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Author : Fairchild Henry Pratt
Title : The melting-pot mistake
Year : 1926

Link download : Fairchild_Henry_Pratt_-_The_melting-pot_mistake.zip

If "an evil generation seeketh a sign" a mentally harassed and overtaxed generation seeks a symbol. The mind that is wearied with multitudinous demands for judgment upon programs and policies yearns for a simplification of its problems. It wants to have them presented in tabloid form, condensed and visualized in some vivid catch phrase, slogan, or figure of speech. And this is not mere intellectual indolence or torpidity. In the present complicated and headlong organization of society, when the interests of every individual form a network over the globe, and matters of moment rush upon him like telegraph poles along the path of an express train, we are all of us continually called upon to form opinions about a great many more things than we can possibly find time to inform ourselves about by first-hand investigation. This is particularly true in a demOcratically governed community where not only matters of personal well-being but of national prosperity lay legitimate claim to the attention of the conscientious citizen. A presidential campaign descends upon us, and we discover that in order to vote intelligently and patriotically we must know the truth about Teapot Dome and Elk Hills, about the League ofNations and the tariff -always the tariff- about the Roman Catholic Church and the Ku Klux Klan and their place in American politics, about the Dawes Plan, about surtaxes and excess profits taxes, about bonuses to soldiers and salaries to postal clerks, about government ownership and the minimum wage, about a host of major and minor personalities. This is only a quadrennial climax and condensation of the requirements which every day's experience makes upon our deliberative faculties. ...