Dear Melissa and Jessica,

Your letters come with similar thoughts almost at the same time, which is an irony of itself, and they both are valuable contributions of your own personalities— and perhaps suggest what others are thinking as well. You are both seeing things very differently—the strength of your imaginations will become your best assets. Your curiosities are the essence of hope.

For those reading this open letter besides Melissa and Jessica, you might like to know it was motivated one, by Melissa Cullen, who herself was prompted to write and thank Brian for the amazing presentation that he made here this past week and to suggest the importance of the qualities he personified as he was creating an awareness with his exuberant and poignant presentation, reminding us how important it is to be moved not by a culture of “hyped individualism but of collective community.”

The other was a brief note, by Jessica Gavit, which was sparked from her core values as her insight awakens a spirit of renewed imagination. She has realized a courage from within, that ‘she’ has a place in the political system, and that there is too much at stake not to care.

I was moved and energized by both of these viewpoints, and inspired. Their sharing motivates me. It awakens my own vigil of hope to believe that the future of America is going to be one of a positive and exciting time, as young people are engaged about change. If you can think it, you can do it.

So, Jessica and Melissa, perhaps you might remember a comment I read from the ‘40th anniversary of CA magazine, written by Rita Sue Siegle, in a historical context from first 1969, on day one of the Modernism, History, Criticism and Theory class.

At that time, I suggested no one in the class would understand what I was referring to— now is a good time to re-share again… “The Mission: I will make the world safe for Democracy…er Design. I will be located in the center of the universe… I will teach business people how to use Design and Designers, and I will teach… to work in business to achieve mutual satisfaction…” and, I fast forwarded it to the conclusion of that thought… then some years later to 1999, as she concluded a re-visioning, calling out, “revisiting the mission…it’s a different world than it was in 1969. The stakes are higher, but there are many more opportunities. The result is a continuing demand from more and different clients for the movers and shakers of design and consulting. With all the changes, the Internet being the prime example, the one constant that remains is our relentless enthusiasm to keep the world safe for Design and Democracy.”

A day and a half after Memorial Day, they are very important words.

Ron Paul [Jessica’s favored former candidate], whose interview I just finished listening to in the Google film you sent me (thanks for thinking of me- I’m happy you’ve been listening), suggests many excellent comments and thoughts; and you are correct, Google is an amazing firm, for many reasons. Let’s chat about that in another conversation. There are some potentially exciting opportunities.

Your education would never be complete unless you learn good values. How important to promote character within education. How important to share the good values, the ideals of strong character, and the responsibilities that citizenship is. It is a part of what and who we are.

Perhaps, the greatest document we still have to understand our futures by, and the recourse of it, are those words authored by Thomas Jefferson, We the People… We are free, you and I, because of those words.

His values resonate and confirm the very maxim of our free society—Jefferson’s “essential principles of our government”— here, I share them with you as they are so very powerful:

Fellow citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people – a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of the revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority – the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia – our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trail by juries impartially selected – these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.

It was that age of revolution and reformation that we began with in this country, and it’s always a good value to return and look upon, not as history for history’s sake… nor, as a regressive force, but as a progressive force (say, a couple of book’s I recommend, if you can get your hands on them, are The Green Dragoons, by Robert Bass, and The South Carolina Regulators, by Richard Brown. They will enlighten your knowledge of the relationships of law and liberty and shed light on how 1750’s pre-Revolutionary ideals might be interpreted as we move forward).

In the eve of our electing the 44th president of the United States, as crazy as this election seems, I sense a real, very positive reaffirmation amongst people- particularly young people: the Millennials (you, Jessica and Melissa + your peers) about being an American. We are re-examining our values in a way we haven’t since the time of ‘the greatest generation,’ when those citizens—our fathers, or grandfathers of the WWII years were around, and it is exciting.

We are a country of complexity and moods, for sure, but it now seems to me a time when selfishness and entitlements are being set aside. Even amongst the uncertainty, there is a confidence being renewed and a coming together, and it’s happening in a time of transition wrought by a new model of technology, altering what we might come to realize is so important—the work we are about.

Indeed, I do subscribe to the ideal that the message is so very important and that we must deliver our messages. Otherwise, we just contribute to the furthering of a homogenized society. We are now in a world where ‘creativity’ is the driver— how amazing. To quote from Dan Pink as he imagines the time just ahead “…the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.”

The world will belong to the creators and the empathizers… how important now to exercise our creativity and to develop our thinking, as the time is upon us for change, and we must embrace it—not be scared of it.

There is a moral transaction ahead as we seek and consider how we will re-ignite our search for the hero. You can bet it will be you and your peers’ creativity that will be the ‘kindling that will stoke the future fires.’

Jessica and Melissa, your passions are wonderful. Start now to develop the voice you are and take your message to the world. You will know you are beginning to get a good education when you start consciously weighing what you do know against what you don’t know. It is never about how much you can memorize.

Hank.

Melissa’s letter:

Hi Brian,

I met you this morning when you came to speak at PC but I was so tongue tied that I couldn’t get out anything meaningful.

I’m sure you know that there weren’t many people who walked out of the room without feeling inspired, but what you said today struck a particular chord with me— I was honestly moved to tears. I can’t imagine how busy you are, but I wanted to take the time to tell you how your presentation not only got me excited about the power of great design, but that I had a realization about myself, my generation and their relationship to my country. For the first time in eight years, the cloud of general ennui towards America lifted and I felt like my excitement towards it’s renewal was something worth sharing with you.

So, here goes:

Ever since September 11th there has been a nationwide shift towards bozo thinking, mostly at the hands of fear. The past eight years have washed away any note of national pride or optimism as I’ve watched our rights and founding ideals being lawyered into useless and ‘circumstantial’ smithereens. And maybe it’s because I’ve been listening to too much NPR, but the past two or three weeks have been particularly woe-full. What with the earthquake in China, the cyclone in Myanmar and the mortgage crisis I’ve been on the verge of making an ‘end times are near’ sandwich sign and taking to the streets.

Although I’ve never been the type to get particularly weepy over patriotism, lately I’ve felt even colder and emotionless when it comes to being an American. Sometimes it seems like something almost shameful. So today when you talked about the almost animated excitement of the 60s, the lightbulb went on. You helped me realize that the part of being an American that’s worth fighting for has been off the radar for a very long time. In fact, it’s hasn’t been around for the majority of my adult life.

So I went to re-read some of the constitution and felt the heat of conflict and abuse through the indignant words of Jefferson and I realized that a government of the people that makes wrong decisions is the fault of the people, in our case a disinterested and safe group who have been compartmentalized into complacency.
As it relates to me, the disinterest of my generation comes from never feeling threatened, economically or within the realm of national security— and as a result, young americans face the greatest threat of all: the dissolution of our country not with the guns of terrorists, but at the hands of our own complacent, selfishness that refuses to be accountable for our government.

And then it hit me.

That guilty populace includes me.

And then you went on to show work that is worth being inspired and proud of. You showed me that my job can be my contribution and that there is something worth working towards, no matter how many sleepless nights it takes of working my ass off to get there. So thank you for coming in and showing me that we can fix it. I want to help people and today I felt like that wasn’t just a pipe dream.

Thanks again for your time today,

Melissa Cullens (almost the same as Collins)

And here is Jessica’s:

Subject: Three things hank talks about…

These are three aspects of Ron Paul’s political (HANKS??) philosophy:

1. Using history as a progressive force
2. The message should be stronger than the medium
3. Creativity

A company I highly respect gives the floor to a Congressman I respect…

Ron Paul Video

jg

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