Prime Minister Balkenende opens the academic year at the Roosevelt Academy in Middelburg

September 2, 2009

Prime Minister Balkenende opens the academic year in Middelburg. Photo: Tim van Eenennaam/Roosevelt Academy

In the presence of Ambassador Fay Hartog Levin, Prime Minister Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende gave the following speech at the opening of the 2009/2010 academic year at the Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg:

Four ambitions for the next generation

Your Excellencies, Dean, Rector, Madam Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to open the academic year on this, the Roosevelt Academy's fifth anniversary. Something special started here in Middelburg five years ago. A liberal arts and sciences university college that sought to combine small-scale classes with big ambitions. This was to be a place in which cultures could come together, and where hard work would be the norm. A place that would show the kinds of results that can be achieved with an innovative approach to education. A place, finally, in which students and faculty alike could excel.

Now, five years on, I can say without exaggeration that the Roosevelt Academy has fulfilled those ambitions. Students from more than forty countries can be found around this campus. Almost ninety per cent of students graduate in three years - by Dutch standards, that is an unusually high pass rate. World-renowned universities such as Oxford and Cambridge receive Roosevelt Academy alumni with open arms. And we have just learned that the accreditation organisation for the Netherlands and Flanders, NVAO, has judged that the Academy excels both in terms of the level and the results attained by its students. It's marvellous to get this kind of recognition, and I'd like to congratulate everyone concerned.

The Roosevelt Academy works. Here, small-scale learning meets international appeal. Here, quality flourishes without the need for bureaucracy. And here, intensive and personal supervision brings out the best in students. These outstanding results have only been made possible because you all - whether students, lecturers or managers - have ambition. Ambition and courage deliver results. But they also give hope. Hope for the future. 

I don't need to convince any of you here today that the world is facing some major challenges right now. For the global economy, the road to recovery will be long and hard. Sacrifices will be required - of everyone. But this process should not be seen as separate from any of the other great issues of our age: the preservation of a sustainable planet, the fight to reduce poverty, the search for alternative sources of energy, and the ongoing struggle for peace and security.

Today's world is complex and tomorrow's will certainly be even more complex. Our old habits and methods are no longer up to the job. Only new solutions can do justice to the complexity of the new world. And we need ambition and courage to think up and implement new solutions. We need it from today's generation but above all from tomorrow's. That's why I would like to talk today about ambition. Because the future needs ambition. And because the leaders of the future are sitting here today.

I would also like to recognise the family after which this institution is named: the Roosevelts. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of a new world order. One based on four universal freedoms: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Today, in the same spirit, I would like to talk to you about four ambitions. Four ambitions which we will need if we are to meet the challenges of the future. Four ambitions which may not provide the answer to all our problems, but which can make a fundamental difference nonetheless. Four ambitions with which the next generation can add real value to society, both for its own sake and for the world at large.

These ambitions are:

• the ambition to lead;
• the ambition to learn;
• the ambition to labour;
• and last but not least, the ambition to love.

Ambition to lead

Let me start with the ambition to lead, which in my view goes hand in hand with a sense of responsibility, both in terms of our personal lives and of our contribution to society as a whole. It may be small comfort now, but it is easy enough to trace the source of the current global economic crisis: the endless pursuit of profit, lack of empathy and the failure by bankers and business to accept responsibility all left our financial and economic system on the brink of collapse.

We're learning a hard lesson. For a long time, people seemed to lose sight of the fact that material possessions are not the only things to lend richness and value to our lives. That we need the less tangible things, too. Happily, the tide seems to have turned. There is growing support for the idea that the market cannot work without morals. Business schools all over the world are again adding ethics to the curriculum. And concrete plans aimed at ending the notorious bonus culture are currently taking shape.

My own vision is of a system based on morality. A system in which people are aware of  their responsibility and willing to accept it. A system in which people are driven by an ambition to lead. Not only at work, but at home and in the community, too.

So whatever you become in the future - a banker, perhaps, or an entrepreneur, a scientist, a development worker or, if you're really at a loss, a politician - always keep the interests of others in mind. And be aware of how lasting your footprints can be. Remember that your actions are part of a larger whole. Think big, but at the same time, think small, too. And try to play a role in society: there's more to life than just work. It could be voluntary activities, for example, but it could be as simple as setting an example and behaving considerately in public spaces.

In the Netherlands something very interesting is going on right now. More than ninety per cent of Dutch people think that other Dutch people are too self-centred. People are annoyed by other people's lack of respect, decency and tolerance, without really stopping to think about their own role in the process.

More and more, it seems, we judge others by their actions while we judge ourselves by our intentions. That doesn't seem fair to me. This attitude demonstrates the lack of a sense of responsibility. If we looked at ourselves more honestly now and then, much of this irritation and dissatisfaction might fade away. 

Ambition to learn

The second ambition that in my view would add great value to the quality of our society is the ambition to learn. Compared with the past, the current job market is almost unrecognisable. Globalisation has shaken things up enormously. The job for life has more or less disappeared. Demand for a highly educated, competent and flexible workforce is growing constantly. And the gap between physical and intellectual capital is growing all the time - in favour of the latter, of course.

