The Principle of the Thing; M. D. Barger

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING tg melvin ::D. Barge,. SOMEWHERE in New York City there is a young teen-age boy to whom, by the bad logic of our times, lowe a quarter. The debt has lingered now for almost a year, and probably won't be paid. One reason: I wouldn't rec ognize him, for it was twilight and I got only a few fleet ing glimpses of his face. Another: he was quite angry at the moment when I did get a good look at him, so under normal conditions this would make recognition doubly hard. A third consideration: by my own logic good, I hope-the debt doesn't exist. It was an extraordinary and startling occurrence. I had stopped my car at a Tenth Avenue intersection, close by the Lincoln Tunnel exit into Manhattan. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, this young teen-age boy all but vaulted onto the hood of my car and started wiping the windshield. For a moment I sat there in amazement at this unsolicited good deed. Then I real ized that my young benefactor was actually giving this service for a tip of some sort; and since the traffic light changes occurred rapidly, he could not be expected to do anything approaching a thorough job. Yet, unless this Mr. Barger is Editor of The Flying A, company magazine of the Aeroquip Corporation at Jackson, Michigan.

334 THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING 335 was the first attempt at an unproven venture, experience had no doubt shown him that many motorists would toss out a coin or two upon driving away. The youngster probably expected only a quarter, but I balked at giving it. There was something wrong with this operation in principle; and at the risk of being an irascible one who shatters the dreams of youth, I stuck my reactionary head out the window and barked: "Look, son, I would just as soon you wouldn't do that. You shouldn't clean a man's windshield out here on the street, and not unless he wants it done. Now I didn't ask you to do this." I realized immediately that there are times when you're always wrong. The young entrepreneur, obviously and understandably hurt, climbed off my car and snapped: "Well, I'm trying to earn money in an honest wayt That's better than stealing, ain't it?" There was a great deal of indignation in his voice, as if he were some what unable to believe that the twentieth century still accommodates some medieval minds who don't under stand the economic pressures working on juveniles.

Grateful for the anonymity of the twilight, I drove quickly away at the light change, feeling the youngster's reproach stinging at my shoulder blades. I felt a little like the man who has inadvertently stepped on a child's sand castle, but is then incapable of repairing it. For I had read much about the problems of juvenile delin quency in New York City, and I had to admit that there must be much in favor of a youth who is willing to work instead of steal. The principle I was trying to defend 336 MELVIN D. BARGER seemed rather shabby and selfish under the circum stances. It was simply that a man should always have a voluntary choice in the spending of his money. He should not have to pay for a service unless he has con tracted for it, or has acquired an obligation through due process of law. I had not contracted for the young boy's windshield wiping services. Now up until then I did not even know that this was one of my principles. It was, but I just did not have a way of stating it. The nameless young entrepreneur had helped me to realize just what it was myself.

Still, it would have been easy to flip him a coin or two as I drove away. This would have seemed to be the humanitarian thing; it would have been the gesture of the "good sport." And it wouldn't have been at all ex pensive! My reluctance to do so must have been the tired old feeling that we used to call "the principle of the thing." Under Obligation It should be clear that the youngster was indulging in a somewhat disguised form of begging. Of course, there is probably nothing morally wrong in begging, though the law frowns on it in most cities. Beggars are at least honestin that they don't pretend to offer a service in return for what you give them. They are soliciting a handout, pure and simple. They do not attempt to put you under some kind of an obligation. Here, I was apparently being put under a double obTHE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING 337 ligation. (1) It was being implied that I should provide a gratuity for the unwanted service. (2) It was also be ing implied that as a citizen I had some kind of an ob ligation to subsidize a youth "who did not steal." In other words, I was being told that I was getting a chance to "reward virtue and to do something about the juvenile delinquency problem." If a federal planner had been on the scene, he might have supplemented the young man's retort by warning me that if I, the private sector, didn't help this young man solve his problems, pretty soon the federal government would have to take action.

For much has happened during the year since this took place. There has been renewed emphasis on pro grams spawned by the dogmas called "environmental ism" and "economic determinism." Congressmen have proposed multimillion dollar programs to combat juven ile delinquency. A multibillion dollar effort called Alli ance for Progress is underway in Latin America to stop the tide of communism. There is a high-powered move ment in· progress to pour federal funds into the public education program. These programs all accept the basic premise that everybody's problems have an economic origin; hence, liberal doses of money will solve them. The root of the problem lies, in fact, in the acceptance of these dogmas as being true. If a man is the helpless product of the economic conditions into which he is born, does this not relieve him of all personal responsi bility for the outcome of his life? Can he not shift the blame to others who allegedly denied him what it would 338 MELVIN D. BARGER have taken to turn his life into better channels? Is he not encouraged to abandon the often strenuous attempts individuals have to make for their own moral and men tal betterment? Finally, we arrive at a point where no body is responsible for anything, and the only male factors or ne'er-do-wells are those who still cling to the "ideas of the past."