"The fact that the peoples of the Colonies even must question as to the pertinence that we should declare war against these mongrels is absolutely atrocious! Have we not been oppressed in every single aspect of our daily lives, even to the point where we are not served with the right to elect what they may drink for breakfast. In my very own opinion, this should not be conceded! I, as a Citizen of the North, will not concede it! And as a Citizen, I must profess the desire that each and every one of you may join me in this Cause. Let me remind you, Gentle Folk, that our daily lives have been impacted by these unpleasant peoples. The lives of all around you; your neighbors, shop keepers, bankers, ship men, butchers have been affected. If you let these actions become commonplace, your children must pay the price for your torpid behavior. Must I go on?
In the year 1763, all Colonies were prohibited to cross the crest in the Appellation Mountains. We have come to this Country to maintain freedom! I ask you, tell me how this conveys our Colonial freedom? If we may not be allowed to live where we wish, what shall be next, I beg you? Will we be conserved to our homes and our very towns? If we allow Britain to dictate where we shall live, then what is stopping them from dictating other aspects of our lives?
Also, may I remind you, that in the year 1764 the Grenville Acts were presented, raising the direct tax of our very important commodities. We are now living in a world where we are not even permitted to send a letter without being taxed nearly half to death by the Crown. We cannot have wine to sweeten our tongues at dinner, nor molasses to disperse the bitterness of cooking. British troops are living in our very homes, the dwellings that we have worked so hard to maintain! Why must we feed and quarter these mongrels, when they are a threat to our safety and family! I, being a very devoted father of three young girls, am very concerned about their safety. Have you never experienced a drunken fool to wander into your home around the latest hour imaginable, making chaos and floundering about in a stupor? Let me tell you, it is a monstrous sight indeed! Many a night I have awoken in fear, and sought after the safety of my dear wife and children. I must work twice as hard to pay for their well-being, when I am barely able to pay for my family!
If this is not atrocious enough, consider this my brothers; the Townsend Acts! Can we not even enjoy the simple pleasure of morning tea? This expense is so loathsome that I have not even the though in my mind that I am able to pay for it!
And yet, I am not finished! Most horrid of all are these Intolerable Acts, which are consequently governed our lives in the most despicable of ways! The red coats have shut down our port of Boston, shut down our town governments, and appointed bloody Brit leaders instead of our own. Thomas Gage is not my leader, nor is the Crown! We Colonists cannot receive merchandise, not export it. Our source of income is dwindling by the very moment, and yet why do we not rebel? We have incredibly little, may I remind you. All of our belongings have been taken away from us, our food, our money, our homes, and even the lives of our fellow colonists!
Do you not remember the Boston Massacre? Does this not enrage you so that you would be willing to give your lives for the Cause of one Nation, and your liberty you have fought so hard to maintain? That gruesome day, March Fifth, yes -- I do recall it. I was there, in the crowd. Defenseless, for the most part (omitting only a few snowballs - and I do say, I would hope an army not be too frightened of a little water), we were fired upon, so unexpectedly that our Countrymen were shot and wounded by the impudence of the British troops to hold off a riot!
Now, I ask you, my friends, my brothers. Is this not intolerable in the most extreme? Is this not against what we have fought for so hard? We have made it this far, why should we even imagine giving up now? Will you not allow the Crown to violate your daily lives and rights so, because I tell you now - if you do not put up your first and rebel, then there will be no new land; there will be no United Country, nor even a Colony left under our own rule. It is plain to me, and should be plain to you -- this war will not be fought on a distant battlefield, it will be fought amongst us, containing every one of us. But if we do not fight, our way of life will simply cease to exist."
(note: my blogger isn't working well right now, so I cannot change anything italics, quotes, or pictures. I'll add them later.)
Did the process of the Industrial Revolution represent primarily a mental or a material revolution?
It is easy to argue that the Industrial Revolution was influenced by both mental and psychical aspects. However, the point of this essay is to establish that one or the other is the most prevalent. This, after considering both sides, must be that this Revolution was a landslide of mainly physical aspects, set off by thoughts and mindset - but nonetheless, a physical revolution.
