Elbert Hubbard

Today we learned about Elbert Hubbard. He was born June 19, 1856 in Bloomington, Illinois and died May 7, 1915. Elbert and his wife died on the RMS Lusitania when it sunk. He was was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Elbert was raised in Hudson, Illinois and he succeeded as a traveling salesman for the Larkin Soap Company. He is also known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York. A lot of his background had to do with the arts. He described himself as anarchist and a socialist. He believed in domestic, political, spiritual, mental, and economic freedom. He is most famous for writing "A Meassage to Garcia". It tells a story during the Spanish-American war about Lieutenant Rowan who was given a job to do and did without question. He was told to deliver a message to Garcia.

I finished reading A Message to Garcia. I agree with the overall theme of the essay, but I had different beliefs than Hubbard on certain topics. Elbert Hubbard writes with the idea that a good, hardworking man should never questions when told to do something, but I believe that asking questions can clarify things and result in doing a better job. Personally, I always try to be as inquisitive as possible so that I can do my best and deliver exactly what the person in charge has asked for. Of course, I do believe in not procrastinating or trying to pin my work on other people, but asking sound questions is always a good idea. I understand that the questions Hubbard is referring to are those that a lazy or non motivated person would ask, but he seems to shame most questions overall. Other than that, I think that Lieutenant Rowan is a good role model because he was motivated and respectful to his commanders. "A Message to Garcia" was a useful essay for freshmen to read because it sets a tone for our year to do the job assigned to us and to do it the best way we possibly can.