Fickle

Stewart Benson had a resume that would put a Jack-of-all-trades to shame. It began with being a Rhodes Scholarship and ended in a state mental institution. But I don't mean to mislead you. Stewart didn't end as a patient but a floor-mopper and laundry boy.

When I heard this, I said, "My God, how did a brilliant man climb so far down after such an auspicious beginning?" If you wondered the same, you may find the story of Stewart Berrington Benson as fascinating as I did when I first heard it.

To begin with, in spite of his pretentious-sounding name, Stewart was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth nor a family with any prestige. Unless you count a schizophrenic father who broke a world's record for parking tickets because he never remembered where he left his vehicle prestigious. In other words, the young man made it up the ladder of academia solely on his own merits, which included a brilliant mind and a desire to use it well.

Born with a altruistic heart, the young man created a service organization similar to the Red Cross, Boy and Girl Scouts, and the Peace Corps combined. That is, it was service-oriented and its basic intention was to develop character in youngsters as they helped others. Stewart's keen mind knew that if SERVE were to succeed, it must have no barriers,

so he refused federal or state funds or being dominated by any foundation or institution that could claim control. Instead, Mr. Benson took the financing upon himself. He raised private funds from his Rhodes colleagues who had seen his character and knew his inherent worth.

SERVE flourished and in time became almost a late-teen, early-twenties cult because it only gave, never took. Kids who had become disillusioned by the adult world because it said one thing but did another flocked to SERVE, for here they could help people with the satisfaction of altruism, not the guilt-stigma of having a greedy ulterior motive. From the standpoint of the participants and the receivers, SERVE was a phenomenal success, but through the business eyes of greedy onlookers, the philanthropic organization was a blazing failure because it did not exploit anyone nor seek any form of profit other than the betterment of those it served. The result was that in spite of Stewart's master plan and fine execution, those who couldn't stand things going any way but their own, infiltrated and, in time, discredited the organizer and took over the organization.

When SERVE was finally swallowed by the government and an international conglomerate, Stewart embarked on his own again. That is, he sought funds from his friends, always ready to help their well-intended colleague, and did on a personal scale what highly organized and funded groups did on a massive scale. In short, he became a Santa Claus operation, finding what people needed and supplying them. His compatriots loved the idea because it allowed them to write off charitable donations while letting someone trustworthy do all the work, and it satisfied Stewart Berrington Benson to a T, because it allowed him to follow his philanthropic bent. All was well and good until some of his co-workers, though hand-picked, became greedy, so that even his staunchest

backers finally quit donating to his altruistic ideas.

Now, the truth is that Stewart, in spite of his tremendous mind and heart, did have a just-oversized ego. While he intended well, he also gained phenomenal satisfaction from helping others. It was this as well as the non-exploitation factor that bothered businessmen. In their minds, people were supposed to get their thrills making money, not seeing how many people, including themselves, they could please. And so, in time, his adversaries became many and were righteously armed with a powerful weapon to prove they were right: Benson's own ego.

How sad to see one who helped mankind take a never-ending, downward spiral. The more he tried to help, the more he was tagged a self-aggrandizer. Distrust followed him closely and finally brought about the man's complete downfall. Thirteen years after masterminding the international philanthropic SERVE, Stewart Berrington Benson mopped floors and did laundry at a state mental institution where many of the patients were held in higher esteem than he. But sadness is in the eyes of the onlooker, because Stew Benson never lost his integrity. He knew that no matter how low he appeared in the eyes of others, he knew it was okay to enjoy helping others without any financial gain.

But in the eyes of society, Stewart Berrington Benson became the Twentieth Century Enemy of the People. He was against everything the money-oriented establishment believed in and sought, namely that all means were fair game in gaining the end: profit.

But times and attitudes are fickle: What is once an enemy becomes an ally; what is once the good guy becomes the guy wearing the black hat. Having said that, you might think that Mr. Benson became the Phoenix and rose from the ashes of oblivion to become a champion once again. But that's not what happened. What did happen was that Stew continued to

mop floors and do the laundry. Around him, however, a movement grew by itself, one that followed the former credo of the SERVE creator: Help others before yourself.

In time, the forces that had brought Stew Benson down now did an about-face and began to help the unfortunate members of society. And here lies the great irony in the life of Stewart Berrington Benson.

The promoters of the new philanthropic government now saw the state institution floor-mopper, once been a Rhodes Scholar and international figure, as most deserving. So it gave Stewart every form of support to start his own business and become self-sufficient again. All Benson could do was smile. He had given up knocking heads with the powers-that-be and voluntarily accepted his position at the institution. That those very powers that once belittled him were now changing their paradigms and willing to reward him only made him shake his head. That is when the once-scholar coined his famous saying, "It's better to walk to Hell than be driven to Heaven," and he urged people by saying, "Think about it."

The man died poor but happy with a smile on his face. The coroner who did the autopsy reported that the great philanthropist/innovator died from a rare disease he contracted from dirty laundry.