A Goal for Americans (Originally published in 1962)

By Paul Flum

What will the world look like 50 years from now? Have you ever tried to think?

Will it be a dead world shrouded in a cloud of radiation?

Will civilization and culture be destroyed by barbaric onslaughts from an exploding population of unenlightened, have-not people?

Will the world be in the iron grip of the Communist Party – where freedom and human dignity are lost forever? As Bertrand Russell says – “Better Red than dead.”

Or, will it be a healthy planet – with freedom and a better life for every person in every country – where the rule of law and justice prevail – and man no longer practices inhumanity to man.

50 years from now the world might look like any one of these four pictures. These are forces pulling in all four directions.

SINCE MAN NOW CONTROLS HIS OWN DESTINY AND EVOLUATION – THE VIEWPOINT MOST AGGRESSIVELY AND INTELLIGENTLY PROMOTED WILL PREVAIL.

If you have a particular preference for any one of these four outcomes – you as an individual and a citizen of a great nation can bring it to pass – by dint of great thought and effort. Or, you can actually help an opposing viewpoint win by default – by thoughtlessness and inaction.

Major responsibility for the outcome rests in the U.S.A. as leader of the Free World. Yet our country has proclaimed no positive goal for the world beyond maintaining the peace, supporting the United Nations and preventing the spread of Communism. This much is admirable and a credit to the recent leadership of our country – but MUCH MORE IS NEEDED!

Our country has made no pronouncement to fire the imagination of mankind with a vision of how great a place the world can become if all countries and all people will work together for the common good.

Our intentions are good, our motives noble, our strength is great – but we lack the big idea. The torch has been lighted. The people of the world are waiting for us to inspire them – and no inspiration has come.

We know that we’re against – world enslavement by Communism – but we haven’t made it clear just what we’re for.

We don’t have a master plan to guide our actions and determine our decisions on all the isolated problems that beset us on almost a daily basis.

So, let’s analyze the problem – reduce it to fundamental facts – and see if we can arrive at a solution. Here are the premises on which our reasoning is based:

1. If you want to get someplace you have to know where you’re going.
2. We, the people of the United States, leaders of the free world, do not know where we’re going – we do not have a long-range goal. Neither do the other countries of the free world.
3. The Communist party in Russia, China and wherever else it functions, has a goal. A nasty, primitive, brutal goal of world domination – disguised with pretenses of concern over the downtrodden people of the world. A goal that will set the cause of human dignity and civilization back 2000 years, but nonetheless a goal.
4. Even with the criminal record of mass killings, thought control, broken promises and enslavement of millions of human beings, the Communists have made headway among undeveloped countries for two reasons:
   1. The selfish, crafty leadership (governmental and economic) in many of these countries that denies basic human rights and opportunity to their own people.
   2. The innate desire of people to improve their lot and that of their children – and when all legitimate doors are closed in their face to grasp at what straws of hope and offered to them.
5. It is folly to expect people who have nothing to accept their present status rather than join with a cause that offers them some hope for improvement.
6. People can only be expected to give their hearts and minds to a cause if there is some clear evidence that this cause has some concern for them and their welfare.
7. The Communists must be given credit for recognizing this fact and using it successfully to win people (not already under their control) to their cause. Their techniques have worked even though their real goal is enslavement as demonstrated by their treatment of the people in the countries that have already fallen victims to them – and indeed the mother countries of Russia and China themselves.
8. It should be easy to win the people of the world, who still have the chance to choose, to a cause that really wants to help them and to promote the cause of all mankind to a constantly higher level of human dignity with greater freedom, education and economic advancement for everyone.
9. First of all, we must tell the world that this is what we stand for. We must state our principles and our practical plan for the future.
10. We must make it clear that we dislike dictatorship and brutality not only in Russia and China but wherever they exist – whether in a Communist country or in any other country. We cannot afford to be hypocrites. We must demonstrate that we care about people and their problems, not because it is smart political policy, but because it is the only worthy long-range goal for men to have.
11. We must have the imagination to picture ourselves born into the situations that exist for others and to ponder what our feelings would be in those situations.
12. We must have the courage to act! To take a constructive part in the affairs of other countries when asked to do so. And, in the case of countries ruled by tyrants – to bring pressure on those tyrants to relax their grip on the people so that they can enjoy their inherent human rights – and to work with the people so that they can rise to a position where they can effectively govern themselves.
13. If we stand shoulder to shoulder in war for the common cause of victory, why must everyone go his separate way in peace – each pulling in his separate direction with no unifying force to guide us as a nation? It should be easy to untie our efforts in the more constructive, noble cause of building a better world for all men, if we tried! IF WE STATED THE GOAL THAT EVERYONE IS WAITING TO HEAR – BUT THAT NO ONE HAS OUTLINED AND PUT INTO WORDS.
14. We have the heritage – if we honor the men and women who gave their lives to the cause of liberty that we may enjoy its fruits we will not deny it to others – we will make freedom and opportunity available to every man on earth.
    
