“Am I a Builder or a Wrecker?”

 

I recently read this poem by Edgar Guest and it resonated with me. And I asked myself this question: Am I a builder or a wrecker?

I have often shared this Native American proverb in my writings: “We do not inherit this world from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.” The proverb asks, “What kind of world am I leaving for those who come after me? Edgar Guest asks, “Am I building or tearing down?”  

Despite being retired for 8 years now, I still consider myself an educator. As educators, are we builders or wreckers? A builder teaches students how to think rather than what to think, encourages creativity, provides opportunities to try new ideas and activities. encourages students to ask and answer questions about the world around them, and values and develops citizenship as well as academics. A wrecker: discourages questioning and encourages compliance, tests for “right answers,” ranks students based on test scores; focuses on “covering the curriculum” rather than encouraging students to delve deeper into their own questions about the subject. 

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Edgar’s poem also applies to our lives as members of our communities. A builder volunteers, mentors, or coaches children and models positive values, welcomes new neighbors, works to protect the local community and its members, supports local businesses, and gets involved in issues that positively impact their community. Wreckers, on the other hand, may be unwelcoming to new neighbors, may spread gossip or rumors, may complain without contributing and try to rile up other community members,  can contribute to a breakdown in their community where trust is lacking.

Look at our country and our world today. Are our leaders working to improve long-standing institutions and policies or are they tearing them down without honest discussions and compromise? Are social media posts, videos, and news articles building or tearing down? Are the words we read giving us hope or demolishing reputations? It is much easier to tear down an organization, an institution, or a building than to work together to fix it. 

When we reflect on that Native American proverb, we should ask ourselves this question: Are we builders or wreckers? A builder conserves water and our precious natural resources. A builder plants trees today so they can provide shade in the future. A builder protects our public parks and lands for future generations to enjoy. A builder  understands the need to keep our oceans, rivers, and lakes clear of trash to protect the plants and animals that live there. A builder does what they can to leave this world a better place today for our children and future generations. A wrecker does not care about the consequences of their actions.

Destroying something is much quicker and can undo years of planning and building. A careless statement can undo years of building a person’s trust or confidence. A policy created in haste with no thought about its impact can destroy an organization or community.  Undoing or deregulating longstanding environmental protections and laws can exacerbate natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires, causing severe damage and can impact our world now and in the future. 

Our world desperately needs builders today. We need those who build things like infrastructure or our economy. We need those who build up our young people so they can contribute to the world they are inheriting, people like educators, coaches, and mentors. And we desperately need people who can rebuild the trust we have lost, people who value working together to build a better city, state, country, or world. 

It takes years to build something meaningful, and only moments to destroy it. Destruction is easy. Building takes patience, perseverance, and skill. We need to honestly ask ourselves this question: Am I a builder or a wrecker? I believe there are many more of us who are builders. Let’s work together to build a better tomorrow for our children and future generations.