Pay It Forward

John Freund, C.M., recently rewatched Pay it Forward, the 2000 film about a seventh grade extra credit homework assignment that changed the world.  It intrigued him enough to cause him to gather some  materials on the "pay it forward" idea and the movement spawned by the movie, exemplifying a simple yet profound idea "that involve[s] people in solutions that are practical and replicable."  The materials he has linked to can be accessed via his famvin website, here.  As I was reading some of the material, I was particularly taken by Ben Franklin's use of the concept, illustrated in this letter.

It is not Catholic Legal Theory, but it does demonstrate the powerful potential ripple effect of small individual actions.  "Pay it Forward" projects in schools and towns have yielded tremendous results.