In southern Alabama is the town of Enterprise, in Coffee County. There they have erected a monument to an insect, honoring the Mexican boll weevil. In 1895 the boll weevil began to destroy the major crop of the county, cotton. In desperation to survive the farmers had to diversify, and by 1919 the county’s peanut crop was many times what cotton had been at its height. In that year of prosperity a fountain and monument were built.

The inscription reads: “In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.” Out of a time of struggle and crisis had come new growth and success. Out of adversity had come blessing.

In the language of China there is hardly a more suggestive or challenging word that crisis. It is made up of two characters, way gee. Each of these is half a word, the first being danger and the second opportunity. Hence a “crisis” is literally a “dangerous opportunity.”

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