The Revolt Against Civilization

T H E R EV O L T
A G A INS T C IV IL IZ A T IO N
THE
M EN A C E O F T H E U N D ER M A N
BY
LOT HR O P S T O DD A R D A M
.
UT H
OR
or
TH E r aw
PH D
.
"
wo n L n
o r IS L A M .
"
or C O L O R ,
m s mama r m:
T a n mu m
s o r ra n
was
"
,
a rc .
NEW YO RK
C HARLES S C RIB NE R S S O NS
1 922
H
A
( RV )
.
O P Y R IG H T
HARLES
1 9 22 , B Y
I E
Pri nt ed i n t h e Uni te d St ates of
NS
S C R BN R S SO
b ish ed M ay , 1 922
Pu
Am i
e r c a.
PR EFA CE
T HE revolutionary unrest which to day aii cts the en
t ire world goes far deeper than is generally supposed
Its root cause is not Russian B olshevik propagan da
nor the late war nor the French Revolution but a
proce ss of racial impoverishment whi ch destroyed th e
great civilizations of th e p ast and which threatens to
destroy our own
This grim blight of civili z ed society has been correctly
diagnosed only in recent years The momentous bio
logical discoveries of the past generation have revealed
the true workings of those hi therto mysterious laws of
life on which in the l ast an alysis all human activity
depends
In the light of these biological discoveries conrmed
and amp lied by investigations in other elds of science
especiall y psychology all political and social problems
need to be re-examined
Such a re-examination of one of these problems the
problem of social revolution has been attempted in
the present book
L OTHRO P ST ODDA RD
BR OO KL INE ,
M A SS A CHUSE TTS
March 30
1 922
C ONT ENT S
C H A PT E R
II
PA G E
TH E B UR D E N
TH E IR O N LA W
NE M E S I S
III
IV
T H E LUR E
on
C I V ILIZA TI O N
or
or
on
IN E Q UA LIT Y
TH E IN F E R I O R
TH E
PR I M I TI V E
T H E G R O UN D-SW E LL
or
THE
RE V O LT
UN D E R -M A N
VI
TH E
R E B E LLI O N
VII
TH E
WA R A GA INS T C HA O S
VIII
OF
30
88
1 25
14 2
1 77
2 20
NE O -AR I S T O CRA C Y
23 7
IN D EX
26 9
T HE R EV OLT
AGAINST C IVILIZA T ION
THE REVOLT AGAINST CIVI LIZATION

CHAPTER I
THE BURD E N OF
C IVILIZATION
C IVILIZAT ION is th e oweri ng of the human species It

is both a recen t an d a fragil e thing Th e fi rst glimmer
ings of gen u
ine civiliz ation appeared only eight or ten
thousan d years ago This may seem a long t ime It
d oes not seem so long when we remember that behind
ci vili zation s dawn lies a vast ni ght of barbarism of sav
agery of best iality estimated at half a milli on years
since the ape-man shambled forth from the st eami n g
murk of tropic forests and scowling and blinking rai sed
hi s eyes to the st ars
Civilization is complex It in volves the existence of
human communi ties characterized by political and social
organi zation ; dominating and utilizing natural forces ;
adapting themselves to the new man made environment
thereby created ; possessin g knowledge renement arts
and sciences ; and (last but emphatically not least) com
posed of individuals capable of sustaini n g this elaborate
complex and of handing it on to a capable posterity
This last consideration is in fact the crux of the whole
matter ; the secret of success ; the secret likewise of
those tragic fai lures whi ch perplex and sa dden the stu
d ent oi history M an s march athwart the ages has been
.
T HE
REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N
not a steady advance but rather a slow wandering now

breasting sunli t heights yet anon plunging into dank
O f th e coun tless tribes of
swamps and gloomy valleys
men many have perished utterly while others have
stopped by the wayside apparently incapable of going
f orward and have either vegetated or sunk into deca
d ence
Man s trail is littered with the wrecks of dead
civilizations and dotted with the graves of promising
peoples stricken by an untimely end
Sharp an d insistent comes the query : Why ? Civiliza
tion seems so good a thing "It means relative protection
f rom the blind and cruel forces of nature ; abolition of
the struggle against savage beasts and amelioration of
the struggle between men ; Opportunity for comfort
leisure and the development of the higher faculties
Why then do we nd so many branches of the human
species never attaining never really striving after
these eminently desirable boons ? Also (yet more note
worthy "
) why do w e nd still other stocks after having
attained civilization
losing it and falli ng back to the
lower levels of barbarism or even of savagery ?
Mysterious though this may at rst sight appear there
is nevertheless an answer : Those stagnant or decadent
l d not bear the burden of civilization
peoples cou
For
civilization is a burden as well as a benet This is in
evitable in a u
ni verse governed by laws whi ch decree
that somethi ng may not come ou
Civili z a
t of nothi ng
tion is not a cause but an eff ect the effect of sustai ned
human energy ; and this energy in turn springs from the
creative urge of superi or germ plasm Civilization is
,
,
.
THE
B UR D EN O F CIVILIZATI ON
thus fundamentally conditioned by race In any par

