Not what it seems

EL 266

"While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?" (Thoreau, ch 18 paragraph 7)

Yes, I agree once again with Thoreau. I think his point here is that society focuses to cure problems that may appear to be the most important, but in truth are not. He was referring to the Great Potato Famine that occurred in Ireland during 1845 -1852. The famine not only caused people to starve, lose jobs and economic status, but also caused a wave of English and Irish immigrants to America.  England, who received many crops from Ireland, was concerned about this problem on an economic scale. Their focus was on solving this problem, not educating the public.

I can see this happening today as well. Because of the "economic crisis" we are struggling so hard to put money into Federal Relief funds such as grocery assistance, cash assistance, and housing assistance. Our focus is on building up these programs so that those who have lost jobs (or those who live off the system) will be supported during this tough time. We should instead be focusing on educating them, so that when minimum wage jobs are cut, they can go to college, earn a degree, and find a better, higher paying job.

Many people believe that because they qualify to receive government benefits, they are entitled to them for life. They simply feel that they cannot go back to work for one reason or another. Our society has made it so easy for this to happen that almost anyone can claim that they are "unable to work." This is exactly the kind of brain-rot that Thoreau was speaking of. With a little bit of education and a shove, many more Americans can find themselves contributing to society.