The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-03-08


1ngs from nine to five whether
We are in production. distribu-
ton. or consumption activities.
Economics is the sum total of
The practices by which man
cares for his material welfare
and. lest we be accused of ex-
cessive matelialism. we should
say that on the base of his eco
n0mlc productivity rests much
OF mans cultural life in a free,
competitive society. The moral
side OF man. too, is deeply in
vOlved in mans economics. for
ethics comes into play in the
very real way in which the
moral restraints act as COVER
nors on consuming greed and
thirst for power. Economics,
then, is such a dominant thread
in all of mans earthly activities
that it most aSsuredly should be
taught in the public schools.
The teaching of economics has
been sadly neglected in the
American school yste m. The
Opinion Research Corporation in
1860 ina poll Of high school SEN
iors found: -
Eighty two per cent believ-
ed riiOnopOlieS are the rule
in Americas major indus
tries.
SiXty-One per cent think
the profit system is not es-
sential to the survival of our
way of life.
Sixty-0ne per cent don't
understand that productivity
is the key to rising living
standards.
Sixty per cent favor strong
government action to guar
antee jobs.
To say that these statistics
represent a basic msconcepton
OF the characteristics of our en-
terpriSe system is to express it
mildly.
When we realize that nation
ally 80 per cent of our children
finish the eighth grade. and only
% per cent complete four years
OF high school the retention
rate* in Richmond for the year
196o-6l through four years of
high school was 40 per cent, we
can see that unless economics is
taught in the public school sys-
tenn, economic iliteracy is irevi-
table. Lest we be downhemted
in Richmond, it must be said
that nationally 43 per cent of the
high school graduates go on to
a senior or junior college, where
as in our city this figure was
54.8 per cent, a respectable diff
ferential indeed in our favor.
With the government interven-
ing today in so many facets of
economic activity the need for
economic lteracy in our exer-
else of the voting franchise is
imperative.
*The retention rate is af-
fected by pupils who move from
the city or transfer to private
schools as we'll as by drop-outs.
The Russian challenge-much
discussed today, and properly
so-ls to be dreaded not only in
its military aspects but equally,
and perhaps more so, IN its eco
nomic implications. The emer-
gence of Russia as a great pow
er is one of those counterpoises
IN history which l accept. With
out attempting to be a Polly
anna, have often though. that
IN the absence of some great
and challenging power, America.
for all its humanity and for all
the generosity of its national
spirit, could well be too much
the cock Of the walk, lacking
challenge worthy of its steel.
You will note that l said "wor-
thy of its steel" l do believe
the Russian challenge nilitarily,
ideological1y and economically is
a powerful challenge. Khrush-
chev has said that he will
"bury" us. I doubt the truth of
this statement If our moral fiber
and our n tional will stays
strong. believe deeply in the
productivity of free men, but in
order that this productivity may
be exercised, we have to be ever
on guard for our freedoms = to
repeat, the greatest blessing on
this earth.
Not many sections of America
have had enacted so close to
them as have we in Richmond
the great drama of Communist
economies. The lonists at
Jamestown tried and abandoned
one of its central tenets after
manifest failure. Following
brief trial the plan of ITO each
according DO his need and from
each according to his ability"
was abolished in 1917. From
then on as the tiny colony be-
gan to show marked progress,
the rule was that everyone had
to depend on his own labor and
the freely given compassion of
his neighbor in times of adver-
sity. When the colonistS first
started contributing to COM
mon storehouse, they observed
that fewer and fewer contribut-
ed and more and more remained