To begin to prove this point, one must consider the opposite view. The Industrial Revolution, by definition is “ a period of rapid industrial growth causing a radical shift in focus from agriculture to industry during the late 1700's and early 1800's,” (as quoted from www.business2000.ie/html/resources/glossary/i.htm). This radical shift in focus is the mental section of this revolution. Without the masterminds behind such inventions as Division of Labor, the steam engine, and advancement in the textile industry, the Revolution, simply, would not exist. The people in this situation are what brought about the Industrial Revolution - the sudden burst in population brought out a need for better and more efficient ways to produce, transport and manufacture. This is where the people come into play. Human beings, in nature are competitive. They commonly strive to advance through each generation; their fathers and mothers expect them to be more, as their fathers and mothers had of them. This linear time frame is what pushes us to improve. As the demand shot up with the growing population, the demand for efficiency and numbers grew as well. The English needed a bigger and better way to amend their way of living. So, stating this it is clear that without the human factor (and the thoughts behind it), this revolution would be nonexistent.
To state simply, the Industrial Revolution carries an implication that it was physical. The word ‘Industrial’ conveys the thought that it has something to do with business, machinery. manufacturing, and trade. These are all very physical things. This Revolution was based around the fact that objects were being invented and improved upon. Some of the events that took place during this period of time are such; the British Atlantic Slave trade was completely annihilated, which brought about the end of plantations and farms reliant directly on slave labor. Europe lost formal control over the countries they had possessed overseas, but gained “wider economic dominance”. The Colombian exchange took place as well, bringing fourth the English discoveries of the food and animals brought from the New World. Foods such as potatoes, maize, cocoa, and tobacco became a large staple in many European diets. The potato and sweet potato replaced bread in places such as Ireland. Rubber and useful hardwoods were also imported to the European countries, changing building techniques. Animals such as new breeds of dog, horses, horned cattle, and sheep were also introduced to Europe. However, with these improvements there also came an epidemic of smallpox, measles, yellow fever, malaria, typhus fever, and tuberculosis, which broadly affected the "Amerindians", but not as dramatically in Britain and throughout Europe. “Oceanic migrations then, voluntary and involuntary slaves brought much death into the world and much woe,” - Wealth and Poverty of Nations.
Spain, on the other hand, was also incredibly wealthy, yet they squandered their money on war. “Spain chose to spend -on luxury and war. War is the most wasteful of uses: it destroys rather than builds,” - The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Also, the quote “A fool and his money soon are parted,” comes into play with Spain in this particular period of time. Consider them the fool, thinking themselves the most important, incredibly pompous, and still believing that they had enough money to waste on things like war and extravagant items. In fact, a Spaniard of such pomp said just this: “Let London Manufacture those fabrics, of hers to her heart’s content. Let Holland her chambrays; Florence her cloth; the Indies the beaver and vicuna; Milan her brocades; Italy and Flanders their linens, so long as our capital can enjoy them. The only thing it proves is that all nations train journeymen for Madrid and that Madrid is the queen of Parliaments, for all the world serves her and she serves nobody.” - The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Surely, this is a narcissistic statement. At the end of this crisis, Spain was deeply in debt. “Easy money is bad for you It represents short run gain that will be paid for in immediate distortions and later regrets.” - The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.
All of these transgressions point to the fact that for the most part, the Industrial Revolution was a physical one. The inventions, the laboring, the imports, the war, the money - they are all signs that lead to the answer that this was a physical event. It was set off by a series of thoughts centered around the demand and improvement of mankind (or their own peoples.) The inventions created during this period of time have brought America to be what America is; brought Britain to be what Britain is, and the same for the rest of Europe.
To even begin to compare and contrast the involvement and relationships of the Plymouth Colonies, versus the Jamestown Colonies and their view on Native Americans, we must first understand how they interacted individually.
