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Show n,i.'.4.fi. Decisions; CP'' By GEORGE S.BENSOM . ffi!P3 l President of Harding College' (V Jf Searcy.Arkansas Ji6lU '" ' MEN AND nations gain or fose by the quality of decisions they make. Founders of this remarkable remark-able republic made a wise decision de-cision long ago, in favor of personal per-sonal self-reliance and individual achievement. America is great today because so many smart people were left free to do as much as they could, as well as they knew how, and gain as much of a reward for themselves as they were able. , , ) ) People may orate about America's Ameri-ca's greatness coming from her vast natural resources. The resources re-sources exist all right but the redskins had them before Columbus Colum-bus came and didn't know the use of a wheel. Some people boast of this nation's blueblood heritage. It was good. Our forbears, in large part, came from Europe. That was probably the smartest thing most of them ever did. Greatness AMERICA'S econom-In econom-In Liberty ic system is what made America great. It is a system of liberty giving every man the right to pick what he wants and go after it hammer-and-tongs, get it if he can and enjoy it to the extent of his capacity, capa-city, so long as it does not trespass tres-pass the rights of somebody else. It is a sprightly and dynamic economy, quickly adjustable to changing times and conditions. . Limitless opportunity and keen competition have borne a rich harvest. Our farmers live better than the peerage of some foreign lands. Our laborers have more than workers in other countries ever have had at any time. America Amer-ica has 7 of the world's popu lation and 80 of the world's automobiles. We send more children chil-dren to high school and college than all therest of theworld combined. , " ' V. , ' ' Opportunity DURING the last Stimulates two years of World War II, from a startled start in December 1941, America made more war materials mate-rials than all her allies and her foes put together. An American carpenter can buy more with his pay for a day's work than any other carpenter anywhere 2' times as much as a carpenter in Germany or France. And the same goes in all trades; the butcher, the baker and the street-, car conductor. Freedom of opportunity-fires' everybody to try; thus men of great genius come to light and the whole nation benefits. Then competition between men of special spe-cial ability stimulates them to zealous effort in developing products prod-ucts of excellence at fair prices to develop and hold profitable markets. This enables America's middle class to enjoy luxuries unknown un-known to run-of-mine kings, Mass production for volume sales demands fine and expensive tools. Buying this machinery calls for capital investment averaging $6,000 per industrial job in the United States. The thing that made America great was a decision to be free: Free to work, free to think, free to earn, free to save and free to invest in-vest and make a profit. It is called Free Private Enterprise and it's too valuable to lose. |