How to Improve the World

My "commencement address" at my son's college graduation.

Auburn, AL

May 6, 2024

Il faut cultiver notre jardin.

- Voltaire

Certain moments remind parents how quickly sand goes thru the hourglass. This weekend, at Neville Arena on the Auburn campus, we realized a Sahara had poured away.

Light rain when we left Atlanta dissipated as we reached Auburn. We arrived early to the Loveliest Village, for a celebratory breakfast honoring graduates and families.

Afterward, under blue skies and rising temperatures, we made our way to the arena and toward our seats. We saved one for my brother, who was speeding south from the Atlanta airport. He joined us just in time…after the speeches, but as graduates began receiving their degrees. 

Last year, I imagined giving the commencement address at my younger son’s high school graduation. Saturday, our elder one crossed the stage as he concluded college. Had his father been asked to approach the podium, this is what he would’ve said:

My Commencement Address

“This is an exciting occasion. You’ve completed college, and are ready to start the next phase of your life. That’s why this is called a ‘commencement’ address. What feels like a culmination is actually an inception. 

“Many people in my position encourage you to ‘follow your passion’, ‘take risks’, and ‘make the world a better place.’

“That advice seems superficially sensible. But is it sound? Let’s see.

“Following ‘passions’ is fine as far as it goes…as long as it doesn’t go too far. 

“The world has plenty of passion (maybe too much). But it’s often unharnessed and riding roughshod. What’s lacking is discipline, curiosity, composure, and humility. Cultivate these in whatever passion you pursue.

“If you have worthy interests, abilities, and desires, by all means explore and nourish them. They suggest potential strengths that set you apart, allowing you to improve your situation and surroundings thru the division of labor. 

A Better Place

“But how wide should your ‘surroundings’ range? What’s a reasonable extent of your ‘world’, and what does it mean to ‘make it a better place?’

“Better for whom? Whose preferences should ‘we’ prioritize? How do we know what other people want? One way is to watch what they do, respect their choices, and engage in mutually beneficial exchange to satisfy their needs.

“Before indulging grand plans to improve the planet, ask yourself how whatever future you concoct will reward unwitting souls on the other side of the world. Or whether your own family and neighbors might do better by your help.

“No person or group of people (including us), regardless how ‘educated’ or ‘elite’, can possibly know what’s best for millions of strangers. 

“Not that you shouldn’t listen to, or occasionally agree with, what the intelligentsia says. Just know they tend to be distant from problems they purport to solve, and often urge what tends to be best for themselves. That’s human nature. It can’t be eliminated, but must be acknowledged.

“Before bumptiously butting into other people’s affairs, ensure you’re equipped to assist, that it’s your place to do so, and that you won’t make matters worse.

“Only then should you offer solutions to anyone who’s interested (ideally in the form of voluntary exchange). But don’t foist your remedies on those who aren’t.

“Actions smile, but consequences have teeth. Good intentions matter, if only as asphalt on the road they pave. Be wary of making the world a buffet of other people’s problems for you to solve, and of dangling bait that benefits only you when its ‘beneficiaries’ take a bite. 

“On this day you’ve been told you can ‘take on the world’. But the best way to do so is to improve your little corner. We should tend our gardens rather than tell others how they should till their own.

“Compiling capital and building wealth are the best ways to facilitate societal flourishing. To do so, learn useful skills, meet impressive people, and see interesting places. 

“Amplify these endeavors by reading edifying books. A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. He who doesn’t read lives only one. Keep turning pages, and continue conversations with contemporaries and ancestors.

“Think critically and define your terms. Avoid vacuous slogans and convenient clichés. Prefer cautious doubt to gullible (and certainly self-righteous) belief.

A Time to Take Chances

“And take some chances. Don’t be discouraged by those who say something can’t be done. Things that have never happened before happen all the time. 

“Smart risks are admirable and advisable, especially now. You’re young. Most of you have few family commitments and little to lose. 

“Yet options can shrink as years pass and obligations mount. Family and professional responsibilities might limit future flexibility, and potentially opportunity.

“Nobody expects fresh graduates to know anything. And if you show eagerness and effort, almost everyone is willing to help. These are blessings.

“But they won’t exist in ten years. When you reach your thirties, you’ll be expected to have some knowledge and achievement. Don’t wait till then to begin acquiring them.

“Doing so isn’t impossible, but will be much more difficult. A decade from now, if you’ve done little and know less, potential customers, associates, and spouses will wonder why…and be reluctant to waste their time on a lost cause. 

“The next few years shouldn’t simply be an extension of college. Build your mind, spirit, body, and network. This is a time to compile assets while becoming allergic to liabilities. 

“Apply the power of compounding, not merely in money, but in connections and accomplishments. Invest them wisely, and subsequent decades will pay ample dividends. 

“Oliver Wendell Holmes lamented ‘those who die with the music still inside of them.’ But such silent symphonies deprive the rest of us too. Now’s the time to tune your instrument and find your voice. 

“You’ll skip beats and miss some notes. So what? That merely means you’ve made some melodies. And as Edison put it, an error isn’t a failure; it’s merely discovering a method that doesn’t work. Admit these ‘mistakes’, and welcome them…without throwing away glimmers of truth obtained while making them.

“Perhaps most important, be someone others want to be around. Oscar Wilde said some people bring happiness wherever they go... others whenever they go. 

“Become a person who makes people more wistful than relieved when you walk away. Don’t be a ‘fun sponge’ who sucks joy from every room. 

“Have a sense of humor (especially about yourself)…and steer clear of those who don’t. Listen intentionally, and show sincere interest. Earn trust and retain your integrity. Chiselers and swindlers lose sleep, but an honest man’s pillow is his peace of mind.

The Last Door

“A couple days ago, I told my mother her grandson finished his last exam, effectively completing college. Today he officially does so, and his parents couldn’t be more proud. 

“The realization hasn’t quite set in. But the feeling is surreal, tinged with some sadness, yet bursting with hope. Perhaps sensing some melancholy, my mother reminded me that this is life. When one door closes, another opens. 

“She was right. Go thru as many as you can. Because before we know it, they all slam shut. 

“Except one. It’s just a matter of which it will be.

“Live your life so that when Eternity calls you from the earth, it’ll be thru the portal we’d all prefer. That’s the way to improve the world.”

JD