{"id":3801,"date":"1970-01-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T00:55:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T00:55:09","slug":"january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","title":{"rendered":"January 1970 &#8211; VOL. 51, No. 1 &#8211; Head Office: Montreal, January 1970"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<h5>An Unfinished Trial<\/h5>\n<p class=\"boldtext\"> In his book The State versus Socrates John                     D. Montgomery writes: &#8220;When the Athenians condemned Socrates                     to die because of his ideas, they placed themselves forever                     on trial.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> That trial started 2,369 years ago, and today it involves                     all mankind. The issues before the judges on the hill at Athens                     were these: the search for ongoing truth versus stagnant orthodoxy;                     the belief in a supreme Good versus veneration of a multitude                     of tribal and local deities; and tolerance versus intolerance.<\/p>\n<p>These disputed points have not been resolved. The world&#8217;s                     plight is evidenced by intellectual uncertainty, social disorganization,                     and international chaos. Instead of getting together for reflective                     examination and constructive action, nations and people indulge                     in obstinacy, estrangement, and discord.<\/p>\n<p>Who and what was this man Socrates, who created the intellectual                     and moral traditions which have cast their light over the                     ages and have contributed so greatly to civilization?<\/p>\n<p>He was the most eminent of the Greek philosophers, but he                     was not a visionary. He served with boldness in the army,                     and two of his friends owed their lives to his courage in                     battle. When his turn came to hold political office, he was                     resolute in withstanding public clamour, and during the reign                     of the Thirty Tyrants he risked his life by refusing to join                     in their plan to liquidate political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Socrates occupied his life with oral instruction, conversing                     with all and sundry, seeking the truth and fostering the exposure                     of pride and error.<\/p>\n<p>No line has survived that is of his own writing. If he carved                     any statues in his early days as a stonecutter, they are unknown.                     He spurned shoddy thinking and sought to lead those with whom                     he talked to search their own minds for answers and illumination.                     He gave no finished catalogue of the principles in life, but                     imparted the impulse to search for them.<\/p>\n<p>Socrates was destroyed by a decaying society, whose rulers                     could not tolerate enlightened examination of their ways and                     beliefs. He was accused of corrupting the Athenian youth,                     of making innovations in the religion of the Greeks, and of                     ridiculing the many gods whom the Athenians worshipped. This                     last charge arose out of Socrates&#8217; belief in the existence                     of one Supreme God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and                     when he spoke of his belief in One God it seemed to those                     who ruled in Athens like a new religion.<\/p>\n<p>Three jealous and envious men, representing the poets, the                     artisans and the orators, laid trumped-up charges and had                     Socrates tried before the tribunal of the 500. He was convicted                     by a narrow margin ( &#8220;if only thirty votes had gone otherwise,&#8221;                     he said, &#8220;I should have been acquitted.&#8221; And so he drank the                     hemlock and died.<\/p>\n<h3>Tolerance of ideas<\/h3>\n<p>The story of Socrates is not so much an argument for freedom                     of speech as it is a lesson in the need for tolerance of ideas.                     It was bigotry, which is blind and obstinate adherence to                     opinions even in the face of competent conflicting evidence,                     that led to his prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>The primitive urge to injure someone with whose opinions                     or beliefs we do not agree is not yet dead. Socrates was the                     only man in Athens who suffered death for his opinions, though                     others were punished by banishment. Contrast that with the                     roster of those who have been tortured and killed for their                     beliefs in the world in recent centuries.<\/p>\n<p>Some people, even in this advanced age, are driving through                     life with their wind-screens so clouded with prejudice and                     bigotry that they are dangerous drivers, dangerous to others                     as well as to themselves. Moreover, they are seeing little                     of the beauties in life.<\/p>\n<p>Prejudice is a judgment or opinion formed beforehand or                     without due examination. Educated men of intelligence recognize                     the danger, and take steps to avoid it. Dr. Hans Selye says                     in <em>From Dream to Discovery<\/em>: &#8220;What we really mean                     by the &#8216;unprejudiced mind&#8217; of the scientist is a mentality                     that has control over its numerous prejudices, and is always                     willing to reconsider them in the face of contrary evidence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Prejudices, which have been called the stone walls of narrow-mindedness,                     do not survive under honest appraisal. If an opinion is right,                     it will bear the test of examination; if it is wrong, the                     sooner we get rid of it the better.