Evening star., 1939-01-08

"sOAsO AASvS w We NAA VStCAsf 114O0b
human beings do not want to be
bothered looking after their common
interests. They put the real stuff of
their individual lives before the COM
mon veal as a matter of course.
They may be educated or cowed into
q practical respect for the common
veal, but that Is against the natural
disposition of their hearts.
1t was necessary, therefore, Bodi-
sham argued, to find and select and
appoint people of a certain type
Rud called them generally master
ful people" would take q spe-
cial interest in the direction and CO.
ordination of this or that collective
activity, whether it was crop produc-
ton or roadmaking and maintaining,
or improving and distributing the
statement Of fact, or teaching or re-
search, or what not.
Collective Processes.
The whole history of mankind had
been and was still and could not be
anything else but the struggle of the
various types of these masterful men
to get collective processes established,
either for their own advantage or the
collective advantage against the gen.
eral contrariety, the resistances, the
confused, short-sighted, self-seeking
and self-protection, of common in
dividuals. Masterful men come to
the top under any conditions. But
the peculiar sorts of masterful men
who come to the top depended on
the conditions.
Ihe common man can only be-
come conscious of himself and learn
MS lesson through the exposition of
certain peculiar sorts of masterful
men," argued Bodisham. There are
people who must say it. for the in
articulate and generally inattentive
common man. Call them teachers.
oemogogueS, prophets, what you will.
Rud is enthusiastically that sort.
'Ihat sort you must have. But also
there have to be experts and fur
thermore there have to be men to
check back, criticize and justify the
expert and protect the common man
from either tyranny or quackery. All
that complexity you must have in
human affairs. The essential prob
lem is to use those necessary MASTER
1ul men and yet restrain them. How
10 balance them? How to prevent
tnelr abusing their masterfulness?
Iney must have authority in their
special fields, but you have to put
Simple power out of reach of eyery
one. '
That is why the 18th century, the
most enlightened century, that lib
erty-seeking century, was 50 preoc-
cupled by neutrality-suspicious..
and why my great circle here is ali
cut up by. these minor circles and
these schemes of mutual checks and
corporations. All through the ages
mankind in its communities has re-
leved its political laziness and
cowardice in an irrational abandon
ment to leaders and rulers. God
will provide, the King will settle it.
the priesthood will see to it, the
aristocracy for the sake of the land,
the property-owners out of en-
hghtened self-interest, the lawyers,
the oligarchy, they the party, the
party leaders, the dictatorS ="
The history Of mankind" said
breed, "has been history of be-
trayals, the perennial betrayal of
the common man by the men he has
trusted"
Overtrusted Trustees.
by the men the lazy, haphazard
childish oaf was too wilfully stupid
to mistrust," said Bodisham. "The
history of mankind from the very
beginning has been a history OF
overtrusted trustees, corrupted by
their unchecked opportunities. And
here in these organization diagrams
am simply trying to assemble in
their proper relations, the latest
ideas for balancing the interests, re-
straining the egotisms, and extract
ing the maximum of good out of the
maSterfulness and the masterful
phases of masterful men. It's the
eternal problem of pontics-once
again."
The problem isn't eternal; IL
changes" interrupted Rud. 1.-THE
conditions have changed. What you
don't realize fully enough, Bodisham
you with your out-of-d date historical.
precedents, is that all over the world
there is awareness, such as there
never was before. The light pene.
trates everywhere. knowledge,
tell you, wins its way. See how ideas
spread! See how they run. It's only
now that natural science begins tc
tell you what it knows to the COM
mon mind. And common people
drink it up. For the first time the
whole world reads, reads to know
There is a new spirit in the
world. ."
It was always Bodisham who
theorized and planned. Each mair
function of the new world was pre-.
sented in his diagram by systems o1
circles and intersectipg circles with.
in. Here was the propaganda sys.
tenn, and overlapping it and destined
to replace it was organized educa.
ton. Here were the intimations O.
a plan for the correlation of re.
search and record and the distribu.
ton of knowledge. Here was tn,
organization of force balanced
against legal power. Here was ,
quadrilateral Of old military organ
izations, fading out before police
controlled production and the air
Curious green lines intimated tn.
subtle but understandable relation
ship of parallel independent CO.
operation" Here like an elucidator!
veil this map of the future, was {
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