2. The Inauguration
One can only imagine how alien it must have seemed for the until-then Professor and now also Governor Richard Feynman to stand before the crowd in Sacramento, surrounded by the political elite of the State of California, including his predecessor, the Senators and Assemblymen, and the members of his new executive.
It was a sunny day, and the people seemed cheerful. To many, this seemed like a blow of fresh air, the innaugration of the 48 years old, meaning the youngest in more than half a century, professor, whose lack of political experience was seen as a bonus of having no burdens of compromise with the previous administrations, of being an outsider to the system. He was quite popular already, and his term hadn't even started.
However, it is understandable that, despite this, he still felt uneasy at the prospect of speaking before this crowd. Although the campaign trails had taught him the fine arts of oratory that he hadn’t picked up already through academic experience, this was still his first speech as the leader of California. Perhaps the one that would define his legacy.
“To a number of us here, myself included, but also, I am glad to say, of many of those standing here by my side, this is a first and, beyond solemn and momentous, rather awkward situation. To be frank, this great event we are taking part on, this transfer of power by the will of the people, amicably and cheerfully, is a wonderful thing.
I am a physicist; we study the changes in the world. I have studied many interactions, many things coming together to form something new. My observations on that have given me the Nobel Prize. But I will have to admit that I had never witnessed such an extraordinary change in the world as the one we see today, as we stand here and see the will of the people be enforced. And, most incredibly of all, this is not an exception event; it is a quotidian one in this nation, and we see it in every decision of importance for the fate of the land.
I can only imagine the sheer forces that must come into play to allow for this process, this change, to occur so neatly, at clock-ordained time, each time that it is necessary. That is the force of the American people, the force to never forgo the right to decide our own fate, and struggle to achieve it.
Considering the power that the people of these United States have, the strength within us, one cannot doubt that, if we put our minds to it, nothing is impossible. We have put upon ourselves the task to fulfil great things, and the manifest of our ability to accomplish them is in this day and in all others day as this we have seen come and go and trust will happen for many more generations.
The Constitution of our nation begins with the words, ‘We the people’. This is because it recognizes that only in the people can the power to enforce the laws it carries be found. It does not trust any subsect to rule the others; it mandates, as a condition for its enforcement, that all citizens gather to enforce it. If that isn't happen, true change within it isn't just systematically unjust; it is impossible to maintain in the short or long term.
Therefore, while they say it was me who was empowered today, I do not feel more powerful than before. I must turn then to the true holders of power within this State, the people, and ask you to stand by me and work towards enforcing the great ideals we went to the polls to defend. Without the support and the work of the people, none of them will be fulfilled. With the support and the work of our citizens, however, I foresee no great difficulty in seeing them all accomplished.
Working with engineers, I have learned that it is good conduct to present the program I am asking to be fulfilled. If we want to build a house, we should start by drawing the blueprints. Let us then roll up our sleeves and see what lies ahead.
I have said it plenty of times and I will say it again: my absolute priority in this office is for education. The programs of the previous administration were a good start, lessening the effects of the continued expansion of the school going population. As our State continues to flourish, we will continue to increase the numbers of teachers and positions in our educational systems, to provide the necessary supervision needed, by opening new job offerings that will provide a meaningful source of employment for many capable Californians in educating our children.
Each year we will be needing 20,000 new teachers, 6,000 new classrooms and have the facilities for 450,000 university students. This is so that our State not only is capable of providing for all its people, but that it is prepared to grow stronger and open for more people to arrive at its shores.
It will also be an imperative to improve the quality of the education for each and every children. For that, I plan on sending for the State Curriculum Commission to have assembled the finest assortment of textbooks, focusing on the quality explaining concepts and in their focus on applications of knowledge, so that students can help to improve the conditions of our State from the start. The material that they have know is very deficient, and shall be replaced by better one, up to the high standards we set to ourselves and our government.
Finally, we will make sure that no child is left behind, and that our education system is open for everyone, regardless of the condition of their birth. For that, we will continue efforts into bringing even those most disadvantage amongst ourselves to school; we are particularly concerned about those children who suffer from a physical or mental affliction and are therefore burdened in their education. We will ensure that they will no suffer more than necessary.
We will also strengthen the federal school meal programs, see them enforced and reaching all, especially those who cannot afford it. Our food is the foundation of our health, and so we will see that the food supplied to our children is of the upmost quality and gives them the nutrition needed to grow strong and healthy, to become fine citizens of this State.
Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy. It is important that we demand the best out of it. Without it, our rights are ephemeral and our prosperity will falter. We must protect it and encourage it to grow stronger. And that is what we will do in California.
The second problem that comes with our growing population remains the same. Water. Governor Brown has seen the beginning of great projects that will bring water from where it exists in surplus to places that lack it. By this feat of human genius, we the people will make from barren ground rise the most fertile of lands. Great tracts of Californian desert shall become the new breadbasket of our State, if we see this projects through. And that is what we will do.
Over the last months, I have had the opportunity to speak with local farmers, entrepreneurs and with engineers with great ideas. We have discussed what is needed and what can be done to fulfil the need. I was impressed with how much can be accomplished. Through the next years, more than complete the amazing work already in place, and improve it when needed, we will see more projects, that so far have proven such successes, come to light, and bring water to more Californian lands.
