‘How should one live?’ – UWC Maastricht

Being an alumni of the United World Colleges (UWC) www.uwc.org www.uwc.be www.uwc.nl, I was honored to be asked to give, this very Thursday, the keynote speach launching the two days ‘Theory of Knowledge conference’ organised by students of UWC Maastricht. I gave my lecture in the very room where – as we were told by the Governor – exactly 21 years ago, the Maastricht Treaty was signed. I was impressed by the interest and maturity of the some 200 teenagers (average age: 17) listening to me and asking intelligent questions. After my speech, I participed at one of the workshop organised by the students themselves. The topic ‘eugenics’, was introduced by a Danish student. I stood there listening and debating for one and a half hour, amidst 30 youngsters and not one single adult in charge. All these young citizens were listening, questioning, and respectfully disagreeing. No disciplinatory problem: All of them were highly committed, having organised it all by themselves. I was impressed. And all the sudden, I remembered that this was exacly what I had experienced some 30 years ago, when I happened to be  a UWC student in Southern Wales. There was but one difference: When our young Danish moderator asked us, who believed humans were overall generous and who thought they were rather selfish – only a small 20% of the attendants took the optimistic view. In my days, the split would have been much more balanced. The current generation is born with the economical crisis. It therefore carries a darker view on the human species. And nevertheless, those young people are capable of high ideals, in order – as Kurt Hahn, the founder of UWC stated – to make this world a better place. I don’t know whether my speech managed to tell them something lasting about ‘How to live’. But what I do know, is that leaving Maastricht this day, I felt grateful and happy that life made such experiences possible.