ustxtxb_obs_1996_07_12_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

burden and go on f uti4ing the greatest nation on earth? “The difference between an appeal to end suffering d an appeal to rights,” says Professor Rorty, “is the difference between an appeal to fraternity, to fellow feeling to sympathetic concern, and an appeal to somentg exists quite independently from anybody’s s about anythingsornething that issues uncondiemands.” held together by fellowship, feeling, will find nothing holding it together at hat our society is increasingly beset ewis Mumford identified in his dis He predicted the tendency of cul inch and technology yard by nces grow, as inhumanity outstrips humann impersonalized rights exceed the ersonal feelings and kinship, society ore bottom-line oriented. Irapae recedes. A delicate balance ..pendent on some miracle of the ost everywhere yet seem untouchabfsuch forces of human nature aren’t long suppressible, m anyone, much less in the young frustrated men nd women who see a better life passing them by today. ry warns us to heed the breaking points. s an umpire, government once managed to maintain its role in keeping the delicate balance. But distances between rich and poor grow, and government no longer finds a world that is nearly so manageable. Whether pushed or drawn into its current role, regardless, gov ernment makes a poor actor. It should return to being an umpire. The quality of umpiring is everything. n Bernard Rapoport is Chairman of the Board and CEO of the American Income Life Insurance Company in Waco. wi to lrve t instinctive. The hope of living at least cently as others follows from an equally intuitive tmess more acutely felt by those looking from i att om up hope, a longing to lay hands on riches that appe a oclety s aylor of white s and !vision of America into separate “Got mine.” e activity these days actually creating an enduring society. ns who, shoulder to shoulder as nd sister, might pick up another’s Ad courtesy of can Income I life Insurance Company EXECUTIVE OFFICES: P.O. BOX 208, WACO, TEXAS 76703, 817-772-3050 BERNARD RAPOPORT Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer JULY 12, 1996 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 15