H

ow should we understand the comparison between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama?  I have no interest in making invidious comparisons between the two.  Rather, I wish to draw attention to a fundamental difference in the mindset of the Kennedy era and the mindset of the present era in which Obama is operating.  As we all know, Kennedy is the man who exclaimed “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask you can do for your country”.     What is significant is that no one thought for a moment that Kennedy had said anything foolish.  Quite the contrary, those words profoundly resonated with nearly every American who heard them. 

Fast forward a mere 40 years, and one gets a very different world.  While Kennedy is still regarded by all as an American hero, that marvelous utterance by him that everyone is so fond of recalling simply does not resonate with the American people as it once did.  And the explanation for that is quite simple: America has evolved from a society of people who were willing to sacrifice for the greater good—at least in principle—to a society of people concerned only with their entitlements.  Everyone is entitled to everything, be they American citizens or illegal immigrants.  And the very idea of a greater good for which all should be willing to make a sacrifice—each according to his abilities, if I may invoke Marx in an unusual way—has all but disappeared from the social and political landscape. 

Indeed, the political rhetoric of the moment is about making promises of one benefit after another, be it health or education or driver licenses to illegal immigrants.  And of course: it goes without saying that each and every person is entitled to the benefit in question. 

What politician has asked Americans to make sacrifices of any sort for the greater good?  The deafening answer: Not a single one.  And surely one explanation for this is that such a demand would undoubtedly occasion indignation on the part of the listeners.  And that is precisely what one would expect in America-the-Land-of-Entitlement.  And it is precisely this sense of entitlement that made absolutely no sense to the people of Kennedy’s era.  Indeed, the thought was that we all benefited by working for the greater good.  The thought was not that the greater good is rather like manna that falls from the sky because we are all God’s children. 

So when it is claimed that Obama calls to mind the legacy of John F. Kenney—a claim embraced by members of the Kennedy family, what we have is in fact a rather misleading claim. 

It may be true that Obama invites us to dream of change.  There is no evidence thus far, however, that this change involves Americans being willing to sacrifice for the greater good; and in the absence of this key component, the comparison between Obama and Kennedy is not as apt as many would suggest. 

This is not a criticism of Obama.  He is under no obligation to be like Kennedy.  Not only that, it is wrong to require him to live in the shadow of Kennedy.  But insofar as he and his supporters are prepared to bask in the comparison, and thus the claim that he is a modern-day JFK, then we are entitled to examine whether that comparison really is apt.  Thus far, the verdict is clear: Obama is no Kennedy.  Kennedy’s words were a call to excellence—and not just a call to dream of entitlements.