“I have been asked to speak up for democracy. I can only talk as one downeaster to another&
“I have been asked to speak up for democracy. I can only talk as one downeaster to another…”When asked several times, in 1941, by the Harvard Alumni paper to express his opinion about the U.S. reluctance to enter WW2, Waldo, WW1 hero, wrote this essay. It is a reflection from a great, gentle mind, in a dangerous time, that shows us that there is nothing new under the sun. Democracy must always be fought for.WALDO PEIRCE ON DEMOCRACY I hope this does not sound like a speech. I am only writing it out under an apple tree in full bloom by the sea—never was a finer spring down here or a sicker world beyond. I should like to be painting that tree, but I have been asked to speak up for democracy. I can only talk as one downeaster to another…This war is not like other European wars in which a pink country on a map wants some of the yellow part alongside. It is a world battle of dictatorship versus democracy; and if we wish to preserve our democracy, all the wishful thinking in the world won’t keep us out of it.What are some people trying to sell us with their “America First” syrup? It might just as well be “America Next” or “America Last” or “America Alone”—the lone last to stand against the tide. In Spain I once saw a gypsy toothpuller at a fair on his platform proclaiming painless extraction of the teeth. He got one old peasant up with one good tooth left—one good enough to get a good hold of, and out she came. Holding up the bloody tooth, he yelled: “He doesn’t feel a thing.” It was true—the old peasant was out cold in his chair. Let democracy keep what teeth she has and sow them when she has to. As for pure or superior races, have there been any since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Our strength is our very mixture of blood. Our State of Maine … called vacationland by chambers of commerce … is an isolated one in relation to other states, whence its offering of vacation: woods, lakes, seashore, sailing and hunting, etc … I went fishing the other day; and paddling round a peaceful lake it seemed remote, and yet I knew it was true that somewhere thousands were in concentration camps under the new order in Europe … I have not been fishing since and I’ll admit I was troubled. Where is vacationland today in Europe? And how long will we be a vacationland? Our democracy is more gravely threatened every day. Our ideas of humanity and tolerance will all go down if we can’t get up on our hind legs and do something about it. Our country is a soft country when it comes to everyday civic or federal responsibility. We pass the buck to some of our politicos, senators, and representatives and heaven only knows what we think of some, while we go fishing or hunting. A democracy is never prepared for anything in particular or armed to the teeth … its casualties are 400 dead over the weekend holiday — pleasure seeking, not fighting for anything. We accept this with a shrug if it doesn’t hit us or our families or familiars. We preserve the game and the wildfowl in the spring to kill more in the fall. Democracies are full of inconsistencies of a tolerant kind. Under dictators they have an open season on political opponents and shoot them not only on the sit but in bed. It doesn’t take much of a brain to know what Hitlerism stands (for). It’s everything that we as a whole don’t stand for.I think this is a fine and generous land, an hospitable land, a democratic land and one well worth fighting for… never was a land which asked so little of the individual and gave so much.Waldo PeirceSource: Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Volume 43, Issue 18, 1941 -- source link
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