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SPEECH FOR THE TAMPA JUNIOR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Wednesday night, September, 11, 1958
A few nights ago I had the privilege of sitting in the audience even
as you are now listening to the graduation speeches of a number of
Dale Carnegie speakers telling in various ways what they have acquired
in new abilities and techniques from the course of which they had just
finished. It seemed to me one central theme ran through all they
had to say, which was simply that to convey ideas which were stim-
ulating to others you had to believe in those ideas and believe in your
ability to put them accross.
Dr. Carl Menninger. the great psychologist, almost established
it as a truism that attitudes are more important than facts. While I
would never relinquish my belief that truth is eternal. the facts will
prevail, that truth. crushed to earth, will rise again, it is nevertheless
true that certainly in the short run attitudes are very. very important
indeed. and sometimes at least are more important than facts.
One of the things that has amazed me about the problem our
neighbors in Latin America are having over the price oi coffee
is a general assumption by those familiar with those countries
that if the price oi coffee goes down. Latin American companies will
turn to Communism and Russia for friendship and support. but if
the price of coffee stays up we can count on their friendship. I
don't understand what relationship there is between those attitudes
and the facts upon which they are predicated, but it is their attitudes
in which ultimately we are deeply interested.
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Speech before Tampa J.Cs September ll. l958
Brain washing, of course, is based on that proposition.
As I understand it brain washing process a man is not taught a
new set of facts- he is simply given a background which gives him
a bow attitude toward the old set of facts. since that in the light
of this new attitude he reaches entirely different conclusions
and adopts and follows an entirely different course of action.
Marshal Zhukov, in his conversation with General lhnhower
at the conclusion of the war in Europe, tried to sell General
Eisenhower on the proposition that Communism appeals to the
idealistic, while Democracy appeals to the materialistic. We
of course know that just the opposite is true, but the result of
that attitude on the part of Marshal Zhukov was that he was
at that time at least, agyessively and dedicatedly pursuing the
communistic line. Eisenhower, on the other hand. reports that he
had a very tough time trying to defend our position.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. in his book which I know most
of you have read "The Power of Positive Thinking", opens his
first chapter with these words: "Believe in yourself. Have faith
in your abilities." He does not start off by saying you should go
out and take a correspondence course to improve some ability
that you have or buy a bell bar to develop your muscles, but that
you should start in where you are believe in yourself and have
faith in the abilities you at that time possess. He goes on in his
remarkable book to show just what a difference in ones attitude
towards oneself makes inliie.
All of you know more about salesmanship than I I am sure, and recognize that
the real salesman believes in his product and then what he sells is not so much
that product as he does his belief in that product he transfers that belief to his
customer and then he expects and righfully so that his customer will act upon
this new belief or attitude which he has adopted.
So what we believe about government is most important. I can remember in the
early years of my life I believed that everyone was better off under a democracy.
Now I know that people cannot make a democracy work unless they have the right
attitude towards democracy, towards freedom, towards their responsibilities
to other people. towards their ownself imposed limitations. What we believe
about our government- the attitude we have towards it- is almost as important
as is what the government itself does.
It is not enough that our government keeps the peace. both at home and abroad,
builds highways and schools. punishes people for crimes- dictator governments
do that. George III did that, so far as history records, ina fairly efficient way.
but his attitude towards the people over whom he ruled, and their attitude toward
him was such that despite the relatively efficient operation of his government
the people in the American colonies were not willing to subject themselves to him.
Simply stated, they believed that they should have a government which at least to
some degree Was responsive to normal republican processes. and they believed
that the government of England at that time was not that kind of government.
Baseball has for years been the great American game. It is played by rules Those
rules are changed from time to time. and the people dont have a great deal to do
with them. but they know what they are. and they agree that the way the rules are
set are satisfactory to them. All the teams play by these rules the umpires are
guided by those rules. and although the bleachers will be filled with people that
will disagree from time to time with the decisions of the umpire they have
faith that basically the game is being played according to the rules and theyenjoy
watching it done that way.
Now suppose suddenly the umpires in the National League got together
and decided that the Philadelphia Phillies ought to win the pennant this year.
They might reason to themselves that the Phillies have some real good players
that hadnt had a good break. the Phillies haven't won in a long tinie, and they
therefore were going to start calling the strikes and balls in such a way that the
Phillies would win enough games to end up at the top of the league. Just as surely
as they did such a thing the people would lose faith in the way the game was being
conducted, and I seriously doubt baseball as it is known today Could survive in
America.
