Chapter 3 - Good Will and Kindness

Chapter 3

Good Will and Kindness

               American good will.  What is good will?

               Let us hear from Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, once again :

               'T is good will makes intelligence’

               Good will is often equated with Charity in the United States these days.  It stands for someone with something giving something to someone else who does not have it.  In some places good will and Charity have a bad reputation.  It is often believed that if one helps out someone else that the person being helped will become dependent upon you.

               So goes the saying, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’

               Some people use this as an excuse to keep all the fish for themselves.  More importantly – it is often used in an incorrect sense.  Let us for example imagine someone in poverty or even someone well off – able to feed their family and getting along.  Then – through some calamity – maybe a mistake or a horrible storm or the financial ruin of the company the person was working for – their income is not only suspended but entirely removed.

               The State governments and Federal government have relief programs designed to aid people so they do not die but is that enough?  Are airy ideas about economy and ensuring cash flow enough to ensure that your neighbor and his family do not lose their ability to pursue the American dream?  Often that is the case.  These ruinous events can lead to the demise of a person, a couple or even an entire family even here in the Land of Plenty.

               What is it to you?

               Why should you care if your neighbor is prosperous?

               Besides the fact that desperate persons do desperate things the reason why you as an American should be concerned in a positive fashion about the prosperity of your neighbor is that your prosperity is tied to theirs.  It is your tax money the State and Federal governments spend to ensure that those people do not die.  That state of affairs will not change for those people until they are gainfully employed again in the private sector.  Every opportunity given to keep them away from falling into real dependence upon government programs designed to keep themselves in business is better and more profitable for you.

               In many cases ‘common’ beliefs about relief and food assistance are just plain wrong.  Most people, when they go for food assistance or other financial relief, to avoid starvation or financial ruin, do not continually take it or receive it for the rest of their lives.  That is a rare occurrence and it those persons that do that without good reason that have brought a bad reputation to the practice.

               In fact most families that take food assistance rely on the material for not much more than a year and a half on average.  That is amazing but is not widely known.

               How do Americans act with Good Will and Kindness?

               Some people donate to charities.  Some share goods that they no longer need.  The ‘sharing’ can be as simple as dropping things off at a good will store or selling it at a garage sale on their own property or at community even ‘rummage’ sales.

               In the United States, and most of the world, Kindness is often mistaken for weakness.

               Let us use for example a scene on a battlefield.  Two soldiers are in combat and facing the enemy.  One runs out of ammunition to defend himself and his friend.  What does the soldier with ammunition do?  Teach the one that ran out of ammunition how to make bullets?  Does he empty his pockets and hope that the other soldier can find something useful there?

               Obviously – the best thing to do in a case like that is split the ammunition so they can defend themselves and live another day.

               Make no mistake – the world of international finance and business is not a friendly place.  Even internally in the United States business is conducted in a cut throat way.  So unions have had to rise up and some lawyers make a very good business protecting people or securing the rights of people that were working for companies that do not honor their duties to the nation as much as individuals do.

               It is good sense to help our neighbor.  It is actually wise to ensure they are not pushed to extremes.  There are many examples in American history where towns have come apart because the people themselves, after losing some major income, like a mining interest, can no longer continue on in their work and must shift for themselves.

               During the Great Depression the communities that exited that horrible time with Good-Will and Kindness intact were able to recover quicker than those communities that settled into bickering and selfishness.  In those locations where the ‘well-off’ ensure that everyone in their community is treated fairly  - by access to schooling, sanitation, clean water and safety – they benefit more than in communities where ‘Good-Will’ has broken down and anarchy threatens.

               Any new Americans just arriving from nations that are being ravaged by those forces will be able to identify with this.  It is one reason that some people leave the nation of their birth to come to the United States and be Americans.  To lose sight of Good-Will and Kindness is to abandon an important part of the experience of being American.

