Evening star., 1934-04-22

" ODAY we stand on the threshold
of a new world. Everywhere,
change is in the air. In this
l. country Government has en-
barked upon a program to
produce. over a period Of time, vital
notifications of our life. If this pro-
gram is realized the United States 20
years hence will be radically unlike
the United States of today. In Eu-
rope comprehensive experiments in
reorganization are being worked out
by Russia, Italy and Germany. Each
of these has as its object the pro-
ducing Of a future as different as
possible from the past. In many
other countries changes of less spec
tacular kind are in process. Men and
women everywhere seem resolved that
old abuses shall be corrected and old
injustices abolished. That, some
how. life shall have fresh start.
What elements of the discarded
past shall we carry forward into this
new world? What institutions and
experiences are so Important to the
human spirit as to be vitally lndls-
pensable. no matter what form exist
ence may take in the future?
Questions Not Academic.
These questions are not academic.
In their efforts toward a new kind OF
life we have seen other nations dis
card principle and institutions once
assumed to be essential to civilized
existence. The right to Individual
liberty has been rejected. for a variety
of reasons, by several. Germany mas
abolished religious and racial Tree
dom. Russia has attempted to do
away with her traditional religion
and would like to eliminate the fam
ily as a social institution. Italy, hav-
ing asserted that democracy is fall
ure, has abandoned it completely.
The changes projected in the United
States are economic only, but they
will have far-reaching social conse-
uuences. They are an innovation un-
precedented in our national history.
And, like the more spectacular
changes occurring elsewhere, they
imply a critical attitude to all tradl-
ton, a drastic revision OF beliefs
heretofore unquestioned. In erect,
this constitutes a direct challenge to
every one of US. What are the things
which we believe in SO profoundly
that life without them would seem
infinitely poorer? If they are to sur
vive, perhaps we must be ready to
define and defend them.
We have lately witnessed two con-
Trajectory but informative spectacles.
In Russia a vast agricultural .'opula-
ton has been starving. though crops
have been painful Why? Because
the Russian government seized the
grain crops and exported them to
establish the foreign credits urgently
required. Ivan the peasant faces
famine amidst plenty, for he is the
servant of the state. But In this
country, at the same time, surplus
crops have been destroyed and the
Government is indemnifying farmers
for restricting production. Why?
Because the farmers cannot sell their
crops at "a profitable figure; but II
they raise less, prices will advance.
John Smith. the farmer, looks to his
Government to guarantee him falr
market. The Government is his
servant.
Two Theories Presented.
These two pictures, then, imply two
different and irreconcilable theories
of life. Communistic Russia and Italy
under dictatorship carry to opposite
extremes the general European behe1
that the individual is the creature OF
the state But in this country the
doctrine has always prevailed that
government and society exist Tor the
advantage of the individual. In the
United States they are merely instru-
ments forged to serve his needs.
We seldom stop to think about our
faith in individualiSm, although it Is
explicit in most of the activities OF our
daily lives. Within the vide limits de-
termined by the common good any
American is free to realize, without
interference by Government or So
ciety. his own idea of a desirable lie.
We expect only that he will take the
consequences of his choices. If he
prefers failure in his chosen path to
success in neighbor's. the responsible
itv is his alone. He can devote his
life to studying Indo-Iranic languages,
trying to explode the atom, playing
the piano or becoming an authority
on bridge-nobody will stop him.
Most people aspire to life which has
some moral dignity. The basis of all
morality is freedom of choice. II we
deprive the individual of his tradition
al right to attempt the realization Of
his personal ideals and private ambi-
fhoraI,ry olif,n =, tinC from
his existence one of the moral choices
which give human life an ethical
meaning.
Choice of Career.
Individual liberty to choose our way
of life is one thing which most OF us
would insist upon carrying forward
into the new world. 1t implies certain
others. The choice of career oc-
ours at a comparatively early age.
Unless the individual is amply pre-
pared how can he be expected to
choose wisely? That preparation for
choice is, in the widest sense, educa-
ton. In the United States the process
has been carried on by two agencies
the home and the school. We have
traditlonally attached to the home,
the family group, a meaning less
sentimental than, perhaps, we realize
For in this country the home has al
ways been the chief training ground
for all social and collective action. 1t
is the concrete symbol of those per-
sonal aspirations which are productive
of the common good.
An obvious illustration is the de-
cisive influence which the home
exercises upon tho most personal of all
our exro-io-"-s. The mSvies," most