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[[Ronald Reagan] A little while ago, I received this letter.]
[I think you might be interested in what it says.]
["Dear Mr. Reagan, I am 12 years old and watch the General Electric Theatre]
[You always say that progress is our most important product.]
[If this is so, please let me know if I can buy some of this progress."]
[Well, I think this is in the department of our progress reporter, Don Herbert.]
[[Don Herbert] Now, thanks, Ronney.]
[We don't sell progress by the pound, but this young fellow does raise]
[a rather interesting question.]
[>> Yes he does. What do you mean by progress, Don?]
[>> Well, perhaps I can show him.]
[Progress means different things to different people.]
[For example, you saw one thing we meant by progress for General Electric customers]
[when we talked about increasing your buying power. Remember?]
[Back in 1931, the average American worker had to put in 580 hours ]
[These days, he has to work only about 168 hours to buy this model,]
[vastly improved through General Electric research and development.]
[This is progress for customers.]
[Our report on the safety program showed how General Electric employees]
[measure their progress, not only in terms of good pay and steady jobs,]
[but also in all the extra considerations that make their work more pleasant and productive.]
[When we visited the 1956 annual meeting, ]
[progress to General Electric's 361,000 shareowners was apparent.]
[These are the people who risk their savings, and this is the 58th consecutive year]
[that General Electric has paid dividends.]
[Then we met Hank Descarty of Abilities, Incorporated,]
[one of General Electric's 42,000 suppliers , mostly independent small businessmen.]
[And the way General Electric breaks big jobs down into small ones,]
[well, that means progress for them.]
[When we demonstrated how you can live better electrically,]
[we saw how the entire electrical industry is making progress,]
[including 400,000 dealers who sell General Electric products.]
[As we reported the outstanding performance of the General Electric J79 jet engine]
[for the Airforce, the meaning of GE progress in the defense of our nation]
[All of these are examples of progress.]
[They help assure our raising standard of living and our national security,]
[but at General Electric, progress means even more.]
[This further dimension of progress is General Electric's earnest effort]
[to help all Americans achieve the extra human satisfactions]
[that mean more than material progress, such things as personal achievement]
[with freedom and dignity, values which are so uniquely possible in America.]
[Ronney, your young letter writer needn't be disappointed.]
[>> I see what you mean, Don.]
[The progress that is a part of every product, every service, ]
[every activity General Electric undertakes.]
[>> Right. That's exactly what we mean when we say ]
[at General Electric progress is our most important product.]
