Rotary's Seven Paths to Peace - Chapter 4, The Path of Progress
He will support action directed towards
improving standards of living for all peoples, realizing that poverty anywhere
endangers prosperity
everywhere.
(From the Outline of Policy in International Service.)
DURING THE PERIOD when the first satellites were launched, a Rotarians - as
did millions of others - read in the newspapers that one of the satellites
would pass over his community at a certain time that evening.
"I walked into my back yard a few minutes ahead of time," he
said, "hardly convinced that the satellite would be on schedule or that I
would be able to see it. As I sat there in the quiet setting of my yard with
its familiar trees, flowers, and shrubs, it seemed a strange place to be
viewing this new phenomenon. . I looked up again, toward the northeast, and
there it was – a good-sized star, it seemed, streaking across the sky. I
watched it race across the heavens - at 18,000 miles an hour - and disappear
into the horizon. .
"The next night," he went on, "I worked late at the office,
but I had read in the newspaper that the satellite would cross our town again
that night. I forgot all about it, however, until I was driving home. I looked
at my watch and found that it was almost time, at that moment, for it to pass
over. I happened to be near a small park, so I quickly stopped the car and ran
into the park, so that I could see a greater expanse of the sky. . I scanned
the northern skies, and there it was, as large and as bright as ever - plunging
across the star-lit heavens. I looked at my watch. It was within 30 seconds of
the time the astronomers had predicted it would pass over! I could have set my
watch by it - as we used to set our watches by the
This was,
in truth, the symbol of a new age - the Space-Atomic Age, and millions of
persons stand in awe of it. To what does it lead? An age of peace and plenty?
An age of confusion, imbalance, and struggle? Or what?
No matter
what may become this age's ultimate goals and techniques for achieving them,
historians agree that this age has another name which reveals the magnitude of
the challenge: the Age of Great Expectations. The streaking satellite plunging
across the heavens - unaware of national, racial, religious, economic, social,
or cultural differences or boundaries - has become a symbol of technology and
material progress. It is not the proper symbol of mankind's noblest and
greatest genius, for these impulses belong to the spirit; but the hungry, the
dispossessed, the ignorant, the "peasant three-quarters of mankind"
of whom Toynbee speaks - these persons have caught the vision of technology
and material progress.
An item so
fundamental as food is a primary concern. Then, there is water and a roof and a
bed. Things a quarter of the world takes for granted are things which
three-quarters of the world has never had. Ten years after the second world
war, after all the grandiose plans and costly projects of reconstruction, the
number of hungry people in the world had actually increased! Half the people in
the world earn less than $100 (｣35) a year.
The average life expectancy at birth among two-thirds of the earth's inhabitants
is little more than 30 years. Nearly half the human race cannot read or write.
In many areas, there has been no substantial improvement in living standards
during the last thousand years, and in several places conditions of life have
actually declined.
Can the
earth feed a growing population which is edging toward 3,000 million?
Authorities disagree. Certainly there are problems of distribution even if
production problems could be solved. But British geographer L. Dudley Stamp
contends that "if the best current farm practices were used only in that
area of the earth now cultivated, a population of at least 3,000 million could
be nourished adequately. If the lands at present unused or inadequately used
could be brought into production on the same basis, world population could
climb to over 10,000 million. At the same time, science is adding constantly to
the sum of human knowledge, and there is every reason to expect advances that
will simplify the problem of feeding the human race if only man can overcome
the barriers he himself has erected between the nations." This, of course,
is one scientist's view - and one with which many others are in sharp dissent.
Some believe that the world is losing the race between conservation and
disaster.
Where does
the Rotarian fit in this picture? Can he make a contribution here? Freedom,
according to the Outline of Policy, is also vital to the maintenance of
international peace and order and to human progress, and now the Rotarian is
admonished to support action directed towards improving standards of living for
all peoples as his particular contribution in the path of progress.
The belief
in progress is not easily sustained in the aftermath of two world wars, with
awareness of all the barriers which have been erected between nations and of
conditions under which most of mankind is forced to live. Perhaps faith in
progress is an illusion, anyway.
