The Great Debate

During the early days of freedom for Black Americans and the end of slavery after the Civil War, there was an intellectual discussion regarding the path to prosperity. On the one side of the debate was Booker T. Washington arguing greater training in a trade or skill for the newly found free people. This position was supported by the work of George Washington Carver and his multiple scientific discoveries of peanut uses. The other side of the debate was delivered by W.E. B. Du Bois with, in part, the argument of the Talented Tenth to lead the way. The Talented Tenth was defined as the liberally educated, intellectual elite to lead the way to societal change for the benefit of the masses.

Understand that this debate was based upon the segregation and oppression of Black Americans during those early years. As a country we have thankfully passed through this terribly painful history; however, I would like to look at a simplified version of this debate extrapolated and applied to the current, greater U.S. society.

We are experiencing according to some experts the greatest financial and economic collapse in history. So how do we proceed? The current U.S. government planned policies include educating the population to a proportion greater than experienced after WWII to each man/woman according to his/her skill. The plan is to make education available and affordable at all levels (from technical trade to the Ivies). Generally, I wholeheartedly support this initiative. In a speech I gave in New Orleans many years ago I had reached a similar conclusion stating that wherever your position in the linear intellectual spectrum of the debate, contribute! For the progress of us all – Contribute!

The current economic situation in America has enlightened a blind spot in this conversation for the path going forward. The failures can largely be attributed to the collaboration and collusion of the Talented Tenth (Ivy League educated traders, financiers, managers, and think tank rule-makers). When leaders of the country, her assets, and the rules are all working to implement an ideology that has no empathy for those toiling “in the trenches” creating economic value without sharing the benefits, there is a problem. The lesson is that those in power are not always right nor do the right thing.

In a Democratic society empathy must always be taken into consideration in rulemaking. So, how does the public decipher these qualities from candidates asking for support to represent them? Forgoing the “system of riches” and becoming a community organizer is a good place to start along with the personal freedom allowing a person to determine their path no matter the method.