The time has come when we must take an enlarged vision of the future. (Herbert Hoover)
Our 31st President, Herbert Hoover, said this in 1926. Although one hundred years have passed since — and it is always time to take a larger view of the future — his proclamation rings truer now than ever.
The Axial Age refers to a period in human history and a turning point in human development, generally considered the 8th--3rd centuries BCE, when disparate societies shifted away from localized beliefs toward more universal truths. Urbanization, endless warfare, and the rise of empires had broken down tribal structures. With a new collective awareness, people instituted just moral codes and emphasized societal responsibility. These profound changes brought a time of great achievement and promise. Individuals took responsibility beyond their own societies, recognizing that the general good and an improved state benefited all. This “One for All and All for One” collective awareness resulted in a tremendous leap in human achievement.
Hoover was born in a simple two-room cottage in West Branch, Iowa, in 1874 and orphaned at ten. He was a self-made man. An expert mining engineer, he lived and traveled worldwide and was a millionaire by age 40. He gave away most of his fortune; when he made more, he gave away more. He was not motivated by money or by power. He wanted to serve.
Hoover lived a life of public service, embodying the vision our founding fathers had for our nation. The authors of the Constitution did not envision career politicians or PAC money, but people who would serve their constituents. They were to act as leaders, implementing visionary ideas to improve the welfare of individuals and families and thus enhance and promote our country’s welfare.
If there was a President who embodied what the United States strives to be, it was President Hoover, known as the Great Humanitarian. With extraordinary organizational skills, he had a strong ability to work with others and enlist cooperation toward a common goal. In one instance, as Director General of American Relief after World War I, he was responsible for feeding 350 million people in 21 countries. Millions of Europeans credited him with saving their lives.
Hoover served under Presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge before assuming the presidency himself. He won a landslide victory in 1928 and served as president from 1929-1933. But our previous president, Coolidge, and our nation were deafened by the Roaring Twenties and did not listen when he, as Secretary of Commerce, repeatedly warned of impending financial disaster. Much as he tried to circumvent it, Hoover’s presidency was defined by the Great Depression. Yet, after losing to Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, Hoover continued to serve under two more presidents, Truman and Eisenhower.
Many contemporary philosophers believe we are now standing at the threshold of a second Axial Age. Driven by an impending planetary crisis with the triple worldwide threats of climate chaos, global conflicts, and accelerated technological advancement and our increasing dependence on it, we are on the precipice.
Such threats demand a worldwide shift from the “state” to a global perspective, yet we face this tipping point with a dangerously disturbed world order. Governing has a moral component that, if not upheld, will rot a society from within. The “Queen of Hearts” strategy of “off with their heads,” figuratively “decapitating” anyone who disagrees with the “ruler,” does not work now, if it ever did.
Whether millennia ago, during the first Axial Age, or a century ago when Hoover lived, the essential requirements remain the same. Humanitarian qualities must define this movement. Caring for one's fellow man is not a threat to individualism. This is not the time for isolation; it is a time to work together. It is not “us” or “them”; it is all of us.
Now is the time to advance just values and a clear vision. We need statesmen who can see the “bigger picture” and will truly “step across the aisle,” as so few have the courage to do.
There is no reason the United States should not lead the rest of the world as we plunge into this second “Axial Age.” And we will, if we act upon the ideals our country was founded upon.
Our individualism differs from all others because it embraces these great ideals: that while we build our society upon the attainment of the individual, we shall safeguard to every individual an equality of opportunity. I have had every honor to which any man could aspire. There is no place on the whole earth except here in America where all the (children) of man can have this chance in life…. (Herbert Hoover, once again)
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."