As you can imagine, those two great pillars alone, education and water, will bring many jobs for Californians over the coming years. More than that, they will create a class of hard-working, capable workers that will make this State stand grand among the Union. But we will even go further in our pursuit of putting this land to work.
California has always benefited from encouraging new bold ventures to settle in this land. Fifty years ago, Los Angeles was an oil outpost, not unlike many other now abandoned cities throughout America. Then, fleeing from persecution and seeking a new, more open home, filmmakers came and settled there. Today, thanks to that great migration, Los Angeles is the beating heart of culture in the West Coast, and of cinema worldwide.
California reinvents itself and creates wealth where there was nothing before. What allows that to happens is a willingness to take bold steps and to put ourselves to work, to bring brilliant people to the field and have them build. We will strengthen our Agency for Economic Development to broaden their efforts to bring to our state businesses and ventures that need someone willing to trust them. We will increase private investments into creating new industries that will bring jobs and opportunities of growth to Californians.
The Californian worker is the backbone of our economy and our democracy. To protect him and his valiant efforts towards the Californian dream, we will continue the policies of ensuring their rights, as workers and as consumers. We will continue our work with the unions, to make sure they represent their interests and are clean of all messes, and that they enable for the Californian worker to attain a higher standard of living so that they can bring an even greater strength into each day, promoting the idea of California as the place for the American worker and family.
We will also continue our efforts to protect the consumers, a group to which all Californians belong, against fraud, racketeering and other vicious assaults. We will promote strong legislation to protect Californians from such problems and allow the law to dispose of them and take them off the streets. Our system will be especially focused on public education about these problems, so that the citizen can be attentive and know how to protect himself and report issues to the authorities, for no authority can be more effective than that of the people protecting itself.
It also must be stated that our support to the Californian worker extends to all Californians, regardless of their race, creed, national origin or race. Our Constitution states that we are all equal before the law, and the law will not slander this fine remark. We will make sure the employers and the unions within this State do not dare turn away anyone for a reason beyond their capacities and merit. California shall be exemplary between the States as respecting the rights of every citizen.
That being said, there are two very important things to ensure that the Californian worker is protected, far more than any legislation curbing the ability of their employers to abuse. Protection laws can be looped around, but decent income and proper social insurance will always serve to help any family in need and save them from abuse.
Ours is an expanding economy, and an expanding currency. This means that, each year, what was once a living wage becomes slimmer and slimmer until it is no longer possible living under it. It is for this reason, this inflation of the costs of living, that ever so often the value of the minimum wage and the benefits paid at Social Security have to be increased; although the numbers are the same, the value of the money is lessened.
It is a ridiculous fault of our laws that our workers have to wait for our legislatures to work so that they do not continue to lose wages when the economy improves. To keep this from happening, we propose to make it so that minimum wage laws and the benefits of Social Security are tagged to the value of inflation, so that what it represents is not a number alone, but the actual minimal to provide a workingman a decent livelihood.
We should also continue the improvements of our welfare programs targeting the disabled citizens. To have a man burdened by a disability when something can be done to lift such burden is a stain for the reputation of such a fine State such as ours.
Public health in general should be improved. There is no such a thing as too healthy of a people, and without proper care, the strength of a citizen is harmed by many problems. Air pollution continues to harm many Californians, something which we will see combated. Air pollution affects us all, city and countryside folk alike. With the help of research, we hope to give our automobile industry the ability to solve this problem by improving smog preventive mechanisms, research the State will make sure to incentivise. With the help of our engineers, the dream of a no-smog car can come to fruition sooner than we may even expect.
Another great concern that the modern times have brought to public health is the dangers of atomic radiation. Having worked at the Manhattan Project, helping to build the first atomic bombs during the war, I have witnessed with my own eyes the power the atom has within. At the time, I found it an outstanding thing. Now, I look at it with more concerned eyes. Nuclear energy has proven to be a hazard and a risk to our health and to world peace. I have helped develop this technology, and so it is of the utmost importance to me not to see it used to cause further harm than it already has, and for it to be handled responsibly.
Considering this, I hope that, soon enough, some of these goals can begin the road towards being accomplished, a path we began to trek this November. I have always had some distaste for great secrecy, even when they wanted me to work in secret projects during the war. I said I wanted to research science, and science is how the world works, and that is not secret.
Government work shouldn’t be secret either. I said this back in the war too. It is the authority of the citizens that empowers the government, and it is impossible for the citizen to make an informed choice without information. The whole idea of democracy is that power lies in the public, and that the public should be informed. In secrecy, there isn’t information. In secrecy, there isn’t democracy.
Therefore, I will uphold the principles of government openness as much as it is possible, so that our citizens can understand its inner workings. Government will be honest and will answer before its citizens, for that is the promise of democracy, that has made this country so great.
Today, in this sunny day, I see a new start for a new California. A California of education and research, of growth and equality, of people coming together to improve the lives of all. I will do all within my power to fulfil that vision, the vision you elected to carry on in October.
Let the warmth of this sun mark the entry unto an Age of Science.