    We have the energy – we feel a little guilty indulging in some of our idle pastimes and would welcome the chance to be part of a cause that was really important – that would contribute for all time to come to the betterment of mankind.
    
    We have the intelligence – we have accomplished fantastic feats of the mind – in all fields except adapting to our true role in world affairs. There are immense problems and varied problems but our great success has been problem solving. And, solving problems successfully is what gives zest and satisfaction to life.
    
    We have the strength – we are fortunate to be the strongest power on earth. We have the rare opportunity to use this strength to keep the world from enslavement by Communism and at the same time to realize man’s universal dream of a world united in which men can live free from fear, hunger, disease and ignorance. We can bring about the ultimate collapse of the evil, inhuman doctrine of Communism as practiced by its present practitioners, and free, too, all the millions now imprisoned behind its barbed wire b orders. And save the children being brainwashed with the venom of a one-sided doctrine of hate. To do less would be to sell our birthright for a can of comfort.  Besides, nothing could be more fun.

So, let’s paint a picture – a beautiful picture of the world in the most perfect form we can imagine from our perspective in 1962. Let’s draft a Declaration of National Goals as a point-by-point statement of what we as a nation believe in and intend to work for from now on. Maybe it could go something like this:

We, the citizens of the United Sates of America consider it our duty to concern ourselves, not only with the welfare of ourselves and our nation, but with the entire Family of Man – throughout the world.

We believe that man’s destiny and future evolution are in his own hands and we accept our responsibility as the heirs of all the great men and women who cared about and helped the cause of humanity in the past, to leave the world a better place than we found it and to lay the foundations for a continuing effort in this direction for all time to come.

We are not perfect, and like everyone else, have made mistakes. But we, as much as any nation (and considerably more than most) have worked and fought for individual freedom and self-government, the dignity of the individual and the right of people to live their own lives without fear of other people or their own government.

We stand opposed to the long history of man’s inhumanity to man and these are our goals:

1. HUMAN RIGHTS

We want freedom, education and economic opportunity for every human being in the world who is willing to work hard for these goals himself.

We intend to fight ignorance, superstition (even though it is fostered in the name of religion), prejudice, greed and immorality.

2. NATIONAL RIGHTS

Nations, (just as individuals) have no right to conduct themselves in ways that are harmful to other nations or the long-range good of mankind in general. Neither does a nation have the right to deprive their own people of their just human rights and liberties.

N nation has the right to seal its borders and prevent normal traffic of people both in an out. All nations are entitled to membership in the United Nations provided they are not guilty of violation of the Charter or the Bill of Human Rights.

3. UNITED NATIONS

Nations (having proved their fitness by measuring up to a certain standard based on education, experience and development of a free democratic society) shall be full voting members of the United Nations.

