The Founders of America are thought
to be some of the most successful people of all time. As I have been reading
some of their writings for my American Heritage class this semester, I have
been surprised to find how many of them attribute wealth and success to the
virtues of industry and frugality. Not only did they advise others to be
industrious and frugal, they also spent their lives striving to be industrious and frugal themselves,
both in the way they filled their time as well as how they managed their money.
If our country was built on the thrift, hard work, and diligence of these men,
it stands to reason that our country will only remain healthy, happy, and
strong if it continues to be upheld by its people’s industry and frugality. Looking
at the writings of the founders of our country can teach us valuable lessons on
how to implement industry and frugality in our own lives and by doing so we
will have the capacity to be good citizens of our country.
When striving to be frugal and industrious citizens,
time is of the essence. Filling our time with productive things will allow us
to make valuable contributions in our families, communities, and collectively
our nations. John Witherspoon, representative of New Jersey and signer of the
Declaration of Independence, said, “Do not live useless, and die contemptible.”
In other words, wasting our time and lives will result in a despicable and
obsolete life, void of the happiness that comes when we wisely use our time for
productive purposes which contribute to society around us. Although Thomas Jefferson
was not the most frugal of the founders when it came to money, he did fill his
time with many good things. He advised his daughter, “Determine never to be
idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never
loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing...” (From
a letter dated 5 May 1787). If we add up the time spent on social media such as
Facebook and Twitter, cell phone games, video games, etc, we may find that
hours, weeks, and months are devoted to these idle and unproductive things. I’m
not saying that it is terrible to waste a minute on such things, however it is
worth taking a moment to evaluate whether or we are using our time in the most
productive way possible. If we eliminate less valuable things in order to make
time for more valuable things, we may discover that we have much more time to
devote to the things that will truly fill us with satisfaction.
In many of his writings, founding father Benjamin
Franklin also emphasizes the principle of the value of using time industriously
and being frugal. As a young man, Franklin ran away from home with hardly any
money, however he became one of the most successful Americans of all time. In
his advice to a young businessman, he stated, “Remember that TIME is Money…In
short, the Way to Wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the Way to Market.
It depends chiefly on two Words, INDUSTRY and FRUGALITY; i.s. Waste neither
Time nor Money, but make the best Use of both. He that gets all he can
honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary Expenses excepted) will certainly
become RICH…” Not only is time, industry and frugality crucial in becoming wealthy,
I believe it is also central to living a fulfilling and productive life. The
choices we make in determining how much time to spend on what activities surely
determines the course our lives will take.
While still a young man, Benjamin Franklin devised a
plan for “Moral Perfection” which illustrates how he implemented industry and
frugality in his life in order to become a successful, contributing American citizen.
Franklin’s determined to overcome his bad habits and develop good habits. He
first wrote down thirteen virtues and their definitions which he wanted to
possess perfectly. Among those virtues were included temperance, industry,
sincerity, moderation, frugality, cleanliness, and order. He chose one virtue
each week to work on, and made a little book in which he was to record any
offences to that virtue during the week. He hoped that by the end of each week
he would be able to have a clean book devoid of offences, and by the end of
thirteen weeks he could achieve perfection on all thirteen virtues. It is not a
surprise to find out that Franklin’s plan did not work, he was not able to keep
a perfectly clean book. However, what is surprising is that he carried the book
with him and continued to work on those virtues throughout the rest of his life.
On the results of this attempt Franklin wrote, “But, on the whole, tho’ I never
arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far
short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I
otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it…” The time Franklin spent
striving to become a better person and to fill his life with good things
certainly was successful. Using his time frugally in this manner allowed him to
develop attributes which most certainly influenced his professional decisions
and helped him to contribute to this nation.
Although we may not necessarily choose to follow
Benjamin Franklin’s method in being industrious and frugal with our lives, we
can choose to spend our time doing things which will allow us to be
contributing citizens. Every day we are faced with decisions on how to use our
time and resources. If we choose to follow the advice of the founding fathers,
our frugality and industry may have wider reaching consequences for good in our nation than
we might imagine.
