Advertising and Public Relations and Corporate Communications -- and all the rest -- are great and richly rewarding as potential career paths for young people pursuing university education.
But the fact is that they will all take you only thus far. Because, then, there is still a whole world out there that must be cared for -- and that must be saved.
Pursuing government or public service, such as The Peace Corps, for American youth, is a great step in the right direction. But only one step, and a first step.
The real and the overall mission, and the real challenge, is the Pursuit of Truth -- whatever it is and wherever it leads.
For, while it is great to teach a few kids in Africa; and to feed a few mouths in Asia; the world is still burning and crashing all around us.
Starting right here in America. Right at our doorstep. Right in our backyard.
While there are all kinds of complex causes for it, one simple thing we can zero in on is what we may call Truth -- simple, unadulterated, nonpartisan facts -- which has become so scarce in our time and in our society.
Right at a time when there is such a glut of words and images and sights and sounds -- and all kinds of communications and their tools and technologies -- all around us.
As a result of it, at least in part, there is so much confusion, and so much injustice, and so much unfairness, and so much suffering everywhere. Wolves seem to appear wearing sheep's clothing. And thieves and crooks seem to be sitting in exalted seats sporting judicial robes and regalia.
The real challenge before us is to make a dent in that wall of darkness that surrounds us from all sides.
That is why, in our own various capacities, and to the extent our own talents and circumstances would allow, I see no alternative but to dedicate our lives, to the extent and however we can, to the mission of pursuing and advocating Truth.
Seeking it; learning it; speaking it; standing up for it; and championing and advocating it both in private and in public.
Given that, any time and energy any one of us may have spent in pursuing advertising and public relations and corporate communications as a potential career path was hardly off the mark.
It was hardly time wasted. We were on the track all along, albeit by different names.
All we have to do now is a simple realignment of our direction and our orientation: what we want and where we want to go and how we wish to deal with the world of which we are such an integral part.
And Truth at all levels is the key that will unlock the chains that bind us and that will set us free: our bodies as well as our minds.
For, free bodies cannot exist without free -- and fearless -- minds.
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