A distinguished scientist, Sydney Brenner of The Salk Institute, writes that people are depending too much on medicine to fix what they do to themselves. They smoke and overeat and then believe that medical science will save them with a pill. He urges us to be more responsible.
Whatever the world will be like in 2300, the need for human responsibility will not have gone away. And for the world to make it to the year 2300 is going to require a lot more responsibility than we currently show. While some of us are killing ourselves by over nutrition, many throughout the world are dying for lack of food. While some of us expect medicine to patch us up when our troubles are of our own making, many throughout the world lack the most basic medical care. Brenner remarks, "Somehow, in our abstruse discussions about the high technology of health in the developed world, we need to balance the equation by thinking about the rest of the world as well."
Phi Beta Delta is about a responsibility towards the rest of the world. When we accept the honor of membership and enjoy the pride that comes with wearing the shiny gold medal, we also have to accept a responsibility for helping to achieve the goals of the fraternity: We need, to quote Dr. Brenner, "to stand up for all humanity". If we do accept responsibility, there is a chance the world will be around in 2300. If we don't accept responsibility the prognosis is not good. How do you measure up to responsibility that goes with the wearing of that gold medal?
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