Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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4. Y B -745 7'm...nE-L..-ar 54: Z ' iii-Q an-a lallllllllllll S i lffsfim DEMDCIDACY AND EDUCATIUN HE PROGRESS OF civilization has been the story of man's development from isolation to cofopf eration. Primitive man was an individualist. He lived in his own little cave in constant fear of his enemy on the other side of the hill and in mortal terror of anything that existed beyond his own immediate horif zon. Slowly and gradually, however, he learned that safety for the individual was promoted as he learned to cofoperate with others. The desire for self protection was one of the basic movements behind the formation of primitive communities. This idea, however, gradually expanded through various forms of clan and tribal development until the appearance of th.: modern nationfstate. It is conf ceived as one of the functions of our present day social organization that through cofoperation and sharing of common responsibilities and duties, each individual should have a maximum of opportunity to live his own life in the best possible way. The characteristic political organization of the 19th century is an ex' pression of this ideal ffor it has been an ideal rather than an actualityj. Rousseau's philosophy postulated a real degree of freedom for the individf ual in the political forms that we speak of under the general name of democracy. The history of the 19th century is largely the history of the achievement of some form of democratic government, in most of the countries of our western world. It was assumed that a sort of millenium would be achieved when all the adult citizens shared in the government through the franchise and when government itself was made responsible to the people from whom it was assumed the power of government was originally derived. In these latter days, however, our naive faith in democracy has been rudely shattered and it is incumbent upon thoughtful observers to enquire what has happened. The industrial revolution marked the bef ginning of a new type of economic organ' ization. Parallel with the development of the X X forms of political democracy during the last BX 100 years there has developed an economic X oligarchy which has in large measure tended X I to vitiate the potential achievements of def mocracy. Power has been concentrated in L7J' 'Q' fewer and fewer hands and recent investigaf tions in a number of countries have demonf Q strated the extent to which the political scene is controlled from back stage by the economic power. The drive of economic forces, the urge for wider and wider markets ultimately brought the great nations of the world into conflict. It is recognized now that the fundamental Twenty one

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- fA Ff. ...Q-.. -a 8 an 2 -' viii 'E il g: B : : nin a ll eu u n u ll n ax u I f3'E3 ,l llllnllnu S IFATEIH viding the interested one with many hours of highly 'entertaining reading, practical observation and experience. Consider the game of rugby, a major sport of increasing popularity, in which there are twelve different positions, each of individual importance. A player who has studied his own particular assignment by reading and watching the play of experts will gather many valuable bits of information which the ordinary participant cannot possibly do, as well as gain a knowlf edge of the many reasons for certain actions, seemingly useless to the uninitiated. By so doing, he will become completely familiarized with his position, gain greater confidence and will analyze his opponent's every move, thus increasing his interest in the game. The hobby of athletics is by no means confined only to the athlete, as the nonfparticipant may derive a great deal of pleasure by a research into its history, its theories and its sciences. Enlightened, the spectator can appreciate the efforts and achievements in an exhibition and so def velop from the rabid Hbackfseat driver fan into the intelligent critic. So let's look into this much too neglected diversion and add to our enjoyment of an athletic engagement by learning the whys and Hwhere' lures of the field, ice, floor and track. as as ac as :if T ooMMENTs This issue of the Voyageur contains a number of innovations, such as a coloured border, numerous action photographs and more condensed written matter. We have gone back to smaller type and reduced the number of pages. We offer no reason for these alterations, except that we like to experiment. :xssafaf , Criticism was hurled at the Editor for the appearance of a facetious picture of himself which appeared in last year's Voyageur. The snap, inserted without the knowledge of the Editor, was meant as a practical joke. There was nothing else intended. as rk as For his ideas, loyal work and interest, the Editor wishes to pay special tribute to Hal Haydon, whose art work in this issue is a feature. K' A fj--M i rp' vw,,,f ' lf' Q9 Y .ff'.:T R l ztentu

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I.: , ..Zi 75 ...nth-.. -at 3 it : ' iiii E ll ll Il ll sl ll ll ll ll ll IK ll-, cause of The Great War was of this sort rather than political. Even in the national life of our states economic interest groups of various kinds manipulate the machinery to their own advantage without consideratian of the welfare or the rights of the rest of the community. It is a question now whether the government controls business or business controls governf ment. Considering the tremendous power held in the hands of economic overlords the question is being asked whether democracy can survive. The growth of socialistic theory in recent years has been a protest against this state of affairs. The Russian experiment Qundoubtedly the greatest social experiment in modern timesj is a threat to the whole current economic idealogy. Whether it succeeds or whether it fails it will undoubtf edly affect in tremendous measure the lives of our grandchildren. Gountering the growth of socialism and definitely aligned against com' munism there has developed in the past few years fascist movements of varif ous kinds. For sometime, the hrst of these, in Italy, was looked upon as a more or less personal expression of the ideas of its leader, or, if not quite so individual, at least it was considered to be a method of government which might be suitable to the Italian people, but not necessarily to others. It was explained that as a nation they had never really learned the basic prinf ciples of political organization necessary to the successful working of the democratic machine and that temperamentally a dictatorship was suitable to them. The national socialist movement in Germany under Hitler was at first a joke. It was felt that the Social Democratic party was competent to operf ate the Weimar Constitution and through it to continue a successful workf ing democracy. The course of international events since the Versailles Treaty, coupled with the effects of the depression, gave Hitler and his associates their opportunity, and at the present moment the national socialist movement in Germany must be considered a major factor in world affairs. The last vestiges of democracy have disappeared in Austria and under the new Austrian constitution the diminutive chancellor acknowledges his responsibility to I God and none to the people. While the sit' uation has not gone so far in France, recent events have demonstrated the strength of the parties of the Right and it is not at all un' likely that the near future will see in that country a definite movement away from the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity and a dictatorial government of a fascist type installed in power. Gbservers in Great Britain are concerned over the recent accession of strength to the parties headed by Sir Oswald Moseley and powerful newspaper interests are behind him in his effort to save Great Britain by a fascist movement which is a complete denial of her democratic tradition, In view of the success V - 7 at enty-two