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April 2, 2024

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

—Benjamin Franklin

When people today think of Benjamin Franklin, they think of a Founding Father, a diplomat, an inventor, an author, the man on the $100 bill, and—depending on what books they've read or TV miniseries they've watched—an inexplicably alluring ladies’ man in 18th century Paris.

But long before that, Franklin had another role: an annoying little brother.

Born in 1706 in Boston, Franklin was the 15th of 17 children. Our story today has to do with a dispute that Benjamin had as a teenager with one of his older brothers, James, and how it ultimately set him on his path.

I think we’ll just go by first names for the rest of this newsletter, otherwise it will be a mess.

James was 9 years older than Benjamin. In his mid-20s, he published a newspaper called The New-England Courant. Of the three Boston newspapers at the time, it was the most critical of the British colonial authorities. James actually wound up imprisoned a few times as a result of what he published.

At age 16, Benjamin went to work for James as an indentured publishing apprentice, and it seems that they had a tense relationship. Part of this had to do with the fact that Benjamin wanted to write in addition to working on the press, but James refused him.

Benjamin's response? He tricked his older brother, by creating a made-up person, and submitting a letter to the editor under her name.

Disguising his handwriting and literally slipping the letter under the door of the printing shop, Benjamin wrote as if he were a middle-aged widow who wanted to maintain her anonymity, and who in turn wrote under the pseudonym of "Silence Dogood.”

Most of the letter introduced Silence Dogood and her intention to write every two weeks. Benjamin created a detailed backstory starting with her birth on a ship sailing from England to the colonies, and her father's accidental death the same day:

Completely conned, James published the letter on April 2, 1722—so, 302 years ago today. “Silence Dogood” then submitted 13 more letters, all of which ran in the Courant.

The were well-written and amusing, taking on topics like drunkenness, women's fashion, the conceit of Harvard students, hypocrisy in religion, and persecution of women. They were popular to the point that the Courant received letters from lonely male readers who wanted to meet “the widow Dogood” and possibly even marry her.

Eventually, James found out about his brother's ruse, and he was none too pleased. Then two things happened:

1. James wound up back in jail for a few weeks for publishing sedition, and the teenage Benjamin took over the newspaper temporarily.
2. Upon his return, James pushed Benjamin back into the role of apprentice, which Benjamin didn't appreciate. Apparently back then, corporal punishment of your indentured apprentice was a thing.

So, at age 17, Benjamin ran away from Massachusetts to Philadelphia, and went on to play a pivotal role in the early history of our nation. James, sadly, died a little more than a decade later, at age 38, in Rhode Island.

As for Benjamin Franklin's line about writing something worth reading or doing something worth writing about, that was included around the time of his brother's death, in an edition of Poor Richard's Almanack.

I'm actually giving you the abridged, modern version of the quote (which introduces an issue I hadn't thought about while starting this new version of the newsletter, hmmmm). The original reads:

It's more poetic that way, don't you think? Regardless, more than 300 years after Silence Dogood’s brief career, it would seem that Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about.

Day 2!

Hey, you're still here! That's promising! Thanks for all the nice comments on Day 1.

(One quick thing to fix from yesterday: I wrote about Ronald Wayne, but in one reference I changed his last name to Williams. D'oh! We proofread it 10x, but things happen. It did not go unnoticed by readers!)

The first edition of the new version of the entirely separate Understandably newsletter should be tomorrow. Sign up here if you're not on the other list as well!

(No reason not to hold back the subject by the way: It's the 20th anniversary of Freddy Adu's first game in Major League Soccer, at age 14, so I wrote about why this was one of the lowest points in the history of the U.S. game, in retrospect. If you don't know this story, even if you're not a big sports fan, I think you'll find it interesting.)

Again: The plan is for Big Optimism to be 100% free. If you want to help out, visiting our advertisers is the number-1 thing you can do. Apropos of nothing, you should see an ad directly below this paragraph!

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Tomorrow's Big Optimism newsletter is about: Martin Cooper. Know someone who might like Big Optimism? Please tell them to sign up here!

7 other things (still thinking about the name for this section!)

1. America needs more plumbers, and Gen Z is answering the call. Enrollment in vocational training programs is surging as overall enrollment in community colleges and four-year institutions has fallen. Numbers back up the claim. "It’s a really smart route for kids who want to find something and aren’t gung ho on going to college," says Tanner Burgess, 20, who graduated from a nine-month welding program last fall. (WSJ gift link)
2. Ready or not, self-driving semi-trucks are coming to America’s highways. The advent of robot trucks could have a massive impact on America’s supply chain. But the technology’s advancement has sparked concerns about highway safety, job loss, a lack of federal regulation and a patchwork of state laws regarding where and how autonomous trucks can operate. (The Washington Post)
3. The largest credit card companies in the United States reached an agreement with merchants last week to reduce the so-called swipe fees retailers pay for accepting credit card payments, potentially saving the retailers $30 billion. While the reduction in the fees collected sounds small — averaging at least 0.07% — they represent an estimated $30 billion over the five-year term of the deal, which banks could try to make up by reducing points perks. "It’s reasonable to think that," said Brian Kelly, founder of the Points Guy, a news site devoted to maximizing credit card points. (New York Times)
4. The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, as an end-of-year stock rally lifted their portfolios, according to new data from the Federal Reserve. All of the gains came from their stock holdings. While their real estate values went up slightly, the value of their privately held businesses declined, essentially canceling out all other gains outside of stocks. (CNBC)
5. Should you be allowed to pay for parking with cash or a credit card instead of a mobile payment? At least two state lawmakers in Ohio think so. This bucks a modernization trend, but if you don't have a smartphone, or if you don't want to download a specific app and pay a surcharge, it's an interesting issue. (The Columbus Dispatch)
6. I'm an employment lawyer. Here are the first 3 questions to ask HR if you're laid off or fired. (Business Insider)
7. World Backup Day! Technically this has passed, but they say 21 percent of people have never backed up their data, and 113 smartphones are stolen per minute (worldwide? I think it must be). Anyway, you don't need to follow this website's directions, but as someone who once lost his work laptop at Logan Airport, I think the message is important! (Tom's Hardware)