As I walked several blocks from the bus stop to the docks, I was impressed by the gardens in front of the houses. The houses, of average size, are fairly old, yet in excellent shape. The people living there are mostly workingmen.
The sight of the gardens and houses turned my mind to the question of maintenance. It is the capacity for maintenance which is the best test for the vigor and stamina of a society.
Any society can be galvanized for a while to build something, but the will and the skill to keep things in good repair day in, day out are fairly rare.
At present, neither in the Communist countries nor in the newly created nations is there a pronounced capacity for maintenance.
I wonder how true it is that after the Second World War the countries with the best maintenance were the first to recover. I am thinking of Holland, Belgium and Western Germany. I don’t know how it is in Japan.
The Incas had an intense awareness of maintenance. They assigned whole villages and tribes to keep roads, bridges and buildings in good repair.
I read somewhere that in ancient Rome a man was disqualified as a candidate for office because his garden showed neglect.