When the energy at man's command is limited to his own muscles or to the muscles of domesticated animals, practically all of his time is consumed in getting something to eat and a place in which to live. In India some 90 percent of the people are engaged in elemental agriculture, which liberates only 10 percent of the population to do all the things that are necessary for a more comfortable and satisfying life. In the United States where at least 85 percent of the people are engaged in other activities, accumulation of capital is rapid and more comfortable living a reality.
Consider as an illustration the TVA. At one time gigantic floods did millions of dollars' damage in that area. Then the great Tennessee Valley project harnessed the waters and converted this tremendous energy into electricity.
Then a schoolteacher from Colorado, Harry Curtis by name, went down to the TVA to take over the project of producing calcium metaphosphate from the phosphate rock, making use of this energy. This highly concentrated fertilizer went to the tired soil of the farms; the meadows again began to grow grass; dairy cattle began to feed on the grass; and milk was produced, and the milk went to the children, and the better nutrition gave more wide-awake children, healthier children, children more resistant to disease; and this was followed by greater accomplishment in the schools.
We must remember that the United States today consumes one half of all the resources that are produced by the free world. We must also remember that on a world-wide basis today no nation is willing to settle permanently for a standard of living that is lower than that of any other nation. That states the problem briefly.
Considering population pressures, Dr. Willard Libby recently made the statement in dramatic form, that the people now living on the earth constitute five per cent of all the human beings that have ever lived on the face of the earth. It has been computed further that if the world's total production were to be divided among the world's total population the average per capita income would be about $400 a year—one-fifth of what the citizen of the United States has today.
The attainment of a good life in a world made good depends on an enlargement of our standard of values. God, according to tradition, is found in the lonely and quiet places. Somehow in our educational process, as a part of knowing how to use our resources, we must learn to appreciate nature, to see her through the eyes of one who comprehends the grand strategy of life there represented.
Does it all provide material for graduate study and research? It does. For whom? The answer is given us in terms of the opening remarks of President Newton of this University—"for practically every discipline." That is the challenge. There are basic problems to be solved by the physical scientists, by the social scientists, and by the humanists. There is an abundance of opportunity. The major question is: Are you interested? The answer will depend very largely whether you regard your life as a money investment, or whether you regard it as a part of the great human adventure.
— R. G. Gustavson, in an address at the Western Resources Conference, University of Colorado, July 13, 1959.
A version of this article appeared in print in the September 1959 issue of Resources magazine.
