Read The Child Buyer for Free Online
Authors: John Hersey
SKYPACK. And now, Mr. Jones,
Mr. JONES. My purpose? I buy brains. When a commodity that you need falls in short supply, you have to get out and hustle. I buy brains. About eighteen months ago my company, United Lymphomilloid of America, Incorporated, was faced with an extremely difficult problem, a project, a long-range government contract, fifty years, highly specialized and top secret, and we needed some of the best minds in the country, and we looked around, and we found some minds that had certainly been excellent at one time, but they'd been spoiled by education. By what passes for education. Our schools, particularly at the elementary and secondary levels, speak with great confidence of their 'solutions' for what they call the 'gifted'— though there seems to be little or no agreement as to the exact nature of this category. There's a great deal of time spent on these so-called solutions, which are for tht most part based on psychological and sociological theories and data between twenty and fifty years old, but no one seems to know what really works. One school says special classes, another says acceleration, an-
THE CHILD BUYER
other says enrichment. No one knows. They argue back and forth. Well, we have the answer at United Lymphomilloid.
Senator SKYPACK. And it is?
Mr. JONES. Do you think I'm insane, Senator? In front of this gallery? And the press?
Senator MANSFIELD. We will go into Executive Session. We will reconvene in my inner office, Room 4iyA, in five minutes, gentlemen.
(The committee retired to the designated room and came to order, in Executive Session, at 11:18 a.m.)
Senator MANSFIELD. We will be in order. Now, Mr. Jones, perhaps you will feel able—
Mr. JONES. I will say this much. The reason U. Lympho— that's what we who work there call the company for short—the reason U. Lympho wants to get brains early is connected with a basic difficulty a brilliant youngster has in this country. At an astonishingly early age he goes through a quest for meaning, for values, for the significance of life, and this quest turns, also early, into a struggle to make a place in society and to find values in it that will meet his particular needs. I hardly have to tell you that the culture in which we live is riddled with inconsistencies, from the point of view of a child with a quick mind, who sees that he is punished more than he is rewarded for his brilliance. A bitter inner inharmony results. The individual expends so much emotional energy trying to resolve this inharmony that, having started out in primary and elementary school years the most normal and well adjusted of all his peers, he winds up, before very long, the least so. Our system at United Lymphomilloid is to get the brains early and eliminate this conflict altogether.
Senator SKYPACK. And how is that done, sir?
Mr. JONES. I'm sorry, Senator, but this is a matter of security. With a stenographer—
Senator MANSFIELD. Off the record. You may step outside a few minutes, Miss Bean.
(Discussion off the record.)
Senator MANSFIELD. All right, Miss Bean, you may resume. On the record.
Senator SKYPACK. I want, personally and on behalf of my constituents in Sudbury County, to thank you, Mr. Jones. You've been a most co-operative witness. It's a thoroughly patriotic scheme. I'm sure my colleagues—
Senator MANSFIELD. We all understand that this is in confidence. I mean, so much as a whisper outside this room.
Senator SKYPACK. Impressive, Mr. Jones. Great business.
Senator MANSFIELD. Senator Voyolko, you clearly understand—
Senator VOYOLKO. Huh?
Senator SKYPACK. Keep the big mouth shut.
Senator VOYOLKO. Sure, sure, sure.
Senator MANSFIELD. We will stand recessed until after lunch.
(Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., Friday, October 25, 19—, the hearing was recessed.)
3S
AFTERNOON SESSION
(The hearing was resumed in Committee Chamber 202 at 2130 p.m.)
Senator MANSFIELD. We will have order now. Proceed, Mr. Broadbent.
Mr. BROADBENT. I will ask
Mr. JONES. My purpose? I buy brains. When a commodity that you need falls in short supply, you have to get out and hustle. I buy brains. About eighteen months ago my company, United Lymphomilloid of America, Incorporated, was faced with an extremely difficult problem, a project, a long-range government contract, fifty years, highly specialized and top secret, and we needed some of the best minds in the country, and we looked around, and we found some minds that had certainly been excellent at one time, but they'd been spoiled by education. By what passes for education. Our schools, particularly at the elementary and secondary levels, speak with great confidence of their 'solutions' for what they call the 'gifted'— though there seems to be little or no agreement as to the exact nature of this category. There's a great deal of time spent on these so-called solutions, which are for tht most part based on psychological and sociological theories and data between twenty and fifty years old, but no one seems to know what really works. One school says special classes, another says acceleration, an-
THE CHILD BUYER
other says enrichment. No one knows. They argue back and forth. Well, we have the answer at United Lymphomilloid.
Senator SKYPACK. And it is?
Mr. JONES. Do you think I'm insane, Senator? In front of this gallery? And the press?
Senator MANSFIELD. We will go into Executive Session. We will reconvene in my inner office, Room 4iyA, in five minutes, gentlemen.
(The committee retired to the designated room and came to order, in Executive Session, at 11:18 a.m.)
Senator MANSFIELD. We will be in order. Now, Mr. Jones, perhaps you will feel able—
Mr. JONES. I will say this much. The reason U. Lympho— that's what we who work there call the company for short—the reason U. Lympho wants to get brains early is connected with a basic difficulty a brilliant youngster has in this country. At an astonishingly early age he goes through a quest for meaning, for values, for the significance of life, and this quest turns, also early, into a struggle to make a place in society and to find values in it that will meet his particular needs. I hardly have to tell you that the culture in which we live is riddled with inconsistencies, from the point of view of a child with a quick mind, who sees that he is punished more than he is rewarded for his brilliance. A bitter inner inharmony results. The individual expends so much emotional energy trying to resolve this inharmony that, having started out in primary and elementary school years the most normal and well adjusted of all his peers, he winds up, before very long, the least so. Our system at United Lymphomilloid is to get the brains early and eliminate this conflict altogether.
Senator SKYPACK. And how is that done, sir?
Mr. JONES. I'm sorry, Senator, but this is a matter of security. With a stenographer—
Senator MANSFIELD. Off the record. You may step outside a few minutes, Miss Bean.
(Discussion off the record.)
Senator MANSFIELD. All right, Miss Bean, you may resume. On the record.
Senator SKYPACK. I want, personally and on behalf of my constituents in Sudbury County, to thank you, Mr. Jones. You've been a most co-operative witness. It's a thoroughly patriotic scheme. I'm sure my colleagues—
Senator MANSFIELD. We all understand that this is in confidence. I mean, so much as a whisper outside this room.
Senator SKYPACK. Impressive, Mr. Jones. Great business.
Senator MANSFIELD. Senator Voyolko, you clearly understand—
Senator VOYOLKO. Huh?
Senator SKYPACK. Keep the big mouth shut.
Senator VOYOLKO. Sure, sure, sure.
Senator MANSFIELD. We will stand recessed until after lunch.
(Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., Friday, October 25, 19—, the hearing was recessed.)
3S
AFTERNOON SESSION
(The hearing was resumed in Committee Chamber 202 at 2130 p.m.)
Senator MANSFIELD. We will have order now. Proceed, Mr. Broadbent.
Mr. BROADBENT. I will ask
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