Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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GRADUATION ESSAYS A PANEL ON DEMOCRACY THE PRIVILEGES OF LIVING IN A DEMOCRACY David Purdy This year, since our country, in its conflict with communism, is at a crucial stage in its survival as a democratic nation, and since the present condition is a further test for democracy as a government, we three, selected for graduation parts, decided to present our es- says in the form of a panel discus- sion on democracy. We shall try to bring out not only the superiority of the democratic form of govern- ment over other forms, but that as an ideal it is still not completely realized. Originating in certain Grecian states where the method resembled our town meetings rather than our modern representative government and where the right to vote was limited to specific classes, the democratic ideal has persisted de- spite repression and scorn and has shone most brightly when other forms of rule have become intol- erable. For one hundred and sixty years, the United States has main- tained a democracy which, despite its faults, still upholds its ideal of equality. In observing an unbiased, factual history of the United States as a democratic nation, and com- paring it with the history in almost all other countries during the same period, one must realize that dem- ocracy has given the American people exceptional growth, stability, and peace. First of ail a democracy works on the basis that freedom is the foundation for all society, and in order to live successfully, citizens must have certain inalienable rights. Perhaps our civil rights will have more meaning if we think of them as privileges that would be denied us by a totalitarian state. In such a government force and coercion are employed and the people are taught above all else obedience and submission to the state; a democracy, on the other hand, cherishes its traditional liberties --freedom of speech and of the press, of religion without fear of government intervention, thefreedomtoform ideas indepen- dently, and above all the right to criticize. V 7 e may speak freely of the policies of our government and the way it is run even in wartime, provided, of course, our words can not be used as we?oons by an enemy . Speaking of traditional free- doms, an interesting situation came up recently when communists in New York and other American cities held their traditional May Day parades bearing signs urging revolution and strikes. Walter 1

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THE FACULTY Front row, left to right: Miss Brown, Mr. Chadbourne, Mr. Orcutt, Mr. Whipple, Mr. Riley, Mr. Tozer, Miss Whitney. Second row: Miss Blodgett, Miss Allen, Mrs. Lord, Mrs. Nitardy, Miss Manzer, Miss Cogswell, Miss Machaj, Miss Woolley. Back row: Mr. Burgess, Mr. Dorr, Mr. Mudge. iv

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Winchell made a comment on this which all citizens would do well to ponder. He simply said: What do they think gives them the right to parade? In a democracy the people, possessing control of all that be- longs to the state, have a direct voice in laws made. Ours is a government by the consent of the governed, limited only by the fact that laws enforced must accord with the wishes of the majority which, though not always sound, over a period of time are corrected and work out to the advantage of the people. In a democratic nation such as ours, more social, economic, and political freedoms are enjoyed than under any other type of govern- ment. A democracy must begin in education-development for adult responsibilities in a democratic state, for in order to succeed, a democracy must be made up of mature persons whose judgments are sound. What an advantage the Ameri- can student has over students in totalitarian states! In those na- tions students are taught what to think rather than how to think. Schools are militarized. The pur- pose of our schools is to educate the youth for participation in a democratic society; therefore students are allowed and taught to form ideas independently and, as Tennyson put it, “ To follow knowledge like a sinking star Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.” Here we realize that a democracy has the advantage over other governments where education is limited to that knowledge only which will benefit the State. An American may choose his own work. He may go into any field of his liking. He may join any political party and no other organ- izations are forbidden to him, and finally his religious faith, the re- sult of his ability to form ideas independently, is of his own choos- ing. A democracy stops just short of socialism by its extensive social security system, but at the same time allowing heavy competition in business, creates a higher standard of living, keeps currency in cir- culation, and makes our employ - ment record the best in the world. Furthermore our political privileges number far more. Minorities, for example, not only have voice but also definite in- fluence. Even our two major par- ties have liberties not exercised abroad- -among them extensive ad- vertising and large expenditures. However, under other governments strict censorship on party move- ments is employed. The youth, therefore, whose job it is to keep democracy rolling can ' t help but realize that democracy offers society the best standard of living; stability, security, the freedom to make a profit, and above all, the freedom from fear of the govern- ment ' s interfering in a citizen ' s personal affairs . The United States comprises only three million square miles of the world; but 2