We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in mere continuation of economic progress, in amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product grows with production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads…it includes the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children…it does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike.
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Robert Francis Kennedy, 1925-1968
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