Is It Always Right to Be Right?

Yours truly is in transit today. But recent events have reminded him of a short film entitled "Is It Always Right to Be Right?" from 1970 which won an Academy Award. The film might well serve as a background to yesterday's post on this blog about deferring Grand Principles in the interests of pragmatic solutions.

From The Hill: On Vietnam Moratorium Day in 1969, UCLA professor Warren H. Schmidt sat down to do his morning writing. What flowed onto the paper was a parable he called "Is It Always Right to Be Right?" In it, he examined the divisiveness that was tearing our country apart in the '60s: the Counterculture versus the Establishment, the women's liberation movement, the civil rights movement, and of course, the war in Vietnam.

Professor Schmidt's parable was published on the front page of the Sunday Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times on November 9, 1969. It was read far and wide across the country and Schmidt received fan mail from across the political spectrum - from Senator Ted Kennedy on the Left and Vice President Spiro Agnew on the Right - and everyone in between.

Several film producers sought the film rights to the parable and ultimately the project went to Steve Bosustow. He adapted it into a short mixed media film - narrated by Orson Welles - which won an Academy Award for "Best Short Film, Animation" in 1971...

Professor Schmidt died... on May 24, 2016 - at the age of 95...

Full story at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dr-warren-h-schmidt-is-it_b_10243636. 

You can see the film at the link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbWCjQ5L0ZY.