The first popularly noted explorer of the modern 'New England' went by the name of Captain John Smith. In the year 1614, he claimed this new world as his very own 'discovery.' At this time, European nations (Dutch, French, and English) were beginning to arrive in the land, looking for land, and other trades such as foods, or trades of wampum furs and beads. Captain Smith observed the land which he had discovered, and felt a sense of awe. The people were so peaceful, and close to the land in which they lived. The 'virgin' landscape – which he named it, was dotted with farms and small villages. What was once forest had been burned into vast open meadows, used for hunting wildlife. Yet, Smith did not understand; could not conceive that this land had actually been established. He did not see that a culture different from his own could even be viewed as a culture at all."Given a country so planted with corne fields, and so well inhabited with a goodly, strong and well proportioned people... who can but approve this most excellent place, both for health and fertility?... Of all the four parts of the World I have yet seene not inhabited could I heave but meanes to transport a colonie, I would rather live there than anywhere,” quoted Smith.
This is a very ironic situation, however, because the new settlers felt very free to consume and usurp Native produce, but yet they could not even admit that they had established a community, or that they had farmed the very food they were relying on.
A few years after the first settlers arrived, there came to be a great pandemic of smallpox and chickenpox, which swept across the Native Nations, killing up to (on average) ninety percent of tribes. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, one of Smith's common men saw this devastation, and seemed almost cheerful about it. He reasoned that such a large disaster that wiped out most of the Native population had to be a good thing. This was so because, now instead of having thousands of Native Americans to contend with, all they had to do was announce their control, and the Natives would have to comply, due to their lack in numbers. This came to be true: the settlements Salem, New Amsterdam, Providence, Boston, Plymouth and Jamestown were all built on desolate Native villages. They simply did not 'settle' the land, but 'resettled' it. Before they could build, they had to tear the land away from its people.
By the spring of 1621, more than half the English settlers had died of starvation. Thankfully, a local tribe by the name of Wampanoag came to the rescue, if only for a while. Understanding the danger of this action, the Wampanoags saw that, instead of holding a grudge on the colonist's for invading, they would try to make peace. They felt an urgent need to re-establish the equilibrium of their past world. Possibly a treaty with these new people would give them some peace at heart. Later, however, the Natives were tricked into accepting a new policy. Eager to become friends, they accepted although the deal was nowhere fair. Nearly every statute that the English applied to the Natives, they broke themselves. Meanwhile, the Native Wampanoags were supplying their colony with maize and other produce. When the Natives came to visit the Pilgrims, they panicked; eager to keep their seperatist lives in check. Banishing all but the Sanchem from their colonies, they alienated themselves from their suppliers. By the year 1633, after the Natives and Colonists had suffered a drought, the Natives had almost had enough. Their land had become increasingly scarce; their attributions had done little to make the new people accept them, and their population was dwindling dangerously low. Through the following years Native tribes began to fight with each other, and with the Dutch over trading goods. This resulted in a sort of anarchy within the Mohegan tribe, until a new Sanchem was anointed. The stability of the tribes steadily disintegrated, with the Puritans on one side pushing for all non-followers of their God to be exterminated, and the Pilgrims still pushing for land. Around the year 1637 was the great massacre of Mystic, which was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Natives were mostly annihilated from New England, and any that were left were under strict jurisdiction of the state.
The Jamestown settlers arrived on the coast of Virginia in the year 1607. This was a particularly bad time for them to arrive: the Natives were already suspicious of any newcomers, as well as the fact that the Powhatans and Chesapeakes were having an all out war. The first few weeks of settlement, the colonists were attacked several times by the surrounding native tribes. During the summer of 1607, more than half the settlers were infected, and died of disease. They had no experience with the land, and no experience of how to use the land to supply themselves with food. They realized that their only option was to look to the Powhatans for help. The Virginia Company assumed that they would require help from the Natives for the first year or so, but never dreamed that they would need their help for years, and eventually end up relying on them. “Have great care not to offend the Naturals... buy Corne and all other lasting victuals... before that they perceive you mean to plant among them.”
Maize quickly became a staple of the colonists, and after ten years of dependance on trade with the Natives, the English ego was considerably damaged. The Governor of Jamestown gave this speech against reliance on the Natives, “Nothing can be more dishonorable to our nation then to stand in need of supplies of our most necessarie food from these base Savages nor more dangerous, then to have our lives, and the lives of the colony itself, to depend uppon the uncertain hope of trade with them.” It was also a very large blow to the community, when the colonists began to desert Jamestown to live with the 'savages', where food was plentiful, as well as freedom. Instead of seeing the Natives as friendly and willing to help, the English saw them as a treat to their well being .. even as devil worshipers.“All things that were able to do to them hurt beyond their prevention, they adore with their kind of divine worship, as the fire, water lightening, thunder, our ordinance, peeces, horses &c. But their cheife God they worship is the Devil. Him they call Oke & serve him more of fear than love,” commented Captain John Smith.
