Words of wisdom

Sept. 20, 1999
Accolades to Chief Technology Editor Warren True for his column about his Capitol stroll to the Washington monuments and for reminding us of the words of wisdom that inspire us engraved there (OGJ, Aug. 23, 1999, p. 23).

Accolades to Chief Technology Editor Warren True for his column about his Capitol stroll to the Washington monuments and for reminding us of the words of wisdom that inspire us engraved there (OGJ, Aug. 23, 1999, p. 23). But somewhere we went wrong; We forgot or ignored those words.

Perhaps some other men of wisdom could inspire us to reflect on this. My two favorites are Samuel Gompers and Albert Einstein. Einstein says volumes about government and bureaucrats: "Those (the minds) that create the problem cannot find a solution." It explains why we get bad laws stacked upon bad laws, since it is the same mind that wrote the bad law and it has been trying to correct it ever since. Samuel Gompers said, "Doing for the people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment. In the last analysis the welfare of the workers depends upon their own initiative. Whatever is done under the guise of philanthropy or social morality which in any way lessens initiative is the greatest crime that can be committed against the toilers. Let social busybodies and professional 'public moral experts' in their fads reflect upon the perils they rashly invite under this pretense of social welfare."

Toby Elster
Wichita, Kan.