               ‘Good-Will’ is so important in American society that is actually has a price tag associated with it.  It is an idea representing value of an asset owned that is intangible but has a measurable "prudent value".  For example - a reputation the firm enjoys with its clients.  To an American, having a good reputation means, essentially, being good, being approachable, being dependable and being counted on to right wrongs and assist when someone is in distress – because – the same thing is expected to be returned if the shoe is on the other foot.

               American Good-Will and Kindness are at the same time virtues and prudent defense against personal loss.  It is a kind of insurance no one wants to collect on.

               Love, affection for others, sympathy and empathy are all known as human virtues.

               An ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius, wrote, “Let but a prince cultivate virtue, people will flock to him.  With people will come to him lands.  Lands will bring forth for him wealth.  Wealth will give him the benefits of right uses.  Virtue is the root.  Wealth is the outcome.”

               Knowing this we can see that the benefits of American Good-Will and Kindness greatly outweigh the imagined benefits of greed and selfishness.

               So we see national actions to feed and assist other nations have roots in American Good-Will and Kindness.

               In case weakness or the idea that Good-Will and Kindness are not strong responses to a harsh world environment let us recall another old saying, “The bravest are the  tenderest, the loving are the daring.”

               American Good-Will and Kindness are actions of Adventure.

               Their results are clear and easy to see.  Their effects and impact easy to discern.  Just as well planted seeds yield rich harvests of fruits and vegetables so goes it with Good-Will and Kindness properly dispersed and cared for.

               The lack or absence of these American virtues are seen where poverty grows or persists.

               Their absence is marked by disease, loss and want.

               What should an American do if appealed to for these virtues?

               Well, “It becomes not the fowler to slay the bird which has taken refuge in his bosom.”

               Here is a sample of what the great American Poet Walt Whitman suggests as becoming not only to an American but to any human being, “"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others…”

               During times of distress often there is not much for the well off or well positioned to do.  All the fun seemingly taken out of life.  Even as they prosper all around are suffering.  To be plain – what good is that?  To express it selfishly as some will have it – what fun is there in that?

               It is a good time when times are bad to do good.

               If a child does not have enough to eat they will not be able to concentrate on their studies.  This can lead to delinquency and crime.  Ultimately they will get caught and go to prison should they turn bad.  If they pay the ultimate price with their lives it is no gain for American society.  It is a loss all around.  All those years of productive service wasted and all the horror and ruin they themselves might have brought to the world simply because they did not have enough to eat.

               I am making no plea on your charity here.  It is common knowledge that in the United States each year we destroy much food either because it can’t get to market or because the market is unwilling to pay what is asked for it.  That may be a crime in some eyes and certainly is in many hearts but it is plain fact.  How can it be changed so that more people benefit – producer and consumer alike?

               That is a question that may well be answered by you because that question still begs an answer these many years after which the United States has practically insured that there will be a bumper crop.

               Questions of work and fairness in labor are also included in American Good-Will and Kindness for who would work for a bad boss or poor task master and be happy about it?  Because of Unions, Labor Relations and expert management and owners there are seeds of a cooperative effort that when expressed on both sides with American Good-Will and Kindness profits grow and work is assured.

               American Good-Will and Kindness are something which need to be demanded sometimes because all too often people feel that they are either entitled to get what is coming to them or they refuse to produce the materials expected of them when they are doing well.

               As a popular cartoon character, Sally, sister of Charlie Brown, says, ‘All I want is what is coming to me.  All I want is my fair share.’

               That is not a good expression of American Good-Will or Kindness.  That is a parody of it.

               In times of need it is right for people to ask for assistance.  During the Great Depression and other times in American history this was either not done or the people asking for assistance were treated badly.  The result was starvation to death and illness and misery for men, women and children alike.  The elderly were treated poorly.

               These things and actions have repercussions.  They create memories of pain and anger.  It is best to avoid situations like this simply by doing the right thing.  In this way American Good-Will and Kindness become more than a profitable business action, they are more than charitable acts taken by the strong in a gesture to the weak.  When American Good-Will and Kindness are expressed when needed they are like mortar being added to a weakened wall.  They are like leaven in bread.  They are like a new finish on a fine piece of furniture.