As the idea of Natives worsened, the people began to hate them. Their need for food was still great, and therefore they began to take the food by 'compulsory purchase'; instead of fairly trading with the Natives, they raided their stocks and surpluses, leaving little but a few trinkets behind. This comforted their conscience, for a good Christian such as themselves would never steal. In the end, the Jamestown colonists just stole what they needed, making enemies with the Natives. Little did the colonists care, however. The Native Americans, at one point offered to teach the settlers how to construct fishing weirs, or how to grow maize, but they declined; they were more happy to grow tobacco and steal what they needed from the Natives.
After a while, the Powhatan tribe realized that no matter what they did for the English, they could never win. “Well perceive and well know you intend to destroy us, that are here to intreat and desire your friendship, and to enjoy our houses and plant our fields, of whose fruit you shall participate, otherwise you will have the worst by our absence, for we can plant anywhere, though with more labour, and we know you cannot live if you want our harvest, and that reliefe wee bring you ; if you promise us peace, we will believe you, if you proceed in revenge, we shall abandon the country.”
As epidemics struck the Natives, their power dwindled evermore, and they were eventually forced out of their own land by the onslaught of new colonists.
When comparing the contrasting these two situations, the first thing to jump out of the epidemics of smallpox and chicken pox. In New England, the first onslaught wiped out almost ninety percent of the local tribes, but did nothing to the English settlers. This made it much easier for them to take over the Native land. In Jamestown, the first epidemic struck the colonists themselves, turning the tables. Later, however, the Powhatan tribe was affected, but not in such a great way as in the North.
Second, is how the Natives were viewed. In New England as well as Jamestown, they were seen as 'savages', as people with no economy or sense of government. This was all completely wrong, of course, yet even though all this was under their very noses, they refused to believe it. The land had been farmed and processed; the very food the Jamestown settlers relied on was grown by the Powhatan tribe; yet they refused to belief that they were farmers and had technology greater than themselves. The Natives were viewed as vile and Devil worshipping creatures, either to be driven away or educated in their own, very correct views on religion.
Also, in New England the way the Natives were exterminated was different than the way they were in Jamestown. The people of New England enraged the native tribes to a point were the began to destroy themselves. Their population was already at a low point after the pox swept in and annihilated their community. The New England colonies were not very quiet about the way they drove the Natives from their nation. The extermination in Jamestown was less sudden. Starving and working the Powhatans to death, they finally drove them away into extinction as more and more settlers arrived and built on their land. The Natives were slowly, but surely wiped out.
All of the tribes in both cases were shocked beyond belief of what was happening to them. To try to re-establish their old equilibrium of peace and harmony, they attempted to become friendly with the English. The settlers in both cases ended up in a bad spell of starvation. The only reason the two colonies survived was because of the Natives themselves. The only difference is, the people of New England did not steal from the Natives as the Jamestown colonists did. Yet, still, in the end of both situations, their land was taken away from them. “The Times are exceedingly altere'd. yea the times have turn'd everything upside down, or rather we have chang'd the good Times, chiefly by the help pf the white people, for in Times Past, our forefathers live in peace, love, and harmony, and had everything in great plenty...but alas, it is not so now...”
*Quotes out of the Earth Shall Weep, James Wilson
While looking at Native American, and the English world of early America, you will find there are several differences between their religion, and view of time. Because the two communities never intermingled before the first explorers came to their shores, they had completely different views of time and space. In fact, the two societies had no idea that the other even existed. It is common belief, that while observing the Native America we discovered, the English were looking 'back in time' to a less advanced culture. This is debatable, because the view of the Native Americans did not call for advancement, like our society does; simply because they did not view time the same way.