If it is,
then it should be clear that it is one more widely shared than ever before. The
belief in continuous and inevitable material improvement, which was limited in
the past to the western nations, has now become the primary goal of peoples in
the most backward areas of the earth. Through the ferment of war and political
struggle, they have been seized with a conviction that the benefits of science
and technology can also come to them. And it is clear to the most
superficial observer that these benefits will come. How they come - who
will bring them, and where, and in what manner - this is where the Rotarian
fits.
In any such process it must be understood that progress is not a result of
mere wishful thinking; developed peoples can have no illusions on that score.
Improving their standards of living demands from them the most strenuous
efforts and much sacrifice to accumulate capital, to educate their people, and
often to change drastically the forms of social life. But no matter how great
their efforts, they are not sufficient of themselves. Help must come from those
peoples who have experienced progress, who have the "know-how," the
accumulated
resources to invest and, above all, the will to help. The Outline of Policy
assumes that the Rotarian possesses that will to help.
Volumes
could be filled with evidence to justify this assumption. The ideal of service
professed by Rotarians is no empty pose. On countless occasions they act to
help others, not only in their own communities and countries but also when the
appeal comes from abroad.
"He giveth twice who giveth quickly" might have been the motto of
the small Rotary club which rushed carpentry and masonry tools to
earthquake-stricken
Your most
interesting letter has been translated into Spanish and will be sent to every
club of my district that they may learn how these modern Greeks of Rotary can
work wonders in spite of small numbers.
At the same
time, I fear that we have imposed on your generosity a task out of all
proportion: hammers, trowels, saws, nails, often from the very orderly tool
chest of Madame Rotarian. . How abusive and preposterous! And then the
cumbersome chore of packing and shipping them for the benefit of the
descendants of the Inca empire. . We realize fully the magnitude of your effort
and its significance. The name of your club will always be held by the
Rotarians of our
district as a beacon to show us the right path of international relations.
We are planning to construct something permanent such as a school for
children or a hospital pavilion that will be maintained by the clubs of our
district as a lasting memento to the munificence of Rotary International.
Vision and energy have poured forth time and again from Rotary clubs to
elicit responses as warm as that cited above. They have spearheaded community
drives for funds, food, and clothing. Year after year, supplements to meager
rations overseas have been sent regularly, often as the product of austerity
luncheons and other forms of self-denial. The forgotten people - victims of aggression
in
have benefited from Rotary thoughtfulness. The need has only to be made
known as a practical opportunity for helping and Rotarians have taken action.
Yes, Rotary can rise to an emergency, and for the long haul, too, Rotarians
can sustain their efforts as was manifested by British Rotary clubs in a
two-year campaign which netted ｣100,000 ($280,000) in aid to villages devastated in the Greek
civil war. Tens of thousands of families were rehabilitated; 100,000 children
were clothed and given medical attention; whole villages were restored.
The will to
help is abundantly manifest, but is this action of a kind to improve standards
of living for all peoples? To draw an analogy from local experience, consider
the case of a family in your town that has been visited by catastrophe, perhaps
the death of its bread-winner. Rallying support for this family is comparable
to action which has been described in the international field. Quite different
is the equally common instance of the local youth who wants to go into business for himself or needs some training
to make him more productive. Rotarians have ways of helping in this case, too,
and this is the kind of help
needed in the newly developing countries. Are Rotary clubs and Rotarians in
a position to support efforts to supply that kind of help?
Indeed they are, and in many different ways.
Echoes from the Outline of Policy can be detected in the Act for
International Development (U.S. Public Law 535):
The peoples of the
A past president of Rotary International was a member of the advisory board
that initiated the Act, and 43 Rotarians worked as legislators for its passage.
Among its fruits have been missions of technical assistance to 60 countries
requesting aid in the development of their resources. The program is currently
employing some 2,000 experts in production, processing, distribution, and
administration. Five thousand apprentice technicians have come to the
The
Rotarians have allies and examples in international service in the persons
enlisted for these programs. Personal acquaintance is the genius of their work,
for the expert who has not the gift of associating and communicating with the
people of the country he is helping to develop finds himself greatly
handicapped. Many of those working in technical assistance are Rotarians or
become members of Rotary clubs, if they are qualified for membership, in the
countries where they are working. Being in Rotary, they report, greatly
increases their effectiveness.
