M. Scott Peck - A World Waiting to Be Born: Civility Rediscovered

T here is an illness abroad in the land.

On Monday, January 29, 1990, the USA Today newspaper carried a full-page advertisement. Tiny print in the left lower corner identified the advertiser as Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), a large financial analysis firm specializing in The Fine Art of Managing Risk. Otherwise, the entire page was devoted to four brief sentences in bold type:

IM 30,000 FEET OVER NEBRASKA AND THE GUY NEXT TO ME SOUNDS LIKE A PROSPECT .

I FIGURE ILL BUY HIM A DRINK, BUT FIRST I EXCUSE MYSELF AND GO TO THE PHONE .

I CALL D&B FOR HIS COMPANYS CREDIT RATING. THREE MINUTES LATER IM BACK IN MY SEAT BUYING A BEER FOR MY NEW BEST FRIEND .

Something is seriously wrong.

A year earlier, I received a hint as to what is wrongthe nature of the illness involvedwhen I had the opportunity to meet for four days with the Commissioners of Education of the United States. These Chief State School Officers had gathered together to consider a profound and controversial issue: the teaching of values in public schools. During the first day, we listened to scholars present papers on the history of public education in the United States. I was surprised to learn that in the early days of the nation there had been great and heated debate over whether there even should be public education supported by taxation. The debate was resolved on the grounds that in order to sustain a democratic society, public education was required for the widespread teaching of civics.

By civics, our leaders two hundred years ago meant something far broader than a simple intellectual knowledge of the Constitution and legislative processes. Primarily they meant a deep-seated set of values that would be a foundation for responsible citizenshipvalues encouraging interest and involvement in large social issues as opposed to mere self-centeredness, values necessary to maintain the health of democracy.