<\/p>\n<p>Some prejudices arise from fear. Fear of being incompetent,                     of not making good, of not reaching the top of the business                     pyramid: these keep some people everlastingly on the look-out                     for critical comment or envious looks. And when we are fearful,                     how easy is a bush supposed a bear.<\/p>\n<p>Prejudice that stems from fear abridges our freedom. Socrates                     said to his judges: &#8220;I did not think it right to behave through                     fear unlike a free-born man.&#8221; To be always clad in the galling                     armour of suspicion is more painful and burdensome than to                     run the risk of suffering now and then a transient injury.                     All that has made man great has sprung from the attempt to                     secure what he believes to be worth while, not from the struggle                     to avert what was thought to be fearful.<\/p>\n<p>Bigotry and prejudice do not end with deforming the life                     of the person indulging in them. People have a zealous craving                     to impress their individualities upon others. Much of our                     personal, community, national and international turmoil springs                     from our thinking that what is good for us should be imposed                     upon everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>The heaviest price we have to pay for something that we                     consider greatly worth while ( freedom of speech ( is listening                     to the uses to which some people put the freedom. Our ears                     are assailed by ill-educated people who refuse to learn, by                     graceless people who demand to be fed and then bite the hand                     that feeds them, and by fanatical people with fixed ideas.<\/p>\n<p>The mob is a device ideal for such people. It provides an                     incognito to save a person from the vexation of thinking and                     to cover him up so that he can melt away into the crowd once                     whatever is bothering him is off his chest. Here is a paradox:                     a member of a mob hates order and loves it. He expresses detestation                     of the &#8220;establishment&#8221; which is the model of orderliness,                     but he likes the orderliness which allows him the opportunity                     to express himself.<\/p>\n<p>Socrates had watched the state deteriorate, and he set himself                     to think out how it could be saved. He saw that the men he                     talked to were yielding to what must be deadly to a free state:                     control by the uncontrolled. Salvation of the state must come                     about, not by mass movements against war or poverty or evil                     but in terms of every separate person. Men are free, he believed,                     not when liberated from this or that outside rule, but when                     they are masters of themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Being one of a crowd has this further advantage to the ignorant                     or lazy mind: a mob does not demand facts and evidence. On                     the contrary, it is swayed by the interest of the moment and                     by prejudices that make a mockery of reason, intelligence                     and tolerance. People shout for what at the moment they think                     are their rights, and they want these to the exclusion of                     what anybody else may want or have the right to.<\/p>\n<p>There are three sorts of extremists involved in mob action.                     Some are alienated from all causes and are merely there for                     the thrill. Some earnestly believe that if something old and                     established disappears a lovely utopian paradise will appear                     spontaneously. Some people are trying to jump on the surf-board                     on a new wave.<\/p>\n<p>These people do not allow the thought to enter their minds                     that non-conformity is not a virtue all by itself. They lose                     touch with the fundamental principle that all sides of a case                     must be heard before a reasonable man can reach a just conclusion.                     They have no qualms about using against any public figure                     the technique of character assassination directed against                     Socrates. Their words are prompted by envy and tipped with                     the poison of malice.<\/p>\n<h3>Judging good and bad<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Good&#8221; and &#8220;bad&#8221; are not two labels which can be applied                     definitely to certain things and acts. Something that is good                     in one set of circumstances may be bad in another. Almost                     every situation we have to deal with is mixed both in the                     causes that have brought it about and in the values it embodies.<\/p>\n<p>Criticizing people is unhealthy for the critic. He develops                     such a keen scent that amid a thousand excellences he smells                     out a solitary defect and holds it up to mockery. He becomes                     a scavenger. When Churchill was building a wall he put one                     such critic in his place. Told that the wall was crooked,                     Churchill said: &#8220;Any fool can see what&#8217;s wrong. But can you                     see what&#8217;s right?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There is no surer sign of a great mind than that it refuses                     to display intolerance of annoying expressions, but straightway                     ascribes them to the defective knowledge of the speaker, and                     so merely observes without feeling them.