An essay on the American contribution and the democratic ideaChurchill, Winston
Philosophy
An essay on the American contribution and the democratic idea
Churchill, Winston
Democracy; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
The problem of social science, then, appears to be to organize human
society on the principles and ideals of Christianity. But in view of
the fact that the trend of evolution is towards the elimination of
commercial competition, the question which must seriously concern us
today is--What in the future shall be the spur of individual initiative?
Orthodoxy and even democratic practice have hitherto taken it for
granted--in spite of the examples of highly socialized men, benefactors
of society--that the average citizen will bestir himself only for
material gain. And it must be admitted that competition of some sort is
necessary for self-realization, that human nature demands a prize. There
can be no self-sacrifice without a corresponding self-satisfaction.
The answer is that in the theory of democracy, as well as in that of
Christianity, individualism and co-operation are paradoxically blended.
For competition, Christianity substitutes emulation. And with democracy,
it declares that mankind itself can gradually be rained towards the
level of the choice individual who does not labour for gain, but in
behalf of society. For the process of democracy is not degrading, but
lifting. Like Christianity, democracy demands faith, and has as its
inspiring interpretation of civilization evolution towards a spiritual
goal. Yet the kind of faith required is no longer a blind faith, but one
founded on sane and carefully evolved theories. Democracy has become a
scientific experiment.
In this connection, as one notably inspired by emulation, by the joy of
creative work and service, the medical profession comes first to
mind. The finer element in this profession is constantly increasing in
numbers, growing more and more influential, making life less easy for
the quack, the vendor of nostrums, the commercial proprietor of the
bogus medical college. The doctor who uses his talents for gain is
frowned upon by those of his fellow practitioners whose opinion really
counts. Respected physicians in our cities give much of their time to
teaching, animating students with their own spirit; and labour long
hours, for no material return, in the clinics of the poor. And how
often, in reading our newspapers, do we learn that some medical
scientist, by patient work, and often at the risk of life and health,
has triumphed over a scourge which has played havoc with humanity
throughout the ages! Typhoid has been conquered, and infant paralysis;
gangrene and tetanus, which have taken such toll of the wounded in
Flanders and France; yellow fever has been stamped out in the tropics;
hideous lesions are now healed by a system of drainage. The very list of
these achievements is bewildering, and latterly we are given hope of
the prolongation of life itself. Here in truth are Christian deeds
multiplied by science, made possible by a growing knowledge of and
mastery over Nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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