February 1943
43
Significance of the*News By DAN GILBERT Washington, D. C., and San Diego, California
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fought the Indians side by side with their men-folk, helped to till the soil and conquer the wilderness, while all the time they were keeping the home fires burning, never slfirking their obligation to posterity. Today, a new standard for women is being raised: It is a standard of usefulness to the nation. What counts now is what woman is doing in shops and factories, to increase production on the farms, and—most important of all—to train the citizens of tomor row in the homes of the nation. FALSE THINKING: • It was only a few years ago that a famous educator said, “The purpose of education is to t e a c h youth to doubt.” An educator making such a statement today would run heavy risk of being branded a fifth columnist. We have learned in this crisis the destructive power of doubt. Doubt of our government, of our allies, of our leaders, is the g r e a t e s t obstacle to unity and victory. Unity lies in affirmation, not nega tion; in faith, not doubt; in trust', not suspicion. The most worthless and useless m e n t a 1 equipment that a young man can bring into the army is a highly developed capacity for doubt. FALSE IDEALS: • Higher education, so-called, h a s failed to equip youth with the intel lectual and moral qualities needed in time of national crisis. A soldier, above all else, needs to know how to die. This is one thing that is not taught in modern secular universi ties. Moreover, a soHier needs to know how to obey, to carry out orders. But modern education has been exclusive ly concerned with teaching youth how to “think for himself,” to “live his own life,” to “express himself.” The army has no place for those who are laws unto themselves, and are dedi cated to the pursuit of “self-expres sion.” Our psychologists and educators have warred for a generation against the teaching of discipline, of self- denial, of obedience. They have told us that these things should be su perseded by a "do - as - you - please,” “take-what-you-want” standard of life and conduct. Today, that popular practice is threatening the cause of victory.
FALSE VALUES: • The crisis through which America is passing is doing much to sweep away the false values which have be come an ingrained part of our pat tern of life. In times of stress and strain, accepted values are weighed in the b'a l a n c e and subjected to searching test; that which is dross and counterfeit is ruthlessly revealed. An American leader in 1776 penned the famous phrase, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Thpse days are here. They are a l s o the times that test and reveal the true nature of men and of institutions. Today, we are coming to realize how false and vain have been many of the standards, values, and even ideals to which the masses of our peo ple have been committed in the past generation. We are coming to see how worthless and futile have become many of the things which we were led to prize and esteem most highly. Fe* a generation, we were led to think «f success and achievement in terms of ease and comfort, rather than toil and sacrifice. Personality was more highly evalu ated than character. Thick and ex pensive books were written on the subject of how to have a magnetic personality, how to have charm, how to be a financial and social success. Few books were written, and fewer were sold, on the subject of how to have character: how to be loyal, hon est, and true. Today, we are seeing that Uncle Sam has less use for highly developed personalities than for other qualities. What is required of soldiers and ci vilians alike is the kind of character which is always true, always loyal, always sacrifical in the cause of God and country. / FALSE STYLES: • For a generation, the popular fal lacy was cultivated that the highest calling of women was to be “glam orous,” to attain poise and grace, to learn to Wear clothes attractively. The movie colony and the colleges seemed to join in the conspiracy to set up this false standard for women. The idea that women should make themselves useful was secondary. But today the women of America are re turning to the paths w h i c h their grandmothers trod. W o m e n had a vital part in building America. Women crossed the plains in covered wagons,
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FALSE POLICIES: • We are paying the price today for having substituted the goal of secu rity for that of character in the lives of our people. We endeavored to plan life in terms of personal happiness, rather than the performance of per sonal and national duty. We have invested billioqs of dollars in highways, which cannot now be traveled extensively. We h a v e in vested hundreds of. millions in vaca- tionlands, which cannot now be vis ited by many. A few years ago, our planners of prosperity were advocating the ob jective of “ a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage.” A little later, a new group of pros perity propagandists came into power. Their slogan Was: “The more abun dant life.” But they did not mean it in a spiritual sense. Instead, they conceived of the more abundant life in terms of luxuries for all, a five- day working week, vacations with pay, etc. All the schemes for building per petual prosperity have long since ex ploded. As a nation, our position to day would be different had we sought Christ, instead of wealth; character, instead of pleasure; faith, instead of doubt; the path of obedience and sac rifice, rather than that of self-indul gence and ease. • A drastic readjustment in American life is urgently needed. What have been called “modern” ways and stand ards of life must be suspended in favor of older and sounder procedures. There must be a plan for victory at home, as well as on the foreign battle fronts. An army would win few- bat tles unless it had a master, over-all plan ot action. In civilian life, we must find and carry out such a plan. [Continued on Page 77] THE RETURN TO SANITY AND STABILITY:
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