<\/p>\n<p>There are some people who truly believe that their competence                     in one art or science or technology gives them ability to                     pronounce verdicts on totally different things. Apelles, the                     celebrated Greek painter, gave an answer to one of these know-alls                     which is used to this day. A cobbler, having found fault with                     the drawing of a shoe-buckle in one of the artist&#8217;s paintings,                     went on to criticize the drawing of the legs. Apelles said:                     &#8220;The cobbler should stick to his last.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>What tolerance is<\/h3>\n<p>Tolerance is the cordial and positive effort to understand                     another&#8217;s beliefs, practices and habits without necessarily                     accepting them, and the making of allowances for errors in                     thought and act.<\/p>\n<p>Tolerance allows free trade in ideas. It stands firmly on                     both sides of every great issue, insisting on the right of                     their supporters to be heard, until there is enough hard evidence                     to support a reasonable judgment.<\/p>\n<p>Tolerance takes note of the differences in people&#8217;s upbringing,                     education and experiences. It is broadminded. It gives latitude                     to the beliefs which others hold. In 17th Century England                     there was a sect called Latitudinarians which sought a theological                     basis broad enough for men of different views to unite upon.                     This reminds us of the ancient maps of the world which found                     room for monsters, ships, flying fish, and a sea-god combing                     his hair, in addition to the outlines of continents and, in                     the unexplored territories, the warning &#8220;Here are lions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tolerant people know that there is hardly a vice or a crime,                     according to today&#8217;s moral standard, which has not at some                     time or other in some circumstances been looked upon as a                     moral and religious duty, and there is scarcely a virtue practised                     by us today which was not, in some civilizations, looked upon                     as a sin.<\/p>\n<p>We have learned by experience in this century to be tolerant                     of breakthroughs which are announced in the natural sciences.                     At the time of ancient Greece, a progressive philosopher was                     punished with banishment for teaching that the sun was a ball                     of fire as big perhaps as the entire country of Greece; and                     the greatest discovery ever made by man, the law of the attraction                     of gravity, was attacked in the 17th Century as being subversive                     of natural religion.<\/p>\n<p>But the toleration needed in these days does not consist                     alone in listening indulgently to other peoples&#8217; views and                     extending appreciation to those who announce discoveries.                     It is not enough to say sanctimoniously that every man is                     entitled to his opinion: we must add respect, for to him his                     opinion is important.<\/p>\n<p>This broadening of tolerance implies magnanimity. Raphael                     expressed the true spirit when he declared that he drew men                     and women, not as they were, but as they ought to be. Goethe                     went a step further: &#8220;Treat people as if they were what they                     ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable                     of being.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Law and justice<\/h3>\n<p>It is because human nature has changed so little that the                     Ten Commandments, enacted to meet the needs of a nation shifting                     from a nomadic culture through Egyptian slavery into an agricultural                     kingdom, still have meaning in today&#8217;s skyscraper environment.<\/p>\n<p>There are some lofty magisterial people who assert that                     so long as men and women live according to the law there will                     be no need for toleration, but tolerance is more than mere                     legality.<\/p>\n<p>It comes naturally to the man of true culture to have a                     deep respect for the legal forms which make human contact                     practicable. But the man of culture recognizes, in addition,                     respect for many unwritten laws, some of them unenforceable                     except by conscience. He knows that the search for justice                     is a search for moral law and values above men and their legalistic                     societies, and tolerance is founded upon justice. St. Thomas                     Aquinas declared: &#8220;Justice is a constant and perpetual will                     to yield to each one his right.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Everyone who aspires to be cultured should be glad that                     mercy and the search for truth are parts of justice, if for                     no other reason than that he who punishes another man for                     ignorance might justly be himself punished by those who know                     more than he does.<\/p>\n<h3>Using intelligence<\/h3>\n<p>Ignorance has no social function. Only intelligence can                     make our young people sharers in the shaping of their fates,                     and intelligence consists in knowing and loving what reason                     shows to be right and true.