Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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TIGER ‘43 diers and of released war workers, we shall be faced with the cheerful pro- spect of wholesale unemployment. In this predicament there are two courses: we can put the unemployed on the bread line or at digging ditches, we can hunt around and find odds and ends of jobs as the W.P.A. did, and allow people once again to lean on their shovels and feel frustra- ted and foolish — or we can maintain full production to raise the standard of living of that one-third of our nation which is poorly housed, poor- ly clothed, and poorly fed. “In such public projects,” declares the famed economist Stuart Chase, “room c an be found for all the man power we have available.” Full production, full employ- ment, and a higher standard of living are the peace cry of the nation, and they are attainable together. This is the economic cycle: if we have full employment, we shall have money to purchase goods: if we purchase goods, we shall keep the factories go- ing: if we keep the factories going we shall have full employment and , sim- ultaneously a higher standard of liv- ing — and around and around it goes. It is as simple as that. If the cycle is once started, it will continue to func- tion until one phase of it is impeded. Then the -whole system will break down and put us behind the eight ball — in other words precipitate us into bankruptcy and depression. To attain a higher standard of living would mean somewhat to equalize wealth. Here some people shake their heads dubiously, mutter- ing the dark words “communism. But others envision a “mixed economy” where the government takes the re- sponsibility for full employment, but where businesses, big and little, will share the field. From such an econ- omy, competition for positions on the social step ladder is by no means removed. Stuart Chase puts it this way “Competition would simply be moved to the ground floor. The pen- alty of bad luck, of inadequate educa- tion, of an act of God, of an I. Q. be- low 100, is no longer a breadline, a flophouse or a leap from Brooklyn Bridge. A line is cemeted below which no American need ever go. Competition begins at this base. Citi- zens can still battle for positions in upper stories, namely preferred calls on the output of luxuries. But when losers come tumbling downstairs, they no longer fall into the cellar. They pick themselves up, wipe off the blood, and start over again on the ground floor.” So much for over-all economic changes: but just ' what are some of these projects that will raise the standard of living? Science offers wool from silk and silk from coal: plywoods: plas- tics: rustless steels: bendable glass two-way private radios: furniture 20

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TIGER ‘43 it, “the problem is not to retain for some nations repressed dependencies, but to obtain for all nations the free access to the world’s resources.’’ International cooperation pre- supposes a concert of nations similar to the old League of Nations. All causes of disputes between nations cannot be eliminated. But a dispute can be prevented from developing in- to a war if a society of nations pro- vided with an adequate police organ- ization can enforce peaceful settle- ment. A new league would be pro- vided with better opportunities for peaceful change than its predecessor and would naturally be represented by the United States and eventually by the Axis powers after they have rec eived a just retribution. France, so long a world troublemaker, has, since Napoleon’s downfall and the penal- ties then imposed, lived a decent in- ternational life. Why not Germany after Hitler’s Waterloo and after the cause of discontent, the unstable pol- itical and economic conditions, have been removed. It hardly seems that even the Germans are so impractical that, having been given a degree of security, they would start another revolt merely to satisfy their militar- istic desires. A peaceful solution of the pol- itical delemma then can be accom- plished by changes in international relations. Along with equalization of political opportunities among nations there would naturally follow equal- ization of economic opportunities, and this would mean the breaking down of tariff barriers and the se- curing of free access to markets and to raw materials for all nations. Such are the political and econ- omic changes that will probably be effected among nations if peacemakers desire to secure a just and a fair peace. Within our own country there too will be certain changes toward an equalization of economic and social conditions — “toward the breaking down of class strife and the spread of well-being and security for the individual.’’ Although to some this may sound too idealistic, it is entirely possible if we wish to meet the challenge squarely. For, as “Time’’ phrased it, “in a sprawling and devastated world, America is a treasury of hope.’’ To face a post- war world the United States has enough factories, enough foodstuffs, enough ships, enough airplanes, enough materials and synthetics, and enough projects. But with all these great resouces we shall undoubtedly be faced with mass unemployment in the recon- struction era. While plants are being converted to a peace-time basis, while shortage of civilian goods are bein replaced, and while the ruined cities of Europe are being rebuilt, every- body might be kept busy. What then? With the flood of demobilized sol- 19

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TIGER ‘43 derived from air, water, and coal; packaged houses: television: auto- giros: decentralized cities: air express: new chemicals: and new medical in- ventions so revolutionary that Me- thuselah might at last have some competition. It is interesting to spec- ulate on these future changes. We wonder if delinquent husbands can maintain the atmosphere of the office while communicating to their wives through a two-way radio equipped with television. We can picture Sun- day autogiro jams in the airway with drivers freely insulting one another from two seaters and from family sedans, while beneath them people ' calmly view their antics from front porches. Or will there be front porches in the coming age? Will they too be discarded as decadent? At any rate, it is prophesied that in the home of the future there will be spacious kitchens designed as a simple unit and equipped with pedals to control tap water, mechanical dish water sterilizers, and vertical broilers (to broil steaks — imagine, steaks! — on both sides simultaneously) . There will be refrigerators containing violet- ray compartments for tenderizing meats and an ice-cube ejector worked by turning a crank (a button would be preferable to me) . There will be indirect lighting and a combination of fluorescent and incandescent lamps mounted in a cove two feet from the ceiling to diminish eye strain. Houses will be equipped not only with air conditioning apparatus, but also with ultra-violet ray germ killers. Radiant heating will be prevalent. Walls will be movable: in hot weather the liv- ing room will be extended into the garden: in cold weather 1 suppose the house will be folded up like a tent to make things nice and cozy. These are the changes and achievements we can look forward to. The question is, can America develop a spirit comparable to its physical de- velopments? “Modern man’s strength is greater than his knowledge or his will,’’ thought an aged Midwestern professor. “The vast economic ma- terial body of the world lacks a mind to match it, and is not animated by a commensurate moral spirit.’’ This is America’s choice: a re- newal of past trends and recurrent wars every generation, or an attempt toward physical and spiritual expan- sion to visualize new horizons. Heaven grant that we may win these victories of peace no less renowned than war. 21