Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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We refer to a much higher sense of humor. Its quality and value are graphically illustrated in the following anecdote, taken from the first American address of Lord Halifax. A London woman, warned to leave her house because of a time bomb lying close by, declared, 'The landlord has tried to turn me out, the bailiffs have tried to get me out, l'll be blessed if l-litler's going to do itll' Can people with such spirit be defeated? As long as a nation can be cheerful about the darker side of life, there is no need to worry about their courage. We know, then, that the ability to smile is healthful, just as morbidity is dangerous. From morbid gloom are bred discontent, hatred, revolution. Any nation whose mind is in this state is going to crumble at the first hint of pressure. Someone once said, trying to cheer the hearts of the people, Let us look at the well as though it were half-full, instead of half-empty. Would not that be a good motto for us to choose as the first point in our philosophy? Let us maintain our sense of humor, let us always see a little of the sunny side, no matter how difficult the road. In the second place, the issue of democratic tolerance, in a nation built on democratic principles, will forever be important. We have, to a certain extent, created the America of which the writers of the Constitution dreamed. All races, creeds, and colors work side by side in our industries, on our farms. Despite this, a new problem has arisen. lt is the problem of our economic sanity, For years, the almighty dollar has reigned supreme as the god and goal of the American people. For years, the bank-book, not intelligence, nor character, nor leadership, has been the admission ticket to the various circles of American social life. lt has been the master key which opens the doors to opportunity. This materialistic worship of the dollar sign has spread even to our government. One of the chief reasons for our entrance into this second European holocaust, we are told, is not to help a nation which already owes us millions in war debts, but simply to protect our economic interests in foreign lands. We are, above all, aiding the democracy at home by our intervention. We have finally heard l-litler's solemn promise that he would cut off all our export trade when he won the war. l-low can we, as a country, be tolerant-democratic, when we must constantly see such intolerance, when our vision is constantly distorted by the green of folding money, so that we judge people solely by their bank-books. That hypnotic power wielded by the dollar sign is becoming more evident each passing day. At one time we thought the Standard Oil scandal of the late nineteenth century was the biggest blot on our economic history, but the thousand and one little scandals now being revealed constitute a problem ten times greater. The actions of which we read daily do not speak well for the unity and integrity of our people as a whole. We must surrender the selfish, egocentric idea that wealth counts more in the evaluation of a person than his character, his intelligence, or his personality. Our erroneous train of thought has spread in still another direction. Because of a wave of misguided patriotism, some of us no longer trust many intelligent people who are not citizens. An instance of this came to light at one of our local draft boards. An Armenian immigrant, when registering, revealed these facts: he had studied at the universities of Palermo and Milan, in ltaly, receiv- ing high grades and graduating as a chemist. Yet, because he was not a citizen he could find no employment in this great nation, regardless of his technical training. l-le became discouraged, hungry, desperate. l-lowever, the story has a happy ending. Uncle Sam was only too glad to receive a man with chemical training, and he is now a valuable worker in the Chemical Warfare Division of the United States Army. ' 20

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O CLASS ORATION YOUNG AMERICA LOOKS AHEAD-Robert Paulson As we stand upon the threshold of graduation, the world is in a state of chaos. As we sail out of the sheltered harbor of youth on to the stormy sea of life, the turbulent waves of hatred, conquest, and tyranny strike with driving, wrenching force the shores of all nations, Though we carry with us the best wishes of our parents, teachers, and friends, we must from now on plot our own course. We must decide for ourselves how we are to weather the blustering gales, the howling furies which are now pounding every boundary. What course are we to take? There are those people who believe that we can close our eyes and blissfully sail away, and in time this horrid old world will right itself and take care of us, An appalling number of graduates each year take this attitude. They have not the slightest idea as to what ports they will visit, or what seas they will sail, l-lowever, many graduates do hesitate and investigate the weather conditions before embarking, As they cast a weather eye to the heavens, these graduates behold a sight which causes them to stop, aghast. They behold the war god, Mars, riding across the skies in a flaming chariot, pillaging, murdering, and destroying all those ideals that are fine and decent, all those ideals for which we are to strive as men and women, These graduates behold the great nations of the earth guided by the grasping hands of dictators, who crush all opposition beneath their iron-shod