ti cu
lar people civilization will progress jus t so far as
that people has the capacity to further it and the ability
to bear the correlative burden which it entails When
this crucial point is reached the civilization of that people
either stagnates or retrogrades Exactly how the process
works becomes clear by a glance at human history
When the ape man emerged from utter animality he
emerged with empty hands and an almost empty head
Ever since that far-off day man has been lling both
hands and head hi s hands with tools his head with
n equally
ideas B ut the lling h as proceeded most u
because capacity has varied greatly among the different
branches of mankind Whether all human varieties
sp ri n g from a single original stock we do not know What
we do know is that the human species early appears di
vi ded into a number of di ff erent varieties contrasting
markedly both in physical features and mental capacities
Thus differentiated and ever further differentiating man
kind plodded the long long trail leading from bestiality
to savagery from savagery to barbarism and from bar
bari sm to civili z ation
Slowly the empty hands and
heads began to ll The han ds grasped chance sticks
and stones then trimmed clubs and chi pped i nts then
a combination of the twain These same hands pres
ently fashioned the skins of beasts to clothe the body s
nakedness against the cold kindled res for warmth and
roasted food modelled clay for pottery tamed wild crea
tures into domestic aniInals And behind the hand was
the brain , not merely making these pu rely material in
.
THE R EVOLT AGAINST
CIVILIZATI O N
'
but al so di scovering others of a hi gher order

like spee ch or even non-mate ri al con cepts from whi ch
spran g the rudiments of social and political existence
All this occurred whil e man was still a savage
With
the next stage barba1i sm -came fresh discoveries like
agricul ture and the smelting of metals together with a
vari ety of new ideas ( especially the momentous art of
writing) which brought man kind to the th reshold of
ci vil ization
N ow it is obvious that at this stage of his development
man was a vastly di fferent creature from the bestial being
of earlier ti mes
Starting from naked dest itution and
brutish ignoran ce man had graduall y gathered to him
self an increasing mass of tools possessions and ideas
This made lif e much more comf ortable and agreeable
B ut it also made life much more complex Such a lif e
intelli gence and character
required vast ly more effort
than had the instin ctive animd existence of primeval
days In other words long before the dawn of true civi li
zati on the burd en of progress had begun to weigh upon
venti ons
Indeed even the rst li ght burdens h ad in some cases

p roved too heavy to be borne Not all the bran ches of
the human species attained the threshold of civiliz ation
Some indeed never reached even the limits of savagery
Exi st ing survivals of low-type savage man such as the
Bu
Black
shmen of South Africa an d the Australian
fellows have vegetated for countless ages in primeval

squ al or and seem in capable of rising even to the level
of b arbarism mu ch l ess to that of civiliz ation
It is for
,
T HE
BUR DEN O F CIVILIZATIO N
nat e
tu
for the future of mankind that most of these sur

vi vals from the remote past are to day on the verge of
extinction Their persistence and possible incorporation
into hi gher stocks would produce the most depressive
and retrogressive results
Much more serious is the problem presented by those
far more numerous stocks which whi le transcending the
plane of mere savagery have stopped at some level of
barbarism Not only have these stocks never originated
a civilization themselves but they also seem consti tu
t i onally incapable of assimilating the civilization of
others D eceptive veneers of civilization may be ac
quired but reversion to congenital barbarism u
ltimately
takes place To such barbarian stocks belong many of
the peoples of Asia the American Indians and the
African negroes These congenital barbari ans have al
ways been dangerous foes of progress Many a promis
ing civilization has been ravaged and ruined by barbarians
without the wit to rebuil d what they had destroyed T O
r own civi
day the progress of science may have freed ou
li z ati on from the peril of armed conquest by barbarian
hordes ; nevertheless these peoples still threaten us with
the subtler menace of paci c penetration

Usually
hi ghly prolic often endowed with ext raordinary phys
ical vigor and able to migrate easily owing to modern
facilities of transportation the more backward peoples
of th e earth tend increasingly to seek the centres of civi
li z ati on attracted thither by the hi gh wages and easier
living conditions which there prevail The influx of such
l ower elements into civilized societies is an unmitigated
-
THE REVO LT
AGAINST CIVILIZATION
disaster It upsets living standards socially sterilizes

the hi gher native stocks and if (as usually happens in
the long run) interbreeding occurs the racial fou
nda
tions of civilization are undermined and the mongrelized
population unable to bear the burden sinks to a lower
plane
So much for savagery and barbarism Now what
about civilization ? For the last eight or ten thousand
years civilizations have been appearin g all the way from
Eastern Asia to Europe and North Africa At rst these
civilizations were lo cal mere points of light in a vast
night of barbarism and savagery Th ey were also iso
lated ; the civili z ations of Egypt Chaldea India and
China developing separately with slight in uence upon
each other But gradually civilizations spread met
interacted syn thesized Finall y in Europe a great
civilizing tide set in rst displaying itself in the Clas
sic civilization oi Greece and Rome and persisting
down to the Western Civilization of our own days

A remarkable fact about civilization is its intensica
tion of features already observed on the savage and bar
barian planes Th e civilized man has vastly more secu
rity power opportuni ty comf ort leisure than h as the
barbarian or the savage ; he has amassed a wealth of
instruments possessions and ideas innitely transcend
ing th e paltry hoards of earlier days ; he lives in a man
made environment astoundingly diff erent from the
state of nature
This is especiall y true of modern
Western civilization Ou
r civilization may be inferior
to others in some respects It may lack the beauty of
.
THE
BUR D EN O F CIVILIZATI ON
the du
rabili ty of the Chi nese the spiritu
ality
B ut in dynamic energy in mast ery
of the M edi a val
over th e forces of nature and in all round efciency it
far transcends anythi ng the world h as ever seen
In fac t within the past century we have broken the
i al progress and have leaped
e
ag old tempo of mate r
clear over into a new self m ade world D own to a tri e
over a century ago man s material progress had bee n a
l
l
H
i
radua
very
gra
ua
vo
ution
too
l
s
though
l
a
e
s
d
g
more numerous were m ai nly elaborations of those dis
A few instruments like
c overed by his remo te ancest ors
the printing press and the mariner s compass were ab out
the onl y notable innovations Man s control over natural
resources had likewise not greatly expanded With the
exception of gunpowder he had tapped no new sources
His chief
of mate ri al energy si nce ve ry ancient times
source of power was muscle animal and human ( do we
not still reckon in horse power