<\/p>\n<p>The truth about anything cannot be discovered by escaping                     from the real, any more than the stupid fellow escaped from                     the biting fleas by putting out the candle so that they should                     not see him.<\/p>\n<p>We live in a changing world about which our knowledge is                     incomplete, and we are finding that the key to civilization                     is not technology but wisdom. One of the great evidences that                     a man is civilized is his wanting to know and to understand.                     If he is going to be intolerant about anything, it seems on                     the whole better to know, exactly, what he is going to be                     intolerant of. When he says: &#8220;I do not know&#8221; he is being intellectually                     honest. Socrates did not claim to have wisdom, but only to                     seek it.<\/p>\n<p>The argument against intolerance is not a moral argument.                     It rests solidly upon the simple consideration that it is                     humanly impossible to know all the facts.<\/p>\n<p>It is wise, therefore, to leave some matters in suspense.                     To say that something is impossible is to assert, with rash                     presumption, that we know the limits of possibility. To condemn                     an act as sinful is to make unjust pretensions to a faculty                     of perfect judgment which does not belong to our human nature.<\/p>\n<p>Our wrong thinking about things, and not the influx of new                     ideas about things, can be blamed for much of the trouble                     of our time. The right to think for ourselves requires that                     we try to understand things and how things work rather than                     classify them as &#8220;good&#8221; or &#8220;bad&#8221; according to some current                     guidebook to values.<\/p>\n<p>This means replacing fixations by willingness to explore                     and to question. A philosopher remarked: &#8220;Had it occurred                     to Menelaus to consider that he would be better off if he                     were rid of such a wife as Helen there would have been no                     Trojan war.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Enough misunderstandings occur by accident to urge us to                     be careful to avoid those which can be avoided. Sir Thomas                     Malory tells us in <em>Le Morte d&#8217;Arthur <\/em>about an illustrative                     incident. When a snake struck a knight, he drew his sword                     to kill it. The drawn sword alarmed the armies, broke up the                     peace talks between King Arthur and Sir Mordred, and started                     a battle in which both leaders were killed.<\/p>\n<h3>Inner court of revision<\/h3>\n<p>Consideration of the proper manner of thinking carries us                     back to the teaching of Socrates. He never considered establishing                     an institution to seek the truth, believing it to be something                     found only by a man within himself. Everyone should have an                     inner court of revision in which he can examine and cross-examine                     his judgments.<\/p>\n<p>A happy life is impossible except through a certain agreement                     between internal convictions and external circumstances, a                     compromise between the ideal and the practical, but everyone                     should inform himself of what his ideal is. That will help                     him to assess other values and to avoid becoming intolerant.<\/p>\n<p>Tolerance is absolutely essential to civilization as we                     know it. We must admit, because we see signs of it on every                     side, that, as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tse said, our gentler                     manners and garments only thinly disguise the still savage                     hearts of uncivilized people.<\/p>\n<p>Mankind is in one of its moods of shifting its outlook.                     The compulsion of tradition has lost much of its force, but                     civilization is at best a fragile thing, and to embark upon                     a challenge to a way of life which is based upon centuries                     of experience is to endanger what little security we have.<\/p>\n<p>Success will not be gained by demands for censorship and                     the silencing of opinions, but by grappling with the problems                     in a spirit of seeking to ennoble life. The creation of a                     civilized world order will be the victory of persuasion over                     force. That effort requires a certain amount of good-willed                     tolerance.<\/p>\n<p>As to knowing what to seek, this is summed up in the teachings                     of all the great religions and philosophies: Virtue consists                     in knowledge of the Good, which implies the effort to realize                     it.<\/p>\n<h3>Seeking solutions<\/h3>\n<p>It may not be possible to solve all the problems that beset                     human beings compelled to live together on this increasingly                     crowded earth, and recent exploration has shown the unlikelihood                     of escaping to another planet. We can, however, aim at developing                     our capacity to live with the problems without becoming as                     neurotic as many of those who declaim against the problems                     without sincerely seeking their solution.<\/p>\n<p>As things are, we accept as colleagues many people we do                     not love, and with whom we should not like to live in close                     relations. But we work out a <em>modus vivendi<\/em>, a way                     of living, an arrangement or compromise by means of which                     persons or parties who differ greatly are enabled to get on                     together for a time while a permanent adjustment is being                     sought.