Democracy and the Human Equation (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 Excerpt: ...Those who assume the responsibility of reconciling the facts of Democratic control with its theory adopt an expedient which places the whole issue beyond the reach of reason. They lay down the rule that Democracy must not be judged by its yesterday, or by its to-day, but by its to-morrow; and that so fast as to-morrows become yesterdays, even so fast must all adverse evidence be discredited as worthless. Just below the ever-receding horizon of time there lies, almost in sight of those who accept this rule, the pleasant land where education, dietetics, and a pat on the shoulder shall have made the majority of mankind into political units from which there can be built up a Government of benevolence, righteousness, and efficiency. My strong dissent from this view of politics rests - mainly upon four broad grounds: I. That acquired characteristics are not inheritable. II. That within the field of man's mental and moral traits there operate immutable laws analogous to those which are almost universally accepted by biologists for physical inheritance. III. That assortive mating operates unremittingly to depress one end of the moral and intellectual scale and to elevate the other. IV. That the individual and not the mass is, and always has been, the main source of human advancement./ Now, these statements are either true or false. Of the first three, biologists alone are competent to express an authoritative judgment/' in my mouth to what biologists may determine to be their value, it is clear that-lf they are true the whole theory that efficiency in Government arises from or can be made to depend upon its Democratic quality falls to the ground. The non-inheritance of acquired traits deals a fatal blow to the common belief that education can give the offsprin...