Evening star., 1933-11-05
BY MARK SULLIVAN.
New York writer of songs de-

New YORK writer OF songs Ue-
n signed to catch the popular
II ear has sent me new song
4 \ from which we can extract
some worthwhile reflections
about the state of the world. Two lines
of the chorus compose the theme:
Let us wish we are going to have this
thing Imitation
Let us make 1t Reality.
announce at once that I am not
going to argue about imitation. ana l
am not going to jeer at 1t. But THIS
article is not going to be about imitation,
but about something even more funda-
mental For my text let us read rev
words of the song
Golden. silvern dresses Of the latest
fashion
Would be the things for my Princess
Many cars. cars plane and yacht with
many 'tendants.
Don't la-gh. At least don't laugh
too much. Ephemeral popular songs
with words like that are common.
Reverie Of Opulence.
But let us look at what has hap
pened here The writer of the song
has put his mind-not his mind, but
his emotions-on word, Imitation y
He has fallen or projected himself into
a state of dream, and his dream is a
vision of golden, silvern dresses"
many cars" "a plane and yacht, an
imposing mansion" II this song Is
sung the singers will do the same thing.
fall into a reverie of opulence; and II
the song is heard hearers-those who
are moved by twill fall into the same
emotion, a state in which the word
Imitation" is associated with wealth,
freedom from care about money, posses
sion of all things that the dreamer
desires.
Now the serious fact-the very seri-
ous fact indeed, in the working OF this
American democracy-lS that millions
of persons, a considerable portion OF
our people, arrive at what they call
judgments and conclusions in just this
way They are not judgments or con-
Clusions at all, they are dreams; but
they are dreams They think the Wis
ions are conclusions or convictions.
And on these dreams which they think
are convictions or conclusions they
make political decisions.
Trait Employed to Seize Power.
This emotional trait of masses Of
men, this disposition to dream and to
act upon dreams is perfectly we'll un-
derstood by the shrewd in the world.
The shreWd in many f1elds-ln politics,
In business, in nearly every feld-know
how to start dream, how to make
it take hold upon the crowd Then
they know how to maneuver the crowd
50 as to put the shrewd into places OF
advantage. This Is a fundamental
of nf acquiring
power in the world as it is today
say in the world as it is today"
because the world for several years has
been in an abnormal state. And 1t Is
when people are in an abnormal con-
dition. when they are suffering and
sadit is at such times that they tend
any word or phrase that is presented
to them as the symbol Of happiness.
BY this device those who invent the
words and project them among the
people with an auro of dreams are en-
abled to acquire power or place or
other form Of advantage. The power
may be of one kind or another. In
some cases commercial or financial
power in some cases political power.
In Germany Herr Hitler puts for
"geschshaltung" meaning conform
lty.' meaning that all must be the
same. To the magic words Herr Hitler
adds the magic symbol. the swastika.
Herr Hitler surrounds these words and
this symbol with an aura of attain
ment of what the harassed German
people desperately desire, economic
comfort and an exalted place among
nations. Herr Hitler completes his
technique with an adequate amount
of organization and propaganda-an
behold, he has the power and place
he wants But what an awakening the
German people will shortly have!
Applied To U. S.
Now let us bring this lesson home to
our own country. Some five or six
years ago, certain industrial leaders en-
gagged in mass production together with
certain college professors (the brain
trust" of the boom tines. devised
phrase. 1.-The new era" One OF the
professors had similar phrase, new
economic plateau" meaning that prices,
wages, income and security quotations
had in 1929 gone permanently to
rev high level, from which they could
never descend. The mass production
industrialists added phrases Install
ment credit" easy payments and
divers other alluring synonyms. The
sum of the aura with which all these
phrases were surrounded, the dream,
the implication of magic in new era"
and the other phrases, was comfort and
security, both without end, the aboli-
ton Of poverty, two cars in every
garage. eternal economic sunlight.
TT amt goin to rain no mo-"
vYy,,, +hot dreor, apded in disillll-