(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-07 Do you remember the last time you heard the phrase “noblesse oblige” — the concept that nobility (literally, entitlement) imparts responsibility? My most vivid recollection of the concept comes from the Tau Beta Pi initiation ceremonies I attended — first when I was elected as a new member in my 3rd year as an undergraduate, and later, when I led two initiation ceremonies for newly-elected members as our Chapter’s president in my 4th year. Tau Beta Pi is the honor society for engineering students, and it is analogous to Phi Beta Kappa (which is the honor society for humanities students). Students must be in the top 1/8 of their class to be elected as a Junior, or the top 1/5, to be elected as a Senior. The whole idea of Tau Beta Pi is to recognize excellence in engineering achievement, while encouraging engineers to become pollinators of “noblesse oblige” throughout their careers. If you are gifted with exceptional abilities, you should (a) hold yourself to the highest of standards in your own work (b) encourage others to practice excellence by setting a worthy example yourself, and (c) help others who are less fortunate achieve a higher standard of living via the creative use of your intellectual gifts. One way ΤΒΠ students carried out their mission was to offer tutoring services, free of charge, to other students who needed them. During my relatively short season as a DK reader and contributor, I have concluded that our mission here is akin to, and just as vital as, the French motto lauded above — Help those within our spheres of influence to more wisely construct their political worldviews and to more effectively practice their political arts — for the aggregated benefit of humanity and the planet. That said, I must not dig so deeply into inspiring French slogans so as to lose sight of the title of this piece. I’ll venture to say that just about everyone knows the doctor’s comedic retort to the titular question: “Then stop doing that.” Simple advice? Yes, but can it be translated into an effective teaching vehicle for our fellow citizens who are being genuinely hurt by the unprincipled governing practices of the candidates they elect? Will they listen when we implore them to stop voting for the haters, cheaters, and charlatans? Alas, it is true that many won’t stop — their habits are too strong, and we shouldn’t spend our lives banging our beneficial philosophies against their closed minds. But if I put on my professor’s hat, I can definitively say that we (the instructors) should not stop trying entirely. Just because one student gives up and drops out of calculus, doesn’t mean they are condemned to a life without meaning (… or even a life without calculus, which I concede, may feel like a small step below paradise for a few arithmophobes who are reading this diary). It simply means that it may be time for the instructor to (a) share their wisdom with a different student, or (b) allow the cosmos to select a different instructor to work on the student who has failed in your class. In closing, here are some quotes you may want to memorize (or be able to paraphrase) so you can take advantage of a fertile moment in a discussion that could benefit from a “Stop doing that.” quip, where the “that” is the unsanitary habit of voting for Trump-tolerating Republicans. From Alexander Hamilton (January 8, 1788), on good government looking after the least wealthy (emphasis mine throughout the quotes below). Happy it is when the interest which the government has in the preservation of its own power, coincides with a proper distribution of the public burdens, and tends to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression. From George Washington (September 17, 1796), on unprincipled men subverting the power of the people. However factions [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. From Thomas Jefferson (September 28, 1820), on empowering the people by educating them. I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. From Abraham Lincoln (March 4, 1861), on dissatisfied citizens wanting to destroy the government. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. From Franklin Delano Roosevelt (April 29, 1938), on protecting democracy from fascism. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/7/2197958/--Doctor-it-hurts-when-I-do-this?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/