and for th e rest he
lled hi s sails with the breeze and turned clumsy water
wheels by usin g brooks and streams But the ancients
ni ca
had done all these things As for methods of commu
tion they h ad if anything deteri orated In the year
1 800 there was no system of highways wh ich equalled
the Roman roads no posting service as quick as C aesar s
l d compare with the
no method of signallin g which cou
semaphore telegraphy of the P ersians and probably

no ship which could not have been overhaul ed by a Phce
ni ci an g al ley in a moderate se a
Suddenly astoun dingly all was changed The hidden
forces of nature yielded themselves wholesale as tho u
gh
th e C reek,
T HE
at the w ave of a magician s wand Steam electricity
petrol an d a whole seri es of mysterious rays and
waves gave man powers of whi ch he had not even

dreamed These powers were promptly harnessed to
innumerable machines which soon transformed every
phase of hu
man existence Production and transporta
tion were alike revolutioni zed di stance was well nigh
abolished and the very planet shrunk to the measure of
human hands In other words man suddenly entered a
new material world differing not merely in degree but in
kind from that of hi s grandfathers
Now all thi s inspired modern man with that spirit of
i stic hope in an ill imitably glorious
c o n dence and Optim
future whi ch characterized the greater part of the nine
teenth centu
ry And yet a little reection and a modi
cum of hi storical knowledge shoul d have made intelligent
persons do some hard thinking Modern civilization was
not the rst civilization It was merely the last of a long
series of civi lizations which had bloomed gloriously and
had then stagnated decayed or utterly perished Fur
th ermore save for a few exceptional cases where civiliza
tions were uprooted i n their prime by a bl ast of foreign
conquest the basic cause of disaster was always a decline
or breakdown from withi n
Here obviously was food for thought
An d as a
matter of fact a large number of thoughtful persons
gave the matter their earnest consideration Was ou
r
glorious modern civilization ultimately destined to be
one with Nineveh or Tyre ?

n
So it mi ght seem : u
less perchance ours turned out to be the exception
10
THE
women are able to support it the structure rises broad

based and serene ; but let the living foundations prove
unequal to their t ask an d the mi ghtiest civil ization sags
cracks an d at last crashes down into chaotic ruin
Civili zation thus depends absolutely upon the qu
a li ty of
its human supporters Mere numbers mean nothing The
most bril liant civil ization the world has ever seen arose
in Athens a tiny community where the number of free
men
e
genuine Atheni ans) numbered perhaps
We therefore see that for civilization to arise
all told
at all a superior human stock is rst necessary ; while to
perfect or even to maintain that civilization the human
st ock must be kept superior And these are requi re
ments more exacting than might be imagined S u
rvey
i ng hum an history we n d that superior stocks are the
exception rather than the rul e We have already seen
how many races of men have never ri sen above the planes
of savagery or barbarism while relatively few races have
shown the abil ity to create hi gh and enduri ng civi lizations
Fu
rthermore even inside the superior racial groups
there exist s a simil ar differentiation Wh en we speak of
a superi or race we do not imply that all the membe rs

O f course
of that race stand on the same lofty plane
the average level run s hi gher than do the averages of
less favored races But besides thi s statistical considera
tion there is the even more important fact that wi thin
the hi gher group itself there exi st a relatively large num
ber of very superior individuals characteri zed by unu
sual
energy ability talent or genius It is this elite whi ch
leavens the group and ini tiates progress Here again we
,
THE
B UR D EN O F CIVILIZATI O N
11
the supreme importance of quality In no h u

man
society has the percentage of really superior individuals
ever been large in fact their percentage has been always
Their in uence however has
statistically negligible
been in calcu
lable Athens was not m ad e up of Platos or
X enophons : it had its quota of d u
llards knaves and
fools as is vividl y shown in the immortal satires of Aris
Yet the dynamic power of i ts lite made
t Oph anes
Athens the glory of the world and o nl y when the Ath e
nian stock ceased to produce superio rs di d Athens sink
i nto insignicance
Thus we see that civilization depends absolutely upon
ua
l
ity
w
hi
l
e
quality
in
turn
depends
upon
i
heritance
n
q
Environment may b ri n g ou
t all there is in a man but
heredity predetermin es what there is to b ri ng We now
begi n to see the fall acy of such fatalistic notions as Th e
Law of Civili zation and D ecay

Civili zations unl ike
livi ng organisms have no appointed cycle of life and
death Given a hi gh type stock producing an adequate
quota of superior in di viduals and a civilization might
be i mmortal
Why then has thi s never occurred ? It has not oc
c urred mainly because of three destructive tendencies
whi ch have always sooner or later brought civilizations
to declin e and ruin These three tendencies are : ( 1 ) the
tendency to st ructural overloadi ng ; (2) the tendency to
biological regression ; (3) the tendency to atavistic re
volt Here are the three gri m Nemeses that have dogged
the footsteps of the most promising peoples Let us con
sider them in turn
see
T HE
12
REV O LT AGAINST C IVILIZATIO N
We have observed how civili zations as they progress

inevitably become more complex Each succeeding gen
erati on elaborate s the social environment of the past
makes fresh ad di tions and passes it on to the next gen
This ability
c ration which repeats the process in turn
i rements both material and men
to transmit social acqu
tal is one of the chi ef points markin g man off from the
animals It h as in fact b een happily termed social
heredity
Because of social heredity each human
generation is able to start at a hi gher environment level
and is not forced like the animals to depend upon i n
Indeed social heredity

