Page:Jay William Hudson - A Practical International Program.pdf/27

 established and war is forever abandoned in favor of reason as a method of settling the world's problems. All these will be made possible by the average man and woman, by whom that large public opinion is molded through which the international mind comes into existence. We have depicted the ideal, and the ideal must be thoroughly understood and kept in mind always in all efforts which are being made for the attainment of the ultimate peace of the world. But there are more immediate things which the average man and woman must keep in mind; humbler, more every day duties which must not be neglected. The trouble with most people is that they content themselves with the larger dream, trusting that it will be attained somehow, somewhere, without realizing that they, themselves, are individually responsible for the attainment of the dream. What can the average man and woman do here and now to hasten the realization of the world order for which enlightened minds have struggled so long?

First of all, we can read the great literature which has appeared during the last few years with regard to the problems of international relations and become thoroughly conversant with it, so that it becomes part and parcel of our everyday consciousness. In terms of this reading, we can think constructively and contribute our own individual thought, however meager, however unimportant, to the great mass of thought through whose utterance public opinion is molded and the world's progress is directed. Second, we can converse with all with whom we come in contact on this great topic and thus spread our influence by imperceptible degrees to an extent which we can never individually calculate. At first sight, talk seems cheap; and yet, if we but realize it, the great reforms of history have been accomplished