Newly emerged nations without experience in governing themselves and especially where the people are generally illiterate and lacking in education, shall be placed under a United Nations’ Protectorate that will work with them to assist in raising them to a prescribed level, at which time they can have a full voice in the Untied Nations.

Membership in the Untied Nations must be a privilege for any nation – won by adherence to the Charter and Bill of Human Rights. It would be a tragic farce to allow admission to criminal aggressors like Red China who over-ran and slaughtered their neighbors in Tibet.

Those present members who conduct themselves badly should be strongly censured and expelled if they make no effort to improve. Russia’s treating of the people of East Germany and their other satellites like caged animals by putting them behind walls and barbed wire is in direct violation of the United Nations Charter and Bill of Human Rights.

4. EDUCATION

Knowledge is the most important thing we are striving for. Knowledge of how we can all live harmoniously on this planet with our environment and with ourselves so that human life can be a rich and pleasant experience in which all who live can share a measure of the earth’s goodness – in proportion to his willingness to assume a part of the responsibility for keeping it that way.

The right to a good education is one of the most important of all human rights. Without this basic right a person is denied the accumulated knowledge of the human race – which is his heritage and which is the springboard from which humanity and civilization can be raised to still higher levels. The only hope against ignorance, hate, superstition and greed is good education by enlightened teachers who are not themselves the victims of warped ideologies or beliefs.

5. HEALTH

We will build toward a health and medical goal where every person will have help available to him when sick or hurt.

6. RELIGION

We believe that religion is a matter for the individual to decide. We believe that no state or group has the right to force or indoctrinate any individual to accept any religion or ideology. All people should be able to freely examine whatever ideas they choose – their search for truth – without fear of censure. The good points that most major religions have in common should be emphasized rather than placing major importance on the differences.

7. ECONOMICS

We will promote world Economic Development by making available:

• Technical Experts for industry and agriculture.
• Long Range planning assistance in:
• Resource Development
• Manufacturing
• Sales and Advertising
• Training of Personnel
• Financial Assistance through locating capital for business ventures where needed.

In return for our help we will demand cooperation from the recipient in providing a healthy internal economic climate that will insure a fair distribution of economic wealth among all the people.

Never again will we allow our economic aid to line the pockets of corrupt politicians and grafters without ever benefiting the people in general.

Never again will we provide aid to nations that do not institute social and political reforms and move their countries rapidly in the direction of constitutional democracies.

8. DICTATORSHIP

We hope to eliminate dictatorship so that in each country and municipality the people (where their education and experience is up to a sufficient level) can choose their own leaders in free election – and “throw the rascals out” if they prove unworthy.

Wherever possible we will bring pressure against present dictators to relax their grip on the people of their country – institute economic and land reforms if needed and to start in motion a program to establish a healthy economy with opportunity for all and a democratic form of government.

Wherever possible we will bring about these objectives by working within the framework of the United Nations because we respect its Charter and Bill of Human Rights which we helped to draft.

But, when the purpose of the United Nations is frustrated by the action of nations, who deny the basic Human Rights to their own people and their neighbors, we will move ahead independently.

We must constantly demand that all people in all nations enjoy their full rights as human beings.

9. COMMUNISM

We will prove to the Communist leaders themselves that they are the victims of a pseudo-religious movement that holds the words of Marx and Lenin to be prophetic. These writings designed to cope with problems of another age are held by the practitioners of this false doctrine to be valid today and for all time to come.

Though Communists condemn older religions, they act with the same unreasoning blind faith as do the most literalistic interpreters of various other old writings.

In the name of common sense and man’s future, this must be hammered home to the Communist hierarchy so that can stop acting like misguided children and start acting like grownups.

For those nations whose so-called leaders would play us off against the Russians to see from whom he could get the most, we have this answer:

We will try to convince you of the rightness of our cause and the risk you take in courting Communism. If you choose the slave masters instead of the champions for freedom and justice – we wash our hands of you but reserve the right to bring your people to realize the error of their so-called leaders’ ways.

