Henry:

Hadley Cantril sent this to NAR as a stab
at a Preface for the Overall Report.

Am sure that NAR would like your comments
on it.

Nancy

6/20/57

Notes for a Preface

When we review the story of man and watch the strivings of men
and women today, a common theme seems discernable in all human activity:
the attempt on the part of human beings everywhere to create for them-
selves a better environment through which they can carry out their
purposes.

And in all the cultural diversity that has marked the story of
man, the chief purpose for which human beings seem to be aiming is
to protect and to ensure the repeatability of those value satisfactions
which have already proved worthwhile and to experience even greater
value satisfactions in the process of living.

To this end, men and women have created all manner of social and
political forms. Some have proved temporary, others more lasting;
some have turned out to be blind alleys, others have proved useful designs
which have allowed for the possibility of flow and transition to more
effective forms.

Nature is characterized by ceaseless change. Similarly there is
nothing static about human living either for the individual, the group,
or society at large. This is, of course, especially true since the
industrial revolution and has become even more apparent in our own life-
times as technology pours out new methods of production, distribution,
communication, medical care, and the whole host of devices and artifacts
men have created to humanize nature and transform her potential bounties
into benefits for man.

But the psychological, social, political, economic, and ethical
consequences of change and technological development are by no means
predictable. And even when they are, there is a natural hesitancy and

predictable. And even when they are, there is a natural heftiness and
consequences of change and technological development are by no means
But the behavioral, social, political, economic, and ethical
into penalties for men.

men have created to humanize nature and transform per potential penalties
communication, medical care, and the whole host of devices and artifacts
times as technology bounces out new methods of production, distribution,
industrial revolution and we become even more abherent in our own life-
or society at large. This is, of course, especially true since the
nothing static about human living either for the individual, the group,
Nature is characterized by ceaseless change. Similarly there is
affective forms.

which have allowed for the possibility of flow and transition to more
some have turned out to be blind alive, others have proved useful designs
political forms. Some have proved temporary, others more lasting;
To life and, men and women have created all manner of social and
value satisfactions in the process of living.

which have already proved worthwhile and to experience even greater
to protect and to ensure the rebatissability of those values satisfactions
man, the chief burpore for which human beings seem to be aiming in
And in all the cultural diversity that has marked the story of
burpores.

selves a better environment through which they can carry out their
the attempt on the part of human beings everywhere to create for them-
and women today, a common theme seems discernible in all human activity:
When we review the story of man and watch the strivings of men

Notes for a Preface

9/50/23

reluctance to change old and tried forms for new arrangements which
prophets and experts may advise to meet the changing conditions which
men themselves are helping to create.

A most important consequence of the well-nigh breathtaking
change which characterizes modern life is the change in the aspirations
of people everywhere, particularly those people who learn of the potential
satisfactions modern civilization can provide but which they themselves
are not experiencing. Unfulfilled aspirations create frustrations.
And while frustration is a normal, healthy, and necessary part of living,
as everyone knows, when it becomes too intense or too prolonged then
the social, economic and political forms within which it occurs will be
seen as shackles which confine rather than ties which bind. And then
revolt often for its own sake transpires.

For men must have a faith to live by -- a faith that they and
their children will be able to experience more of the satisfactions
of life which they see are out there to be experienced if conditions
seem to be changing in predictable directions and keep providing in-
creased opportunities.

Unless hopes are at least occasionally confirmed in experience,
faith is lost. And when faith is lost men and women are bound to
search for new faiths, often grabbing will-o'-the-wisp solutions which
they feel will hold a promise of allaying their anxieties.

For the values that characterize man and that are referred to by
abstract terms such as "treth," "love," "justice," "freedom," or
"charity" only become real for a person if he can experience in the
on-going concreteness of his own living what these values refer to.
Otherwise they are meaningless.

And history also seems to show us that those social forms which
endure and offer the possibility of evolving into more adequate forms
are those which allow human beings to feel that they themselves are
participants in the creation of values, that they themselves have some
choice in the matter, that values are not imposed.

What we call "democracy" seems therefore to be a system of social
organization which has its very roots in the nature of man himself.

But democracy loses its meaning and becomes functionless unless
it constantly adapts itself to changing conditions, forever seeking
new ways by means of which people in organized societies can maintain
confidence that the values they cherish because of the satisfactions
they bring can be protected and that the further value satisfactions
they hope for will not prove hopeless.

For this reason it seemed to us worthwhile to bring together a
group of men and women who had shown some concern about the adjustments
democracy must make, particularly democracy as we know it in the
United States. Since the most crucial changes that seem required at
the present stage of world history are those which deal with the forms
of human relations between nations, we have given particular stress to
this problem as it is reflected in political, economic, social, and
ethical problems of organization and purpose.

(From here on some description of the rationale of the panel
setup, the nature and range of the problem areas discussed -- their
interrelation and interdependence, specific purposes, goals, etc.)