CORRECT THINKING.

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19598, 10 June 1935, Page 9

CORRECT THINKING.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—Professor J. S. MacKenzie has stated that "the Englishman Is not as strong on continuous or constructive thought as he Is In bodily aollon." if we look at the traditional “John Bull" the above epitome is near the truth of the average Britisher. With environments that work for specialisation we have an educational system that produces a grooved intellect. That the ordinary folk have been thinking things out Is obvious, but this thinking has developed along single tracks. It reflects itself in politics and economies, and so exclusive Is tills intensive study that other matters, equally vital, arc lost sight of. The thinking is ull right, but it is lacking in synthesis. It is not democratic, because it is not only class-conscious but also over-emotional. Tho. first factor lias been caused through tho struggle between capital and labour, and the longing for Llic worker’s resoivo to share more fully the responsibilities of government. Tills class-

consciousness is not revolutionary, but evolutionary, it is not necessarily a fortunate result. It is too sectional. The reconstruction of society as put forward by tlm 'Labour Party clearly shows that they require soldiers, not educated men and women. This classconsciousness does not permit freo- | dom of thought and utterance, and its product is a mentality Iha t is narrow, ignorant, prejudiced, hitler and hopeless. The remedy is found in thinking in terms of tlie universal, or whole community. in this way our thinking becomes synthetic—i.o., we lake all facts into account, not merely a group. There is a tendency to-day lo exclude religion from our everyday philosophy. Tlte reasons for so doing do not enter here- What happens when this form of thinking prevails? When religious instinct is crushed it is not dead or done with, but it is transmuted into something else —frequently into economic altruism. Communism is not llie science of industry; it is a blazing gospel. The apostles do not think, hut advocate. The Bolsheviks did not condone the j massacres of the bourgeoisie; lliey never gave il a thought —it was a question of “removing" enemies. it is Hie appalling ignorance that causes bad government and bad conditions to-day. Good government can 1 1 only come through comprehensive knowledge.—l am, etc., DEMOSTHENES. Hamilton, June (’>, 1935.