One Rotarian poses an interesting challenge. Could not individual
volunteers for this service be found among the hundreds of thousands of
business and professional men who have passed the retirement age? They have the
technical experience needed. Their minds are flexible and their health
vigorous. They may resent being put on the shelf after they have trained others
to take their place. They might well share their technical abilities with
peoples struggling to raise their standards of living.
"Aside from helping the needy areas," he concludes, "these
men would get a tremendous personal satisfaction from it; increase their active
lives a dozen years or more; and returning home could tell the folks about the
wonderful people abroad. ."
If circumstances prevent a Rotarian from accepting such a challenge, there
are other ways in which he can lend his support. He can set out to inform
himself and others about the need for improving living standards. Public
ignorance, especially in the so-called "advanced" countries, is
deplorable. Few realize the meagerness of the resources available in comparison
with what needs to be done. Another past president of Rotary International,
chairman of his country's legislative committee on atomic energy, calls on
every rotary club to devote four programs a year to discussing peaceful uses of
the atom. Only a quickened public awareness, he feels, can surmount the rocks
and shoals which infest the course of the atomic age.
Information
is only the first step. The individual Rotarian or a Rotary club alerted to
problems can make substantial contributions. The boy who benefited from a
student loan and became co-inventor of a process which promises to make atomic
power as plentiful as heavy hydrogen in the oceans is a source of pride to the
Rotary club that sponsored him. Training in all fields of science can be
encouraged to meet the urgent call for technical abilities.
A sense of participation in mankind's march of material progress can be
fostered through supporting one of the public or private agencies seeking to
improve living standards. In several countries, Rotary clubs have taken the
lead in calling attention to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). They
are able to show how far a little money will go, not only in feeding the hungry
but also in checking disease. For one dollar, this agency can provide a dozen
doses of penicillin to heal the horrible sores inflicted by yaws upon the
bodies of children. For the same amount, a hundred children can be immunized
from tuberculosis with the BCG vaccine. It is hoped that this scourge can soon
be virtually eliminated, and similar results are sought in the campaign against
malaria, another great destroyer of human life and vigor. Spraying swamps with
insecticide can free for cultivation huge areas now lost in the battle for
bread.
It may be
that co-operation in the path of progress also can be undertaken through the
world fellowship of Rotary. Many a Rotary club in
We cannot
fail to have some satisfaction that after a couple of months of planning and
spade work, we started our work on the Rotary village in right earnest. Most of
the members present dug trenches for dumping the refuse of their adopted
village. After this we started on a bathing day for the village children. All
were given a lesson in cleaning their teeth. Their dirty clothes were taken off
and Rotarians gave the children a thorough rub with soap and warm water. While
this was going on, hot milk prepared from powder was given to every child after
his bath. What an exhilarating feeling these children must have had after their
bath and warm glass of milk!
Simple things . fundamental things . providing sanitation, housing, cottage
industries and, above all, education. Numerous examples - and the number is
growing - can be cited in which these village people have had their feet set
upon the path of material progress. It is not necessarily a matter of doing the
work which needs to be done - it is giving "know-how" to people so
that they can help themselves. More local Rotary aid might be given if it were
known that help would come from Rotarians in other places. A club anywhere
might help train and send a technician to work in these newly developing
countries.
To supply
tools for fundamental education in the less developed countries, many Rotary
clubs have been presented with UNESCO Gift Coupons by Rotarians abroad. These
are used to purchase equipment for training people to help themselves. A little
girl in The Netherlands was surprised to hear from an adviser of the Food and
Agriculture Organization working in the foothills of the
been one of several thousand children who had contributed to the purchase
of gift coupons for a laboratory in the State of
So you see, Hanny, with your kwartje (quarter of a florin) you have
contributed to better understanding which our world so badly needs. I thought
of all this when I saw that scrap of paper with your name and address on it.
Don't forget, Hanny, that if ever you are in trouble, and I hope that will
never happen, you will always meet with help somewhere if only you remember
this: dare to understand, dare to give and to act, dare to receive.
