In My Opinion
On the Gala Dinner
Not that politicians should sugar coat issues, and I hate to buy into the stereotype about Russians being dour, but I must admit that I expected Mr. Gorbachev's opening address to be, well, a little more upbeat. It takes just a glance at the list of this convention's topics - the scope of which attempts to cover, quite literally, the state of the world - for one to become overwhelmed. One might think that the intrepid leader of such a convention might kick it off with some bright words of encouragement. Something nice, perhaps, before the dialogue gets too depressing.
Wrong.
From the beginning, Mr. Gorbachev told the audience he was no Marlon Brando, no Kevin Costner, no Luciano Pavarotti, and he was not here to entertain. In fact, quite the opposite of an actor, whose business is acting and fantasy, Mr. Gorbachev filled his address with reality.
He was almost cynical about how little of the knowledge and how few of the ideas from last year's forum were translated into policy or action. His disappointment is valid.
Gorbachev said he hopes that this year's forum will turn out differently, but again, he offered caveats. He spoke of past thinkers' utopian visions of the future world order, warning that these visions, are "tempting, but harmful."
"Human society rejects projects that are out of touch with real life," he said.
Yet later, when describing his own vision of what he called the "post-industrial future", Gorbachev offered perhaps the most the most ambitious, drastic, momentous change of all. His vision asks for nothing less than "a revolution of the mind."
Gorbachev's revolution calls for all nations to make it a matter of political policy to respect racial and ethnic diversity, to understand the "connectedness of all things" in the biosphere, and to create prosperity and peace in a holistic, ecological, global way.
It often seems that the world we live in is confoundingly far from promoting those goals, and tends to make catch phrases like "citizens of the world" and "globalization" sound like so much empty rhetoric.
But, I suppose, that's what this conference is seeking to address. The Gorbachev Foundation has fearlessly undertaken, for the second time, the task of assembling an amazing array of leaders and thinkers to at least try to develop solutions. Surely, this is not the action of a cynic.
Gorbachev mentioned the United Nations Charter, which was signed in this city, as a symbol of international peace efforts. During a ceremony last year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Charter, politicians exhorted the international community to take the institution more seriously, and give it more power. Fifty-one years from its charter, the United Nations remains relatively toothless.
One of Gorbachev's suggestions was to create a World Congress of reason, made up of Nobel laureates and influential thinkers. Gorbachev seemed to say that if the U.N. has no teeth, then this World Congress of Reason can pressure nations to act for peace.
Another indicator of Gorbachev's hope for the future is the presence of thirty-five young people, representing twenty-eight nations, who were selected to attend a Youth Summit in tandem with the Forum. The Gorbachev Foundation has recognized that their generation will be the ones responsible for the leading the world in the next century. Perhaps giving them a place at the table acknowledges so many of the glimmers of optimism that I see in their generation - my generation. Inter-racial friendships and romances are commonplace among my friends. My school classes are far more racially and ethnically diverse than my parents'. We even recycle our cans and bottles at the curb.
Positive change, however halting, is indeed happening. And it helps make Gorbachev's vision of the future seem not so far-fetched after all. He certainly seems to want it bad enough, cautionary speech notwithstanding. He simply expresses his optimism not in words, but as great leaders do, in actions.
--Michelle Ling
26 year old Graduate Student, UC Berkeley
