Mr. McCarron of the John Birch Society provided us with his view of an enlightened world. It is interesting indeed to contemplate the nature of the world if Mr. McCarron had his wish. The first thing we would notice is that the government would not have “overstepped” its role as a freedom-preserver. This means that civil rights legislation would never have been passed. Blacks would still not be allowed to vote in much of the South since voting rights legislation would not have been enacted. Disadvantaged school students would still be restricted to inner-city inadequate educational facilities. Children would still be working in mills and the coal fields from the age of 6 or 7 with no hope of ever breaking out of their indentured servitude since child labor laws would never have been written. The labor movement would never have occurred since this “socialist” movement would have been suppressed to preserve the “natural order” (i.e. several people getting wealthy while the majority are relegated to substandard wages and housing). Mr. McCarron seems to ignore the fact that sometimes the federal government also must work to preserve the freedom of citizens that are not in the privileged class.

How far would our country have progressed in Mr. McCarron’s world? Our educational system would be very different. There would be very few colleges and universities and they would be restricted to isolated areas in the country, since the Morrell Act authorizing land grant univerisites would not exist. The boom in access to college education would be nonexistent since the GI Bill, federally-guaranteed student loans, and federal scholarships would not be available. College would be the environment of the privleged few. Business would prosper while the populace floundered. No money would be available for research into various diseases like polio, cancer, small pox or even AIDS unless businesses could make a sizable profit. Indeed, our greatest achievement, the space program in the 1960s, would never have been undertaken. Consequently, we would not have our modern plastics, materials, metals, and microcomputer technology. Socially, we would not be spending any money on social security, Medicare, Medicaid, or food stamps. All of the above programs require federal government “intrusions.”

It is an interesting country that Mr. McCarron describes and strives to attain. It is a country that would be very similar to the present-day Iran. Isn’t that a pleasing thought? Personally, I think not!

Robert Keller

graduate

educational psychology