486. THE PRESS.—The press is the nervous system of the nation. Supplemented by other means of communication, and aided by agencies of transportation, the press co÷rdinates individuals not physically contiguous, and thus enables them to act in concert. It lets everybody know what everybody else is thinking, or at least what they are supposed to be thinking. The forms of the printed page are infinitely various: daily papers, weeklies, monthlies, pamphlets, and books,—all of these are increasingly numerous. Statesmen, teachers, reformers, propagandists, and professional writers combine to turn out tons of printed matter a day. Pictures, jokes, contests, and stories are resorted to for the purpose of attracting attention. Editorials, advertisements, and news articles are among the vehicles of expression used. Printed matter does not wait for the individual to seek it out, but instead it goes to him. In various forms it encounters him in the street, stares at him from shop windows and billboards, forces itself upon his attention in the street cars, and knocks at the door of his private dwelling. In all its forms, it should be remembered, the dominant aim of the printed page is to influence the individual, to cause him to do something or to refrain from doing something.
487. GROWING IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION.—Despite the volume of European immigration to this country, American ideals and institutions are rendering our population more and more homogeneous, and thus more open to unifying influences. The increasing ease of transportation and communication is everywhere making isolation more difficult. Not only are the school, the church, the press, and the theatre widening in scope and increasing in influence, but new forms of expression are developing. There is a growing number of private organizations advocating social, economic, or political reforms. The popularization of psychology has encouraged the rise of innumerable forms of propaganda designed to influence the opinions of the community and nation. Occupational and social groups are everywhere organizing, clarifying their opinions, and expressing common principles in the effort to influence the public mind. All of these factors combine to increase the importance of Public Opinion in present-day American life.
488. DANGERS OF UNREGULATED PUBLIC OPINION.—The growing power of Public Opinion brings with it increased possibilities for good, but also increased possibilities for evil. In an important sense, this is the age of the propagandist, the crank reformer, and the subsidized newspaper, the age of the agitator who spreads lies through anonymous letters, unsigned posters, and irresponsible whisperings. The individual must be constantly on his guard against this flood; he must recognize that Public Opinion is often capricious, and that a sudden hysteria may inflict untold injury. The morality of a mob is inferior to the morality of the individuals composing the mob, because in a mob the sense of power is dominant and the sense of responsibility is suppressed. Properly speaking a mob depends upon physical contiguity, but the co÷rdinating influence of rapid transportation and communication may create a mob spirit between individuals not physically in contact. When propaganda lashes into a passion groups of people in widely separated areas, democracy becomes the most dangerous of all forms of government: there is no sure hand upon the helm, the people control en masse, in a burst of passion they may lay waste the social heritage of centuries.
489. FREEDOM A PARTIAL SAFEGUARD AGAINST UNSOUND PUBLIC OPINION.— While democracy facilitates the creation of the mob spirit, it likewise carries within itself at least a partial remedy for unsound Public Opinion. Men's opinions are infinitely various: the same community that produces the fanatic or the impractical idealist generally produces sensible and practical men as well. In politics men everywhere tend to divide into a radical group and a conservative group, between which control of the government oscillates.
Where freedom of expression is permitted, the existence of these two antagonistic camps is automatically a safeguard of the public welfare. Any one of a number of groups of people might ruin the country if left to themselves. But they are not left to themselves. Their opponents are constantly criticizing and checking them. When cranks launch propaganda, conservative critics launch counter-propaganda; when special interests attempt to influence the public mind, public- spirited individuals or organizations force both sides of the question before the public. When public officials neglect their duties, a thousand discerning men are ready to shout the fact from the housetops. Though the majority party secures control of government, the minority is never idle. Rather, it is constantly watching, waiting, marshaling opinion against the majority, calling public attention to the mistakes of their opponents, and agitating for a change of administration.
490. THE GUIDANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION.—Let us briefly consider the question of guiding or directing the formulation of sound Public Opinion. In a free country, such guidance may sometimes prove dangerous, and yet careful direction of the formulation of Public Opinion is justified by two facts: First, the formulation of sound opinion is retarded by the great difficulty of securing adequate information on the great problems of modern civilization. Here the individual needs some help. Second, everyone who can distinguish between license and liberty must agree that we should limit the influence of individuals and institutions which suppress minority opinion, and distort facts in the effort to pervert Public Opinion.
These considerations suggest two distinct lines of action.
First, we can aid in the formulation of sound opinion by making it easier for the individual to secure data and information on current topics. The extension and perfection of the postal service, the improvement of our system of transportation, the spread of the school and library, and possibly the free distribution of literature dealing with the nature and functions of government, these and similar measures would prove helpful.
Second, law and moral education ought to co÷perate in suppressing influences which seek deliberately to poison or pervert the public mind. Free speech is a priceless element in democracy, but just as we must harmonize individual liberty with the interests of the group, so we must prevent the use of free speech for criminal purposes. Especially ought the press and the school to be encouraged to give both sides of debatable questions. Every agency dealing with the issues of American life, indeed, ought to be careful not to distort those issues by suppressing or misusing facts. Above all, we must be careful not to pander to low ideals by emphasizing the negative and destructive side of our problems.
491. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL.—A progressive civilization confers more and more benefits upon the individual, but his duties and responsibilities increase with equal speed. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is not difficult to be virtuous in a cloistered and negative way," but honestly and effectively to fulfill the obligations of citizenship in a complex society is less easy. And yet the need of individual responsibility is infinitely greater in a modern community than among the members of an isolated and self-sufficient group. When small isolated villages were the dominant form of American settlement, the laxness of one group did not vitally affect the welfare of other groups. But so entwined are the present-day citizens of the United States that the acts of one individual may vitally affect the national well-being. The carelessness of a food canner on the Pacific coast may cost the life of a family on the Atlantic seaboard; a swindle originating in the East may demoralize individuals throughout the country. The obligations of citizenship have become national as well as local; in thought and in action the individual must function, not only in terms of his locality, but in terms of the nation as well.