Could not
this advice given to a child be extended to all the peoples of the world? In
the most vital sense, we are members one of another.
There is no use in pretending, however, that small gestures of this kind
can solve the problem alone. Multiplied and spread over the many countries
where there are Rotary clubs, they can provide a stimulus and a reassurance to
faith. Large government schemes can fail of heir own weight unless they have
the eager support of public opinion. Projects such as have been described make
technical assistance a personal undertaking for those who co-operate in them.
And in the receiving country, there is encouragement to work and sacrifice in
the knowledge
that people in a distant land are encouraging them in their struggle to
improve their standard of living. These simple, tangible, practical acts of
service contribute to the morale of progress, and morale is important.
The path of progress is beset with so many difficulties and weighted by so
many controversial issues that it is all to easy to throw one's hands in
despair. Only the individual Rotarian can confront these questions squarely,
study them in all their aspects, and support the action that reason and
conscience dictate. In many ways, Rotarians are focusing attention upon these
issues, making them the subject of debates and discussions at weekly meetings.
Members gather in
homes to explore them further. Through correspondence and exchange of
programs with clubs in other countries, the knowledge and insights of world
fellowship are brought to bear on them. Members address other organizations on
these problems. Young minds in the schools are being taught to wrestle with
them. In short, the Rotary club can exercise its function as an agency of
public enlightenment.
What are
some of these issues?
One of the most formidable is that of investment. Large resources must be
devoted to improving standards of living; large resources must be devoted to
enterprises in the newly developing countries. Some of these enterprises may
quickly produce income, thereby being attractive to local capital or to
business in other lands. On the other hand, there are many vital projects which
yield no direct income or only small returns after many years. The costs of
providing electric power, irrigation, and transportation, for example, often
run far beyond the borrowing capacity of these governments. Yet such works must
be
undertaken if there is to be progress in the production of food, raw
materials, and manufactured goods.
What should be the source of this capital? Should it be mobilized by
governments through taxation? Or, is there some way in which private
investors can be enlisted to support what must be, in the short run at least, a
profitless undertaking? As businessmen, Rotarians are expected to provide
enlightenment on this question and sound advice to the public when specific
answers are proposed.
Another problem is protection of investments. What guarantees can be
offered by newly-developing countries that capital from abroad will not be
subject to excessive taxation - or even outright confiscation? This is a most
sensitive point for nations which have recently established their independence.
They insist on their right to sovereignty over their natural resources. But how
can they expect to attract the large-scale investment from abroad required for
their development if they do not definitely guarantee its protection.
Another issue is the economic system of the country itself. Can its
stability be assured? Does it operate to the advantage of the majority of its
citizens or for only a few? These are only a few questions bearing down upon
humanity as it draws nearer together, through technology.
This "togetherness" is real. It exists - now. One quarter of
humanity has been relieved of the struggle for food and water, and has thereby
been released for the creation of the Good Life - at least on a material basis.
This is the world of rapid communications, automation, jet transportation, and
leisure. This is the world which has brought mankind to the Space Age.
To its credit, this world has also produced love and charity, freedom and
compassion, vision and concern. The "inner space" has not been
completely filled, but the process is going on. Rotarians are called to a
concern for other peoples' "standard of living", but they are not
unaware that the worst poverty of all is poverty of the human spirit.
Therefore, as three-quarters of the earth's population awakens to its new
opportunities - as it crosses in a few decades what one-quarter has covered in
centuries, it will have help and guidance. It must have the right kind of
guidance, however, or the subsequent explosion will be indescribably tragic.
The historian Toynbee has summarized it this way:
Ever since man's passage from the Lower to the Upper Paleolithic stage of
technological progress, the human race had been Lords of Creation on Earth in
the sense that, from that time onwards, it had no longer been possible either
for inanimate nature of for any other non-human creature either to exterminate
mankind or even to interrupt human progress. Thenceforth, nothing on Earth,
with one exception, could stand in Man's way or bring Man to ruin; but that
exception was a formidable one - namely Man himself.
(to be continued - Chapter 5, The Path of
Justice)
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