I started my journey away from Utah with a cup of hot chocolate from City Cakes and Cafe. My barista, Emily, decided to write me a message to send me on my way. There might be a grammar error on the cup, but the sentiment is what matters in this instance.
Give a man a fish and teach him to fish: the two go hand in hand
Folk wisdom teaches us that “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” In simpler times when learning to fish would have actually fed someone, this may have been true. However, today, the phrase is often use to denigrate the charitable acts of some while holding up a false dichotomy as wisdom and a better way to do something.
This false dichotomy is usually held by someone who has no interest in giving the man a fish or teaching him to fish. The person who spouts this folksy wisdom gets to seem smart, because he or she is criticizing an act of kindness, and wise, because this is folk wisdom, it must be wise and must apply to today’s lifestyles, even if rivers are polluted, fish is contaminated and fishing regulations require a permit that most of those who would need to fish to eat for a lifetime cannot afford.
The problem is that in order to be effective, charity needs to accomplish both the fish of today and the fishing for a lifetime. The Church of Latter Day Saints often exhorts its members to take care of each other – first, in physical needs and second, in spiritual needs – because someone who is worried about food, clothing, shelter or other basic needs is going to be less likely and less able to concentrate on receiving the spiritual nourishment that the church has to give.
Recent studies have shown that students who go to school hungry do not learn as well as those who have a healthy breakfast. In this case, it is more difficult to teach a student to fish if he or she hasn’t had any fish to eat before going to the fishing class. While Dickens questioned but did not disturb the wisdom of his ancestors when it came to dead iron monger, it is time that we changed the wisdom of our answers into something more functional and more likely to help than just a platitude used to justify greed and selfishness. Give a man fish to feed him while you are teaching that man to fish so he can feed himself for a lifetime.
This false dichotomy is usually held by someone who has no interest in giving the man a fish or teaching him to fish. The person who spouts this folksy wisdom gets to seem smart, because he or she is criticizing an act of kindness, and wise, because this is folk wisdom, it must be wise and must apply to today’s lifestyles, even if rivers are polluted, fish is contaminated and fishing regulations require a permit that most of those who would need to fish to eat for a lifetime cannot afford.
The problem is that in order to be effective, charity needs to accomplish both the fish of today and the fishing for a lifetime. The Church of Latter Day Saints often exhorts its members to take care of each other – first, in physical needs and second, in spiritual needs – because someone who is worried about food, clothing, shelter or other basic needs is going to be less likely and less able to concentrate on receiving the spiritual nourishment that the church has to give.
Recent studies have shown that students who go to school hungry do not learn as well as those who have a healthy breakfast. In this case, it is more difficult to teach a student to fish if he or she hasn’t had any fish to eat before going to the fishing class. While Dickens questioned but did not disturb the wisdom of his ancestors when it came to dead iron monger, it is time that we changed the wisdom of our answers into something more functional and more likely to help than just a platitude used to justify greed and selfishness. Give a man fish to feed him while you are teaching that man to fish so he can feed himself for a lifetime.