The Nations) Disease

The Nations) Disease

I hereby refer to a disease, which slowly but surely is sweep* ing this great United States of America and which eventually , may throttle it unless something it done about it.

This disease has two distinct Stages. The firSt is “don’t-give-*. damn-ism,” and the second is “when-do-I-get-mine-ism.”

We are a peace-loving people. We have been educated to look down on other peoples who cannet control their own destinies 'by democratic means. We abhor the word “revolution" and “civil war."

As a matter of fact, we have become such a law-abiding nation that we hate to carry a gun. Have you seen the number of stories about draft dodgers in the metropolitan cities these days? It’s disgraceful!

Many of our people seem to have completely forgotten their heritage. They believe that our great democratic processes, individual freedoms and privileges just happened to-be or were bestowed by some divine action. We have forgotten that our fore, fathers fought one of the longest revolutions in history to gain for . us our freedoms. f.. . ..

We have forgotten that later ancestors of ours fought one of the bloodiest eivil wars in history - in orderJto. cement.the states more • tightly together into a unified nation.

We are now beginning to forget that a million of our sons and brothers and relatives have sacrificed their lives in wars in order to uphold the principles of human dignity and freedom which odr ancestors fought to give us.

Here’s an idea of what I mean: Millions of people in other parts of the world look at us in this country with envy because w© have thfright of expression at the ballot box/ The secret vote, the privilege of a free and uncensored vote, is something denied to many millions, as you well know. All around us we can see the example of peoples who are ruled by guns and tanks and not by the ballot box. * •|4B|

But we have had that right and privilege in this country for so '' long that <we • havr taken tt for _granted, and most of us forget its importance and its significance to our daily scheme of things.

According to the best available figures I can find, in the last Presidential election there*were about .95 million people in the United States of voting age. You all know approximately how many voted—48-million, w h i c.h was -about 57 per cent of-the eligible voters.

That means that 43 per cent of our citizens for one reason or another abdicated their right of expression at the polls.

And in odd years, the percentages are even lower than that.

That’s what I mean about “don’t-give-a-damn-ism.” The people just don’t pnderstand what makes this country run. They don’t understand how precious is their , right to vote. They just ’ don’t give a damn about the exercise of their democratic right. They have not been told that it is. a sacred duty as well as a privflegp.

The second symptom of the disease shows up right after the first symptom has made itself manifest.

As soon, as a voter gets the Idea that he had nothing to do ■ with putting the government in Washington, that he has no re. sponsibility for it, then he begins to develop a complex that the government was put there to take care of hint instead of vice versa.

This feeling has prompted jwhat • % is probably the biggest “some_ thing for nothing" game in history. The disease of “when-do-l. get-mine-ism” is very widespread,

you, know.