An e-mail to the members of my Unitarian-Universalist men’s group
I have been struggling with the topic of our next discussion for two or three weeks. Here, below, is the best that I can do.
When starting out my studies in science and engineering in 1957 at the Lowell Technological Institute (now, U-Mass-Lowell), never did I ask myself deep philosophical questions like the following:
A) “What are your career goals? How will you, Paul, help make the USA the best neoliberal, capitalistic democracy in the world? Will science make the whole world including the Evil Empire of Soviet Russia more peaceful, gentle, warm, loving and cooperative than it has ever been, even before the Greeks and the Romans?”
B) “How just and fair (even to Native American Indians) is our present socioeconomic system of values and wealth distribution as experienced in Lowell, Massachusetts by the major, poor, immigrant uneducated groups living and working in the factories here?”
Later, I read Laurence Gross’s book entitled “The Course of Industrial Decline“, which describes, in detail, the grim developments around the textile mills in Lowell, MA from 1835 to 1955. It was not a pretty picture, as my dear departed sister, Denise, liked to say.
C) Basically, was industrial capitalism, which we deem as a wondrous American success story simply glorified exploitation of the poor and the indigent on a massive scale?
There were many topics of upper, classical education espoused in the previous 3,000 years of Western European civilization – Note: I never really asked whether other civilizations had any merit, at all – that were not on my personal checklist of important, human goals, values or attributes to cherish and promote.
Immediate goals were quite simple for me at that time. “Will a B.S. title attached to my French Canadian name of Bolduc, a local disadvantage, make me a salable and sought-after engineer-type individual with a take-home, annual salary high enough to eventually qualify for a government-guaranteed mortgage on a modest house?”
Although, I enjoyed the challenges found in courses on physics, chemistry, calculus, analytical geometry, engineering, etc., my deep and profound motivation was to “get the hell out of Lowell ASAP” by obtaining a recognized stamp of approval from a recognized educational center in science. The B.S. degree meant that I could hope for a decent life elsewhere, maybe.
Fortunately, the country was facing a life-and-death struggle with an arch enemy that also had a thermonuclear military arsenal. The other positive bonus of working for the military-industrial complex was that America’s societal disagreements with the Soviets were seen to be long-lasting so that my engineering efforts might have a lifetime of financial payoffs for me and my family if, eventually, I chose to have a wife, children and all the mortgages involved.
Also, my financial stability might allow me to help my mother and two sisters in the future should dark clouds blacken their lives in Lowell-town. This last consideration played an important role. In contrast, my brother Bob would do well in the local car business.
Imperfect Choices in an Imperfect Socioeconomic System of Flawed Values
“The time has come to speak of many things” as Alice was wont to say!
Today, as I, happily, approach the end of this earthly journey with some highly valued, Unitarian-Universalist colleagues by my side, perhaps, it might be appropriate to underscore certain essential beliefs in my Credo set of beliefs, which may or may not be shared by all those around me.
The Nature of Physical Reality – This Big, Wide, Mysterious World
Knowledge that I have obtained through the beneficial association with other scientific colleagues needs to be disseminated to all members of our society and, in particular, to the young generations that follow us. A solid STEM education should be required for any citizen that has a right to vote on life-and-death environmental issues, which affect all of our lives every day.
We live in a universe, which seemingly obeys the Laws of the Nature, including discoveries found in physical chemistry, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, evolution, biological changes, and, yes, climate change, too. Scientists tell us that there was, once upon a time, a “Snowball Earth”. Imagine that!
As sensitive, thinking beings, we ought to encourage everyone to happily engage his/her cognitive gears every day and, especially, when voting for political candidates is the issue.
Feelings, Emotions, Joys and Fears, too
The other side of our humanity places us face to face with Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin on the musical scale plus, Hegel, Flaubert, Camus, Darwin, Goethe, Franklin, Jefferson, Einstein, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Charlie Chaplin, Rousseau, Marx, Engels, Ted Williams and many others, who are asking us what kind of society do we want to fully enjoy during our fragile human days on this planet?
Question for the Reader
Finally, Alice might also naively ask:
“What can you do today, or tomorrow, at the latest, to affect a positive change on our society’s vision or concept of the common good that might be motivated by a just, fair, open, inviting aspect to a New Democracy where the needs of people of all colors and skills get a fairer hearing in the marketplace?”