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INBRIEF
LIBERII(S PRESIDENT
ESPOUSES
"HUMANISTICCAPITALISM"
32
by
Stanley
R.
Rader
The author accompanies
Plain
Truth
Editor-in-Chief Herbert
W. Armstrong on his frequent
visits with heads of state and
other /eading international dig–
nitaries.
~
BERtA,
August 6, 1977:
Mr.
rmstrong and
1
have jusi con–
cluded a three-day visit to Lib–
eria, Africa's oldest republic.
We had both looked forward for
some time to this opportunity, and
we were not disappointed. Actually,
we might have reached this part of
the world much earl ier if we had
begun to carry the Announcement
to the people of the African conti–
nent by moving counterclockwise
around its continental perimeter.
lnstead, some years ago, we began
in Egypt and moved in a clockwise
manner down the eastern coast to
the Cape of Good Hope, and at last
reached thewest coast countries of
Liberia, Ghana and lvory Coast.
We were greeted at the airport by
the mayor of Monrovia. The capital
and most importan! city in Liberia,
Monrovia derives its name from
United States Presiden! James
Monroe, under whose administra–
tion the U.S. aided and encouraged
the settlement of freed American
slaves who formed the nucleus of
the Western-style republic estab–
lished in 1847. We were driven
directly to the executive mansion
for our audience with Presiden! Tol–
bert, a well-respected leader who
plays an importan! role throughout
the Africa of today.
Recently Presiden! Tolbert has
decreed, or proposed, a new phi-
losophy for the nation and its
people, which he calls " humanistic
capitalism."
lt
is a philosophy of
government and of lite that is based
upon the concepts of free enter–
prise. lts principal objective will be
the development of the individual,
but will also require a sharing of the
benefits with the leas! favored, the
handicapped, and the persons de–
penden! upon others for !he neces–
sities of life.
According tothisphilosophy, the
individual will be accorded the right
to acquire his own property by his
own initiative without any restric–
tion, and he will have the right to
enjoy his possessions without risk
of confiscation or interference. The
individual's work and dignity will be
regarded as supreme. Presiden!
Tolbert hopes that the process of
sharing with those less fortunate
will become spontaneous rather
than something that the more fortu–
nate wi ll consideras a burden oras
an undesirable obl igation.
Presiden! Tolbert's " humanistic
capitalism" is not just philosophy.
Vice Presiden! for 19 years under
the presidency of his predecessor,
Presiden! William Tubman , by
whose death in 1971 he succeeded
to that office, Presiden! Tolbert 's
incumbency has marked a new era
of urgency and change, tempered
by a gradual and experimental ap–
proach , but apparent in an expan–
sion of freedoms, economic and
bureaucratic reform and a newly
aroused national pride.
In the President 's discussions
with Mr. Armstrong and myself, the
principie of helping others to help
themselves was also stressed, and,
on behalf of the Ambassador lnter–
national Cultural Foundation, Mr.
Armstrong was very pleased to en–
ter into a program whereby the
people in !he city of Monrovia wi ll be
taking it upon themselves to im–
prove the san itary and trans–
portation systems o f that
community. This is in thetradition of
the part played in Liberia's founding
by American cit izens and govern–
ment, spearheaded by the efforts of
the American Colonization Society
which purchased Cape Mesurado,
site of present-day Monrovia, lead–
ing to its settlement in 1822 as an
African haven for freed American
siaves.
The descendants of those origi–
nal settlers and later American Ne–
gro immigrants comprise less than
one-third of the total population, but
Liberia is a traditional friend of the
United States, patterned in many
ways alter its example.
Liberian society has a strongly
rel igious character. Presiden! Tol–
bert himself is a Baptist minister,
former head of the World Baptist
Alliance, and sti ll spends consid–
erable time preaching from the pul–
pit.
liberia is one of the few demo–
cratic governments in all of Africa,
with very close ties to the United
States. Notwithstanding !hose !les,
the Liberian government conducts
itself vis-a-vis other nations in such
a manner asto make every effort to
normal ize its relationships with the
people and governments of this
troubled world. Just recently Lib–
eria has recognized the People's
Republic of China, for example.
The combination of practica! ex–
perience and enlightened ideal ism
that Presiden! Tolbert brings to the
problems confronting him as the
leader of this only black African
nation to escape colonial sub–
jugation, and especial ly his active
program of relating to and coopera–
ting with the world community,
should make him and his country a
strength to this troubled and turbu–
lent continent in the critical days
and years ahead .
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1977