University of Western Ontario - Occidentalia Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

Page 28 text:

Yfalecficllaaq Mr. Chairman, members of the faculty and fellow-members of Arts '42. lt is a privilege and an honour to speak for and to our class. The time is rapidly approaching when each and every one of us will have to get down to serious work and thought. l am not speaking of examinations, because they are but incidental obstacles in your road to the futureg T say incidental be- cause the very fact that you are here to-night proves that they are obstacles which with a certain amount of effort you can overcome-if you so desire. l am speaking rather of the life which is before us, the uncivilized jungles of the twentieth century through which we must blaze a trail if we are to have a lasting world peace. Qur cloistered life is over. No more can we devote our time to the social and scholastic whirl, but must rather turn our energies against the centrifugal forces of a tyrannic despotism which is trying to cast our ideals off into the void of nothing. At a time when the guake of world conflict is dangerously rocking our entire democratic structure it would be well for us to examine the foundation-stones of our liberal institutions. Much has been said and much more will be said about the art of govern- ing. But now at a time when we are on the idealogical defensive we must dust off the old taken-for-granted concepts and look at them with the eyes of modern age. We should ask ourselves the guestionse What is democracy? What does the word imply? Can l when l ask myself the guestion-'litre you a democrat? answer truthfully and saye'fYes, l am a democrat To me democracy, like all political philosophies, is but a state of mind l am a democrat if I am democratic in my attitude towards others. Political philosophies, we are informed, are not new, nor is a war of ideals an unheard-of thing. Since the first day that Eve appeared as a companion for Adam there have been differences of opinion. There are two sides to every personality-the side which tells us to be have in a certain way because that is the way in which our animal natures wish us to behave, and our rational side which gives us pause to reason before we act. These two forces of reason and desire are in continuous conflict. lf we carry the animal or irrational side to its logical conclusion we have Fascism in its most deadly form, if we carry the rational aspect of our natures to its most logical extreme you can conceive how dull and colourless life would be -to be always doing the logical, to always know what is about to happen there would be no room for the fullest development of the personality and all our decisions would be boiled down to a set of rules of behaviour. Life would become scientific and we would be but so many more machines in an age already crowded with machines. The answer would appear to be a proper balancing of these two forces so that they would be in perfect harmony. 'tVery well, you say, but just ll ll

Page 27 text:

Q4 fi Eff . - K 5' X 'sz-XXE' . A 'is Q f K ' J r' ... gj F X' X X. r. T KN X461 1 K 'X-,NX f ,f 14 f 'L as QW 'I ff X . . Gordfx ' bet of '42 became gterfaculty boxing and wr - P A.. Jaing ch mp . . ormy politic ' lesx. . . U. S. C. ele ' ns f' Ra Ma ' an ' dsonffandl Clarke elected -R office . . . e Spoils Edmonui t'h'e . . . Gazette- C. battle and the outlayyfqffd1'on followed by the U. S. C. Y J fdditi . . . more exams a'-,ng so . . W .- ,ll ll fs No We Werel Band Al , us u' ' , ie 5 Gauivz, ' orth, cl?CQunie and more to follow LJ. B A steadilyistrea g into the forces . . . the U. S. C. finally jx compromised n Colucci and an im ve constitution to remodel Q I ' ' ns structure . . . everyo in the C. O. T. C. and L-5-J ban Inter ollegiate Sports . . . the ros were again Wearin ca . . . unassuming Bob Shervill co ti his good Work on fy 1 year executive, but nov?Jas dent . . . has remained Presidentmever since . . . he inter-year drama stival with Q H Arts fg-Zlivvinning the coveted award . . . Bill Mars en' ' g wgeipitching campaign directed against campus lo ers .... I H jg, C trouble with the .dsqamd Stoner's hair-cut v-'..t'th'e B'o'ys'feft forwk' ,A 'n I 6 Borden . . . the s rch 'tgrryawnew school son . . . Co-ed Prom g .melections et al .... XT-N 'f ff- d now e wer niors . . ods of halls and PCR -Qcampu . . . t A ranks dffth being thnn nually by ll-4-'QQ' the Ser ' es left the res of us me lik sf5 . the Saturday! ot 'al-lfgam CAmerican stylej n Saturday nig . danc . . . our last fling at the Co-ed Prom and rts Ball . . f ou ast College-a romance . . . and the things hich h ve f ha pened to u here are rapidly becoming me ie J. . m mories Whic r be forgotten for though r lives and loves bf ydp in th maelstrom of War the spi ' f Western, H sy Clic democrati institutions, will livm to conquer and K XJ fi ebuild the World of the futur 5. . you, the ass of '42 ' play I I E? 5' o small part in both vigtex-'yQnd reconstruct' n. f its ff qi ...-ff-r' Y' x....f 'i 'i Q , N -r mg- . ff X .mmm j KU xx Af' J'NV 'jdv , C as B' 7 ' JT 'X a

Page 29 text:

194.2 Szffle what has all this to do with democracy? Well, just this. I am trying to show that Fascism is not something which is peculiar to only the German or Italian mind, but it is a deadly parasite which will eat at the intellectual tissue of any person who exposes an unprepared mentality to its ravages. Reason topples and comes crashing to the ground and nothing remains save the violent nihilism of a power-seeking ruling cligue. A cligue which hopes and intends to expand its power into world dominion at the expense of human freedom. The Fascist state of mind is dangerous and must be tamed. lt is present in this very room. You and l and every one of us possess it to a greater or less degree. To us it is particularly dangerous because we little suspect when it is about to deal a knockout blow to our own intellects. There is but one way of combating this paresis of the brain and com- bating it successfully. We must fortify our reasoning processes against the ravages of illogical extremism. For then and only then can we begin to feel secure, and even this security can be disturbed by some would-be dictator outside our own immediate sphere. The answer is the building up of a democratic attitude in our own minds -an attitude which is based chiefly on tolerance, for only when we are tolerant do we behave as true democrats. lf we believe in democracy we believe in it not only for ourselves but also for others, regardless of race or colour. Democracy does not imply merely the rule of the majority, true demo- cratic decisions are not arrived at by the simple procedure of counting heads. This is not enough. The best organized of small extremist groups has little trouble in swaying the minds of the large masses of the people whose only real desire is for peace and security in which to conduct their own lives. Because of the tremendous complexity of the issues at stake they have never as yet become well enough informed as to what form of government would give them the greatest freedom without degenerating into blind followers of a self-styled Messiah. Education is the key to permanent peace. Education as to the democratic spirit. We must not only foster in ourselves and in others a growing spirit of tolerance, but must be prepared to fight to protect our right to that spirit. We have been happy behind the walls of Western because of the guiet scholarly life we have led. Our professors have been kind to us in pointing out the road we should follow to true education. lt is now our problem to walk that road in search of truthg but we must carry cudgels with us as protection against the reptiles lurking behind every tree and stone. The way can and will be hard, we shall be disappointed and disillusioned and at times we will grow bitter and a soul-destroying cynicism may seek to envelop us, but if we keep our eyes raised to the shining haven at the end of the road we can retain our ideals and perhaps do something to improve a world into which we were born. BGB COLUCCI, Class Valedictorian.