Evening star., 1961-11-26
Cities
and People
How Other
People Live
By ROBERT J. LEWIS

THE LONGER you live, the
L more you realize that life
consists of a surprising series
Of gradual awakenings.
When you're robust and
well, you're hardly aware
that other people ever get
sick.
Fall prey to some mystic
riouS, unpronounceable mall
ady and, all of a sudden,
you find that half of your
friends, and dozens of your
acquaintance, have been
similarly afflicted.
Decide to build a fence
around your back yard and
you discover an entirely new
world. The relative merits of
locust, cedar and redwood
posts - and the nonrusting
assets of galvanized nails
become questions of major
Importance.
Get married and begin to
raise a family and the uni
verse expandS-and your in
terestS, problems and joys
expand in proportion. The
entire spectrum of life con-
Germs you. You are inter
ested in what the situation
is now, and what the future
will be like, too. You want
to know what kind of world
your children will inherit.
TALKING to Dan Hamady
the other day, we were sud-
denly struck with the SINH
larity between governments
and people, in this respect.
do you know" Dan said,
that of the 2 billion 7 hun
dred million people in the
world, over 2 billion are liv-
ing in Squalor, filth and dis
ease, and that they have a
per capita income of less
than $85 a year?"
There was a time, not too
long ago, when a Govern
ment official, such as Mr..
Hamady, would have had
very little interest in how
the rest of the world lived.
Before World War I, the
country was still in the
process of growing up. We
had our own problems. We
wanted to be left alone. Like
the teen-ager we were then,
we wanted to live our own
life. We thought of older ma
tions as stuffy, staid, square
and to be pitied a bit-just
as all kids think of older
folks.
AS a Nation, we became
engaged at the time of World
War 1. In World War II, the
Nation was married. And its
universe has been expand
ing ever since.
MR.. HAMADY was talking
about those 2 billion people
again.
They want to live like
humans" he said.
They want food to eat.
"They want a roof over
their head.
They see their lives pass
ing by, and they have no
place to turn but their Gov
ernment. They are restless,
and who can blame them?
If their Government doesn't
improve conditions, they will
turn to another system.
In their dire predicament,
these 2 billion human beings
are looking for results. The
governments and the people
are all in the same boat. If
life is not made worth living,
they'll all sink together. This
is where the threat to world
peace exists"
-
AS HEAD OF THE Inter-
national Housing Division OF
the Housing and Home FL
nance Agency, Dan Hamady
has been close to a basic is
sue in the worldwide awak-
ening of peoples hopes for a
better life.
To many Americans, hous-
ing is thought of in terms Of
ever-increasing numbers oi
automatic g adg ts, bath
rooms, and other taken-for-
granted amenities. But tt
many of two-thirdS of the
worlds population, even oul
fast disappearing lum'
would be a luxury.
y 4
DAN HAMADY believe!
that housing is the world!
most important need righ
now.
1T can be a lever on men,
minds" he says, "and w
must never forget that it il
mems minds that make th'
world we live in. In my opin
ion, it's the key to having
the kind of democratic worlC
all people would prefer i