Native American time is cyclical - of, relating to, or characterized by cycles (dictionary.com). This means, that instead of having a single line of time, going onward and onward without any stopping (as is the belief of common day America), but that time was like a circle, or a spiral. The same events would happen over and over again, in one way or another. Time, in their sense, was stoppable. Scott Momaday once explained Cyclical time, stating
"It is an interesting concept... I don't know that anyone can explain it... I think instead of being something that passes by, it is static, and people walk through time as they might walk through a canyon, and one can pause and stand in time... It isn't something that necessarily rushes by, one can take hold of it.”Linear time, pertaining to or represented by lines (dictionary.com) was the common belief of the Englishmen, and other Christian societies. Linear time is simply the view that time stretches onward into space; that it cannot be stopped, and one cannot see the end of it, because time is infinite.
One thing that can be contrasted is how religion played a part in the development of the view of time. The English at the time were predominantly Christian. The book of Genesis in the Bible explains this view of time well. The story in Genesis states that a man and a woman; Adam and Eve were created in a great Garden of the name of Eden. They were created to rule over the beasts and the Earth, but never to touch the fruits of the forbidden tree. Yet, human nature overpowered Adam and Eve, and they were cast out of the Garden, having upset God. God, cursed all human kind, sentencing us to work and toil for long hours to make our living in a place very different from the Garden. As well, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ also proves that we live in a world of linear time.
“According to St Augustine of Hippo, the Universe of going along in a straight line...if time is cyclic Jesus Christ would have to be crucified again and again. There would not be, therefore, that one perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. Time had to be a straight line from the creation to the consummation to the last judgment.” (Alan Watts).In Christianity there is a sense of a “fall from grace” - the being thrown out of paradise, to thrive in sin until Armageddon. Without linear time this belief is not possible.
Cyclical time for the Native Americans meant that there was no fall from grace as the Christians see it. They were simply created by a power higher than themselves. Yes, there were wrongdoings to be learned from, but there was no belief of a thing called 'sin', or anything equivalent to it. Since time is cyclical, there would be no need for forgiveness and improvement, since they did not believe they were progressing, eventually to the enlightenment, and judgment of their God over them. Their 'myths', or stories of how things have to pass were delivered orally, and not in a scripture as the Bible is. The Native American way of life did not look upon time as a force rushing past them on and on until eventually the end of their existence was terminated.
The sense of society and way of living was different between these two cultures, also. The English were people that valued improvement. Knowing that time was passing by, they strove to create new solutions, gain knowledge, build things bigger and better before... to become better people individually. They owned their own land, houses, and money. If another human wished to have something they did, they would have to buy or trade for it; it was not generously given. Each generation was expected to do better than the last. Knowing that with each passing year knowledge was to be gained raised the bar for ever new generation. Learn more than the next, and you will acquire more money, and more knowledge, and then pass that on to your children.
Native Americans did not think so selfishly: they shared their food and land as form of commonwealth; 'this is not anyone's land, it is everyone's land.' They did not have such a strong from of individuality, but a sense of community. They lived and thrived off the land, thus being incredibly close to nature and its animals. They believed that all animals were on the same level as themselves, and to disrespect a creature was a bad thing to do, and
would upset the gods. A French missionary once described the behavior of the Innu tribe : “the Savages do not throw to the dogs bones of female Beavers and Porcupines, - at least, certain specified bones, in short, they are very careful that the dogs do not eat any bones of birds and of other animals which are taken in the net, otherwise they will take no more except with incomparable difficulties ... it is remarkable how they gather and collect these bones, and preserve them with so much care, that you would say their game would be lost if they violated their superstitions.”
The English Christians view of time affected them so that they strove to excel; to gain more knowledge and wealth. They believed in time as a straight line which would continue onward forever. The Native American view of cyclical time created an environment of a close community, dwelling with and around the earth and creatures. They believed they did not need to change or improve their way of living, because life was a cycle, and this was the way they would be, forever onward. These two societies are more different than they are the same, yet they are both brought together through religion.