stin ct and blin d e xp erien ce
forms th e basis of all those theories whi ch assert that
environment is the chief factor in human progress and
which mi nimize t rue (i e biological) heredi ty as a mi nor
or even a negli gible factor
These environmentalist argu

ments however omi t
Thi s
one essential fact whi ch vitiates their conclusions
fact is that while hereditary qualities are implanted in
the individual with no action on hi s part social acqu
i re
ments are taken over onl y at the cost of distinct effort
How great thi s effort may become is easily seen by the
long years of strenuous mental labor required i n modern
youth to assimi late the kn owledge already gained by
adu
lts That old saying There is no royal road to
learning illustrates the hard fact that each succes

sive generation must tread the same thorny path if the
acquirements of the p ast are to be retained O f course
it is obvious that the more acquirements incre ase the
longer and steeper the path must be And this raises the
,
T HE
BUR D EN O F CIVILIZAT IO N
13
que ry : May there not come a point where the youthf ul

traveller will be unable to scale the height where the
eff ort required will be beyond his powers ?
Well this is precisely what has happened numberless
l titud es of in
times in the p ast It is happening to mu
When it occurs on a su
f
di vi du
als about us every day
ci ently grand scale we wi tness those social regressions
decline in civili
of enti re commun ities which we call a
A declin e in civili zation means that the

z ati on
n inherited capacity E rr
social environment h as outru
ch declin es throughout
th ermore the grim frequency of su
hi story seems to show that in every highly develop ed
society the increasi ngly massive complex su
perstructure
n dations
of civi lization tends to overload the human fou
Now why does this overloadi ng in high civilizations
For the very simple reason
always tend to take place ?
that the complexity (and therefore the burden) of a
civil iz ation may incre ase with tremendous rapidity to an
inconceivable degree ; whereas the capacity of i ts human
bearers remains virtually const an t or positively declin es
The soberi ng truth was until recently obscured by the
wide-spread belief (rst elaborated about a century ago
by the French scientist L amarck) that acquired char
acteristics were inherite d In other words it used to be
thought that the acqu
i rements of one generation could
be p ass ed on by actual inheritance to the next La
marck s theory excited enthusi astic hopes and youn g
men con mplating matrimony used to go in for hi gh
thinkin g in order to have brai ny sons while expectant

mothers in spired their months of gestation by readi ng
T HE
14
the classics condent that their off spring would be barn

with a marked t aste for good literature To-day this
amiable doctri ne is explod ed virtually all biologists now
agreeing that acquired characteristics are not inheri ted
An abundant weight of evidence proves that duri ng
the entire historic period at any rate mankind h as made
no racial progress in either physical power or brain ca
a
i
Th
c
t
e
skeleta
l
remains
of
the
ancients
show
them
p
y
to have possessed brains and bodies fully equal to our
And these anatomi cal observations are conrmed
own
by the teachin gs of history The earliest civilized peoples
of whom we have any knowledge displayed capacities
initiative and imagination quite comparable to ours O f
course thei r stock of social experi ence was very much
less than ou
rs
but their inherent qualities c an not be
deemed inferior Certainly those ancient peopl es pro
du
ced their full share of great men
Can we show greater
p hi losophers than Plato or Aristotle greater scientists
than Archimedes or Ptolemy greater generals than C aesar
or Alex an der greater poets than H omer or H esiod greater
spiri tual guides than Buddha or Jesus ? Surely the peo
ples who produced such immortal personali ties ranked
not beneath us in the biological scale
But if this be so ; if even the hi ghest human types have
made no perceptible biological advance duri ng the last
ten thousand years ; what does this mean ? It mean s
that all the increasingly vast su
perstructures of civiliza
tion which have ari sen during those mil lennia have
been raised on similar hum an foundations It means
that men have been called upon to carry heavier loads
,
THE
BUR DEN O F CIVILIZATI O N
with no correlative increase
15
Of
strength to b ear them

The gli tter of civili zation h as so blind ed us to the inner
truth of thin gs that we have long believed that as a civi
li z ation progressed the quality of the hum an stock con
cerned in building it progressed too In other words
we have imagined that we saw an improving race where
as all we actually saw was a race express ing itself under
improving conditions
A dangerous delusion this "Especially for us whose
civilization is the most comp lex the world h as ever seen
and whose burden is therefore the heaviest ever borne
If past civili zations have crushed men beneath the load
r civilization and ourselves ?
what may happen to ou
Ou
r an alysis has thus far shown that civilizations ten d
toward structural overloading both from their own in
c reasing complexity and also from the inuence of other
civil izations which add sudden strains and stresses
hi therto unknown
Even if thi s were the only danger
to which civilizations were exposed the matter woul d
be serious enough B ut the problem is more complex
We have al ready indicated that other destructive ten
T o the second of these tendencies bi olog
den cies exi st
ical regression let us now turn
Up to thi s point we have viewed civilization mai nly in
its structural aspect We have estimated its pressure
upon the human foundations and have provisionally
treated these fo u
B ut that
ndations as xed quantities
is only one phase of the problem because civilization
exerts upon its livi ng bearers not merely mechanical but
also vital inuenc es of the profou
n dest signi c ance
An d
.
16
T HE
REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZAT IO N
unfortun ate ly th ese vital inuences are mainl y of a de

stru
ctive character The stem truth of th e matter is
that civilization tends to impair the in nate qualities of
its human bearers ; to use up strong stocks ; to unmake
those very racial values whi ch rst enabled a people to
undertake its civili zing task
Let us see how thi s comes about
Consider rst man s condition before the advent Of
civilization Far far back in its life history the human
species u
nderwent a profoun d differentiation Fossil
bones tens of thousands of years old show m ankind al
ready divided into distinct races diff eri ng markedl y not
merely in bodily structure but also in brain capacity
an d hence i n i ntelli gence
This diff erentiation probably
began early and proceeded rapidly since biology teaches
us that species are plastic when new gradually losing
this plasticity as they set with time an d development

