Abstract
In a free and democratic society, responsibilities for the development and utilization of manpower resources are located in fact and by necessity in both private and public hands. Governmental policies and actions today constitute the most powerful single instrumentality for shaping the manpower resources of the United States. The quantitative and qualita tive characteristics of these resources are determined by com plex processes of interaction which reflect the total life of the society. The variables which are part of these dynamic processes are interdependent, unstable, and inconstant in their weight and influence. Manpower problems are complex human problems to which there are no quick and easy solutions. Whether the responsibilities for manpower development and utilization should be, as a general rule, a function of either pri vate or public agencies is not a meaningful question. Greater congruence in the making of manpower policies can be achieved by governmental units and private individuals and organiza tions through rough agreement on a few central objectives. The values of a free and democratic society establish an obli gation to discover and create the conditions under which the potentialities of all men may be realized.
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