ABSTRACT
The final sermon, “The Responsibilities of Competence in the Global Village,” was presented in 1985, toward the end of the Cold War. At the time two basic problems were confronting the world: poverty and war. Evidence suggested that very little progress could be made on the former until considerable progress had been made in terms of the latter. In particular, armed rivalry between the East and West had so permeated and corrupted underdeveloped societies that neither resources nor infrastructure could be put into place until that rivalry was brought under control. Yet many in academia remained aloof from such policy-prescriptive discussions. In contrast, I argue that among our responsibilities as teachers, researchers, writers, and practitioners is the need for less tolerance and acquiescence in “business as usual.” Our teaching requires not only greater attention to methodological rigor, but to explicit consideration of rival and unconventional interpretations. As writers and journalists, we need to be more critical of the arguments and evidence adduced by the elites and the counter-elites. And, as practitioners, it is time for us to pay more attention to the needs of our societies than to short-run considerations of bureaucratic and personal interests.