H owever at whatever rate it proceeded di ff erentiation
went on for untold ages Operating not only between
separate races but also within the vari ous stocks so that
each stock came to consist of many strai ns varying

considerably from one another in both physical and men
t al capacity
Now the fate of these strains depended not upon
chance but upon the very practical question whether
An d since man was then liv
or not they cou
l d survi ve
ing in the state of nature qualities like strength i n

t elli gen ce and vigor were absolutely necessary for lif e
while we akness dulness an d degeneracy spelled speedy
death Accordingly individuals endowed with the for
,
18
T HE
REVO LT AGAINST C IVILIZATIO N
range of opportuni ties and responsibilities Under primi

tive conditions opportunities for self-expression were
few and simple the most prized being desirable mates
and sturdy offspring Among savages and barbari an s
the choi cest women and many chi ldren are the acknowl
edged perquisites of the successful and the successful are
those men endowed wi th quali ties like strength vigor
and resou
rceful i ntelligence which are not only essential
for continued survival under p ri mitive con di tions but
which are equally essential for the upbuil di ng and mai n
In short when a people enters
t enance of civilization
the st age of civilization it is i n the pink Of condi tion
l tiplyin g
b ecause natural selection h as for ages been m u
su
perior strai ns and eliminating infe ri ors
Such was the high biological level of the selected stocks
which attained the plane of civili zation But as time
passed the situation altered The successful superiors
who stood in the vanguard of progress were alike allured
and constrained by a host of novel inuences Power
weal th luxury leisure art science learning govern
ment these and many other matters increasingly com
plicated life And good or bad temptations or resp on
mon : that they tended
si b ilit i es they all had this in co m
to divert human energy from racial ends to individual
and social ends
Now this diverted energy owed mainly from the
l ation
superior strai ns in the popu
Upon the successful
supe rior civilization laid both her highest gifts and her
heaviest burdens The effect upon the indi vidual was of
i king Powerfu
y stimu
l ated he put forth hi s
cou rse str
.
THE B UR DEN O F
C IVILIZATI ON
19
inh eri ted energies Glowing wi th the re of achi evement

he advanced both hi mself and his civilization B ut in
this very re he was apt to be racially consumed Ab
sorbed in personal and social matters racial matters
were neglected Late marriage fewer chil dren and celi
b acy combined to thin the ranks of the succ essful
dimi nish the number of superior strains an d thus grad
ally impoverish the race
u
Meanwhile as the numbers Of the superior diminished
the numbers of the inferior in cre ased No l onger ruth
lessly weeded by natural selection the inf erior survived
and multiplied
Here then was what had come to p ass : instead of
dying off at the base and growin g at the top civil iz ed
society was dying at the top and spreading ou
t bel ow
Th e result of this dual process was of course as disastrou
s
as it was inevitable D rained of its superiors and satu
rated with dullards and degenerates the stock coul d no
longer sup ort its civi lization And the upper layers of
p
i
the hum an foundation having withered away the civ
liz ati on either sank to a lower level or collapsed in utter
ruin The stock had regressed gone back and the

civili z ation went back too
Such are the worki ngs of that fatal tendency to biolog
ical regression which has b lighted past civilizations Its
e ffects on our own civilization and the pecu
li ar perils
which these entail will be di scussed in subsequent chap
ters O ne fu
rther point should however be here noted
This is the i rreparable character of racial impoverish
men t O nce a stock h as been thoroughly drained of i ts
.
THE
20
REV O LT AGAINST C IVILIZATI O N
superior strains it sinks into permanent me di ocri ty and

can never again either create or support a h igh civili z a
tion Physically the stock may survive ; unfortunately
for human progress it only too often does survive to
contaminate better breeds of men But mentally and
spiritually it is played ou
t and can never revive save
perchance through some age-long process of biological
restoration akin to that seen in the slow reforestin g of
a mountain range stri pped to the bare rock
We have observed that civili zations tend to fall both
by their own increasing weight and by the decay of their
human foundations But we have indicated that there
e xists yet another destructive tendency which may be
termed atavistic revolt

Let us see precisely what
this implies
Civil ization depends upon superior racial stocks But
stocks are made u
p of individuals who far from being
precisely equal differ widely in qualities and capacities
At one end of the human scale are a number of superior
in di viduals at the other end a number of inferior in
divi du
als while between the two extremes stands the
mass of intermediate indi vidual s who likewise grade up
or down the scale
O f course these superiors

inferi ors and inter
mediates are not parked off by clear cut lines ; on the

contrary they shade imperceptibly into each other and
between the classes there lie intermediate zones com
posed of border line in dividuals whose exact classi

cati on is hard to determi ne Nevertheless these classes
do exist just as day and night exist At dawn or twi
,
THE
21
we cannot say of any p articul ar minute : This is
day and next minute will be ni ght

Yet day and night
are facts of transcendent importance and we accor di ngly
grade the hours into categories of light and darkne ss
whi ch though slightly arbitrary are essentially true
r human categories we have observed
Now among ou
that progress is primarily due to the superiors It is
they who found and further civil i z ations As for the
intermedi ate mass it accepts the achi evements of its
creative pioneers Its attitude is receptive Thi s re
ce pt ivi ty is due to the fact that most Of the i nte rme di ate
grades are near enough to the superiors to underst an d
and assimilate what the superiors have initiated
But what ab out the i nferiors ? Hitherto we have not
analyzed thei r attitude We have seen that they are
i ncapable of either creating or furthering civil ization
and are thus a negative hindrance to progress But the
infe ri ors are not mere negative factors in civilized life ;
they are also positive i n an inverse destructive sense
The infe ri or elements are instinctively or consciously
the enemies of civil ization And they are its enemi es
not by chance but because they are more or less a n
ci vi li zable
We must remember that the level Of society
never coincides with the levels of its hum an units
Th e social level is a sort of compromise a bal an ce of
constituent forces This very fact im ies that the i n
als must be di ff erentiall y spaced
d ividu
An d so it is
Superior individuals stand above the social level ; some
times far above that level whence the saying about men
ahead Of their times

