Biased About America

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 6, 21 August 1931, Page 29

Biased About America

"THE observations of Dr. C, E. Beeby, of Canterbury College, from 3YA upon "Men and Machines in America" left me with the desire to have a heart: to heart talk with the worthy speaker in continuation of the topic. Having earlier declared the average New Zealander’s attitude to’ America to be compounded one part envy, one part jealousy, and one part pure ignorance, he now supplements that with a further division of us into two classes-one who says it is a wonail place and cites the Woolworth and another class which describes it is an "awful place-so different from New Zealand!" The doctor can satisfy neither of these people because he does think it a wonderful ' place, hut he has never seen the Woolworth Building, and he does think it an awful place, but not very different from New Zealand! Thus brightly introducing matters the speaker. justifies himself. He-declines to yield adoration to size and engineering skill because he is biased about America. His bias is that men are of more value than mach-ines-although he confessed to doubts on that point after seeing miles and miles of machine tenders-the machines seemed so much more intelligent! Amer-~-4 ica’s devotion to factory methods and .# standardised practices, he reminds us, ‘was forced on her through cheap sup‘plies of immigrant labour-labour incapable of doing much more than tending routine machinery. Because those methods are successful there, however, they might not be here, by reason of essential labour differences, But while: American conditions in some ways are awful, they are not more so than our own; they are merely further advanced and represent the logical conclusion of our own. Being more rapid in execution, they have attained where we are still evolving. Like all things logical, they are sometimes absurd as, for instance, when New York’s subways were placarded in respect of an automobile show "Why go to all the trouble of finding a parking place? Visit the automobile show by subway." I agree that that is beautiful. Against the evils of racketeering and booze there is much that is good in America to be seen and, as iMr. Beeby concluded, "whether we gibe or admire, whether we despise or envy, whatever our bias, we must admit that America is alive, more alive than any other portion of the world. What she will do. with that life only the years can teli-but it will be worth watching." I found Dr. Beeby’s talk merely an apcritif. I want more, for I am biased about America too.