The Miami times. [volume] (Miami, Fla.) 1923-current, 1953-10-10
eV DEAN GORDON

at the seams because OF the IN
hux of the millions thronging the
High Road Of Learning. But If
our educational institutions are
bursting at the seams, so are our
prisons, and our hospitals, and
our institutions for mental path
ology, and our divorce courts and
our dispensaries for alcoholic
beverages and so are the ranks
of the megaphobes who are so
unhappy themselves and who
make so many others unhappy by
their interTninable fears.
Education is the most popular
pursuit of the country and even
in such period of popularity there
is serious reason to doubt wheth-
er education is the answer to our
most vexing questions of the hour,
namely, what can be done to stem
the tide of criminality which
threatens to engulf our nation?
Crime statisticians say t h a
every four minutes there is a ma
ior crime committed here In the
United States. What can be done
TO halt the physical degeneration
of the population so convincingly
shown. by. our high incidence of
disqualification? What can be done
to stave off the mental break
down so manifest in. the increas-
ing incidence of mental troubles?
The alarming increase in di-
vorce with its consequent adverse
impact on the children Of broken
homes poses tantamount queS-
ton of how to save the American
home from utter dissolution. The
divorce rate is fast approaching
one divorce for every two mar
riages, or a SO per cent failure
in marriage. What is going to be-
come of the home and its child
rem?
What can be done to relieve a
tension that it takes eight billion
dllars worth of alcoholic bever-
ages a year to ease in the nation?
1t is generally agreed that people
who drink are either sick In their
bodies or in their minds.
Just what education offers by
ways of answering these Ques-
lions is a serious matter In view
of the popularity of education and
Its increasing cost. Education has
not brought the millennium, nor
has it fulfilled its promise as
uanacea for social ills.
The importance OF education has
without doubt been overrated.
But education by itself is not the
answer to our most vexing ques-
lions. Our mistake has resided in
The fact that we have failed to
magnify the fact that education
is a complementary factor in the
social equation.
In economics we have the doc
thine Of complementary agents
which means that certain things
must be used with certain other
things if they are 10 yield their
greatest utility. Shortening is
good when fused with the bread
but not good by itself. The ham
mer lis useful when used with
the nail but not so good by itself.
The bow is fine when used with
the violin but little good by itself.
Labor is good when used with
capital but not effective when
used by itself and more than
capital alone is effective when
used by itself. Labor and capital
are complementary agents in pro-
duction, a fact that too often both
capitalists and laborers overlook.
or too invariably minimize. Here
IN lies the seat Of the capital
labor struggle Of the hour.
So is formal education a COM
Elementary factor in social evo-
lntion. 1t must be added to some
thing else If Il is to yield its
greatest benefits to mankind. For
mad education like science is NO
better than the people who pos
sess 1t. We are not going to get
anywhere until we realize that
character is more fundamental
than formal education; for there
is no known correlation between
education and Righteousness, be-
tween education and happiness
between education and usefulness,