               Everyone, as you know, in the United States, has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  It is written in the Declaration of Independence.

               It is not a dream.  It is not a figment of the imagination.  It is a set of ideals that are eternal and lasting.  They are human needs expressed in human words.  Human actions have all too often failed.  They failed on such a monumental scale that an entire nation – our nation – your nation – was founded on principles to ensure that these failures were conquered with the success of hard work, labor, cooperation and love.

               Some people decry the Welfare system, likening it to similar systems in oppressive countries where a dole is established and generations of people are trapped in a cycle of poverty and ill-use.  In the United States there have been plenty of examples of this happening in some cities and a few states.  Each one has worked to try and reverse or eliminate the mistakes of that system.

               I mention that before I talk about welfare in another sense – a greater sense.  We are a nation of individuals but we are a nation of individuals working together to establish and run a nation.  In this case if I am doing well you are likely to be doing well also.  If we work together or compete fairly – then again we will prosper.

               There are many things we need to do together – defense, international trade and other things.

               The Constitution of the United States contains these ideas and delineates them very well :

               “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

               As for American Good-Will and Kindness – these are the actions taken to ‘…promote the general welfare…’ by the national government, the state government, local government and most of all and above all others – by individual Americans.

               Why would any American believe that promoting the general welfare is a good thing?  Again – if I am doing well you are likely doing well.  If there is a slum or poverty or crime right across the street from your house or you need to deal with such social ills just to go to work and come back to your home – your Pursuit of Happiness is going to be harder than it should be and you might spend your life trying not to be miserable rather than just being happy.

               If there is disease – and there used to be a lot of it in the United States – is rampant, it is wise to express American Good-Will and Kindness by promoting the general welfare.   What is an example of that?  Polio was a very good example of that.

               Polio is a ravaging disease.  It was at one time frighteningly common in the United States and the world.  President Franklin Roosevelt had contracted polio and his valiant efforts to overcome the limitations put on him are legendary.  He was a lucky man born into a family of wealth – the outcome for poorer children was often much more harsh and dark.

               When the Salk Vaccine was first invented Doctor Salk could have become an enormously wealthy man but this American is quoted as saying when asked if he would patent he vaccine, "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

               He was honored by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a benefactor to mankind.

               Eisenhower himself worked tirelessly to ensure that the Polio Vaccine was made available widely.  To this day it is an important and potent weapon in the fight for world health.

               What I am describing here is a set of circumstances that are not small in stature.  They are not soft-handed or flabby.  This is the stuff of great things and honest things and good things.

               Things done by Americans for human good.

               I need to mention here, because this is a book about ‘How To Be An American’ – that Doctor Salk was the child of immigrants from Russia who moved into New York City and adopted our nation as their own.  Each person has their own way and understanding of what means to be an American but what actions to take – these are clear when you happen upon them.

               Their children were sent to school and learned how to work and they as a family participated in and used the ideal of promoting the general welfare in their lives just as they contributed to defense.  They played a part in securing the Blessings of Liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

               There is for me no argument here.  Just plain, simple fact.

               Doctor Salk could have held the patent for himself and garnered fame and fortune for himself.

               Instead – with an open hand he demonstrated quite simply and mightily the ideas I have come to understand as American Good-Will and Kindness.

               Just as Pecos Bill is an example of what Americans dream about and express themselves as a participant in a grand adventure of spirit – Doctor Salk demonstrated in real life what American Good-Will and Kindness can be.  I hope it is clear even at this early stage in this book that your actions or inactions will influence your child’s participation in the grand adventure of America.  Your attitudes and desires will effect how they view themselves as Americans – or if they participate at all.

               In some countries they say that not everyone can be great.  Here in the United States – that is not true.   Which do you prefer to believe?  Every one of us can be great and each one is wonderful.  Each American may achieve their own expression of their own highest ideals.  Two American ideals are Good-Will and Kindness.  How will you express them?  How will you teach your children that these things belong to them and are just as important as the chance of becoming a famous sports figure or rich businessman?