It is not enough to allow dissent. We must demand it. For there is much to dissent from:
…We dissent from the fact that millions are trapped in poverty while nations grow rich.
…We dissent from the conditions and hatreds which deny a full life to our fellow citizens because of the color of their skin.
…We dissent from the monstrous absurdity of a world where nations stand poised to destroy one another.
…We dissent from the sight of most of mankind living in poverty, stricken by disease, threatened by hunger and doomed to an early death after a life of unremitting labor.
…We dissent from cities which blunt our senses and turn the ordinary acts of daily life into a painful struggle.
…We dissent from the willful, heedless destruction of natural pleasure and beauty.
…We dissent from all these structures–of technology and society itself-which strip from the individual the dignity and warmth of sharing in the common tasks of his community and his country.
This speech was given on October 22, 1966, at the Berkeley Campus, University of California. The speaker was Robert F. Kennedy.