Askov American., 1942-03-12
Questions TOPOnder

the principle for living which will
afford the greatest good to the great
est number, must be alert to analyze,
interpret, and defend it against anti
democratic arguments.
An institute was recently conducted
in the Y. w. c. A. of Minneapolis,
at which Dr. E. c. Lindeman, educa-
tor and lecturer of New York city,
was the leader. The theme of his
lectures was democracy, and here
with follows samples of questions
discussed. Read them and muster
your arguments against them to see
that you are firm in your belief in
democracy.
1. Eugenics. Cor, Dysgenics?)-
Those who succeed in the U. S.
do not reproduce; hence the future
American population is destined to
come from those classes now most
disprivileged Negroes, poor whites"
and second or third generation of the
foreign-born in industrial centers).
Can we trust the fate of vast,
complicated industrial society to the
judgment of the least competent of
our population?
2. Corruption
There appears to be positive cor
relation between corruption and
democracy. How much corruption
can we tolerate as the price to be
paid for democracy?
3. Tempo
The tempo of modern life is too
rapid for the slow-moving processes
of democracy. We are obliged to
"short-circuit'' the democratic process
in order to avoid being out-maneu-
vered by those nations which have
already abandoned democracy.
4. Hypocrisy
We do not now have democracy,
nor have we in recent times enjoyed
this privilege. Political democracy
has been extended but economic and
social democracy have both dimin-
ished. Why not abandon the sham
or the delusion of democracy and
frankly adopt a more authoritarian
form of society?
5. Technics
Democratic theory assumes that one
mans judgment is as good as an
others. This may have worked fairly
well so long as the situations con-
fronting us grew out of everyday
experience, but now that our major
problems are technical it is no longer
sensible to refer them to non-experts.
6. Politics
Voting is still the symbol of demo-
cratic participation but in these days
we know very little about the per-
sons for whom we are asked to vote.
The entire political process tends to
become imperSonal and the average
citizen, as an individual, can have
very little if any influence upon it.
Why not, therefore, simplify the
political process and fix authority in
such manner as to place it outside
the control of political parties?
q. SuDVctSlVcueSS@
The democracies are notably weak
in protecting themselves against sub
versive movements from within. The
freedom which they grant to all is
appropriated by those who aim at
an overthrow of the existing govern
ment This very freedom is, thus,
utilized to destroy democracy. Since
democracy is hence so Vulnerable,
why not depart from democratic ways
in the interest of our own protection?
8. Localism-
The democratic theory, especially
as interpreted by Thomas Jefferson,
is based upon the notion that small
communities where people could meet
regularly and share their opinions
and experiences furnished exactly
the right atmosphere for the proper
exercise of freedom and self-govern-
ment. But, the small community
with it's face-to-face groups tends to
disappear; in our society there is a
constant tendency toward urbanism
and centralization. Why not accept
this fact and reorganize society so
as to meet the requirements of our
time?
8. Equality
The French and the American revo-
lutions were founded upon three basic
concepts of human nature, namely
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
These are pre-scientific conceptions;
we know that science teaches ex-
plicitly that its rule is difference, not
sameness or equality. Is it not likely