<\/p>\n<p>As a man, Socrates deserves much praise, but he can also                     be held accountable for a large part of the misunderstanding                     between him and his contemporaries. While insisting on the                     value of free discussion, he made visible his superiority                     of mind, with the irritating habit of exposing the ignorance                     of his fellow citizens in public. He might have said, as did                     the intolerant Napoleon: &#8220;No one but myself can be blamed                     for my fall. I have been my own greatest enemy, the cause                     of my own disastrous fate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Moderation and concession are needed by everyone in the                     tolerant society. Moderation involves putting whatever we                     say or do in its proper place relevant to what is said and                     done by other people.<\/p>\n<p>If we do not resist blindly what may seem an unfavourable                     action toward us; if we try to see it in the same light as                     the other side sees it, we may discover some negotiable points.                     As the down-to-earth gardener says in Sir Walter Scott&#8217;s <em>Rob                     Roy<\/em>: &#8220;The tane gies up a bit, and the tither gies up                     a bit, and a&#8217; friends again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As to concessions, the rules are: &#8220;Can this be yielded without                     putting the main issue in danger? Sacrifice details in order                     to win principles. One can often get what one wants ( the                     other man&#8217;s way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>To be great<\/h3>\n<p>It has been said that history turns on small hinges, and                     so do people&#8217;s lives. It is in little things that your tolerance                     shows.<\/p>\n<p>It is a good rule of life not to talk about your principles,                     but to act them out, to be in manner gentle, in mood humane,                     in outlook broad and comprehending. To avoid intolerance of                     your own opinions and acts, give people reason to have faith                     in your good intentions and your broadmindedness.<\/p>\n<p>With every rise in status in business, public, or private                     life there falls upon men and women an increased demand for                     tolerance and clemency. Small men and women, absorbed in small                     personal affairs, do not experience the special obligations                     of greatness.<\/p>\n<p>Those who display intolerance are pushing time back a thousand                     years, though they think of themselves as being <em>avant                     garde<\/em>. The Athenians repented their sentence on Socrates                     when it was too late. They punished his accusers, and erected                     a statue of bronze in one of the most public parts of the                     city. But they could neither halt the enlightenment he had                     started nor make amends for their own intolerance.<\/p>\n<p>We cannot take for granted such civilization as we have                     attained, but must explicitly guard it against the eruption                     of barbarism and moral chaos. We need to make an effort to                     find the essential ideas which will give meaning and order                     to the discordant and confused mass of details in the world                     around us. We can only do so by listening to and trying to                     understand the several sides there are to every proposal for                     change.<\/p>\n<p>We need to practise tolerance in private life as well as                     in public life, in small matters as well as in great, because                     of the seeming paradox that intolerance is the one thing we                     cannot tolerate if we would remain free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[50],"class_list":["post-3801","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-50"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Unfinished Trial In his book The State versus Socrates John D. Montgomery writes: &#8220;When the Athenians condemned Socrates to die because of his ideas, they placed themselves forever on trial.&#8221; That trial started 2,369 years ago, and today it involves all mankind. The issues before the judges on the hill at Athens were these: [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-28T00:55:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\\\/\",\"name\":\"January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1970-01-01T01:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-28T00:55:09+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC","og_description":"An Unfinished Trial In his book The State versus Socrates John D. Montgomery writes: &#8220;When the Athenians condemned Socrates to die because of his ideas, they placed themselves forever on trial.&#8221; That trial started 2,369 years ago, and today it involves all mankind. The issues before the judges on the hill at Athens were these: [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","og_site_name":"RBC","article_modified_time":"2022-11-28T00:55:09+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"16 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","name":"January 1970 - VOL. 51, No. 1 - Head Office: Montreal, January 1970 - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"1970-01-01T01:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-28T00:55:09+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/january-1970-vol-51-no-1-head-office-montreal-january-1970\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"January 1970 &#8211; 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