The VALLEY SETTLOR is published every
Thursday by the Matanuska Valley Fora
ers' Cooperating Association at Faimer,
Alaska.
Managing Editor, Mrs. Venna Eastliaja
Subscription rates: $1.00 year
$1.50 year by nail
Mailed my,There: 10^ an issue
This paper is issued for the purpose of
jiving information and nows of the Mat
anuskn Valley Fortiers’ Cooperating As sc -
elation1 s rorh, problems and acconnlish
nents ar.d rise nevs of local and general
rest; and tc help foster the cooper
ative spirit of the farmers of the
Matanuska Valley.
Wc solicit the frank re.i honest express
ions of opic: on ml ideas from, ucnoers
riid employees cf the Cooperating Associ
ation ar.d the people of the Co.....unity at
large.
i Nr * \ iDj aLI Sm vs. coofzrai - $«.
Through a peculiar chain of circui stances,
the United States has ocir.o to be the
stronghold of "rugged individualism".
Tnis philosophy of life has never gained
such a foothold in other countri s as ir.
our own. History laid the stage for
Individual is:.: ir. the United Status end our
p. ople have playod the Icauinn roles with
much .gusto and enthusiasm ever since.
As a people wc have found expression for
cur Individualism in our religious liver
whore in Protestantism every mm is theo
retically his ov/n "priest": in c a rcliti
cal liver where every nan is thcoretic-lly
a "king"; and in cur economic lives whore
every nan ecu?-', he his own "boss" ith
the rip..- tc work vh- . and rs he pi eases.
Capitalists and laborers alike preach the
theory that "every nan should have the
opportunity to earn as much as ho can and
to muriate his affairs hi.:..self so as to be
able to reach the ’top’". As r result
Capitalise sits enthroned. Industrial
masters raise the cry f i "individual
freedom" or pretest against "infringement
of personal rights" and million • of typi
cal Americans vote the ry cf Capitalism
Stork necessity and '-ant ir. the midst of
plenty is forcing millions to sec that
something is wrong. It has been proven
that Individualism is a failure. So there
is Unionism, Socialism and Cooperation.
Some countries have turned to F-seism which
is nothing out State Capitalism where the
state is made up of and usod by the monop
olists of capital fc.r their own ends.
Fasois:. has repudiated utterly the demo
cratic principle. The individual exists
for the state.
Sere countries have turned to Communism
'■hicL leads in practice to a Dictatorship
by a fov;. The individual existence is
merged into and submerged by the Super
state which bocor.cs all-powerful. F.epre
sontation is frt.r industrial groups rather
than from geographic units as wo have in
our country. In Ccns-unisa like Fascism
the individual becomes lost in the State.
C -operation is 'n attenp to avoid cither
extreme, or the middle nay. Neither the
State nor the Individual is all-important,
rather the socialized individual is the
ke- icte. Instead of one nan cr (p"oup
gaining success at the expense of others,
each individual stands to pain equally.
Ti.c*r all contribute their best to the
welfare of their fellows. Ho one nan
jets rich, but all nr.ve the opportunity
to provide for a life of fulfillment.
For years in our hones, sciools, churches
.usd newspapers :io have heard nothing but
Indi"idsalism until it’s darn hard for
ar.y of us to -et cut of the idea. It is
s: id that education is necessary to pro
mote the 5 irt f Co-cpcratisn. That
doesn't mean Just sitting back and
list.ci.in ■ tc seme one tell you it's a
joed idea for you, but a conscious
education of yourself. Cooperatives are
s,ri...*iug up all cv'V the United States.
The -dca is fair deaJ.i:i.g for all to
attain throu.sk corporation all the neces
sities and comforts cf li 'c. No one can
main richer, in a trvu Cc-operative society.
T succeed complete!.;' Trill take combined
effort an’ ruck tine, out re can have as
our ,-oal that the Co-operative movement
aeons full development cf the individual
ar.d the goad of all, by learning hot; to
work and live together. For it ccnbinos
ail aspects of life and makes clear their
true relationship. Dconcnics, education,
sociology, psychology, religion, science,
etc., are essentially one.
The 2 liter ’.ashes to ackncr/led^e
that this editorial hr s beer, simpli
fied, shortened and scmeTrhat revised
but is still essentially the dcctrine
of David h. Scnquist as expressed in
his work "Cooperation—a Philosophical
Interprot ation."
**«***««
Bananas that leave the bunch usually f’et
skinned.