But what about men behind
light ,
TH E RE V O LT
22
AGAINST C IVILIZATI O N
their times ? They have always been numerous and

the hi gher the civil iz ation the more of them there are
apt to be
The truth is that as a civi lization advances it leaves
behi nd multitudes of human beings who have not the
capacity to keep pace The laggards of course vary
greatly among themselves Some are congenital savages
or barbarians ; men who could not t i nto any civiliza
tion and who consequently fall behi nd from the start
These are not degenerates ; they are primitives

carried over i nto a social environment in which they do
not belong They must b e clearly distinguished from
the true degenerates : the imbecil e the feeble minded
the neurotic the insane all those melancholy waste
products whi ch every living species excretes but which
are promptly extirpated in the state of natu
re whereas
in human societies they are too often preserved
Moreover besides primitives and degenerates civili
zati on by its very advance automatic al ly condemns fresh
multitudes to th e ranks of the i nferior

Just as primi
tives who woul d be quite at home in savage or barbarian

environments are ali en to any sort of civi lization so many
individuals who rub along well enough in civilization s
early phases have neither the wit nor the moral bre to
meet the sterner demands of hi gh complex civilizations
Most poignan t of all is the lot of the border liners

those who ju
st fail to achi eve a social order which they
can comp rehend but in whi ch they somehow cannot suc
,
ceed
Such are the ranks
of
the inf erior the vast army of
THE
23
the unadaptable and the in capable Le t me again em
c
in
erior
does
not
ne
essarily
mean
de
z e that
f
i
h
a
s
p
generate
The degenerate are of cou
rse included but
the word inf eri or is a relative term signi fying be
low or beneath in thi s case meanin g persons beneath

Or below the standard of civilization The word inf erior
h as however been so often employed as a synonym for
degenerate that it tends to produce conf usion of thought
and to avoid thi s I have coined a term which seems to
describe collectively all those kinds of persons whom I
have j u
st discussed Thi s term is The Under M an the
man who measures u
nder the standards of capacity and
adaptabili ty imposed by the social order in which he
lives And this term I shall henceforth employ
Now how does the Under Man look at civilization ?
This civili zation offers hi mfew benets and fewer hopes
It usuall y affords him little beyond a meagre subsistence
An d sooner or later he inst inctively senses that he is
a failure ; that civilizati on s p ri zes are not for him But
thi s civi lization which withh olds benets does not hesi
tate to impose burdens We have previously stated that
civilization s heavi est burdens are borne by the superior
Absolutely thi s is true ; relatively th e Under M an s
intrinsicall y lighte r b u
rdens feel heavier because of his
innate in capacity The very di sciplin e Of the social order
oppresses the Under Man ; it thwarts and chastises hi m
at every turn To wild natures society is a torment
while the congenital caveman placed in civilization is
always in trouble and usually in j ail
All this seems to be in evitable But in addition to
.
24
THE
these social han di caps the Under Man often su

ffers from
the action Of better placed individuals who take advan
tage of his weakness and i ncapacity to exploit him and
drive hi m down to social levels even lower th an those
whi ch he would normally occupy
Such is the Under Man s unhappy lot Now what is
his attitude toward that civilization from whi ch he has
so little to hope ? What but instinctive Opposition and
discontent ? These feeli ngs of course vary all the way
from dull unreasoni ng dislike to aming hatred and re
bellion But in the last an al ysis they are directed not
merely against imperfections in the social order but
Thi s is a point which is
agai nst the soci al order i tself
rarely mentioned and still more rarely understood Yet
it is the meat of the whole matter We must realize
cl early that the basic attitude of the Under Man is an
instin ctive and natural revolt agai nst ci vi li zati on The
reform of abuses may dimin ish the intensity of social
discontent It may also dimi nish the numbers of the
di scontented because social abuses precipitate into the
depths many persons who do not reall y belong there ;
pe rsons who were innately capable of achieving the social
order if they had had a fair chan ce But excludi ng all
such anomal ous cases there remains a vast residue of
n ci vi
unadaptable depreciated humanity essentially u
li z able and incorrigibly hostile to civili z ation
Every
soci ety engenders withi n itself hordes of savages and
barbarians ri pe for revolt and ever ready to pour forth
and destroy
In normal times these elements of chaos go almost
-
26
THE REV O LT
AGAINST CIVILIZATI O N
which he just fails to ach ieve
Most of such persons fail

because of some fatal defect a taint Of character or
a mental twi st
In other respects they may be very
superior and possess bril liant talents whi ch they can use
against society with powerful eff ect
We have also noted the disinh erited the man in

nat ely capable of civilized success but cast into the
depths by social injustice or individual wrong doing
Deprived of their birthri ght the di sinheri ted are like
wise apt to be bitter foes of society They enlist gladly
in the army of chaos (where they do not really belong)
and if they possess marked talents they may be very
dangerous enemi es
Lastly there is the misguided superior

