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Quote of the Day: On Not Being Offended
“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” – Benjamin Franklin
Few people today realize Ben Franklin became the 18th-century equivalent of Bill Gates by franchising print shops. He trained printers, provided them with standard print faces and printing tools, and lent them capital to set up their own print shops in towns throughout the colonies. In exchange, he got a piece of the action. He also farmed out large print jobs among his network of printers, keeping them busy and employed while permitting print runs in sizes in excess of what would otherwise be possible.
It was one factor making the American colonies one of the most literate corners of the world at that time. Stuff was being printed at a tremendous rate, so there was much to read. That encouraged literacy, which created more readers. It became a virtuous circle.
Then, as today controversy created more demand for the written word. Someone would publish a pamphlet about something. Someone else took offense at it, and responded by publishing their own pamphlet refuting and rebutting the first. That, in turn, generated a response, and the cycle continued. That kept printers busy. It is hardly a wonder Franklin did not care if people were offended — it created business.
It did more than create business. In that battleground of ideas, the strong survived and the weak perished. Good ideas trumped bad ideas. Eventually, the most persuasive ideas triumphed. The world was better for it.
That is why today’s trend toward censorship is so appalling. It permits the survival of bad ideas and false dogmas. Science is becoming religion and educational indoctrination because bad ideas are not allowed to be challenged for fear someone might take offense to that challenge. In the 21st century, we may have substituted social media for printers, but Franklin’s principle remains as valid today as it was in the 18th century when he first stated it.
Published in Group Writing
Great post with the possible exception of comparing Franklin to Gates. I suggest deleting that reference in its entirety.
I hadn’t known this. It seems there is always something new to learn about Franklin.
Well, both made a pile of money when relatively young and then spent the rest of their lives dabbling in politics and whatever else caught their interest.
I recently read Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet, by Michael Meyer. It was quite informative and enjoyable.
The competitive press and ideas were just another of the reasons that the English colonies became the seedbed for what became the American Revolution. Because they were far removed from the seat of power and were not “blessed” with great gold and silver resources like say the Spanish, etc, they were both independent and industrious. The average colonist was both more informed and had a better standard of living than the average Englishman of the time. A well-informed public with a tendency to question and challenge as well as a wide streak of determined industry and independence – and it only took about a third of them to keep the Revolution going until its conclusion. That seems to be a necessary combination for any generation intending self-governance.
Who should I have compared Franklin to? Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg are closer comparisons, actually, but I didn’t want to cite them. Jobs was more a developer than a marketer. He kept Apple proprietary, while Gates sold licenses to Microsoft systems, the modern equivalent of Franklin’s franchising. Possibly Ray Kroc, but burgers aren’t intellectual property.
I think Franklin stands on his own without comparison. Gates has a possible sinister conspiracy side that seems distasteful to me.
Odin has only one eye.
At the time, there was no paper-making facility in America; all newsprint was imported from England. The canny Franklin imported a shipload of newsprint and for a time had a monopoly on the commodity. His competitors had to by their paper from him.
“Few people today realize Ben Franklin became the 18th-century equivalent of Bill Gates by franchising print shops+
Very interesting, is there a good link or book on this particular aspect of history?
Not sure Gates is the best example, though, there were franchise deals in American long before he came on the scene.
I think this quote can apply to simply acting in the world, too. If you are constantly fretting about how others will judge you, you become paralyzed.
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