Co-operation IN EVERY country the poorer classes make a far larger sector than the well-to-do. Then, which countries in parti- cular may be named as poor? It is where the means of livelihood are the fewest and even those are often block- ed. Where the "have-nots" can aspire to a better life, hope itself is a real asset. It is not enough to say there is a shortage of funds in our country; worse, there is a shortage of hope. We cast all the blame on fate as we bear torments of hunger. We grovel in the dust, assured that only the mercy of Heaven or of people from outside can save us. It does not strike us that the remedy is in our own hands. That is why it is better to instil hope in the heart than to offer alms. It is his own deficiency, and no decree of fate, that makes a man sink into the depths. To think there is no escape from preordained misery is to make the misery perpetual. To seek new paths in a constant renewal of strength--that has always been the secret of pro- gress. When a man waits helplessly for a turning in the wheel of fortune, he has to be regarded as shorn of manhood. Man loses his true stature when he fails to unite fully with his fellows. A complete man is one who has this capacity for union, a lone individual is a fragmented being. We know that a child dreads ghosts only when he is alone. -323- |