#761 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday September 28)
Good morning,
Lauren related to me some advice she and her classmates received from their Wills and Trusts professor on first day of class. He looked around the room and said, “If anyone ever asks you to be an executor or trustee, politely say no.”
I currently am filling this role and it is work. Those of you who have had this responsibility understand what I mean. Imagine having to pull together all the various financial aspects of someone’s life—bank accounts, property, automobiles, insurance policies, stocks, and personal effects and then having to comply with the requirements of insurance companies and banks to close accounts and open new ones. Add into this the responsibility to be informative, transparent, and sensitive to grieving family members as one tries to complete these tasks with empathy and understanding. It is easier when, as in the present case, the family members are wonderful and cooperativegf. I wouldn’t want to deal with some families I know in a similar situation!
The job of the “executor” means what it sounds like—namely, to execute the wishes of a friend—not to make decisions. To be entrusted in fulfilling the desires of someone after they are gone is a special gift. It is a reminder of the affection, intimacy, and trust that was at the core of the relationship. The fulfillment of this obligation is gratifying in a way few pursuits can be. It is, after all, the final service one can provide to a friend or relative. One is fulfilling the last wishes of a friend, and one is doing so without the expectation of thanks because, after all, the person you’re serving no longer can do so.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THOUGHTFUL EDUCATION
From the great Bertrand Russell (via Adam Torson), his Ten Commandments of teaching, from 1951. If only these words were adopted by the book banners of the right and the language police of the left, life would be much better.
“The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
Have a great day,
Glenn