Helping the unfit

Công's friends stood around offering condolences, then left the cemetery. Công's father had been crushed by a container truck, and only his head was left to recognise his face. The regular guests left one by one. The monks finished chanting the sutra. The workers began to fill in the earth. These were gloomy days for Công's family and friends.

Công's friends stopped at a drink stall to eat a little something, since in these past few days nobody had eaten properly. One of them spoke up:

• I don't see any fairness here. All his life Công's father lived very decently with everyone, spoke gracefully, was head of a driving school and yet was very humble, never domineering towards anyone. When I registered to learn to drive and take the test for a licence, he helped me a lot.
  Another friend said:
• What do you mean, he helped you with the test?
• That time I got 7 theory multiple-choice questions wrong, and by the regulations I should have failed. In the practical test I stalled the engine halfway up a slope, and by the regulations I should have failed. But thanks to him sponsoring me, I only had to send an envelope with a little money to each examiner and I passed straight away. If I'd failed, retaking it would have been awful.
• It seems he helped a great many drivers get licences that way, thinking he was helping them get qualifications to make a living.
  Another friend chimed in:
• Maybe this is where the fairness lies. I think the drivers he "helped" have probably run over many people, so that's why he met such a terrible fate. I welcome help of other kinds, but helping incompetent drivers get to drive on the roads I oppose. Helping them gain the right to use a weapon, speeding along the road, harms other people.
  The friends were surprised by this view, but it made good sense.
  Another said:
• Shall we investigate whether the container driver who crushed him learnt at his own driving school?
  The friends eagerly agreed. After three days of enquiry by these reluctant detectives, it turned out that the driver of the container who killed Công's father had indeed learnt to drive at his driving school. This man was not diligent in his studies, often made mistakes in his manoeuvres and was frequently scolded by the instructors, but in the end, "helped" by Công's father, he obtained a licence and drove containers for hire for a large company. 🚐

A secretary who types a document incorrectly can sometimes cost their company a contract. A weak national representative can push unreasonable losses onto their country. A bad doctor can make a patient suffer more. A teacher whose teaching is hard to follow can push many generations of students into losing their grounding in that subject. A speaker who says wrong things can lead many people into error...

But why are people of poor ability allowed to practise? Only because someone "helped" them. They directly cause harm to society, and those who "help" them indirectly bring disadvantage, even disaster, to the world.
Once the head of a medical university refused to "help" a family get their child in, saying: "Please understand, I cannot create the conditions for this child to kill people legally later on." This principal had a real conscience.

There are people who have the power to supply personnel to society. They must understand that their responsibility will follow them throughout their lives, together with the people they bring into work in this world. Parents bring their children into life. Teachers bring their students into society. Personnel and organisation departments assign staff and bring many officials into public service... And the responsibility will follow them for ever. If those people live and work well, those who "brought them in" will gain merit. If those people do wrong, the wrongdoing will run back to those who brought them in.