We demand that Russia free Hungary, East Germany, Poland and all other countries that they have corrupted and enslaved.

We demand that Communist China get out of Tibet and stop fomenting trouble in Southeast Asia.

We demand that the wall dividing East and West Berlin be removed at once. We demand that Russia and China and other dictatorships stop treating the people under their control like swine and cattle and start treating them like human beings.

10. FREEDOM

We hold that individual freedom (within a framework of basic human justice and security) is the most priceless of human possessions. Only in freedom can an individual grow to realize his greatest potentials and contribute original ideas to society.

In a non-free society like that of Russia – all the citizens can hope for is to grow up to parrot the same old obsolete doctrine that an original thinker of 100 years ago dreamed up.

It is like living in a straight jacket. It is denying humanity the thing it treasures most – progress. And progress can only come through original, independent free thought and actions.

11. POPULATION CONTROL

We believe it is self-evident to all thinking people that parenthood implies responsibility and that the size of a family should be regulated by the parents to the number of children that can adequately be taken care of so that children are not condemned by their own parents to a life of misery. No parents have the right to bring endless streams of children into the world unless they are prepared to raise them decently and educate them adequately. F we are higher than animals let us prove it on this point. We want quality and not quantity and do not want mankind’s gains offset by an exploding population.

Working as we are to improve conditions of human existence so that people can live longer, it is vital that we also strive to check the spiraling birthrate that could nullify all the advances of science and result in more human misery than has been erased.

12. WORLD GOAL

It is not our desire or purpose to force anyone any place in the world to adopt our American economic, social or political system. It is our purpose to do what we can from our favored position to make available to people throughout the world the same opportunities for education, freedom, economic development and self-determination that we enjoy and, not least of all, to develop these features of our own national life to a higher degree.

THIS IS OUR GUIDEPOST TO THE FUTURE – BUT . . . .

What has been said so far would not mean much if we did not set up the machinery whereby these goals can be achieved.

How must we organize our efforts to make real these goals? It will take skillful research and planning and intelligent organization and hard dedicated work by hundreds of thousands of individuals who are aware of the danger and are willing to pay the price to weed mankind’s garden and cleanse the earth of the cancer of Communism and other diseased and criminal elements, both inside and outside of our own country.

Our free, open society is based upon faith in the dignity and worth of the individual. Therefore, the strength of the effort to preserve and extend our kind of society must have its roots in the individual – the responsible, thinking individual who accepts and relishes the opportunity to make the world more safe for the type of ideals and principles that he cherishes. Who recognizes that there are human beings who degrade the concept of the kind of world that he holds dear. That there must be a force for right to offset this element and constantly reduce it, so it will not become so powerful that it thwarts the progress of civilization.

This threat is represented in a major way by the Communist effort to overthrow self-government and individual freedom and substitute dictatorship and slavery. They have succeeded with a third of the world’s people who languish in fear under their brutal control.

This threat is represented in a minor way by all the petty dictators, the cunning, crafty leaders who exploit people for selfish gain, the local criminals, the unscrupulous, the bigots, the hate mongers.

True enough, there may be reasons why these people are the way they are. To understand this in an effort to prevent its happening in the future is fine – but to let this element remain in sway because we feel sorry for them or because their system of corruption is traditional is not soft hearted but soft headed and shows a true disrespect for the future of mankind.

With the responsible individual as the base for our effort we can cross with ease the otherwise sacred lines of politics, religion, business organizations and labor unions, farm blocks, liberal and conservative organizations, North and South urban and rural. With the common denominators of decency and responsibility we can form a common bond among like-minded people from all facets of our national life who care enough to do something to make certain that people like themselves can exist in freedom in the future. And from here the bond will be formed with like-minded people of the free world and eventually with their counterparts in the now – Communist part of the world.

The time has come to put first things first and soft aimless “light-hearted living” second. The time has come to recognize the task before us and to marshal our best talent and resources and time and attention to solving the myriad problems at hand.

