A message to Garcia translated

After talking about a message to Garcia in class I have a better understanding of what it is we are learning. Based on what we talked about today in class I now understand that Elbert Hubbard just wanted workers to do their job without being told to. For example if you saw the printer was out of ink you'd replace the cartridge not wait until your boss tells you too. He also wants people to use common sense and knowledge. He uses the greek word arete to explain this. Arete is excellence of any kind or fulfillment of purpose or function but mostly, the act of living up to ones full potential. The highest human arete is knowledge.  Elbert wanted people to have arete but instead they were slipshod and imbecility. This made Elbert mad and upset that people weren't working as hard as others but still getting the same rewards. Elbert also wanted people to take initiative. "Take a message for Garcia" even became a popular slang for telling people to take initiative.