boots as they continue to rescue the world from the horrors of freedom. And yet we are told that we live in a humane, cultured civilization, that we, because we are Americans, have no cause for worry. We must worry! This is not the time for pretty poems, long, glittering generalities, or an air of frivolity. But what are we to do? The development of a unified purpose, a unified philosophy, might be the answer. Consider first this point, if you will, Each of us, whether or not we wish to realize the fact, has a philosophy of life. Governed by our own environment, beliefs, thoughts, and ideals, for each of us this philosophy is slightly different. There are, however, certain ports of every philosophy which are similar. For Americans as a whole, the following four points are perhaps predominant: one, maintenance of the American sense of humor, two, development of tolerance and fellowship, three, an extension of the good work of our parents, four, the preservation of our American democracy. Admittedly, there are many more ideals that might be set forth, but these are offered merely to stimulate thought. Let us first discuss the sense of humor. It is known as the great American attribute, and in the future, more than ever it will be vitally necessary. The term humor should perhaps be defined, Those people who see in the em- barrassment of others a cause for laughter possess a sense of humor, it is true. Those who laugh when someone slips and falls into a convenient puddle have a right to the enjoyment which they may derive from such a spectacle, They have that right, however, only if they wish to exhibit their own ignorance and to debase themselves in the eyes of their friends. We do not advocate that type of humor. I9

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We young people must guard against wrong goals and wrong judgments of success. We must not put the dollar sign before our own happiness. We must not put the desire for personal advancement over the desire for peace and good will. Our school and its teachers have worked for four years to teach us certain thingsi they have tried to teach us how to think-to distinguish right from wrong, they have tried to teach us how to act-to perform our duties without procrastination. ln the nome of all that is right, let us show that we have assimilated those teachings. This country has talked about tolerance for one-hundred-sixty-odd years. Let us in our generation do something about itl Thirdly, our parents have always been imbued with a desire for improvement, as we should be in the future, Although this present adult generation is charged with being responsible for this contemporary chaos, they can, on the other hand, be praised for the rapid developments made in science and industry, for the reforms started in regard to crime, its punishment and preventionj for improved labor conditions, for advances in agriculture, education, and business. Our parents have devoted their lives to raising the moral and cultural level of the youth of this Country, and the least we can do is to respond to and continue their efforts. Lastly, we come to the problem presented by our form of government, There are men who believe that freedom and democracy are relics of the past-that tyranny and oppression are the dictates of the new order. We know that this is not true. President Roosevelt, in his last inaugural address, said, The life ofa nation is the fullness of the measure of its will to live, We have that will, now as never before, We are a nation of individuals, working together for a common cause. We are unhampered by fuhrers, komissars, or duces, who would tell us howto think and act. Our fathers had that will, when many of them gave their lives to make the world safe for democracy, twenty-five years ago. Eighty years ago, in the Civil War, brother fought brother, because each had that will to live. The Free Soilers settling Kansas in l85O had that will. I quote their hymn: We cross the prairies, as of old Our fathers crossed the sea, To make the West, as they the East, The homeland of the free. Our ancestors also had that will to live when they came here from foreign lands to make new and safer homes for their children. We have grown up under the shadow of this heritage. Men and women have fought, bled, and died, in order that we might live. Surely, then, we must include the preservation of democracy in our philosophy. Surely, out of respect to the courageous men and women who have made this country the land of opportunity, we shall struggle to keep it the land of opportunity! Without our democratic way of life the great spirit that is America will perish, and we shall become merely the pawns of fate. The four-point plan which has been presented, it will be seen, centers about just one word, That word is unity. Unity. lt is such a simple word, but what power it contains! With unity as its motto, this nation can become a great and good force, finally turning the world back to the course of peace. And what are we citizens to do to achieve this unity? A quotation from the Essay on Man, of Alexander Pope will answer that question: Act well your part, there all the honor lies. Every one of us, from the newsboy on the corner to the President himself, is only a cog in that great structure which is present-day America. lf each of us does his small part, forgetting the dollar sign, forgetting prejudices, forgetting all else save the preservation of our way of life, then, and then only, by the grace of God, shall we have the America of which we dream. Zl