I. Introduction
a. early life
II. Farm Life
a. beginning of the farm
b. livestock, machinery, and chores
c. the process of dairy farming
d. family stories
III. Conclusion
a. bibliography
Through the years, Dairy Farming has always been a difficult and labor intensive career. The number of active Dairy Farms in
I asked my mother, Betty Wright to tell me about my ancestors, since I know so little about them. It was amazing what she told me.
Mildred grew up in a place named Innwood, a suburb of
After she finished those classes in 1941, she kept books for a dentist named Dr. Pinto during the summer. She then ended up with more responsibility than handling receipts, however; she also mixed amalgam (an alloy of mercury with another metal or metals) and acted as assistant to Dr. Pinto also. On December 29, 1941, she began commuting by train to the City to work for Wilson Fastener Company. On May 20, 1942, she started working for Piquot Mills, which took her to the 29th floor of the
Her Bible school training changed the direction of her life; in the summer of 1947 she took summer
My Grandfather’s name is Charles Lovell Clifford, born June 17, 1923 at Greene's Corner in
Charles went to school in one of the five one-room schoolhouses in
On October 12, 1947,
Charles and Mildred started their life together on a small farm on
While talking to my grandfather, Charles L Clifford, he reminisced about all the machinery and chores that had to be done while his farm was still up and running. Sometimes, he didn’t have much to say, but he really is a highly opinionated man.
He claims that in the highest days of his farm, he owned around one hundred – seventy or so Holstein mixed with
As for the equipment he owned, he is sure that he must have owned at least two large tractors, a hay rake, a bailer, a manure spreader, and an old farm truck.
Larger animals, such as pigs and dairy cows were considered the men’s job. Charles, Jim, Paul, and sometimes Steve (if he was old enough at the time) would go out into the fields at first daybreak and begin their loading of bails onto the truck. This of course was extremely hot, sweaty work, and under no circumstance was a women asked to do this job. Betty wanted to come along, and even if she was allowed, she had to sit inside the truck and listen to the radio. Her older sister, Nancy was usually off doing her own thing, and her mother Mildred usually occupied her time with reading hymns and praying.
In the morning, around four o’clock or earlier, the boys would be woken up to milk the cows, before every school day. If they didn’t have to go to school, they would be set to work doing other various chores, such as the pig sty, or bailing hay, if need be. Milking cows in the bitter cold is a very tedious job, day after day, in the pitch black of the morning.
The smaller jobs were left to the women. Such as tending to the chickens and picking the vegetables from the garden. House cleaning was also viewed as a ‘woman’s job’, so Mildred spent most of her time inside.
After the boys had woken up, they would (most likely) dawn their coats and jackets and head off to the barn, where the cows would be tied up by their necks in separate milking stalls. The milk is withdrawn from the udder using a pulling and squeezing motion. Once the milk is acquired, it must be refrigerated. It could be put in a “milk tank”, where the milk is continuously cooled by a doubled walled system, where cooling coils fill the space above and around the milk.
Farm Life, family stories.
It was fall, and my mother was a young girl. She and her older brothers Jim and Paul decided to go out into the field and pick some apples, although this was a difficult task since the apples were up high and hard to reach. So, they took their pony along with them, and walked out to the apple tree. Once they go there, Jim and Paul climbed their way up into the tree and began shaking the branches, trying to get the apples to fall. My mother was standing beneath the tree, next to her pony. Unexpectedly, an apple fell onto Bobby’s (the pony’s) hind quarter’s and startled her, sending her running through the manure – covered pasture. My mother, startled as well became tangled on the cart which the pony had carried. Bobby didn’t mind of course, and galloped across the field, thoroughly drenching her in mud and manure. She recalled that later, her father Charles had taken her into the shed and sprayed her down with ice cold water from the hose.
The names in this story are to be untold, since disclosing them may lead to embarrassment. Well, the story goes like this. Mildred, my grandmother had a bunch of jars of canned blueberries. It was mid-winter, and the boys (I won’t say which ones) were hankering for from fresh fruit. Of course, being young boys as they were, had a clever idea. They snuck down into the cellar were the blueberries sat, and opened a jar. After eating the entire jar of berries, they began to panic. What would they do with the jar? If Charles found out, they would get a spanking. So they schemed, and came up with yet another clever idea. They both needed to use the bathroom. What if they went in the jar, and passed it off for kerosene? After slipping the jar amongst the other kerosene jars, they snuck up the stairs. Later that day, Charles came downstairs to light a fire. Taking the jar, he opened it, to discover it had a peculiar odor. Knowing very well what had happened, and that it was not, in fact kerosene, he went upstairs and gave the boys a proper punishment.
