Pioneers, Not Robots, Needed!
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MANY people, whatever their politics, must, in their innermost consciousness, deplore the general tendency to refuse acceptance of responsibility. Our present way of life and the habit of depending upon the Government to arrange so much by rationing and controls seem to have a bearing on our apparent inability to use initiative in those things that really matter.
Regimentation is a devouring disease which has crept up on us since the war, and in our punchdrunk state following bombing and other worries, we have become receptive to any plan or scheme which seems to relieve us of responsibility, not only to think, but to act, for ourselves. The courage, initiative and determination to win, which made us world leaders, are now in question.
Recently, an Australian summed up the position when discussing the prospects of our Test Team for the Antipodes. He said "if you can win a couple of the Test Matches, the whole Continent of Australia will be delighted, and this would show that the Old Country, to which we have always looked forward for a lead; still has the fighting spirit."
Nit long ago a driver, whose vehicle, operated by a nationalized undertaking. was involved in an accident, immediately threw the onus on to the maintenance staff, claiming that he had reported faulty brakes on several occasions and that nothing had been done. An old-time driver would have attended to the task himself or, if the regulations did not permit this, would have asked for another vehicle rather than endanger it and other road users. In Australia, the pioneer spirit seems to be maintained, and examples of this are not wanting in connection with road transport. One driver who was operating a 10-tonner from Darwin to Adelaide, a distance of 2,400 miles, was held up by a failure of the centre bearing of the propeller shaft when he was about 150 miles from adequate aid. He did not telephone to the nearest garage, sit at the roadside and wait for a tow, but sorted out a few bits of metal, made shims, and rebuilt the bearing. One hundred miles farther on, the clutch went. In this case he knocked the end out of a petrol drum and from it improvised a clutch plate, using a hammer, cold chisel and tile, also cutting up his own leather belt to employ as inserts. All this took time, but the point is that he got his vehicle home without assistance.
Another Australian operator who was in our office a few days ago and who employs a few drivers from England, also referred to their habit of sitting down under trouble and merely waiting for help. His other men will, if, for instance, a steering or track rod be bent by a projecting rock, make a fire and " toast " the rod until it can be straightened. They will even withdraw a piston or replace a big-end bearing on the road.
One trouble is that we are becoming too specialized and concentrate on particular jobs to the exclusion of knowledge which would be of value in such circumstances. In a way, it is a process of over-civilization, which is turning us into robots rather than pioneers. Machines tpay perform certain tasks well, but it is not to them that we can look for leaders.