He is a
strange phenomenon "Placed by nature in the van of
civili zation he goes over to its enemies This seems in
explicable Yet it can be explained As the Under Man
revolts because civilization is so far ah ead of hi m so the
misguided superior revolts because it is so far behi nd
Exasperated by its slow progress shocked at its faults
and erroneously ascrib ing to mankind in general hi s own
lofty impulses the misguided superi or dreams short cuts
to the millenni u
m and j oin s the forces Of social revolt
not realizing that their ends are profoun dly different
even though their methods may be somewhat the same
The misguided supe ri or is probably the most patheti c
n
gu
re in human history Flattered by designing scou
drels used to sanctify si nister schemes and pushed for
ward as a gureh ead during the early stages of revolu
t i onary agitation the triumph of the revolution bri ngs
.
THE
B UR DEN O F CIVILIZATI ON
him to
27
a tragic end Horried at sight of barbarism s

unm asked face he tries to stay its destructive course
In vain "The Under Man turns upon his former cham
pion with a snarl and tramples him i nto the mud
The social revolution is now in full swing Such u
p
h eavals are profoundly terrible
I have descri bed them
as atavistic
And that is just what they are
throw
backs to a far lower social plane The complex fabric

of society slowly and pa infully woven is torn to tatters ;
the social controls vanish and civil ization is left naked to
the assaults of anarchy In truth disruption goes deeper
still Not only is society in the grip of its barbarians
but every individual fall s more or less under the sway of
his own lower i nstincts For in this respect the indi
vidual is like society Each of us h as withi n him an
H Under Man that primitive animality which is the

heritage of our human and even ou
r prehuman past
T hi s Under Man may be buri ed deep in the recesses of
r being ;
but he is there and psychoanalysis informs
ou
us of his latent power Thi s p ri mitive animality p o
t ent i ally present even in the noblest natures continuously
dominates the lower social strata especially the pauper
criminal and degenerate elements civilization s inner
barbarians
N ow when society s dregs boil to the t op
a simil ar process takes place in indi viduals to whatever
social level they may belong In virtually every member
Of the commu
n ity there is a distinct resurgence of the
brute and the savage and the atavi stic trend thus b e
comes practically un iversal
This explain s most of the seem ingly mysterio u
s phe
T HE
28
REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATI O N
nomen s of revolution It accounts for the mental con

t agi on which infects all classes ; the wild elation with
which th e revolution is at rst hailed ; the way in which
even well poised men throw themselves into the stream
let it carry them whither it lists and commit acts which
they afterward not only cannot explain but cann ot even
remember General atavistic resu
rgence also accounts
for the ferocious temper displayed not merely by the
revolutioni sts but by their counter revolutionary op
n
n
as
well
H
owever
much
they
may
d
i
f
fer
in
their
t
o
e
s
p
prin ciples Reds and Whites di splay the same sav

age spiri t and commit similar cruelties This is becau
se
society and the indi vidual have been alike rebarb ari z ed
In time the revolutionary tempest passes Civilized
men will not forever endure the mis ru
le of their own bar
bari ans; they will not lasti ngly tolerate what Burke
rightly termed the tyranny of a base oligarchy

Sooner
or later the Under Man is again mastered new social
controls are forged and a stable social order is once more
est abli shed
But what sort of a social order ? It may well be one
inf eri or to the old O f course few revolutions are wholly
evil Their very destructiveness implies a sweeping away
of old abuses Yet at what a cost "N 0 other process is
so terri bly exp ensive as revolution B oth the social and
the human losses are usually appalli ng and are frequently
irreparable In his brief hour the Under Man does hi s
work Hating not merely civilization but also the civi
li z ed the Under Man wreaks his destructive fury on in
als as well as on institutions
di vidu
And the superior are
.
THE
B URDEN O F CIVILIZATI O N
29
ways hi s special targets His phi losophy of lif e is ever
a levelli ng equali ty and he tries to attain it by lopping

i se conspicuously above hi s own
off all hea ds whi ch r
The resu
lt of thi s inverse selection may be such a de
crease of superior persons that the stock is permanently
impoverished and cann ot produce the talent and energy
needed to repair the destruction which the revolutionary
In such c ases civilization has
cataclysm has wrought
su
ff ered a mortal wound and declin es to a perm an ently
lower plane
Thi s is especially true Of hi gh civilizations Th e more
c omplex the society and the more di ff erentiated the stock
the graver the liab ility to irreparable disaster O ur own
The destruction to
civilization is a striking example
day being wrought by social revolution in Russia great
woul d p al e beside the far greater destruction
as it is
which such an upheaval would produce in the more ad
It
van ced societies of western Europe and America
would mean nothi ng short of ruin and woul d almost in
fallibly spell permanent decadence This g ri m peril to
r race future we will carefully
ou
r civiliz ation and ou
ex amine in subsequent chapters
r preliminary survey
So ends ou
We have sketched
man s ascent from bestiality through savagery and bar
We have considered the b asic
b arism to civil ized lif e
re asons for hi s successes and hi s failures Let u
s now
p ass to a more detailed exami nation of the great factors
in human progress and decli ne with special reference to
the possibili ties and peril s of our own civili zation
al
C HAPTER II
I R ON
THE
LAW OF INE Q UALITY
idea of Natural Equality is one of the most per

