Democratic societies from the earliest times have expected their government to protect the weak against the strong. No ‘era of good feeling’ can justify discharging the police force or giving up the idea of public control over concentrated private wealth. On the other hand, it is obvious that a sprirt of self-denial and moderation on the part of those who hold economic power will greatly soften the demand for absolute equality. Men are more interested in freedom and security than in an equal distribution of wealth. The extent to which Government must interfere with business, therefore, is not exactly measured by the extent to which economic power is concentrated into a few hands. The required degree of government inference depends mainly on whether economic powers are oppressively used, and on the necessity of keeping economic factors in a tolerable state of balance.
However, with necessity of meeting all these dangers and threats to liberty, the powers of government are unavoidably increased, regardless of the political party in power. The growth of government is a necessary result of the growth of technology and of the problems that go with the use of machines and science. Since the government must take on more powers to meet the problems of the nations, there is no way to preserve freedom except by making democracy more powerful.
Q: 'Era of good feeling' in the paragraph refers to
The Romans – for centuries is the masters of war and
polities across Europe, Northern Africa and Asia Minor – have often been criticized
for producing few original thinker outside the realm of positive. This
criticism, while in many ways true, is not without its problems. It was, after
all the conquest of Greece that provided Rome with its greatest influx of
educated subjects. Two of the great disasters intellectual history – the murder
of Archimedes and the burning the Alexandria’s library – both occurred under
Rome’s watch. Nevertheless, a city that was able to conquer so much of the
known world could not have been devoid of the creativity that characterizes so
many other ancient emprises.
Engineering is one endeavor in which the Romans showed
themselves capable. Their aqueducts carried water hundreds of miles along the
tops of vast arcades. Roman roads built for the rapid deployment of troops,
criss-cross Europe and still form the basis of numerous modern highways that
provide quick access prominence to Rome’s economic and political influence.
Many of these major cities lie for beyond Rome’s original
province, and Latin-derived languages are spoken in most Southern European
nations. Again a result of military influence the popularity of Latin and its
off spring is difficult to overestimate. During the centuries of ignorance and
violence that followed Rome’s decline, the Latin language was the glue that
held together the identity of an entire continent. While seldom spoken today,
it is still studied widely, if only so that such master or rhetoric as Cicero
can be read in the original.
It is Cicero and his like who are perhaps the most
overlooked legacy of Rome. While far from being a democracy, Rome did leave
behind useful political tool that serve the American republic today. “Republic”
itself is Latin for “the people’s business,” a notion cherished in democracies
worldwide. Senators owe their name to Rome’s class of elders; Representatives
owe theirs to the Tributes who seized popular prerogatives from the Senatorial
class. The veto was a Roman notion adopted by the historically aware framers of
the Constitution, who often assumed pen names from the lexicon of Latin life.
These accomplishments, as monumental as any highway or coliseum, remain
prominent features of the Western landscape.
A great deal of discussion continues as to the real extent
of global environment degradation and its implications. What few people
challenge however is that the renewable natural resources of developing countries
are today subject to stresses of unprecedented magnitude. These pressures are
brought about, in part, by increased population and the quest for an ever
expanding food supply. Because the health, nutrition and general well-being of
the poor majority are directly dependent on the integrity and productivity of
their natural resources, the capability of government to manage them
effectively over the long term becomes of paramount important.
Developing countries are becoming more aware of the ways in
which present and future economic development must built upon a sound and
sustainable natural resource base. Some are looking at our long tradition in
environmental protection and are receptive to U.S. assistance which recognizes
the uniqueness of the social and ecological system in these tropical countries.
Developing countries recognize the need to improve their capability to analyze
issues and their own natural resource management. In February 1981, for
example, AID funded a national Academy of Sciences panel to advise Nepal on its
severe natural resource degradation problems. Some countries such as Senegal,
India, Indonesia and Thailand, are now including conservation concerns in their
economic development planning process.
Because so many governments of developing nations have
recognized the importance of these issues, the need today is not merely one of
raising additional consciousness, but for carefully designed and sharply
focused activities aimed at management regimes that are essential to the
achievement of sustained development.
Q: How much environmental pollution has taken place in the developing and developed world?
