The Puppet Masters
Unveiling Hidden Persuaders
LIE #6: The Highest Good of Government is to Care for the Poor and Needy…
One afternoon, I knocked on my professor’s open door, and he cordially invited me to take a seat. Despite the adversarial nature of many of our conversations on American politics, I enjoyed our after-school meetings, as did my professor, as far as I could tell.
“So good to see you, my boy; how are you today?”
“I’m doing well, Professor, thank you. And yourself?”
Leaning back in his chair, he sighed with a weary smile, “I’m well, I suppose.”
“Pardon me for saying so, but you looked tired. Are you sure everything is okay?”
He eyed me, thoughtfully, for several moments, as was his habit, before answering me. “My, my, you are an exceptional young man. Bright, inquisitive, and compassionate. A rare combination indeed.”
I smiled awkwardly. Did I even blush slightly, I wondered.
Then, the old man cleared his throat and slowly continued, “Just a trying situation on the home front, that’s all. A situation that has me preoccupied, it seems.”
“So sorry to hear that,” I said. “I hope things work out for you.”
“As do I, young man, as do I. Come to think of it, I’d be interested to hear your take on the matter.”
“Me? How so, Professor?”
“Well, it just so happens that my wife is an avid philanthropist.”
“Really, how interesting.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, trying to restrain an awkward enthusiasm. Maybe it was enthusiasm, and then again maybe it was irritation; I couldn’t quite tell. “And so,” he continued, “she’s constantly flitting about, from cause, to cause, to cause, you see, in an effort to lend a helping hand wherever she sees the need.”
“How nice, sir. She sounds like a fantastic lady. What kinds of causes are we talking about?”
With yet another weary sigh, the professor replied, “Well, therein lies the rub, I’m afraid.” Then he chuckled quietly under his breath, and lowered his gaze. “Actually, we’re talking about too many causes for me to even remember half of them. One month it’s the homeless; the next month, orphans. Then another month, it could be fatherless households or single mothers. No doubt it’s most admirable, and no doubt I admire her efforts immensely … but sometimes, I’m sorry to say…” And then his words trailed off into silence.
Story Continues Below
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Story Continues From Above
“Sometimes,” I said, breaking the awkward silence, “I can imagine it takes a toll on even the most resilient of families … families like yours.”
And looking up at me, he smiled again, this time more hopeful than before, as if encouraged by someone who had provided him a psychological shoulder to lean on.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “Which leads me to what I wanted to ask you about.”
“Anything, sir. What’s on your mind?”
“You see, my wife and I have a kind of running argument—well, she calls them discussions,” he said with a sheepish grin.
I smiled back. “Of course, I understand completely.”
“Yes, well, these discussions of ours, you know, they concern her philanthropic endeavors. And she keeps insisting that we provide our maximum effort to all these causes, and while she knows very well that I have my commitment to this university, she still looks to me as her ever ready sounding board in regard to her commitments.”
“That sounds like it could be quite a drain on your resourcefulness and energy.”
“Exactly, which is why I keep insisting that we—and when I say we, I mean to say, we citizens in general—should not be expected to singlehandedly bear the burden of the poor and needy in American society. In fact it’s my firm belief that it’s the primary burden of the state to do that. After all, ever since the days of FDR’s New Deal and JFK’s Civil Rights Movement, it’s become obvious that issues like poverty and unemployment can only be solved through decisive government intervention. What do you think?”
For several thoughtful moments, I considered how I might respond to my professor’s pronouncement, but suddenly his phone rang, and he reluctantly answered it. “Hello,” he said; and with a bittersweet smile, he continued. “Yes, my dear, how nice to hear from you. How are you?” And as he silently gestured to me that he preferred to speak privately, I rose to my feet and waved goodbye, determined as ever to investigate the matter further.
“I am all for doing good to the poor, but I do not think the best way of doing good to them is to make them easy in poverty but to lead or drive them out of it.”
Benjamin Franklin
