Siegfried Says U.S. Culture Rests On Anglo-Saxon Ideals of Initiative

Anglo-Saxon ideals of initiative and cooperation have produced a culture based on mass production in the United States, according to Andre Siegfried, Bacon Exchange Professor.

Speaking last night in Longfellow's Alumni Lecture Room, Siegfried stated that the civilization of Europe, on the other hand, possesses a unique element of quality, combining Mediterranean ideals of individualism with the Anglo-Saxon element. The Mediterranean influence, he explained, is largely absent from the "character of the United States."

In countries bordering the Mediterranean great stress is placed upon the quality and acuteness of the mind, Siegfried said. "People of these lands see deeply into things as they actually are, not as we would desire them to be," he "But these countries," he continued, "have not been transformed by the Industrial Revolution, and, in contrast to Anglo-Saxon peoples, their economy is still based upon individual producers such as the small farmer and the vine-yard owner."

In addition, commenting upon the strategic location of the Mediterranean, Siegfried predicted that the country controlling the Suez Canal 50 years from now may well control the world.

Therefore, he stated, the British made a grave mistake in evacuating their forces from the Canal, the link between the Mediterranean and the East.