When looking back upon everything studied this unit, every piece seems to fit together flawlessly, however, it is another task to take it into one’s own hands and try to explain this in an essay. The quote given at the end of chapter twenty-nine in the Wealth and Poverty of Nations (by David Landes), “cultivate a skeptical faith, avoid dogma, listen and watch well, try to clarify and define ends, the better to chose means”, means simply this: Be skeptical, avoid a clear set of rules of what is right and what is wrong, and use this to try to find the truth, because this is wherein the real wealth lies.
When observing the flattening world around us, the world such as Thomas Friedman explained it to be in his book the World is Flat, truth and honesty is a very important virtue. For one, our society is highly based on a system called the cash nexus, an ideology where people only communicate for one reason: money. Their dealings are simply business based; they would never have met unless on business or money occasions. In this situation, trust and virtuosity are important traits. One must trust the person he or she is dealing with, or they will simply not make a deal at all. As well as this, humans have been searching for the truth since the beginning of time; even more so since the dawn of the humanist era. The basis of thought of humanists is belief that inquiry is more important than rules, that humans should view themselves as individuals, not just as one statistic amongst thousands following the same rules, just as blindly as everyone else. This caused them to yearn to find out more about themselves, thus, the search for truth. Humans today are mostly humanists. We are individualists; our Flat World proves this. A poor person born in a country other than a superpower can still input his or her ideas into the World, still be a part of the workforce, even if they are not physically there. One person is able to make a large difference, with or without money. That is the power of the Flat World, that is the power of individualism, and that is the power for the search for truth in oneself. (1, Medici Money)
The search for truth has passed along all through the ages, from the great philosopher Socrates, to the astronomers of the Renaissance, to the humanists, to the revolutionaries in the French revolution, to the mechanics and craftsmen working in the Industrial revolution, to now; our Flattening 
World. In some way, humans have been searching for the truth, not only in the world around them, but in themselves as well. There is no way to discover more unless you ponder what you already know, and look forward. If you deny that you are wrong, or could possibly be wrong, then you will never learn.
To make this point even clearer, take Dr Faustus for example. This was a man who had everything he needed. He had money, a home, and most of all intelligence and knowledge. But having gained knowledge, he wanted more. Faustus was a humanist, and being curious as he was in the world he was hungry to learn as much as possible, and improve himself as an individual. Thinking nothing of the consequences, he sold himself to Lucifer, only to revoke his oath once the damage was already done.
What Socrates was trying to state is that you must examine every bit of your life. Any preconceptions you may have about your existence may be false. Do not accept things for the way they are, question everything, do not
be taken for a fool. If we as humans did not question why, then we would never have learned. If we did not look up into the sky, and wonder why and what those bright shining lights were, we would have never invented the telescope, would have never seen the things we have seen, would have never sent a man to the moon, and never have any further ambitions. You must questions your life, yourself, and everything around it to learn more about yourself. The people of every time period, from Rome, to the Renaissance, to the Industrial Revolution, to the Flattening of the World, they all are inspecting things more closely, each time more discoveries are made. Dogma can never truly be avoided; however, the entire humanist revolution came to be because of the Dogma from the Catholic Church. They wanted to be individuals; they did not want to be drones, wandering through life thinking of nothing but God in Heaven, and the Devil in Hell.
It is partially a good thing, but partially not. It is not good to have boundaries to limit your thinking, but also without those bou
ndaries, one would never know what they were missing and may not ever think to look beyond without the extra push to revolt.
Again, what has been learned is that being skeptical is a good thing – questioning your life is the only way to move forward and attain truth. Finding the truth and a sense of individuality has been an important aspect in the way of life through the ages. Yes, we must always keep trying to improve, to learn, and to be better people. It is simply not in human nature to accept that things are the way they are, and there is no way to improve them.