I was reminded recently of William J. H. Boetcker (1873-1962). He's perhaps best known for his 1916 pamphlet, "The Ten Cannots". In summary:
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
- You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
- You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
- And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.
He also authored this list of "Seven National Crimes":
- I don't think.
- I don't know.
- I don't care.
- I am too busy.
- I leave well enough alone.
- I have no time to read and find out.
- I am not interested.
Both lists bear thinking about as we celebrate our nation's quarter-millennium anniversary. May our descendants still remember them when the half-millennial anniversary rolls around!
Peter
4 comments:
Wow. That first list pretty much exemplifies what we are being asked to abandon in the classroom. The most frequent question I get regarding failing students is "What are you doing to make sure that they pass?" My answer is "I am giving them every opportunity to do the right thing and pass, but I can't drag them across the finish line." I might post that in my classroom somewhere. Both lists.
Posterity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj0ksH2oOnA
In the age of information overload and the opinion of the all too common everyman being given equal if not more weight in our vulgar democratic internet commons, apparent "national crimes" like "I have no time to read and find out" and "I don't care" seem like virtues to me.
It is not that they don't think. It is that they lack the capacity. Humans have been trained what to think instead of how to think for generations.
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