21 pages 42 minutes read

Elbert Hubbard

A Message to Garcia

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1899

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Themes

Character and Competence as the Backbone of Society

Hubbard notes a lack of standards among American workers; he attributes this to an absence of inner strength and determination, a syndrome he calls “moral stupidity.” This condition assumes intentional choice to not do one’s best (“best” being defined by the overseer), and this position of the moral superiority of the Rowans of the world persists today. Traces of it can even be found in the DSM-5, now termed “malingering,” or creating conditions such that the needy party is helpless. Hubbard has deduced this epidemic from personal experience; he manages a prominent artist colony and employs help at his on-campus print shop. There, he finds it hard to get his workers to complete tasks as assigned.

What’s the cause? Does he not pay them enough? Is he mean to them? Hubbard cut his teeth on sales work; as such, he knows how to win people over to his side. Yet none of his exhortations succeed. He decides that he must search, not for the right words of inspiration, but for the right people who already have a strong work ethic deeply imbued. A person who gets the job done is highly to be sought after. This person’s characteristics include loyalty, promptness, and completeness.