Here is a telling, innocuous Facebook message I lifted today from a German friend.
I have redacted the names of the people who like this and the poster of the comment. This is hugely telling:
On the top, the article is about the supposed glamour business of acting, titled Fame and Glamour? It goes on to state “In your dreams. Most actors work for puny wages and have unsteady lives. Interviews with young stars and experienced actors reveal what it is really like…”
But that is not the point.
A poster, at the bottom, made the comment that matters to us here. It says:
Well, it’s not medicine, law or teaching.
Teaching!
He lists teaching in the same breath as medicine and law when he makes a statement about the most glamorous and financially rewarding careers, as compared to acting.
An entire society, geared toward the value and importance of teaching.
I remember a discussion about teachers in Germany when I visited in ’77. Our school’s Oberstudienrad told us how teachers held a very high status in their community. Such that to live up to that status they should not be seen doing something as menial as painting their own house or mowing their own lawn. They should hire someone with lower status to do such tasks.
In my village, when I grew up, there were three people who held all the power:
– The priest
– The teacher (there was only one that taught all 8 grades of elementary school at once
– The mayor
The town was too small for a doctor or a lawyer.