The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1943. WHO WANTS A NEW WORLD?

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 66, 20 March 1943, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1943. WHO WANTS A NEW WORLD?

I7ARLY iu the year 1939 a play entitled “Johnson Over Jordan,” writen by Mr. J. B. Priestley, was staged in London. Mr. Johnson was moving into the unknown when he asked himself this pertinent question: “What have I done to deserve a New World?’’ The question is apposite at the moment when so many are demauding a New World Order. It is to be remarked, too, that those who are most insistent in the demand for a New World Order seem to be very disinclined to make a contribution toward that order which they claim that they so deeply desire. Indeed, if the question be asked of them as to what kind of world they really do want, they have very little to offer by way of suggestion.

There are some fundamental elements in the matter of earning a living, and the first of these is that with the sweat of his brow shall man earn bread. There is no other way of getting an honest living than by working for it. It is true, too, that if some men will work harder others may take it easier, but the Chinese in their wisdom saw clearly, in their peasant economy, that if an idle man eats an industrious man starves, and in a democratic setup there is no escaping from these fundamentals, merely by using the Statute Book to dispossess either majorities or minorities. At the present moment those who have spent years of their lives equipping themselves to function as specialists in the community, are finding that their reward is not commensurate with their efforts. This is having a harmful effect upon the progress of the community because those who can make the improvements are discouraged from doing so. It is generally recognised that no improvement can come merely by the application of the rule of the majority. It is the elite of the community, the men with more than average brains, who invent new ways of doing things and who explore new avenues of production and management; and when this elite is not encouraged and consequently is not making its maximum contribution, progress is slowed down. This is assuredly not the way to build a Brave New World. The average citizen, the man who wants a steady job, who naturally desires a good standard of living and an improving one at that, is uot asking too much of the community when lie formulates demands winch are designed to secure such conditions for him self. But like Johnson over Jordan his demand alone docs not make a contribution to the securing of that which lie desires. If tlie mass of men think that by taking from the minorities in the community they can benefit themselves permanently they are making an obvious and clumsy mistake. For a short period of time they may succeed in benefiting themselves, but in the long run—and the run is not very long—their ultimate condition will be much inferior to that from which they started. Improvement cannot be achieved by legalised robbery. “Thou Shalt Not Steal” is an injunction of plain common sense. To build a Brave New World there is much more to be done than merely demanding more out of the community for oneself. If the policy of mass grabbing is to be pursued, if—to give it the modern title —pressure group polities is to be the order of the day, then there is no hope of a New World Order but au assurance of the continuance of the Old World disorder. The Elizabethans, scouring the seas for Spanish treasure ships, followed “The good old rule, the simple plan That he should take who hath the power and he should keep who ean.” Pressure group polities is playing the same game with different instruments, witli polities and sinecures instead of pikes and swords. Those who believe that these conditions cannot be changed, who intend to continue such methods to improve their own position at the expense of their neighbours instead of'by making a greater contribution to the commonweal, must ask themselve's the question—that is, they must do so if they arc honest witli themselves—“ What have I done to deserve a new order?” Self-deception is a happy narcotic. It dulls the senses, making self-appraisement impossible, and self-deception usually generates an unhealthy atmosphere in which grievances spring up and multiply like mushrooms in the night. But the hugging of grievances builds no bridges and lays the foundation for no new day. These self-deceptions must be got rid of if a New World fit for heroes to live in, is to be fashioned. Each man who is true to himself, who looks at himself with honest self-appraisement is taking the first step to the creation of a better to-morrow. People should be honest not because it is the best of policies but because it cannot be ignored that dishonesty is the worst of policies and dishonesty with oneself is no exception to this rule.