A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis
LESSONS LEARNED BY THE AUTHOR (Part 12)
Youth
We have to raise a new generation of youth of good character
Building a better world will not happen overnight as we have to raise a new generation of youth of good character who, when they reach positions of responsibility, will live their lives and guide their employers and nations down ethical paths. Just as important, as a parent I must be a good example to my children so they will want to continue building an ever-advancing civilization based on service and ethical conduct and in their turn pass the baton to their children.
The first reason for good character
There were certain passages that helped me to decide that I want the world to be run by people of good character. The first was from management guru Peter Drucker quoted by Jeffrey Kramer in Inside Drucker’s Brain: “What a manager does can be analyzed systematically. What a manager has to be able to do can be learned. But there is one quality that cannot be learned, one qualification that the manager cannot acquire but must bring with him. It is not genius; it is character.”
The second reason for good character
In The 7 habits of Highly Effective People Stephen Covey describes his research on the success literature published in the United States since 1776. “Almost all the literature of the first 150 years focused on the Character Ethic as the foundation of success – things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule. The Character Ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character. Shortly after World War I the view of success shifted to the Personality Ethic. Success became a function of personality, of public image, of attitudes and behaviors, skills and techniques. Some parts of the personality approach were manipulative, even deceptive. It was filled with social band aids and aspirin that addressed acute problems and sometimes even appeared to solve them temporarily, but left the underlying problems untouched to fester and resurface time and again.”
Education
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had this to say about education:
“Among these children many blessed souls will arise, if they be trained according to the Bahá’í Teachings. If a plant is carefully nurtured by a gardener, it will become good, and produce better fruit. These children must be given a good training which will further their development from day to day, in order that they may receive greater insight, so that their spiritual receptivity be broadened. Beginning in childhood they must receive instruction. They cannot be taught through books. Many elementary sciences must be made clear to them in the nursery; they must learn them in play, in amusement. Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not by book learning. One child must question the other concerning these things, and the other child must give the answer. In this way, they will make great progress. For example, mathematical problems must also be taught in the form of questions and answers. One of the children asks a question and the other must give the answer. Later on, the children will of their own accord speak with each other concerning these same subjects. The children who are at the head of the class must receive premiums. They must be encouraged and when any one of them shows good advancement, for the further development they must be praised and encouraged therein. Even so in Godlike affairs. Oral questions must be asked and the answers must be given orally. They must discuss with each other in this matter.”
The chapter on Youth deals with how we can raise a new generation capable of building a longer-lasting civilization than our current leaders.