If there is a purpose in life – this is it! If there will ever be a “heaven on earth” it will only come about as a result of a lot of hard work and intelligent planning.

Here is a plan of action!

1. State our goal – define it in terms that all will understand.
2. Enact the long-range goal into law, so that it can only be changed by the will of the people, and not by individual political parties as they come and go in office.
3. Make it clear that this long-range goal transcends “politics” but not political science – it is a source of unity – not of division.
4. Publicize this goal with a far-flung information campaign that will bring it home (as near as possible) to every human being on earth.
5. Make the President of the United States responsible for using his authority and office to move us toward this goal – with the help of the Congress, the States and the People.
6. Establish a Department of the Government whose sole responsibility will be to administer a program that will enable us to achieve these goals at the earliest possible time. This Department will handle certain functions independently within the framework of the National Goals Law and also work with all other departments and in an advisory capacity to the President.
7. The Administrative Head of the Department of National Goals would automatically be the losing presidential candidate in each four-year presidential election. This revolutionary proposal has two principal virtues:
   1. It will give the Nation the advantage of having one of its most capable and experienced public servants in a key post where he can contribute vitally to the national interest – instead of being thrown on the political scrap heap.
   2. It will act as a unifying force among the people to have the head of the losing (but almost equal) party in an important government post where he can continue to serve them and the world.
8. The organization of the Department of National Goals could take this shape:
   

9. The source of this Department’s strength would be the people themselves – who would be encouraged to participate and be provided with an opportunity to lend service and support based on their particular experience and skills.

   The people-power for this new organization could be developed and recruited in this fashion:

   1. As part of high school and college training – young people would be given a chance to select an area of the earth or a country that they would like to study about in depth. They would -
      1. learn the language
      2. learn the history
      3. learn the customs
      4. learn about the economy
      5. learn about the political structure
      6. discuss ways that they could be helpful in this area – and ways that the people of this area could help enrich our lives in the United States
   2. A program would be set up whereby students with exceptional potential could have the opportunity to visit their “adopted” country and travel about living with families in different areas.
   3. We would try to interest all other countries in this program and arrange for students from all over the world to come and visit us and live with participating families here.
   4. Thus we would be building up a reservoir of well-trained and educated people who were capable of working as specialists in a particular country or area. At the same time, we would be providing the youth of our nation with a stimulating opportunity to broaden their horizons, enrich their lives and become better citizens of the United States.
10. In the meantime we must function with the specialists we have and with crash programs to train others capable and desirous of performing this type of work.
11. In addition, and extremely vital to the success of this program is the utilization of technical and professional talent that we now have in our business community. These people in engineering, manufacturing, building, science, mining, farming, fishing, selling, finance and medicine would not necessarily have to know the language, etc. By virtue of their specialized knowledge, drive and imagination, they could serve mightily in any country – working with those of our people who had specialized knowledge of that country – our State Department personnel to begin with – BUT only after a clear-cut long range plan had been set up for each country or area and had been approved by the appointed leaders of that country.
12. This program in pursuit of our National Goals would not be a substitute for our participation in the United Nations (where we would also pursue them) but a positive, constructive and direct method of achieving results without the frustrations of being blocked by members who loudly proclaim their wish to do us in and destroy the kind of human existence that we are trying to preserve and extend.

Let’s Act! Let’s take the Initiative! Let’s stop sitting idly by and taking it on the chin! We’re on the side of right and decency. Let’s strike a few honest blows for freedom and the future of mankind.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Does the National Goal set forth here agree with your own concept?
2. Do you think it’s enough that individual Americans share in this International effort only by paying taxes?
3. How would you suggest the individual citizen participate?
4. What would you be willing to do?
5. Can we count on you to devote some of your time and/or money to promoting and supporting this National Goal?
6. Can we count on you right now to explain this proposal to at least two other persons, for whom you may want to order additional brochures at .25 each?

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