On the record
Its dominating mechanical spirit so submerged the individual that, in 1914, the paradox was observed of an enlightened nation that was seemingly destitute of a conscience.
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gutenberg.orgJames Beck: “Its dominating mechanical spirit so submerged the individual that, in 1914, the paradox was observed of an enlightened…”
Editor's note · Context
Beck notes the troubling paradox of an enlightened nation lacking a moral conscience before World War I.
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That vision still remains as an ideal with the American people and still leads them to ever-higher achievements, for in all the mad changes of a frenzied hour, they have not yet lost faith in or love for the Constitution of the Fathers!
That vision will remain with them as long, and no longer, as there is in their hearts a conscious and willing acquiescence in its wisdom and justice.
It must champion the human soul in its God-given right to exercise freely the faculties of mind and body.
It did not believe that the State was omnipotent or infallible, and yet it proclaimed its authority within wise and just limits.
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