It is so still In the Country A distant cow-bell echoes, faint and far It is so dark— The trees cast heavy shadows in the lane, There is no sleep In the City The purring motors scud along the road, It is so bright Night's velvet robe of blue, with many a gem Stillness and clamor, darkness and lights ablaze; -CHARLOTTE F. BABCOCK. Education For World Peace RALPH B. GUINNESS Girls Commercial High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. THE AIM: EDUCATION FOR CULTURAL DEMOCRACY I FOREWORD T seems unlikely that we can have Peace among nations when Peace doesn't prevail among individuals of one nation. Machinery for peace cannot function on a foundation of individual mental wars. When people dislike each other, such dislikes constitute mental wars. When we dislike people, we exclude them from our ac........................quaintance. Our antipathy acts as a self-defense mechanism of self-preservation. We fear a lowering of, or injury to our tones, standards, dignity, prestige, power, self-possession or self-control. We antagonize the unliked person by our exclusion. We may increase the antagonism by words, or actions, which may lead to physical violence. The other person, also suffering from an inferiority complex, may say the dislike is mutual. Of course, when we have an aversion for a person, we usually become fearful of an attack; or when we have excluded a person, we have done so out of fear of injury to our personality. Exclusion is an anti-social or undemocratic act. Fear is an irrational act. When we dislike because of an inferiority complex, or because of a prejudice, or lack of true understanding of the other fellow, we are not rationally minded. People dislike each other only when they fear, or do not understand one another. If we try to rationalize ourselves, we probably shall not fear, and so, shall not, by our social exclusions and dislikes, prevent human unity and co-operation within a nation. We also define such dislikes as being born of undemocratic, or irrational mentalities. The primary task of Education for Peace sems to be to teach individuals within each nation not to form dislikes and so, to be rational. Rational people of one nation would neither fear nor dislike those of another. Rational people probably would not permit nations to again stumble into war. In the following dissertation on Cultural Democracy we explain why people need not, and should not, have dislikes? If education can introduce this rational psychology into individual life, we believe it will permeate and rationalize international life and bring Permanent Peace. CULTURAL DEMOCRACY In his book on modern essays, William James, speaking on the "Social Values of the College-Bred" says "Real culture lives by sympathies and admirations, not by dislikes and disdains; under all misleading wrappings it pounces unerringly upon the human core." He says we dislike people and things for certain tones, or standards, which we consider inferior to certain high absolute standards. This is a fine statement; but to ask people to love sympathy is not enough; it is not efficacious. We must convince people that this real culture should be adopted, or practiced, because of a moral obligation to be intelligent. Real culture is Democratic Rational Mindedness: First knowing the absolute truth, and then judging and acting fairly, truly or rationally. The popular culture of dislikes or disdains is irrational. People do not consider the causes of the tones or standards that are disliked. They are not cultured, broadminded or intelligent. The acme of intelligence is correct, fair and just thought, which is Rationalism. Such a viewpoint, included within one's culture, being fair, just, sympathetic, and tolerant, is synonymous with the libertarian philosophy of Democracy. A thing or person may have an ugly, disgusting or inferior tone, or standard, not approximating an aesthetic idea or ideal, which we may think we approximate, or, which we do. But our Aestheticism becomes an excluding anti-social Aestheticism when we reject other persons from our circle of friends; when we dislike, disdain, hate or snub them; when we draw into seclusion for self-preservation of what we claim to be better culture; when we do all these things without a fair, scientific investigation of the causes of inferior tones, or standards or per sons. When we dislike, we go on the defensive. We put the other forces on the defensive in retaliation. One of us in our dislike, hate and prejudice makes mental judgment and attack or war on the other. A judgment may often be a mental violence. One can just as easily hurt a person, or inflict suffering by a mental act, as well as by a physical act. That is clearly mental violence. That also occurs when one's judgment infers wrongdoing on the other's side, or arrogates superiority to oneself. In any case the feelings of the other are attacked or hurt. If that person is rational, and of a well-bred culture that sympathizes with human failings, he will be merciful and pity the former person. If the person against whom judgment is rendered is not rational and philosophical, he will not pity. He will become angry and violent, a sign, of course, of an inferiority complex. He may reciprocate a mental attack, or institute a physical one in "self-defense." The first person would be equally responsible for the physical war that followed. As nations are but individuals acting collectively, we see how the above described irrational individual psychology underlies national fears, hatreds and prejudices. It is this psychology which condones the necessity of Rival Nationalism competing in Peace and War for Power lest a nation be dominated and exploited through its lack. Judgments often bear the aspects of violence because we are all too automatic and undemocratic in our likes and dislikes, judging irrationally, without inquiry into all the facts. We judge superficially on the external appearances of inferior tones or standards. Democracy should have high standards, but its highest are aesthetic standards. These are sympathy and tolerance, which are Aestheticism, or Beauty, or Intel ligence in themselves. We postulate that Intelligence is Beauty, because it is a well-ordered and harmonious, rational state of mind. An intelligent mind would be Humane, courageous and socially constructive and not violent to another. As a converse, we say that emotions of fear, hate, prejudice, contempt and disgust are ugliness (violence) themselves. No intelligent person would be subject to such; an intelligent or rational person "knowing all, would excuse all." Therefore ugly emotions would not arise, because ugly, false thoughts, not being present, could not create these impulses. If our individual life were thus more sanely organized, we should expect its influence to permeate nations. Isn't it absurd to dislike some person or thing considered by many people to be perfectly good? We should prefer persons and things relatively and not absolutely dislike things or persons. They may be better than our standards or ourselves. If we investigate, we know the truth and causes; we cannot dislike or disdain, if we have a rational understanding or a mind of cultural democracy. In such a mind, neither violence, unfairness nor autocratic dislike would be present. To us, Cultural Democracy means Rationality. For example: if we are rational in our judgments, we are not dogmatic and autocratic. Democracy really seems more than a philosophy; it appears to be the psychology of fair, just, and correct thinking. That is the science of right thinking; that is also culture and rationalism. A mind of Cultural Democracy is well-bred, sympathetic and tolerantly intelligent. A wellbred person hasn't any basic assumption of dislikes; he is not likely to be autocratic or exclusive in his judgments. It will be tolerant, sympathetic, fair and refined. A democratic viewpoint would be inclusive of all people and things though adhering, as part of oneself, to the highest aesthetic, refined standards. The acme of culture is to be democratic, tolerant, sympathetic, merciful. |