I Never Heard

Perhaps John Banner said it best in his famous character, Sargent Schultz, from the popular 1960’s television program Hogan’s Heros, “I know nothing.” As the beleaguered guard overseeing a crew of rebellious American and British prisoners of war in a German camp during World War II, Banner has come to exemplify the often undervalued approach that discretion indeed is the better part of valor. While the comedy would put Schultz in ridiculous circumstances that sometimes were aimed directly at making fun of Germans (especially soldiers) in these years of recovery when most WWII veterans were at home watching TV with their families, he always managed to show the humanity in electing to keeps one’s mouth shut.

This millennium has been touted as the information age. We, say some, will trade in information and thought more than any generation who has come before us. Money, even some entire economies will flow from ideas and not goods. To reference another television program of the same era, Gene Rodenberry’s Star Trek provides a shining example. We may become a people of high-mindedness and pure interest in science. I hope so. But can we trade only in thinking without also running the risk of making thought into a precious metal meant to be guarded under lock-and-key? If I know how to stop bleeding or prevent war, should I charge a fee to do so? In the financial world, some can look at numbers on a page and see opportunity where others see only figures. How much is it worth for them to provide the key?

And, if we know something that could cause harm (like Schultz discovering yet another tunnel) should we offer to sell the information – or be paid to withhold it? For me, whatever I hear, I never heard. It just seems simpler.

This column was published on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 in the Current in Carmel, Current in Westfield, Current in Fishers , and Current in Noblesville - http: //youarecurrent.com/

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