Have you any pet aversions? I have. When I was a child my underclothes always seemed full of holes or ripped at the seams. And I cherished the secret ambition to grow up someday and become sufficiently opulent to maintain a large assortment of comfortable unmentionables. If the Townsend Plan ever gets working, I still hope to realize this ambition.Whenever I hear anyone accuse another of having an inferiority complex my mental nose begins to wiggle like a rabbit's. That term has been used so loosely that its meaning has been twisted into the exact opposite of its true interpretation. Beware of the noisy fellow who mops up the surrounding atmosphere with a dominating personality; he is usually the type who is so afraid of not holding his own among his fellowmen, that he used a fog horn to attract attention to himself. Quietness may indicate judiciousness, and hence superiority. Bla-bla merely conceals inadequacy.
In our world of competitive merchandise, the greatest hire and fire agent is the ultimate consumer. A customer judges a product solely on price and quality. If either of these elements do not suit him he casually fires the product, without inquiring who is to blame. Now who is actually to blame? In every product there are three powerful influences: management, finance and labor. These three are absolutely indispensable to each other: if one fails, they all sink. So why in the name of common sense can't they get together in their common interest? Isn't it silly the way first one and then another of the triumvirate attempts some scheme to gain temporary advantage over the other, resulting in a confused emotional mess. We need more of the spirit of the 'Three Musketeers'; one for all, and all for one.
After all, what is sanity? It is censorship of emotions. We cannot escape being emotional critters.--At least, I hope we never shall. But when emotions get out of bounds, we become pathetic. Europe is in the throes of emotional stress which makes whole nations subject to the caprice of a few ballyhooers. England and Scandanavia are unique in showing signs of self control, but they are unfortunate in being geographically near those loaded bombs. We in the United States are sufficiently isolated not to fear this menace so keenly. But those who witnessed the transition of public opinion in Wilson's second administration have no illusions as to the passionate extremes this country is capable of when we think we are insulted. I wonder if any neutral nation will ever achieve the idealistic attitude of complete isolation, non-resistance, and estimating the frightful cost of revenging a hurt pride, before we send our sons to slaughter.
Those who seek the answers to great questions more often than not make them even more complicated. That is exactly what is going on in Washington right now. Every one of the grandiose plans and schemes which flourish there are predicated on the assumption that times have changed, and the old rules don't apply any more. But they fail to take into account the fact that human nature has not changed. If evils existed under the old regime because of selfishness, a new governmental bureau will supplant the offenders' functions. Don't be fooled, there is nothing more selfish or unconscionable than a government bureau. They have no spur of responsibility for their failures, and their greatest aim is self-perpetuation. Why? Because human nature does that to people when they are not goaded by competition.
Let's stick to checks and balances.
