He is ignores history is doomed to repeat it.
So those who understand the past ought to be well paid to share their understanding with society.
One of the current presidential candidates claims to understand his claims to a fabulously high income in this light.
His payment came from an entity which thought his intellectual offerings, or something he had to offer, worth the price.
The question is, who is paying the larger price for this? And why should it be this way?
And we need to be thinking about what those who teach history -- and other subjects -- to our children and young scholars ought to be paid. What do we value?
- Financial engineering, or physical engineering of various kinds?
- Medicine or Corporate Finance?
- Understanding history, or the fine points of real estate speculation?
- Enriching oneself, or acting in ways that create a more prosperous and stable economy for all of us?
What fields should attract our best and our brightest? And what should the rewards be?
I heard a snippet on the radio this morning -- something about waking up in the morning trying to figure out how to provide for one's family. It wasn't about providing trust funds for one's family, but about providing the basics.
Shouldn't our society's best minds be encouraged to examine our history in search of better ways to structure things so that life is not such a struggle for the ordinary human being?
(And maybe a critical mass would discover that Henry George had some useful and relevant observations and recommendations toward that goal.
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