Microscope and Kennedy: September 09, 1996 issue of New Thinking

September 09, 1996 New Thinking:
Microscope and Kennedy

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September 09, 1996

Microscope and Kennedy

By Gerry McGovern

Even though I was born in July 1962, I still know where I was when John F. Kennedy died. I was sitting on my mother’s lap, probably wondering why there was such a hush and when my dinner would be ready.

My mother would tell me this story in later years. Most Irish people have a similar story. Because John F. Kennedy was a hero to the Irish, an emigrant son who made good.

Even today, after all those stories are told about his sexual prowess, he is still that hero to many. His womanizing doesn’t seem to matter to Catholic Ireland. What matters is that here was someone of Irish descent who made it to the very top. Someone who gave us pride and hope in a time when it was badly needed.

The digital age is the age of the microscope, where everything will be investigated in atomic detail. There seems to be little room for fault in our leaders today. Every nook and cranny of their past is pored over, and if we find the slightest chink of wrong, then we shine the giant light of media publicity on it.

Chances are that if John F. Kennedy tried to get elected today, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Chances are that many of the leaders in history wouldn’t stand a chance either.

It is right that we scrutinize our leaders and others in positions of power, but my question is: How much? If we have the digital age ability to track practically the every move of an individual, everyone will have a potentially damaging dossier on them.

‘On the 10th September 1998, at 8.08pm, you said the following... On the 11th September, you bought the following magazine... On the 12th September, you watched the following program ....

I worry that in the age of the microscope things will become sterile. That those who are creative, imaginative, political, will be pre-judged by their flaws, and will never be given the opportunity to make a mark of genius.

The media is a ravenous beast for bad news. Its life blood so often seems to be negativity. People who want to get into politics, and other areas of public life, are often scared off, because like all of us, they have made mistakes in their past.

It’s a thin line -- it always is -- between turning a blind eye and opening your eyes. As I grew up, the name John F. Kennedy gave me pride and hope. Whatever else he may have done, I thank him for that.

The age of the microscope is linked to the age of logic. There is an impression that everything is made up of a number of identifiable units. That if we analyze each unit in minute detail, we can understand, predict and manipulate these units, and by definition, the larger whole.

I, for one, believe that life is infinitely too complex to plan and control in this way. Creativity and visionary leadership will always find surprising roots, and have unpredictable and perhaps undesirable offshoots.

Remember, if you use a microscope, expect to see germs everywhere.

Gerry McGovern

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If we have the digital age ability to track practically the every move of an individual, everyone will have a potentially damaging dossier on them.