Cooperation [editorial]
Media
Part of The Philippine Craftsman
- Title
- Cooperation [editorial]
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1916
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- EDITORIAL. COOPERATION. Examples of united activity for the common good can be found in every age in every country. But not until recently has the subject of cooperation been given much study, and to many it still signifies little more than a term with which to adorn magazine articles of a commercial or a political nature. Joint action may exist between individuals and people of a certain class, or between groups of individuals which compose an organization. Mutual aid finds motive in necessity, as with primitive men and in pioneer communities; self-interest, as in modern business enterprises; altruism, where ideals prevail. Whenever two or more people, however actuated, help each other to accomplish a common object, such people cooperate. Cooperation presupposes a mutual agreement which may be expressed or implied. It is most active where the purpose for which it exists is best understood. In its finest manifestation it requires the highest intelligence, the most unqualified altruism. Yet, there may be successful cooperation where the motive is other than benevolent. And the best that can be hoped for under the present organization of society is a practical kind of cooperation arising from a broad-minded self-interest. Unselfish cooperation is an ideal toward which all should work. It is almost synonymous with harmony and sympathy. It probably nowhere exists in the degree to which it might attain; but this, rather than being a discouragement, should be an incentive to those who would further united action. The reward will always be proportionate to the effort. In no organization is the value of cooperation greater, nor are its results more evident, than in the schools. They are the logical centers for radiating the spirit of cooperation throughout the Philippines. It is among teachers, pupils, parents, and local officials that the principle should be fostered. While the subject is of general concern, it is in many of its phases of peculiar interest to craftsmen. It is natural, then, that from among the leading thoughts which were selected as suitable for each of the nine numbers of Volume V, cooperation was chosen as appropriate for the first number. 141869-----6 63