Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Search / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

Thank God For The People Who Don't Fit The Mold -

And For A Country That Allows Them To Thrive

by Pat Pending

Most of us are content to accept what we are taught by teachers and textbooks, to do as we are told, to get a mainstream job with a salary, to buy a house with a mortgage, and to raise our families in peace.  And there is nothing wrong with that, except that not everything we are taught is true, and those of us who just accept the conventional wisdom without challenge or question typically are not those responsible for real progress. 

Progress is made by the restless people who don't accept the conventional wisdom -- those who challenge, who take risks, who try new approaches.  Many times they fail, but sometimes they succeed, much to the benefit of the rest of the world. 

Who is the person who may make such a huge contribution to the world?  Frequently, it is the child with attention deficit disorder who just can't sit still in his seat, who is paying attention to the ceiling tiles instead of the lesson at hand, and who is ridiculed by his peers and his teacher.  (When you are the person who is going to challenge conventional wisdom, you often don't "fit in".)  While the rest of his class is absorbing the scheduled lesson, he is learning lots of other interesting unscheduled lessons that he may use later in life.

Please, let's not try too hard to force that child into the mold.  Let's be careful not to crush his spirit; let's not succeed in convincing him that he is incapable and stupid and thereby destroy his ability to do great works. While of course we want to encourage him to learn, let's do it in a way that respects him as a person.     

America is a country that lets people take chances -- lets them fail and then get up and try again.  But it is important that we should also be a place where they are allowed to reap the rewards when they succeed.  When a person has faced a life of not fitting the mold and has endured the ridicule and isolation that are a part of that life, when he has taken the risks that others would not dare to take, and when, against all odds, he has succeeded, let's not pounce on him to plunder him and regulate him.  Instead, let's thank him.  It's the least we can do in return for all he has given us. 

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest / Search / White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN