Page:Mead - The Overthrow of the War System.pdf/110

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The Overthrow

coffee, African cooks, Chinese silks, German toys, Arctic furs, Japanese tea, Italian olives, Hawaiian sugar, and the art, music, news, and literature of the world. In short, we draw our daily resources from many lands, exacting tribute of other races for the most frugal meal and the humblest dwelling. Each nation barters what it can best produce for what it needs from others. Thus has been brought about, the planet around, an interdependent human society,—a world partnership.

This world partnership has economic, aesthetic, sociologic results; moreover, it has become vital to the existence of the world's large aggregations of population in cities. It is said that New York would succumb to famine in a week, were transportation cut off.

A partial severance of world contact of four stockholders in the world partnership occurred during the San Francisco fire, the Messina earthquake, the Ohio floods, and when Belgium became a battleground. Plague, famine and death were diverted from Belgium, Ohio, Messina and San Francisco by another form of cooperation—the altruistic—that sent a prompt response to the modernized cry of, "Come over into Macedonia and help us."