“We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world–or to make it the last.”

Kevin Drum, inspired by this recent opinion piece in Mother Jones by Joshua Wolf Shenk, is beseeching the Blogosphere to think of a compelling narrative for the Democratic Party—one that can compete with the Republicans’ current storyline of “Evil walks among us, and we must slay it” (which is actually more from Buffy the Vampire Slayer than from any particular Republican candidate, but it’s certainly the gist of what they’re saying).

I’ll have more to say about this later as part of my continuing series “The Default Democratic Party Strategy and What Should Replace It” (part 1 is here, and part 2 is here). However, as food for thought now, might I remind y’all that there used to be a Democrat who offered a compelling narrative, one of a generation standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the entire world upon a precipice with utter annihilation on one side and utopian society on the other. (Hint: He is the hero of our current Democratic candidate, and he even had the same initials as him.)

The contest will continue–the contest between those who see a monolithic world and those who believe in diversity–but it should be a contest in leadership and responsibility instead of destruction, a contest in achievement instead of intimidation. Speaking for the United States of America, I welcome such a contest. For we believe that truth is stronger than error–and that freedom is more enduring than coercion. And in the contest for a better life, all the world can be a winner.

The effort to improve the conditions of man, however, is not a task for the few. It is the task of all nations–acting alone, acting in groups, acting in the United Nations–for plague and pestilence, and plunder and pollution, the hazards of nature, and the hunger of children are the foes of every nation. The earth, the sea, and the air are the concern of every nation. And science, technology, and education can be the ally of every nation.

Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world–or to make it the last.

— President John F. Kennedy, Address Before the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations, September 20, 1963