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Albert E. Burke: Difference between revisions
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==Way of Thinking== | ==Way of Thinking== | ||
The excerpt below from <mark>''Enough Good Men'' [Nov 1962]</mark> in the <mark>chapter ''Dirt, People and | The excerpt below from <mark>''Enough Good Men'' [Nov 1962]</mark> in the <mark>chapter ''Dirt, People and History''</mark> is a fine example of how Dr. Burke related historical events to the environment around us. The only aspect missing in merely this printed word, is the timing and the inflection in the way Dr. Burke presented it: <mark>Origin of "A Pact With the Unborn" —</mark> | ||
That kind of freedom grew among a people with <mark>elbowroom</mark>; few Americans in a big land. With plenty of elbowroom, twenty-three million Americans back in 1889 were free to turn their Oklahoman upside down <mark>irresponsibly</mark>; and they didn't mind too much when the United States government stepped in to help them. Today's much larger American population has less of that "elbowroom," on farmlands, in mines, in good water, good air, or in any natural resource. Today's American has less, and poorer quality resources to work and live with. We are no longer free to do as we please with them; but many among us today still mind very much that, since stepping in to help deal with problems like that emergency in 1890, the government has never really stepped out of what were once our private affairs. | That kind of freedom grew among a people with <mark>elbowroom</mark>; few Americans in a big land. With plenty of elbowroom, twenty-three million Americans back in 1889 were free to turn their Oklahoman upside down <mark>irresponsibly</mark>; and they didn't mind too much when the United States government stepped in to help them. Today's much larger American population has less of that "elbowroom," on farmlands, in mines, in good water, good air, or in any natural resource. Today's American has less, and poorer quality resources to work and live with. We are no longer free to do as we please with them; but many among us today still mind very much that, since stepping in to help deal with problems like that emergency in 1890, the government has never really stepped out of what were once our private affairs. | ||
This <mark>resentment</mark> has led to a <mark>new parlor game</mark> in this country during the <mark>last thirty years ['30s-'50s]</mark>, a '''<mark>dangerous game of name-calling</mark>''' called "'''<mark>creeping socialism</mark>'''." It is played by too many Americans today who <mark>simplify things too much</mark>. Often they <mark>know little to nothing</mark> about the kind of American history made by <mark>irresponsible men who forced the government into what were then our private affairs</mark>. That record clearly <mark>shows what happens when individual Americans misuse their private affairs by making them public problems</mark>. When that point is reached, the government always steps in. | This <mark>resentment</mark> has led to a <mark>new parlor game</mark> in this country during the <mark>last thirty years ['30s-'50s]</mark>, a '''<mark>dangerous game of name-calling</mark>''' called "'''<mark>creeping socialism</mark>'''." It is played by too many Americans today who <mark>simplify things too much</mark>. Often they <mark>know little to nothing</mark> about the kind of American history made by <mark>irresponsible men who forced the government into what were then our private affairs</mark>. That record clearly <mark>shows what happens when individual Americans misuse their private affairs by making them public problems</mark>. When that point is reached, the government always steps in. | ||