Typewritten manuscript for a speech written by Pearl S. Buck, who adds copious corrections and revisions to the seven pages of text, which analyzes the relationship between the United States and the people and countries of Asia. The manuscript, unsigned, undated, 8.5 x 11, finds Buck covering a wide range of topics, including the ambivalent attitude of the Asian nations toward the West: “They admire our scientific achievements but do not at all admire the military uses to which we put them. Nor do they admire wholeheartedly the way in which we conduct our society.” She also discusses the influence of Confucius on Western history, and encourages the West “to keep the bridges [of communications] open…Communications have begun, even though with the hostility and name-calling, with the stupidities and absurdities and the dangers which must accompany such relationships.” She urges compassion for those “dependent upon the Marshall plan…He will not love us for being in our power, but he will be submissive until he gets what he wants. It is we who must not be deceived.” She continues with a warning that Americans must “wake up [because] some day we will need other people as badly as today they need us…and we will have to…consider how to please them,” and cites an anecdote about the defeat of the Roman Empire in which the Romans lost a war because they refused to relinquish their horses in favor of camels, which were better suited to the terrain on which they were fighting: “They died before they would learn.” Buck concludes with a plea for wisdom: “We are heedless with power…This is the real problem with the world today. This is the chief problem, I fear which faces the [Asian]…nations.” Includes a carbon copy of the corrected draft. In overall fine condition.
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