Benjamin Franklin Supports School Bond Issue
By Brother Rogers
When faced with difficult policy choices, political leaders sometimes ask what the Founding Fathers would have done. The reasoning used by Benjamin Franklin to support the Constitution is helpful as we consider whether to support the current school bond issue in Starkville.
While he didn’t like every detail, Franklin insisted, “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a general government necessary for us…I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.”
Franklin made a direct plea to those who were against the Constitution as written. “I cannot help expressing a wish to every member of the Convention who may still have objection to the Constitution would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility—and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”
At 81, Franklin was by far the oldest of the 55 delegates who gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. In fact, he was old enough to be George Washington’s father or James Madison’s grandfather.
The unquestioned senior figure at the Convention, Franklin had decades of political experience. He had served in the Revolutionary Congresses of 1774, 1775, and 1776, when he edited the Declaration of Independence. He was the man most responsible for convincing the French to support the American Revolution and was instrumental in negotiating the peace treaty with Britain.
Benjamin Franklin realized his great influence, and spoke little at the Constitutional Convention. Therefore, his final speech captured everyone’s attention. “The older I grow,” Franklin stated, “the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”
He disagreed with much of the final Constitution. He preferred a one-house legislature, a three-man executive, and no salaries for public officials. In short, he didn’t like several parts of the finished product, just like some today may not like certain aspects of the school bond issue or the schools.
But Franklin saw the greater good. He rose above the differences and seized the opportunity to help his country move forward. In our time, we must seize the opportunity to make Starkville better by improving our schools.
I have heard a number of excuses to be against the school bond issue. For example, “My children don’t attend those schools or have already graduated.” “I don’t like a certain teacher or administrator.” “I don’t like a certain change in the new construction plan.” “I would have done it differently.”
To you, I ask that you hear Franklin’s words anew. You may have a legitimate disagreement just as Franklin did. However, many citizens have worked hard to reduce $52 million of needs down to an affordable $26 million package of improvements. In a spirit of community and with an eye toward our posterity, we should put aside our objections to support the common good. We can not be sure that it is not the best.
Following Franklin’s appeal to unity, we should recognize that any objections we have, however real, do not outweigh the positive benefits to our community. The need is great. The time is now. The opportunity is there for us to seize. Let us rise to the occasion, as generations before us have done, and do our civic duty. Vote for the school bond issue on Tuesday, October 9.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
When faced with difficult policy choices, political leaders sometimes ask what the Founding Fathers would have done. The reasoning used by Benjamin Franklin to support the Constitution is helpful as we consider whether to support the current school bond issue in Starkville.
While he didn’t like every detail, Franklin insisted, “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a general government necessary for us…I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.”
Franklin made a direct plea to those who were against the Constitution as written. “I cannot help expressing a wish to every member of the Convention who may still have objection to the Constitution would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility—and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”
At 81, Franklin was by far the oldest of the 55 delegates who gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. In fact, he was old enough to be George Washington’s father or James Madison’s grandfather.
The unquestioned senior figure at the Convention, Franklin had decades of political experience. He had served in the Revolutionary Congresses of 1774, 1775, and 1776, when he edited the Declaration of Independence. He was the man most responsible for convincing the French to support the American Revolution and was instrumental in negotiating the peace treaty with Britain.
Benjamin Franklin realized his great influence, and spoke little at the Constitutional Convention. Therefore, his final speech captured everyone’s attention. “The older I grow,” Franklin stated, “the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”
He disagreed with much of the final Constitution. He preferred a one-house legislature, a three-man executive, and no salaries for public officials. In short, he didn’t like several parts of the finished product, just like some today may not like certain aspects of the school bond issue or the schools.
But Franklin saw the greater good. He rose above the differences and seized the opportunity to help his country move forward. In our time, we must seize the opportunity to make Starkville better by improving our schools.
I have heard a number of excuses to be against the school bond issue. For example, “My children don’t attend those schools or have already graduated.” “I don’t like a certain teacher or administrator.” “I don’t like a certain change in the new construction plan.” “I would have done it differently.”
To you, I ask that you hear Franklin’s words anew. You may have a legitimate disagreement just as Franklin did. However, many citizens have worked hard to reduce $52 million of needs down to an affordable $26 million package of improvements. In a spirit of community and with an eye toward our posterity, we should put aside our objections to support the common good. We can not be sure that it is not the best.
Following Franklin’s appeal to unity, we should recognize that any objections we have, however real, do not outweigh the positive benefits to our community. The need is great. The time is now. The opportunity is there for us to seize. Let us rise to the occasion, as generations before us have done, and do our civic duty. Vote for the school bond issue on Tuesday, October 9.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.