Practicality Can Be Persuasive
Posted on 06/01/2011 @ 10:37 AM
Before I retired from the University of Miami, I looked forward each spring to teaching the second half of the British literature survey. One of my favorite readings was the great philosopher John Stuart Mill's feminist tract The Subjection of Women (1869). Mill argues eloquently against such "subjection" (subjugation in our usage) on the basis of both morality and practicality. The immorality of denying women equal opportunities demanded extensive reasoning for his Victorian audience, reasoning self-evident to us nowadays.
The impracticality of subjugating women required equally strenuous argument for Mill's audience, reasoning apparently not so self-evident to some in our own culture when applied to another group--our children. Mill takes his readers to task for the absurd, self-destructive practice of denying their Victorian society fully half the talent of its populace, half the English who could help, indeed lead, in all manner of activity.
Florida legislators would no doubt agree that subjugating the least fortunate of our children to second-class citizenship, of denying them equal opportunities, is downright immoral. But given the draconian budget decisions they have made lately, one must assume that many of them would defend that immorality by noting the dilemma of competing needs for scarce resources. It is unlikely that they would find much sympathy among the readers of this blog.
But now what about that question of practicality? Could Florida legislators possibly misunderstand how absurdly self-destructive it is it to doom one potentially creative segment of our populace, our under-served children, to lives that will often stifle their potential? Are we so well-stocked with nurses and teachers and engineers and business leaders--and yes, political leaders--that we can afford to squander part of our talent pool?
It took England and the rest of the industrialized world quite a long time to respond to the immorality and the impracticality of subjugating women. We can only hope and pray that Florida lawmakers will be responsive more quickly, that our servants in Tallahassee will better serve our children because of practicality as well as morality.
Ronald Newman, Ph.D., UM English Prof. (Retired)
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