In each field priorities are constantly changing.
Each field is called upon to meet the changes by making corresponding
changes in its personnel, its education and its apprenticeships.
In addition to formal schooling and apprenticeship we have a vast
network for the distribution of information and the formation of public
opinion. The printing press, the camera and other means of communication
determine the levels of information and the willingness of the public to
keep abreast of the shifting social scene.
A social structure resembles every other human meeting place--it tends
to accumulate dead wood. There are two answers to this problem: periodic
housecleaning, without fear or favor, together with careful scrutiny of
the apprentices and other newcomers in the field.
Every social group has its quota of defectives and
delinquents--biological and social, physical, mental, emotional. Here
the critical problem is where to draw the line. Perhaps the best general
answer is to measure productiveness, including those who make a net
contribution, including those whose presence is desirable and excluding
undesirables. Again this involves periodic housecleanings.
Throughout the past two centuries mankind has been confronted by an
epoch-making, many sided development--the great revolution of
1750-1970. As I write, the great revolution is modifying the structure
and functioning of human society and, consequently, the forces which
condition, shape and, in large measure, determine the directions and
channels in which humanity lives, moves and has its being.
Pages:
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340