These days, a company that loses all its equipment and machinery but retains the knowledge and expertise of its personnel will quickly get back up on its feet. On the other hand, the company that loses its people but holds on to its machinery won't last very long.

A company's competitive advantage is increasingly determined by human capital. Golden times are surely around the corner for strategic human resources managers. But there are also plenty of opportunities out there for those with the ambition to learn.

The better educated you are, the better your prospects in this knowledge-intensive society. So I am delighted that more and more young people in the Netherlands are enrolling in higher education. It makes sense to invest in yourself - particularly now, in this difficult economic climate, with a job market that is no longer so welcoming to young people. Studying now will certainly boost your chances once the economy has recovered and companies are again looking for highly qualified people.

That is why I find the concept of a liberal arts and sciences university college so appealing. Here, ambitions are realised by working hard and striving for quality. Learning here is not about following some loose collection of classes. It is a coherent total package aimed at the arts and sciences of life. It is about more than simply handing out diplomas. It is about shaping people.

A solid education like this is an excellent start, but it is not the end of the story. A surprising number of people underestimate how fast knowledge becomes outdated in this modern age. So it is essential to keep investing in your own intellectual capital throughout your career. Life-long learning is not simply a motto, it is almost a condition for survival. The ambition to learn as a way of life: that is what I would like to see.

Ambition to labour

To gain the kind of dynamism and flexibility you need for today's job market, the ambition to learn is not enough. You need the ambition to labour, too. The global economy seems to be slowly climbing out of its deep recession. But that's where the good news ends. The IMF predicts a long period of 'sluggish growth' across large parts of the world. We're moving forward again, but only at a snail's pace. And that's worrying, because even before the recession hit, the world was already facing a range of major challenges: serious poverty in large parts of Africa and Asia, demographic ageing in Europe, and of course, the 'inconvenient truth' about the climate. We're still facing those issues today, but now we also have to deal with the effects of the recession and the period of sluggish growth that lies ahead. Meeting these challenges will require a great deal of hard work.

While we're on the subject, let me quote the words of the other President Roosevelt, Theodore: 'It is only through labour and painful effort,' he said, 'by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.' In other words, we will only succeed in these challenges, in regaining and increasing our prosperity, by working harder and working longer. 

And not simply working harder. Working together, too, especially at international level. That is why I attach so much value to fora such as the G20 summits. The agreements made at these meetings have helped stabilise the financial sector and prevented the global economy from going further into decline. In a little over two weeks' time, the G20 will meet in Pittsburgh to discuss the next step forward - the question of how to achieve sustainable and balanced growth. In my view, one of the best ways of promoting those conditions is to have an effective labour market and a highly educated work force. So in Pittsburgh I will be pressing for a focus on productive labour markets, decent work and social policies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Ambition to love

It goes without saying that I've saved the best for last. The fourth and final ambition that I believe can add genuine value to society is the ambition to love.

I am well aware that this is the ambition on which the younger generations - and possibly the older ones too - will need the least amount of encouragement. When it comes to love, most people seem to manage perfectly well. Today, however, I'm talking about a particular type of love. About the ambition to 'love thy neighbour as thyself.'

Our society is becoming colder and harsher. Our tolerance for our fellow man is diminishing. Especially when our fellow man has a different religion, sexual orientation or skin colour. This is a disturbing trend. Mistrust, intolerance and - even worse - aggression and hate are not a sound basis for a happy, prosperous future.

We won't get anywhere in life - whether at the level of the individual, country or planet - by shutting ourselves off from other ideas, convinced that we alone are right. By resisting outside forces and closing our eyes to reality. Because the reality is that we depend for our jobs, our security and our freedom on our ambition to engage with the world around us. It makes us stronger and more prosperous. A society flourishes when it welcomes diversity, dynamism and debate.

That is why I am calling for neighbourly concern.
That is why I urge you to be open to 'the other'.
And why I believe in the ambition to love.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'Understanding is a two-way street' and I would absolutely echo that sentiment.

However, understanding alone is not enough to guarantee a peaceful, secure future for everyone. You also have to fight for that future - literally. We're all familiar with the world's worst hotspots. Those places where terrorism, violence and injustice are destroying societies. Where children are unable to go to school, women are oppressed and the cycle of poverty seems impossible to break.

To me, the ambition to love also means caring, now and in the future, about those who have to live in such places, even though they are often a long way from our own back yard. Caring includes offering aid for development, helping to build democratic institutions and when necessary giving military support.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I don't need to explain to any of you, the crucial importance of having an international outlook - not in this place where dozens of different nationalities have come together to study, and where English is the lingua franca. There are no borders left in this world. Not for the problems we face. But not for the solutions, either. The only question is whether we have the ambition to put our shoulders to the wheel. As the Spanish painter Salvador Dali so aptly said, 'Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.'

There is no shortage of ambition among the students, faculty and alumni of the Roosevelt Academy. Each year, after a three-year course of study, 200 students spread their wings and fly, full of ambition to make a difference. And full of ambition to make something of the future. Their own futures, to be sure, but also the world's.

To all of you, I would like to say: I wish you a good flight.

And to the 'class of 2012', I say: make the most of the next three years. Don't be afraid to show your ambition. Your ambition to lead, learn and labour. But above all, naturally, your ambition to love.

Thank you.