Obsolescence

Many, many years ago when I had the opportunity to give some talks in the classroom of my friend and mentor, Dr. Herb True, the students were told that much of what they learned would be obsolete within ten years. Back then I hinted that some of what they were learning might already be obsolete and that some of the stuff they were learning should last them a lifetime if they got it straight in their heads.

I mentioned a few things like ethics, loyalty, honesty, dedication, commitment, friendship and persistence.

Now I realize that in the thirty or forty years since then a lot of leaders in government and in business and in many other segments of our lives have lowered or abandoned their standards in several of the above but I do believe that those who held on to their high standards in their lives are a much happier lot today.

Those who bend to a mild wind may not survive in a real storm.

It now appears to me that in a number of important areas we have hit rock bottom and the only way we have to go is up. What would happen to this nation if we suddenly had a rededication to ethics, loyalty, honesty, dedication, commitment, friendship and persistence?

Now I just wrote down that list above off the top of my head and I’m sure that most of our readers might create a much better list than mine. For instance I left out “patriotism, unselfishness, and a half ton, at least, of better thoughts

Remember that old nursery rhyme, “Jack be nimble, jack be quick, jack jump over the candle stick. Do you? Well I am afraid that this Jack would get his rear end burnt if he tried to jump over a candle stick. Neither his mind nor his body is its old nimble self.