I understand that this speech by Lieutenant General Jay Silveria, Superintendent* of the United States Air Force Academy, has pretty much gone viral, so many among the readership are probably already familiar with it. Still, I think it deserves a place on the BB, plus it certainly bears re-viewing:

A couple of remarks:

First, while I was in California during my training, I remember being in a group being briefed just before some project by Stan Rosen†, and being floored and delighted by his ability to strip things down to a concise presentation that covered all the important points while keeping everything very simple and clear.  In Taoism, as I understand it (and in that anyone can be said to understand such a subtle philosophy), this kind of focus is the primary attribute of the Warrior.  And the Sage must incorporate such attributes into him or her self – in other words, the Sage “contains” the Warrior. And what do we aspire to but sagacity?

Second, looking back over those California days, I feel that we, the Prosperos, were true pioneers of diversity.  Now, I had been brought up in academia, and American universities of the post-WWII era were themselves laboratories of diversity (about which contention, more to come, at some later time…).  In addition, my parents encouraged me to have as many contacts with people from as many different social strata as possible under our circumstances – though they always called this “being democratic” rather than using the current terminology.  But then, a bit later, when I got to California, it was as if the School were engaged in taking that enterprise to a whole new level, and I embraced this project as best I could. During that period, as I recall, Thane’s term for the underlying approach we should aspire to in dealing with each other, and with other people in general, was “Agape”, but I think “Dignity and Respect” comes pretty close to being the same thing…

*Commander and Senior Officer; analogous to a university president.

†I did a search for Stan Rosen on line, and found this.  I think it’s the same guy…