North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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THE GOBBLER-1947 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL These same methods of undermining from within have already drawn, one by one, the weaker nations of Europe behind the Iron Curtain of communism. It took a mere handful of revolutionists to overthro w the Russian czar and raise the red flag over Russia. What the communists lack in numbers they make up in determination and zeal. This must be evident, for they are a decided minority in Russia itself and in every one of the Red puppet states they now rule so ruthlessly. Every communist is a potential enemy of the United States and we cannot afford to ignore the menace. No one can fail to be aware of the communist invasion of our country. We cannot fight communistic propagandists with their own weapons of deceit because we believe in justice and liberty. Nevertheless, it is our duty and our right to meet the challenge of communism with active loyalty, understanding, determination, and unity, and if we do so, no party or nation on earth can ensnare us. James L. Greenler SALUTATORY ESSAY Democracy I N THE early days of this country the word democracy was suspect. Not even Jefferson, the revered saint of the great Democracy Party today, used the term. But as the years rolled on, the word came into general use, grew to be a part of our political vocabulary, and by some unconscious alchemy on the part of the public was transformed into a sacred rallying cry. Now, like most national slogans, it was accepted and enshrined in every patriotic heart, but few, were they asked, could define it. All, without any conscious analysis, knew that it meant political equality. All knew that no man or group of men, at least in theory, enjoyed any superior political rights over any other man or group of men. With the mounting insecurity throughout the world caused by the cyclic periods of depressions that systematically made the rich richer and the poor poorer, the emphasis on economic freedom as an essential element of democracy became more pronounced. The word democracy was held to be a sham if it meant only the right of all men to vote once a year and to live in want or baleful insecurity for the rest of the time. Then with the advent of World War II and the grotesque bed-fellowship that international politics made of the United States and Soviet Russia, the word democracy suffered a rare sea-change. Red Russia, stigmatized by Roose¬ velt as a brutal dictatorship, vaunted itself as Twentieth Century democracy. In a world where a word as sacred as democracy is to us has fallen into such confusion and double-talk it is time to make some attempt at definition if we wish to free ourselves from a political Babel of chaos. Here in the United States we hold that democracy must contain the idea of political and economic freedom for all. But we insist that democracy is more than any set form of government or disposition of offices. It is and it must be a suffusing and vivifying spirit. 17

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THE GOBBLER-1947 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORY ESSAY Communism is Un-American RLL true Americans believe in America and in the freedoms, ideals, and tradi- l-l tions America upholds. All true Americans hate that which in any way belittles these traditions, robs them of these freedoms, or destroys these ideals. But to hate such a foe of democracy, Americans must first be able to recognize this foe. Many Americans consider communism only a political or economic system. They believe that communists sincerely offer their theories as a panacea for humanity’s present economic troubles. But this concept of communism is wrong because it is only part of the truth. Not only does communistic government have absolute control over everything economic and political, but it also controls and dictates all man’s personal and social relations, including his marriage, his education, his thoughts and his religion. This is not surprising, since communism is a religion in itself, based on atheism and a denial of man’s God-given rights. The religion of communism has materialism as its god, Stalin as its high priest, Lenin and Trotsky as its prophets, and its enemies are all those, like you and me here tonight, who love and cherish the freedoms we are enjoying under our Constitution, founded on a belief in God and in man’s natural rights. We cannot be half communist and half constitutionalist. These ideologies will not mix. Their very foundations and principles contradict one another. If communism triumphs, Americanism will die. If America becomes darkened by the shadow of the red flag of communism, the American principles will fade into obscurity. President Washington never feared the foe from without, but he did express grave fears that some day we might bring about our own destruction through internal decay. In this country now communists are inflicting despotism upon us and trying to make us believe that Americans can be communists. Our form of government has survived to this date because it has recognized the dignity of man and the supreme power of God Almighty. Communism does not feed and grow and expand upon prosperity, but it does thrive and fatten upon decadent nations, undermined from within by treachery. There has come an admission from Washington that communism has entered into the innermost councils of our government. It has saturated the Depart¬ ment of State, the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce. It has been the hidden hand behind countless wage disputes and sabotage of man power, spreading dissatisfaction among our citizens against our present form of government by malicious propaganda. In 1943 a sedition case involving the activities of a group of communists came before the Court of Appeals. It showed the entire communist allegiance to the 4th International, complete disloyalty to America—even during the war—and the intent to overthrow this government by force and to establish a one party regime. It also revealed the shrewd and dangerous methods they intended to use for the accomplishment of their purposes. 16

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THE GOBBLER-1947 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL In our American system this spirit is embodied in the first ten amendments to the Constitution and is part of the basic law of the land. After the framers of the Constitution had defined the rights, the powers, and the duties of the Legis¬ lature, the Executive, and the Judiciary; after they had struck the balance between state and federal functions, and had reconciled the differences and composed the jealousy between the big and the little states, the rights of the governmental units were clear. But the rights of the individual citizens were undefined and unguaranteed. Hence the founding fathers immediately added the first ten amendments. Pre-eminent among these rights were the four freedoms. First is the freedom of religion. Under a democracy we have the precious gift of worshiping whomever we believe in. We are not forced to avow allegiance to any tyrannical ruler. Second is the freedom of press, a freedom which is little appreciated by those who practice it, but a cherished dream of those for whom it is abrogated. Third is the freedom of assembly, practiced to its highest extent in our New England government by the town meeting. But by our apathetic views toward government we often lose sight of this main pillar of democracy. And last is the freedom of petition, probably the least understood and least practiced freedom of democracy. This freedom taken from us could mean the difference between democracy and Hitlerism. These were the first and best expressions of the spirit of democracy. Why does the state not have the power to take away these rights and still be called a democracy? It is because these rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happi¬ ness were given to all men by their Creator. Germany, unlike the United States, began as a feudalistic region divided amongst many kings. Here the seed of democracy had poor soil to grow in. The people served not their government, but their lords and masters. As Germany merged into a more united nation, this idea of superiority of the few and inferior¬ ity of the many was carried from generation to generation. The modern Ger¬ many is still an excellent example of an undemocratic government. The free¬ doms of religion, press, assembly and petition were abrogated for the rank and file of the people. A few avaricious men took control of a tired Germany. They built their government upon greed, ignorance and propaganda. Merely the retaining of these four freedoms could have made Germany a respectful nation. This basic reason for the differences between democracy and fascism and imperialism may be traced in Russia’s, Italy’s and Japan’s histories as in Germany’s. We must also note that all the nations assuring- their people democracy have been peace-loving nations, whereas the dictatorships and other forms of governments have been chronic aggressors. It is because they do not have this spirit of equality and justice. They are oblivious to other nations’ needs and wants because of their own greed. Here lies the basic and essential differences between democracy and any other form of government. In a democracy the people are citizens, not subjects; the government is their creature, not their master. 18 Robert G. Blanchette