1. I saw around Velva a release from what was like slavery to the tyrannical soil, release from the ignorance
that darkens the soul and from the loneliness that corrodes it. In this generation my Velva friends have rejoined
the general American society that their pioneering fathers left behind when they first made the barren trek in the
days of the wheat rush. As I sit here in Washington writing this, I can feel their nearness.
(from Eric Sevareid, "Velva, North Dakota")
that darkens the soul and from the loneliness that corrodes it. In this generation my Velva friends have rejoined
the general American society that their pioneering fathers left behind when they first made the barren trek in the
days of the wheat rush. As I sit here in Washington writing this, I can feel their nearness.
(from Eric Sevareid, "Velva, North Dakota")
2. The first is the wear-and-tear hypothesis that suggests the body eventually succumbs to the environmental
insults of life. The second is the notion that we have an internal clock which is genetically programmed to run down.
Supporters of the wear-and-tear theory maintain that the very practice of breathing causes us to age because
inhaled oxygen produces toxic by-products. Advocates of the internal clock theory believe that individual cells are
told to stop dividing and thus eventually to die by, for example, hormones produced by the brain or by their own
genes. (from Debra Blank, "The Eternal Quest" [edited]).
insults of life. The second is the notion that we have an internal clock which is genetically programmed to run down.
Supporters of the wear-and-tear theory maintain that the very practice of breathing causes us to age because
inhaled oxygen produces toxic by-products. Advocates of the internal clock theory believe that individual cells are
told to stop dividing and thus eventually to die by, for example, hormones produced by the brain or by their own
genes. (from Debra Blank, "The Eternal Quest" [edited]).
3. The strictest military discipline imaginable is still looser than that prevailing in the average assembly-line.
The soldier, at worst, is still able to exercise the highest conceivable functions of freedom -- that is, he or she is
permitted to steal and to kill. No discipline prevailing in peace gives him or her anything remotely resembling this.
The soldier is, in war, in the position of a free adult; in peace he or she is almost always in the position of a child.
In war all things are excused by success, even violations of discipline. In peace, speaking generally, success is
inconceivable except as a function of discipline. (from H.L. Mencken, "Reflections on War" [edited]).
The soldier, at worst, is still able to exercise the highest conceivable functions of freedom -- that is, he or she is
permitted to steal and to kill. No discipline prevailing in peace gives him or her anything remotely resembling this.
The soldier is, in war, in the position of a free adult; in peace he or she is almost always in the position of a child.
In war all things are excused by success, even violations of discipline. In peace, speaking generally, success is
inconceivable except as a function of discipline. (from H.L. Mencken, "Reflections on War" [edited]).
4. In Montreal, a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly through intersections heavily
populated with pedestrians and oncoming vehicles. In startling contrast, an amber light in Calgary warns drivers to
scream to a halt on the off chance that there might be a pedestrian within 500 meters who might consider crossing
at some unspecified time within the current day. In my home town in New Brunswick, finally, traffic lights (along
with painted lines and posted speed limits) do not apply to tractors, all terrain vehicles, or pickup trucks, which
together account for most vehicles on the road. In fact, were any observant Canadian dropped from an alien space
vessel at an unspecified intersection anywhere in this vast land, he or she could almost certainly orient
him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns.
populated with pedestrians and oncoming vehicles. In startling contrast, an amber light in Calgary warns drivers to
scream to a halt on the off chance that there might be a pedestrian within 500 meters who might consider crossing
at some unspecified time within the current day. In my home town in New Brunswick, finally, traffic lights (along
with painted lines and posted speed limits) do not apply to tractors, all terrain vehicles, or pickup trucks, which
together account for most vehicles on the road. In fact, were any observant Canadian dropped from an alien space
vessel at an unspecified intersection anywhere in this vast land, he or she could almost certainly orient
him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns.
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