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via Michael Crawford1[1]: When I was asked to make this address I wondered what I had to say to you boys who are graduating. And I think I have one thing to sa

via Michael Crawford1[1]: When I was asked to make this address I wondered what I had to say to you boys who are graduating. And I think I have one thing to say. If you wish to be useful, never take a course that will silence you. Refuse to learn anything that implies collusion, whether it be a clerkship or a curacy, a legal fee or a post in a university. Retain the power of speech no matter what other power you may lose. If you can take this course, and in so far as you take it, you will bless this country. In so far as you depart from this course, you become dampers, mutes, and hooded executioners. As a practical matter, a mere failure to speak out upon occassions where no statement is asked or expect from you, and when the utterance of an uncalled for suspicion is odious, will often hold you to a concurrence in palpable iniquity. Try to raise a voice that will be heard from here to Albany and watch what comes forward to shut off the sound. It is not a German sergeant, nor a Russian officer of the precinct. It is a note from a friend of your father's, offering you a place at his office. This is your warning from the secret police. Why, if you any of young gentleman have a mind to make himself heard a mile off, you must make a bonfire of your reputations, and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well. I have seen ten years of young men who rush out into the world with their messages, and when they find how deaf the world is, they think they must save their strength and wait. They believe that after a while they will be able to get up on some little eminence from which they can make themselves heard. "In a few years," reasons one of them, "I shall have gained a standing, and then I shall use my powers for good." Next year comes and with it a strange discovery. The man has lost his horizon of thought, his ambition has evaporated; he has nothing to say. I give you this one rule of conduct. Do what you will, but speak out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don't be gagged. The time of trial is always. Now is the appointed time. John J. Chapman, Commencement Address to the Graduating Class of Hobart College, 1900 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=MichaelCrawford https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=MichaelCrawford

Kalium 11y ago
Tell me, then. Is it better to speak out, to be utterly ineffectual, to be of no aid whatsoever to those whom you wish to help in your principled stand... or to take a chance on being able to actually have an impact? It seems to be that the world is already overfull with the principled, loud, and ineffectual. I see many people who adhere to Mr. Chapman's advice, and all their efforts amount to naught.
- eevilspock 11y ago
  That is a straw man. You define speaking out and having an impact as mutually exclusive. Speaking out with integrity and principle always has impact. But the world is overfull with loud UN-principled people taking stands. Few walk the talk. Cognitive dissonance and self-serving excuses win. We lack the courage or the will to sacrifice for the good of others. So things stay the same, or get worse. Until it gets so bad that even the reluctant finally act, usually out of selfishness. Take a stand on something you see as wrong, and walk the talk. Today, not tomorrow. No excuses.
  - Kalium 11y ago
    You assume I have not done so. Friend, you assume incorrectly. I have. I learned from the experience. I spoke out with passion, principle, and integrity. I joined my voice to those of similar others. I accepted no excuses and did as you demand. I acted with courage, I sacrificed, I acted selflessly for the good of others. The world remained unmoved. And I... I gained in wisdom. Speaking out with integrity and principle has impact to the extent that you have the ability to translate your beliefs into realty. The world has no lack of people with principles and integrity who don't agree with you. They are all also attempting to make impacts. The ones most likely to be successful and get the impact they want are the ones with the resources to back it up. Remember - people who disagree with you are often loud, brave, and principled people willing to sacrifice who believe they are doing the right thing. If I could sacrifice the screaming passions of every marcher in Berkeley, every Black Panther in Oakland, and every OWS camper for another Gates Foundation... I would do so in a heartbeat. Because the result would be dramatically improved lives for a great many people as resources are expended less on principled posturing by people with integrity and more towards actually doing things. So, friend, let us dispense with the Naming of Names and Taking of Stands. Let us get on with the bit where we actually do things that help people. That is, after all, what matters.
    - eevilspock 11y ago
      > If I could sacrifice the screaming passions of every marcher in Berkeley, every Black Panther in Oakland, and every OWS camper for another Gates Foundation And I the opposite. The Gates Foundation is built on ill-gotten gains, the kind of abuse of power that makes the world the bad place it is. The marchers in Berkeley (my alma mater), the Black Panthers and OWS all had profound impacts on the social conversation and psyche. Would you trade Selma for The Gates Foundation too? That you felt the world remained unmoved by your earlier efforts hints at the kind of arrogance or desire to play god that the current internet tech world is criticized for. Doing the right thing must be done because it is right, not because you get personal satisfaction or glory (or profit). Doesn't sound like you gained the wisdom that you believe you did. You probably don't get my points about integrity and walking the talk, that those "most people" you refer to aren't actually waling it. Certainly not Bill Gates. Maybe you'll not get anything I'm saying. Whatever helps you sleep better at night.

Kalium 11y ago

Tell me, then. Is it better to speak out, to be utterly ineffectual, to be of no aid whatsoever to those whom you wish to help in your principled stand... or to take a chance on being able to actually have an impact? It seems to be that the world is already overfull with the principled, loud, and ineffectual. I see many people who adhere to Mr. Chapman's advice, and all their efforts amount to naught.

eevilspock 11y ago
That is a straw man. You define speaking out and having an impact as mutually exclusive. Speaking out with integrity and principle always has impact. But the world is overfull with loud UN-principled people taking stands. Few walk the talk. Cognitive dissonance and self-serving excuses win. We lack the courage or the will to sacrifice for the good of others. So things stay the same, or get worse. Until it gets so bad that even the reluctant finally act, usually out of selfishness. Take a stand on something you see as wrong, and walk the talk. Today, not tomorrow. No excuses.
- Kalium 11y ago
  You assume I have not done so. Friend, you assume incorrectly. I have. I learned from the experience. I spoke out with passion, principle, and integrity. I joined my voice to those of similar others. I accepted no excuses and did as you demand. I acted with courage, I sacrificed, I acted selflessly for the good of others. The world remained unmoved. And I... I gained in wisdom. Speaking out with integrity and principle has impact to the extent that you have the ability to translate your beliefs into realty. The world has no lack of people with principles and integrity who don't agree with you. They are all also attempting to make impacts. The ones most likely to be successful and get the impact they want are the ones with the resources to back it up. Remember - people who disagree with you are often loud, brave, and principled people willing to sacrifice who believe they are doing the right thing. If I could sacrifice the screaming passions of every marcher in Berkeley, every Black Panther in Oakland, and every OWS camper for another Gates Foundation... I would do so in a heartbeat. Because the result would be dramatically improved lives for a great many people as resources are expended less on principled posturing by people with integrity and more towards actually doing things. So, friend, let us dispense with the Naming of Names and Taking of Stands. Let us get on with the bit where we actually do things that help people. That is, after all, what matters.
  - eevilspock 11y ago
    > If I could sacrifice the screaming passions of every marcher in Berkeley, every Black Panther in Oakland, and every OWS camper for another Gates Foundation And I the opposite. The Gates Foundation is built on ill-gotten gains, the kind of abuse of power that makes the world the bad place it is. The marchers in Berkeley (my alma mater), the Black Panthers and OWS all had profound impacts on the social conversation and psyche. Would you trade Selma for The Gates Foundation too? That you felt the world remained unmoved by your earlier efforts hints at the kind of arrogance or desire to play god that the current internet tech world is criticized for. Doing the right thing must be done because it is right, not because you get personal satisfaction or glory (or profit). Doesn't sound like you gained the wisdom that you believe you did. You probably don't get my points about integrity and walking the talk, that those "most people" you refer to aren't actually waling it. Certainly not Bill Gates. Maybe you'll not get anything I'm saying. Whatever helps you sleep better at night.