In which I offer guidance to the next generation of leaders…

Nov. 28 – Update below…

Last night I received the following communication in my UBC email inbox, with a blank subject line:

Dear Mr. Lamb,

My name is J***** P*****, I’m currently a Junior in high school doing a project in history answering the question “What is Power?” I have a quick question that I would greatly appreciate any sort of answer.

I was wondering what you thought of Micheal Moore. I read that you had an interview with him and I was curious if you found him to be a friendly kind of guy, or if he was rather rude. Because you are of high authority, my class finds you to be a powerful person and because of that any response you have would be wonderful!

Thanks!

J*****

My response:

Subject: On power and Michael Moore

Dear Mr. P*****,

Thank you for the email and your kind words.

I can’t think of a more effective line of inquiry into the essence of power than Michael Moore’s personal manners. I have never interviewed Mr. Moore, though I have seen him in movies and on TV. Based on these observations I would suppose he is rather rude at times — perhaps because he has not learned to be properly respectful of powerful, authoritative people such as myself. Then again, he appears to exhibit his worst behavior when confronting corporate criminals and corrupt warmongers, so I tend not to get upset by his evident lack of refinement.

If you or your classmates have any more questions about the nature of power, I would be happy to share more of my opinions. I would very much enjoy seeing your finished project.

Stay in school, and study hard!

Regards,
Brian

Update: A week or so on, I receive the following…

Dear Mr. Lamb,

Thank you so much for your response, not only did I get wonderful feedback on the project today, it was joined with great grades and a reward for the best project through out the entire class!! I’m sorry it took me so long to respond, but I hope you know how much your help means to me, I would just like to say I appreciate everything you helped with, your words mean a lot to me. So thank you.

Sincerely,

J***** P*****

Who says those in the younger generation have no manners or respect for their elders? I’m sure the project was killer.