Look what is happening to the television quiz shows. If it is established
as legal certainlty, or ii a great number of the people of this country are led
to believe, that the shows are not being operating according to what they are led
to believe were the rules, you will see them disappear from the TV screens over
the nation in very short order.
The same thing applies to decisions in all areas of government. Mo st of
the people of the country were not too much interested in what kind of decision
Sherman Adams made until they were led to believe, correctly or incorrectly,
that his decisions might be inuenced by vicuma coats and free hotel rooms.
Political writers say that those incidents change the attitudes of the people in
the state oi Maine, and that the Republican party fell from its century long
position because of the changed attitude of the people of that state towards the
Republican party as a resultant of those disclosures.
in the field of judicial decisions we (ace the same problem. The one thing
an American cannot stand is a crooked judge. He may complain about the delays
in justice. or the high cost of justice, or that some laws don't suit him as well as
others. but these things are minor until he comes to believe that his courts are not
being operated according to the rules that he and his ancestors had a part in laying
down.
We here in the south (ace the tragic possibility of the destruction or at
least serious damage to our school system, not just by closing them. but by the
desertion of students to private schools, and perhaps the abandonment of the teaching
profession by many of our better teachers, as a result of decisions of the Supreme
Court oi the United States. I dare to say. however. that tragic as that result would
be even more tragic is the strong possibility of the destruction of iaith in the judidd
branch of government without which the kind of government we know and the kind
of freedom that we have known in this country cannot possibly exist.
Most of the attention of the country is centered on the desegregation decisions.
that is natural because it eiiects the many millions of people directly, but it is not
in those areas alone that the Supreme Court has, in the opinion of most students 0!
government. departed substantially from the rules laid by the Constitution of the
United States. In the case 01 Pennsylvania vs Steve Nelson the Supreme Court
held unconstitutional the laws of 42 states prohibiting the knowing advocacy
of the overthrow of the government oi the United States. The same court which
says on the one had that the people must abide by the law of the land, on the other
hand takes the position that the legislatures of 42 of our states cannot make sedition
unlawful. It takes no learned studen toi constitutional precedence to discern the
ridiculous inconsistency into which the court has been led by its desire to leap
frog over what it may consider archaic provisions to achieve goals which its
members consider desirable.
In the case of the city 0! New York versus one of its school proiessors
the Supreme Court held that the city of New York could not dismiss a teacher
in its schools who refused to anser a question on the ground that that answer might
incriminate him. Suppose tomorrow in the schools of Tampa it was desired to con-
duct a survey or inquiry designed tom out dangerous sex tendencies, and
each one of the teachers was asked the question as to whether or not they had
ever been guilty of actions which would be objectionable in that field. Under this
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States the teachers could refuse
to answer on the grounds that the answer might tend to incriminate them, with
the result that these dangerous persons might be left among school children to
do them untold harm. Mind you I am not talking about the use 01 the Fifth
Amendment as a safe guard for those accused of crimes in the courts of our
land f5 0! course every accused person is entitled to that safe guard; I am talking
about the use of the Fifth amendment to prevent the lawful state authority {rom
making the investigations necessary to assure itself that those who work in
positions of trust and responsitllity have the qualities and capacities necessary
to perform the duties of those tasks.
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liraan washing, of course, is based on that proposition. As I understand it brain washing process a man is not taught a new sei of factshe is simply given a background which gives hir a bew attitude toward the old set of facts, since that in the light of this new attitutie he reache8 entirely different conclusions and adopts and follows an entirely different cattrse of action. Marshal Zhukov, in his conversation with General likenhowea at the conclusion of the war ire Eurape, tried to se1] Ceneral Eisenhower an the p--oposition that Corrimminism appeals to lhe idealisije, whale Den-.ocracy uppeals to the materialistic. We of course know that joss the opposite is true, but the result of that atutudion the part of Marshal Zhukav was that he wasi a that t' me at ]e:1st, aggressively and dedicatedly pursuing the communistic 1me. Fisenhower, on the other hand, reports that h had a very tough time trying 10 defend our position. Dr. Nortnan vtacent Pealc, in his haak which 1 know most of you have read ''The Power of Positive Thinkjng", opens his first chapter with these wnrds' ''Ibelieve m yourself. Have faith in your abilities.'He does not start off by saying you should go mit and tak.a corresoundence course to imnrove some abilitu
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