For Howard

Howard Richards (10 Jun 1938 – 7 Apr 2024), the philosopher, economist, author and educator, became my mentor in the last years of his life.

“I no longer read books which chart the collision course humanity is on, so why should I write one?”
—Howard Richards, Letters From Québec

But he did write one, the very book from which I quote him above. It is a towering literary masterpiece.

“Letters From Quebec” traces the history of “Western” thought, more or less as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Might have written it. By this I mean, from his Chronosynclastic Infundibulum, from being “unstuck in time.” Fifty “letters” to someone dear to his heart, which I take to be anyone who might read them.

“The Greats”—Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, household names in Philosophy, come to mind. In the Letters they drop in for lunch, happen by, mingle with people in everyday life, anyplace, in a restaurant, or talked about when they might just walk in any moment. History comes alive, not by taking us there, but by bringing it here. Because for Howard it was here. And for us it is here, now. The idea that we have progressed is an idea, that’s all. But no progress is possible, other than aimless drift, if we don’t know where we are in the first place.

Howard saw all of this coming a mile away. It was almost more than his heart could bear. But he knew where we were, and how far we had to go, and he saw what few of us ever have: that responsibility may seem to have limits somewhere around our fingertips; but being responsible is enough. Because responsible behavior scales up.