to decide whether or not to make the choice to participate. It is hard and it is, bringing change in a democracy, particularly now. There’s so much about our modern times that conspire to lower our sights, to weaken our vision-as individuals and communities and even nations.

现在，你们也许已经猜到，我会一直坚持下去。而且我要强调一点，政府使我们的，每一代人都要响应它的号召。作为其中的一份子，你们必须做出选择，决定要不要参与其中。这很艰难，却能给民主社会带来变革，尤其是现在。现代社会无形中使我们个人、团体甚至国家放低眼光，缩小视野。