The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-26
Americas Mission
By ERWIN D. CANAAN


The United States is rapidly destroying
many of the values for which it has just
fought the costliest war in history. It is en-
gagged in destroying its position in the world,
its tangible strength, it's capacity to help
stabilize the world and help save mankind.
It is sliding down very slippery slope. There
is time to stop, but there is no time to lose.
We are destroying our world position today
in two main ways. First, our industrial dis
putes-which have reached the stage OF eco
nornic civil war-gravely threaten world re-
covery The world economy has now become
close-knit, and full employment in the United
States is the key to restoration everywhere
Every day it is postponed, every day inter-
ruption CT production brings initiation nearer
is day which robs US of the proper results
Of our war sacrifices. And contributes
to world weakness, further collapse AL OF
which is another way Of saying that our war
time job has not been finished, ana that
danger equal to military Aggression now
threatens US.
The second aspect Of disintegration in our
world position lies in our army morale col
lapse. What was the most powerful and effec-
lively organized military force in the world
six months ago has become little more than
an armed mob. Our failure to teach soldiers
the real meaning of the war, and the postwar
problems, resulted in tentative collapse. Pos
sibly the fault lay in the officers who failed
to maintain morale based upon informed
thinking. Evidently many of these officers
needed lessons in the real meaning OF the
war even more than the men. Now General
Eisenhower has done his wise and effective
best to stem the tide. Perhaps the worst is
over. But manifestly much Of the problem
remains.
Behind both Of these grave situations
economic civil war at home, dissatisfaction
in the forces-lies a manifest Single cause.
1t is the failure to perceive Americas mis-
sion in the world, and the need for national
unity in seeking it. Russia has a purpose in
the world. You could probably describe it
fairly as kind Of pro1etarian empire, seek
ing secure military position behind which
to achieve more good things for the people.
Britain has purpose in the world. 1t might
be described as the need for survival and
restoration, acutely realizing Britain's de-
pendence upon world restoration.
But what is Americas mission in the
world? What do we think it is? If you can
judge by our behavior, the only kind Of mis-
sion that Americans recognize is in selfish
materialisn. Everybody seems to want more
money. We have not yet recognized that ma
terialism brought us to our present plight.
Materialism expressed positively in the '20's
and negatively in the 3Os. During the war
period, united to degree by peril and sacri-
flee, we rose above materialism. Men in fox
holes and rubber rats turned to spiritual
values. But the Nation as whole tends to
forget And our moral position In the world
crumbles.
Yet America does have a mission in the
world. 1t must do it's part-now leading
part-in the saving Of humankind. Normal
living Toust be restored throughout the world
Peace must be maintained. The new weapons
OF materialism-the atomic bomb, which is
the ultimate in the explosion ithe fission) of
matter-must be controlled and used for the
betterment Of mankind
What was the lesson Of the war? Why did
we fight? Because, surely, totalitarianism de-
MED the integrity of Gods individual man.
and hence denied the fatherhood of God
And the inviolability of man is spiritual
reality. It does not depend upon materia1ism
1t depends rather, upon unselfishness-upon
the recognition Of a higher selfhood which
dooms selfshness. Yet it is selfshness which
today grips us, individually and as nation
and as a world. Selfishness and materialism
are kindred.
We must recognize that the war is not
over For the war is in essence the struggle
against materialism. The end Of the fighting,
by terminating the self-sacrificial period of
visible peril, unleashed forces far more dan
gerous than we had been openly fighting. 1t
is up to all Of us to realize that the same
unity the same sacrifices which were re-
CURED up to VJ-Day, are even more desper-
ately urgent today. They must be based upon
fairness and equity. And 1t is not easy to
tell what Is fair and right which way the
3 IL cents separating the steel unions from
U. S. Steel should be divided. The people
need the help of impartial experts - of the
'fact-finding'' urged by President Truman,
but on completely free terms of reference
And there will be honest and deep differences
Of opinion
But If there are differences Of opinion there
can be no differences of interest. We have
one inter est: the fulfillment of Americas
destiny in sorely tested world. That destiny
is spiritual leadership. carried out in prac-
teal terms. We are far from providing that
spiritual leadership today. Temporarily, let
us hope, we have thrown it away. We cannot
recapture it until here at home we realize
how much greater is the welfare of all than
the welfare of any one group. And that calls
for the sacrifice of self, which is the first
step in establishing the involablity Of the
individuality and the unity of mankind.
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