Evening star., 1932-04-17

~ before in its history has this spoiled
~ child of nations faced such critical
and chaotic times. 1t has, of
course, met crises before, but never
have they been in every phase of it's
life; never have they been so complex as to
involve it with the rest of the world.
Favored with ricn resources and with glorious
vitality America has in only a century and
a half advanced to the first rank of nations.
1t grew without guidance and control, and
like healthy person, gave no thought to
any future pains, economic or otherwise But
now that its future is endangered and the
deStinies of other nations are involved 1t must
get to the root of its illnesses, not only in in
dustry but also in politics and in education, in
morals and in life blood. It must subject it
self to thorough examination if it is to plan
for its well-being and make its future secure.
Each one of us who has Americas interests
at heart must cooperate and push to the goal
not at the point of bayonets, as in Russia, but
voluntarily and whole-heartedly. For in spite
of present chaos, We cannot forget that Amer
ica has done more for its people than any
other nation in history.
All this DR.. Will Durant, the eminent
philosopher and writer, made clear in a recent
interview. He had spent many months travel
ing the length and breadth of the country,
stopping in almost every State to see for him
self how the depression had affected it and
what the leaders in various fields were think
ing. He put his report and his proposals into
small volume called Program for America"
When he was seen at his home he further
discussed the problem in the light of recent
changes and developments.
uTHERE is little doubt in our minds" he
said that America must begin to
build its life. We can no longer continue in
the planlesS way that we have. But before
we can change our methods and our systems
we must first change ourselves. We must
formulate philosophy of life which will re-
mold our aims. We must not think that the
only measure of success lies in the accumula-
tion of wealth, no matter by what means it
has been won.
Until now we have known only one COM
mandment: Thou shalt not fail If man
used crooked methods ruthlessly exploited
his competitors, it made no difference to us
as long as he got to the top What happened
to the next person was not our affair Women
in particular helped to mold this philosophy
Fer back of our acquisitiveness and industrial
greed there Is the attempt of every American
woman to keep up with the Joneses.' No
matter how much she has. her eye is on the
woman who has more. She is not satisfied
unless she can keep adding to her possessions.
Thus she has constituted continuous pres
sure on the male and has sharpened his greed.
She too, didn't care how he made his money
as long as he gave her plenty Of it.
Our immediate need is for a new command
ment: Thou shalt not exploit. We must
pound away at it every day; must impress
1t on the minds Of our children. Even if it
has only slight effect, 1t will make us stronger
"lmbued with the desire to cooperate rather
than to exploit, let us see how We can
bring unity into our national life:
I'VE all agree that the basic cause of our
depression is the failure of purchasing power
to be maintained with our producing power
We have thus far given our entire thought 20
producing goods and very little to the problem