
Excerpt from The 1939 Legenda We have a choice of two large fields in which to work. There is the prob lem of setting our own house in order, which means taking an interest in our national government, and in furthering the democratic ideal of America by acting as progressive citizens. Or we can turn our eyes abroad, endeavour ing to reach a solution to the international tan gle - a solution which is neithera blind insistence on maintaining an unjust status quo, nor a solution which discards the basic ideals and standards governing human relationships. We do not have to solve the problems. We can pass them on to Other generations. But the best that is in us, the ideals which we own, demand that we face our problems squarely and take forward steps. We must seek the solu tion. College men and women as a whole realize that war is never a solution, but we are often surprised to find that few people outside our circles share that conviction. -it is up to us to counteract mob psychology; our reason can and must control our emotion. When we entered college in the fall of 1935, all four classes consisted of war babies, born between the years of 1914 and 1918. Today in Russia, Germany, France and England - throughout the world, they are mobilizing those war babies, our contemporaries, our potential friends or our potential enemies. We do not wish to kill them; we do not even wish to hate them. For, wherever educated humanity exists, there live the seeds of common ambitions and ideals. To share those ideals and to spread them, in sincere cooperation, is better than to fight for them. Men die for eternal ideals; they live for passing and material ones. It is much better that we should choose to live for those eternal ideals which we have in common with all educated youth. We are a world minority, trained to be leaders in thought and action. It is our profound hope that in the face of selfishness, cowardice and sloth, we can be generous, brave and tireless. In June,
Page Count:
216
Publication Date:
2017-11-08
ISBN-10:
0260535370
ISBN-13:
9780260535375
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!