The "Y Article" speech

Half an hour ago, the greatest speech I have ever heard, ended at the 25th Camden Conference. Captain Wayne Porter (USN) and Colonel Mark Mykleby (USMC-Retired) wrote what is known as the "Y Article" back in the summer of 2010. As mentioned before in this blog, the Y Article was written in an effort to make the American people think about how we live. The article sparked discussion across the country and did what it was designed to do, it made people think about how we live.

Both Captain Porter and Colonel Mykleby spoke at the Camden Conference about the Y Article and some of the beliefs they hold. The both of them started working together when they were tasked by the former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to write a National Grand Strategy. In their pursuit of that they discovered that there were things we had to change in America, that we needed to change some of our priorities and refocus them.

The number 1 priority that they saw that needed to be changed was education and our commitment (or lack there of) to the educational system in the U.S. The 2nd priority they saw that needed to be changed was our definition of security. The 3rd priority they saw that needed to be changed was our development and access to renewable ideas, not just in terms of energy but also in terms of food and water.

They also talked about the idea of sustainability and how it needs to be the cornerstone of our country ideals. We need that refocus onto sustainability. They stated that the cause of the 21st century is the sustainability cause, but in order to do that we need to be citizens of the U.S. rather than those who just "pay rent".

I won't summarize the entire speech for you on this blog, but I did want to point out what I thought were some of the most important topics discussed by those two men. I will state it again though, the speech that Captain Porter and Colonel Mykleby (retired) gave on the "Y Article" was the BEST I have ever heard. They are speaking the Unity language and that language will continue to become more important as time goes on and will become center stage before we know it. That is why our education from Unity College becomes more important every day.