Writing the World a Better Place
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States of America, once stated that while not all readers are leaders, all leaders are readers. It’s a statement that has been proven true time and again. In fact, according to Business Insider’s interview with Steven Siebold, who interviewed 1200 of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful individuals, they are all voracious readers.
Leading Those Who Lead the Leaders
This means that those who write books are leading the world’s leaders. And those who teach writing are leading the leaders of the leaders. Think about this. It’s a profound and vitally important piece of information.
Where the True Power Lies
If you want to know who is really shaping the future of humanity, and where the true power lies to write the world a better place, do not look to the military or the government. Do not look to Wall Street or the financial corridor. And do not look to Hollywood. Instead, look in the classrooms of English teachers and English professors, to writing coaches and writing tutors.
Yet in spite of the power that each person who teaches writing holds to shape and influence not only this current generation but every generation that follows after it, we pay little heed to either writers or those who teach writing.
Undervalued and Underpaid
The average English teacher is paid less than $50,000 a year to do work that may very well determine the entire course of human history. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe sparked the Civil War. Had there been no one to teach her to read or write, there might still be slavery in the South. Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” — written in 1849 a full 100 years before a young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would encounter them — was the first spark of Dr. King’s nonviolent resistance which would shape the civil rights movement. Thoreau’s own work was influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who acted as a writing coach and mentor.
Published authors, those responsible for shaping the thoughts of our present and future leaders, make about the same amount as those who teach the craft of writing. Librarians, those who are tasked with maintaining and preserving the collection of written works to be sure that the ideas contained inside those books survive to influence future generations, fare better than either of the two, with an average salary of $56,000 per year.
An Imbalance In Priorities
Contrast the pay of an English teacher, a writer, or a librarian with that of a head football coach. Football coaches can easily command $80,000 per year or more. This pay usually comes at the expense of hiring someone fully qualified to teach English. It isn’t to say that football has no influence on our culture, or no value in being taught, but is there anyone still studying football plays from 1910 other than other football players? There are people still studying the writings of men and women who lived thousands of years ago.
Changing the Way We See Ourselves
99% of all of the questions we each have about life, the universe, and our place in it have already been answered by someone else. Written communication allows us to seek those answers not only from the living, but from the dead as well, and to pass on our knowledge to those who need it not only in this generation but for all generations to come.
We hold in our hands the secrets to creating world peace, but we do not know it. And because we do not know the power we hold, we allow ourselves to be undervalued and underpaid. It is time we change things. It is time we stand up and take our rightful places at the tables of leadership.
Together, it is time to write the world a better place.
