CITIZEN ACTION 571 



others. The drive for the "fast buck" will not produce beautiful 

 buildings, nor will corruption in city hall produce a beautiful city. 

 And I am not too sure that the saying that even the poor can af- 

 ford a bar of soap makes any sense, especially to the poor, who often 

 cannot afford the bar of soap and all too often are too discouraged 

 to use it. 



Of course, there are many reasons for different kinds of ugliness. 

 And there are many ways to promote different kinds of beauty. 

 But the essential fact is that the ugliness of corruption within us 

 tends to create ugliness and corruption around us. Ethics and 

 aesthetics, in the final analysis, are interrelated. 



If we really want beauty, then we must use the "buck" not to 

 corrupt and not to impoverish, but to beautify and to enrich; and 

 since ugliness, on the whole, is manmade, it can be man unmade. 

 To accomplish this will require vigorous and courageous action on 

 several fronts: political, legislative, social, and educational. This, 

 after all, is what we mean by citizen action. 



We mean, first of all, that citizens must exert private initiative 

 and encourage public responsibility through political action, through 

 the enactment of both mandatory and permissive laws on the Fed- 

 eral, State and local levels, with adequate appropriations where 

 necessary, to promote beauty in the city and beauty in the coun- 

 tryside. Professional advisory committees of architects, landscape 

 designers, etc., should be developed. 



We mean, second of all, that citizens must encourage, through 

 their organizations, in their schools, and at home, the education of 

 the very young for a deep appreciation of beauty. 



If citizen action is going to be effective, there must be a national 

 coordinating committee, with a full-time staff, nationally and re- 

 gionally, for the purpose of stimulating volunteer action, for the 

 purpose of promoting model legislation, for the purpose of develop- 

 ing educational programs, for the purpose of exchanging pertinent 

 information and for the purpose of acting as a clearinghouse. Such 

 a national coordinating body should work through and with exist- 

 ing organizations concerned with beauty. It should sponsor regional 

 conferences and workshops. There must be a neighborhood-by- 

 neighborhood and block-by-block approach. 



It seems to me that now is the time. Man and science have com- 

 bined to make beauty possible. The time is now, when the grey 

 clouds of poverty and the bomb simply cry out for that silver lining. 



779-59565 37 



