Priests, Military Personnel, Judges and Professors – Folha de S. Paulo, December 21, 1969

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Young people are eagerly preparing for college entrance exams as the year comes to an end. It is the final step before answering a major question: which career should you choose? Many are making a final, decisive evaluation of the pros and cons of different careers. Naturally, each person chooses based on personal factors: their interest in a specific subject, the promises, struggles, and uncertainties of different future paths, and so on. However, their decision also significantly affects the national interest, and I encourage the reader to consider this aspect.

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A country must have the right people in the right positions. This is crucial for the future, especially as we expect an influx of what we might call key young individuals into important careers. These young people are naturally and through upbringing endowed with the highest potential for faith, morality, talent, dynamism, bravery, and resilient determination in effort and struggle. If most of these talented young men focus on a single (albeit very noble) type of career, in the medium term, many essential positions may remain unfilled, threatening the country’s future.

Some careers are so essential that it’s not enough for the country to regularly fill their ranks with capable and honest people. It is necessary to have a significant number of individuals of exceptional value at the top of these careers, able to solve critical issues that public life constantly presents, and capable of inspiring the normally competent individuals who fill these roles by their example.

This final point deserves more explanation. A great professional influences others by showing improved skill and efficiency to their colleagues. In Brazil, for example, many talented people excel at playing the piano thanks to Guiomar Novaes. Their artistic accomplishments might be smaller without her, despite their talent. So, the influence of key figures in a career or profession goes far beyond their own performances. These individuals elevate their entire field.

That said, a question arises: Is Brazilian youth harmoniously spread across the various key careers?

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I’ll be specific. Without attempting to list all key careers, four are undeniably essential: the priesthood, the military, the judiciary, and teaching. A country with only a few outstanding individuals in these fields is susceptible to stagnation without true progress or significant achievement during peaceful times and faces failure during turbulent times. Therefore, the outlook for the future is not optimistic.

Do these careers have all the factors necessary to attract a strong group of key young people to school in their current form?

I understand that such high-level careers are pursued mainly for idealistic reasons rather than personal gain. However, it is fair and legitimate for a young idealist to consider the support owed to his parents and, except for a seminarian, to the family he will establish. What prospects do these four key careers offer in this regard? Furthermore, what actions are being taken in our environment to promote, honor, and strengthen this sense of idealism?

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Under current circumstances, I prefer not to discuss the difficult issue of the priesthood, the highest, most sacred, and most admirable career a man can pursue. It causes me too much pain to do so. I have serious and evident reasons for this, one of which is immediately clear: it is very hard to recommend seminaries to young people where the poison of progressivism has already entered or could be introduced at any moment.

Let’s examine the other three careers. A trait of all societies on the rise or at their peak is that the military, magistrate, and teacher are surrounded by an aura that matches and even surpasses that of the greatest of the great. These careers shape a human ideal that all societies see as acceptable, correct, admirable, complete, and sublime. Such societies have a clear understanding and cultivate a deep admiration and enchantment for the work, effort, and struggles these careers involve. They aim to reward those who genuinely sacrifice themselves for them in every possible way.

Is this really accurate about Brazilian youth today? Let’s answer honestly.

The developmentalist mindset of much of our youth leads them to focus keenly on the importance of economic production and the technical skills it requires. However, their awareness of other aspects is fading. That perspective should also recognize that true human development needs an even greater emphasis on the mind than on material pursuits. Today, money increasingly shapes the meaning of life in many contexts. Many families tend to guide young people more and more toward lucrative careers. As a result, public and private budgets often allocate generous funding to key technicians of economic growth, while compensating the military, professors, or judges with only average or adequate pay.

Consider the current living conditions of a judge, military officer, or teacher from a profit perspective. Wouldn’t it often be more advantageous to be, I won’t say a technician, but the owner of a highly stocked bar? Is this fair, proper, or decent? Does this help in the vital distribution of talented young people across key careers? What kind of future are we headed for with this one-eyed developmentalism?

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The main solution is for families, the press, radio, television, and others to promote an urgent correction of this “one-eyedness” phenomenon. May this help restore the somewhat dimmed admiration for key careers in spiritual development across all youth segments. And—no matter the cost—an urgent, serious, and effective effort should be made in public and private budgets to make these careers highly rewarding and appealing.

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An objection: Does a career in the military, judiciary, or education help a country’s spiritual growth?

The answer requires more space than I have, but in brief, I would say yes. A key criterion for judging a truly peaceful society is the strength of their admiration for military virtues. Nothing is more valuable than peace, but peace that dismisses military values gradually declines. And this decline of peace… leads to wars.