Steve the Owl's Blog

There is a famous saying in politics. I don’t know how prevalent it is other places, but it usually comes up in the context of strange bedfellows on a particular issue:

Even a busted clock is right twice a day.

With this in  mind, I started to think about the question of what to do with the things that we read if we find the general tone of the book to be completely distasteful, and a lot of the information comes from an abhorrent place.

Did He Really Say That?

I first encountered this phenomenon while reading a book on what it takes to become rich. (Names will be withheld to protect the innocent, and because I don’t want to get into an argument about the merits of the book with people who like it. I simply want to explain my experience with the book.) As I read the book, I thought that there was a lot to be said for the idea that there is a necessary mindset to establish wealth that most of us simply don’t have.

However, when it came to practical advice, there were some things that I found appalling. For example, this book talked about how the author really enjoyed finding out about houses that banks were auctioning after foreclosure because that meant that he could make huge profits. Maybe it was because of the fact that I read this book while the United States is still in the midst of a financial crisis and record foreclosures, but I was surprised for two reasons: 1) It seemed to me to be woefully insensitive to lick one’s chops when finding out that a family lost its home; 2) I like the idea of making a profit by making things better for people, not by getting rich off of other people’s misery.

The Busted Clock

However, I did see some practical advice that I felt was, let’s just say, not morally offensive to my person. Reading about tax liens, and finding out later how they really work, seemed to me something that was beneficial to everyone involved. (The difference between a tax lien and a tax deed is that the former gives the property owner time to repay the tax debt in order to keep the property while the latter transfers it automatically.) So, do I throw out everything that this person said because I find some of his ideas to be repellent? I don’t think that is a good idea. I think that there is a difference when it comes to continuing to read someone like this (Depending on what the author writes about, I will not read it if I know that it is going down that path.) but I think that there are definitely times when we can find good ideas from anyone.

For example, I am currently reading a novel on personal development where some of the book itself goes into a bizarre place, and compares people who disagree with the author to emissaries of Satan. However, there are a lot of interesting ideas in the book, and I am going to continue to read it, because I know that I can overlook that element of the story. I am reminded of what someone who has never disappointed me in the world of personal development, Jim Rohn, and something that he had to say about trying to make as much money as you can:

I didn’t say that you should make as much as possible. I said you should make as much money as possible within the proper economic time and within your moral standards. I say “within the proper economic time” because you have to balance your work with the rest of your life. I say “within your moral standards” because you have to do good in order to live good.

To borrow an analogy from another Great Teacher, when the time of harvest comes, you will know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. If something works well and it fits your moral beliefs, learn that. There really are times when we can learn from everyone.

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Welcome to the third part of my series on the lessons of Citizen Kane. Today, I will talk about one of the key lessons in terms of personal development from this movie. While this is a movie that has a generally downward progression, there is still a key lesson that can be learned.

Declaration of Principles

One of the key elements of foreshadowing early in the movie comes just after Charles Foster Kane takes control of the New York Daily Inquirer. In the movie, it is a struggling daily paper that Kane’s guardian and executor of his fortune foreclosed. Kane decides that he wants to try to run the newspaper, and he brings his best friend, Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten), who comes with Kane to work as a dramatic critic. Early in the movie, Kane is looking for something to make his paper unique, and he finally comes up with his answer: My Declaration of Principles. In the scene, he promises to give the news accurately and fairly, and to be a champion for the working man.

Jed Leland, however, warned Kane that he shouldn’t make promises unless he intends to keep them. Kane assures him that these would be kept. Leland serves as a moral compass, and he is my favorite character in the movie. At one point, Kane has a party celebrating the Inquirer‘s ranking as the highest-circulated paper in New York and buying all of the staff of the New York Chronicle. In the middle of the party, Kane is celebrating, and Leland is clearly worried. When Mr. Bernstein asks why, Leland explains that it is because he wonders whether or not Kane is keeping his principles, and whether or not the Chronicle reporters are really dedicated to the policies of Kane, or whether they will change him without him even knowing it.

The Hard Lessons of Principles

(NOTE: This part of the post contains spoilers. If you want to avoid them, please scroll to the end of the post.)

The next major point in the relationship between Kane and Leland comes 18 years later in 1916, when Charles Foster Kane ran for governor against entrenched political boss Jim W. Gettys. Leland is the first character to give a speech for the Kane campaign, calling him “that fighting liberal” and the man to clean up after the corruption of the Gettys Administration. By the end of the campaign, Kane is the heavy favorite. However, Leland seems to hold back his enthusiasm at the beginning of the speech, only giving in to the thrill of the crowd later.

While Kane is the heavy favorite, Gettys is not licked yet. Instead, he knows that Kane has been visiting a young girl, and whether there was an inappropriate relationship or not (which is somewhat vague in the movie), it certainly looked bad, and a story is planted about them. After the election, Leland tells him that he talks about the people as if he owns them, and he says that he wants to move to Chicago because he doesn’t want to be there after the election.

Then, when Kane is with his second wife, she premieres the Chicago Opera House. The rest of the reporters for the Chicago Inquirer give her positive reviews, but Leland is passed out in the back room. Kane and Mr. Bernstein walk in, and they see that he has started to write a bad review. Kane finishes the review Leland wanted to write, and fired him.

In another flashback, we find out that Leland was given a $25,000 severance check (Keep in mind that this part of the story took place in the 1920′s, so this was a substantial amount of money.), which Leland delivers to him ripped up with the Declaration of Principles. Kane tears up the Declaration of Principles.

The Lesson

This part of the movie shows the beginning of the deterioration of Kane’s life. However, the real point to me is what that moment says about Jed Leland, and about people in real life. Leland did the right thing. He went into the newspaper business as something that is described early in the movie as somewhat of a “college boy prank.” However, Leland is really an idealist at heart with unshakeable principles.

His true loyalty to the movie isn’t to Charles Foster Kane, or to himself, but to principles. While there, he is the one who always worries when principles are at risk, and he is willing to sacrifice in order to maintain his principles when they are challenged. When he is shown later in the movie, he is someone of a genial temperament who is at piece with the decisions he made in his life. So, no matter what it is that you want to do in life, never forget your own Declaration of Principles, but remember to hold to them like Jed Leland, not Charles Foster Kane.