Unsung Heroes

They are the modest ones. They work behind the scenes, in groups. They were the carrots in the third-grade play.

Democratic government isn’t really designed to highlight the individual achievement of unelected officials. In fact, the 2.2 million federal employees are seeking additional protection that would make it more difficult for a future administration to go after “the blob” by re-applying a former policy known as Schedule F.

What a perfect time, then, to highlight among their ranks an otherwise-invisible instance of doggedly-pursued heroism, courtesy of the private Partnership For Public Service described in our discussion piece (click: The Canary, by Michael Lewis). Do not be misled by the lack of rhetorical flourish describing the work of Christopher Mark: “Led the development of industry-wide standards and practices to prevent roof falls in underground mines, leading to the first year (2016) of no roof fall fatalities in the United States. A former coal miner.”

A former coal miner. One who happened to be the son of a Princeton professor (a story of its own i.e. an academic specializing in the use of photoelectric models to test the effects of physical on virtually any object), who then “lit out in the Territory” taking him to the intersection of (gothic) architecture and art, engineering, science, geology, and statistical analysis.

And on to his own Phd thesis. Only from the perch of government service could he carry out this new decade-long passion of underground mining safety to largely solve a problem that had been responsible for half of the fifty thousand coal mining deaths in the twentieth century.

Such is Michael Lewis’s talent that the story will readily pop out in one sitting even without the benefit of previous technical sophistication. Behold the human dynamic underlying this heroic journey – though he certainly would not characterize it as such.

Let us then pay tribute to those unsung heroes, whether in the public or private sector – the teacher, the inventor, the benefactor – whose contributions behind the scene are the real key elements to the advancement of humanity. Take a bow, all you carrots.