The Poisoner’s Handbook – The Standards for The Rest of The America – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKhcb0-xeGo

I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing this film last night. It’s an amazing exploration of the history of poisons and poisoning in New York from the period of the 1920’s to the 1950’s.

Anyone, with any interest in Business Ethics or more simply, Business Law, will find this documentary utterly fascinating.

Watching this film will help you develop an understanding of how it came about that the federal government regulates food, cosmetics, industrial chemicals and medicine. Modern economic regulation was not inevitable. There were people and events that shaped the thinking of those generations. Understanding this and getting a grip on the history of those times enable one to understand what would happen with the abandonment of these regulations today.

For my students reading this post –

Now, you don’t have to watch it. There is no extra credit. Watching documentaries, reading and thinking are part of the pathway to becoming an educated and full human being. If your education only takes place in the classroom or when you are doing homework, then once you leave school, it stops. The quest to be a powerful and understanding individual should not stop with a diploma and the willingness to take time and effort to continue that quest is one of the ways, you can set yourself apart from those who look at the world of the philosophy, art, music, the sciences, etc. as just work, an unfortunate labor they must do to get a diploma and a job.

You are member of a new and vibrant generation upon whose shoulders the responsibility for future of this nation rests. Working to be exceptional, putting for the effort to be the best at what you do, will be good preparation for the challenges ahead of you.

James Pilant