ni ci ou
It is
s delusions that h as ever afi cted manki nd
a gment of the human imagination Nature knows no
r
equality The most cu
sory exami nation of natural
phenomena reveals the presence of a Law of Inequality
as universal an d inexible as the Law of Gravitation
The evolution of lif e is the most st ri kin g instance of thi s
fundamental truth Evolution is a process of diff erentia
tion of increasing differentiation from the simple one
celled bit of protoplasm to the innitely diff erentiated
complex lif e forms of the present day
And the evolutionary process is not merely quantita
tive ; it is qualitative as well These successive differe n
Nobody but a
ti ati ons imply increasrn g Inequalities
madman could seri ously contend that the mi cros0 0 pi c
speck of protoplasmic j elly oating in the tepid waters
equa to a hu
man being
of the Palaeozoic Sea was
But thi s is onl y the beginning of the story Not onl y
are the various lif e types profoundly unequal in quali
ti es and capacities ; the individual members of each type
are similarly differentiated among themselves N 0 two
indi viduals are ever precisely alike We have already
seen how greatly thi s dual process of differentiation both
of type and individual has affected the human species
and how basic a factor it has been in human progress
Furthermore in dividual inequalities steadily increase
THE
30
THE
IR O N LAW O F INE QUALITY
31
we ascend the biological scale Th e amoeba di ff ers

very little from hi s fellows ; the dog much more so ; man
most of all And inequalities between men likewise b e
come ever more pronounced The inn ate differences b e
tween members of a low grade savage t ri be are as nothing
compared with the abyss sun deri ng the idi ot and the
genius who coexist in a high grade civilization
Thus we see that evolution means a process of ever
growin g i nequality
There is in fact no such word as
equality in nature s lexicon With an increasingly

uneven hand she dist ributes health beauty vigor in
telli gen ce geniu s all the qualities whi ch confer on their
possessors superio ri ty over their fellows
Now in the face of all this how has the delusion of
natural equality
obtained and retained so stub
born a hold on mankind ? As to both its antiquity and
persistency there can be no shadow of doubt Th e slogan
of
equality was raised far back in the remote past
and instead of lessening was never more loudl y trum
t
d
r
i
e
e
than
to
day
It
is
a
cu
ous
fact
that
j
ust
when
p
the advance of knowledge and the increasi ng complexity
of civili zation have enh anced in dividual differences and
rendered superi or capacities supremely important the
cry for equality shoul d have become ercer than ever
should have been embodi ed in all sorts of levelling doc
trines and shoul d have been actuall y attempted in Bol
shevik Russia with the most fanatical fu
ry and the most
appalli ng results
l analysis
iring carefu
Here is obviously somethi ng requ
equality
As a matter of fact the passion for natura
as
THE
32
eems to spring pri mari ly from certain impu

l ses of the
the self p articularly from the i mpul ses of self
ego
preservation an d self esteem Every individual is in evi
tably the centre of hi s world and i nstinctively tends to
regard his own exist en ce and well bein g as matters of
supreme import an ce
Thi s i nst inctive egoism is of
rse modi ed by experience
co u
observation and re ec
tion and may be so overlaid that it becomes sc arcely
recogni z able e ven by the in dividu al himself Never
th eless it remains and subtly colors every th ought and
attitude In his heart of hearts each individual feels
that he is really a person of importan ce NO matter h ow
low may be his capacities no matter how egregious hi s
fail ures no matter how unf avorable the judgment of his
fellows ; still his in born instincts of self preservation an d
self love whisper that he should surv ive and prosper
that things are not right and that if the world were
properly ordered he would be much better placed
Fear and wounded vanity thus i nspire the individual
to resent unfavorable status and this resentment tends
to take the form of protest agai nst injustice

Inju
s

tice of what ? O f fate
nature
ci rcumstances
perhaps ; yet more often inj u
stice of p ersons individ
ually or coll ectively (i e
But (argues the
di scontented ego) since all thi s is u
n just those better
placed persons have no ri ght to succeed where he fails

Though more fortunate they are not re all y his superiors
He is as good as they are

Hence either he should
be up with them or they should be down with hi m
We are all men We are all equal "

s
T HE REVO LT
34
o r own
days when the new bi ologi cal revelati on (for it

is nothing short of that) has taught us the supreme im
portance of heredi ty mankind tended to believe that
environment rather than heredi ty was the main factor
in human existence We simply cannot overestimate th e
change which biology is effecting in ou
r whole outlook on
life It is unquestionably inaugurating the mightiest
transformation of ideas that the world has ever seen
Let us glance at the state of human knowledge a few
short decades ago to appreciate its full signi cance
Down to that time the exact nature of the life process
remained a mystery This mystery has now been cleared
up The researches of Weismann and other modern
biologists have revealed the fact that all living beings
are due to a continuous stream of germp lasmwhi ch has
existed ever since life rst appeared on earth and which
will continue to exist as long as any life remains This
germ plasm consists of mi nute germ cells which have
the power of developing into living beings All human
beings sp ri ng from the union of a male sperm cell and a
female egg cell Right here however occurs the basic
feature of the life process Th e new individual consists
from the start of two sorts of plasm Almost the whole
the ever multiplyin g cells which
of him is body plasm
diff erentiate into the organs of the body But he al so
contains germplasm At his very conception a tiny bit
of the life stu
ff from whi ch he sp rings is set aside is care
fully isolated from the body-plasm and follows a course
In fact the germ plasm
of development entirely its own
is not really part Of the individual ; he is merely its
,
THE
bearer,
IRO N LAW O F INEQUALI T Y
35
destined to pass it on to other bearers Of the lif e
Now all this was not only unknown but even u

nsu
s
i
down
to
a
very
short
t
me
ago
Its
discovery
was
d
c
t
e
e
p
in fact dependent upon modern scientic methods Cer
t ainl y it was not likely to suggest itself to even the most
phi losophic mind Thus down to about a generation
ago the life stuff was supposed to be a product of th e
body not differing essentially in character from other
body products This assumption had two important
consequences In the rst place it tended to obscure
the very concept of here dity and led men to thi nk of
environment as virtually all important ; in the second
place even where the importance of heredity was diml y
perceived the role of th e individual was misun derstood
and he was conceived as a creator rather than a mere
transmi tter This was the reason for the false theory of
the inheri tance of acquired characteristics formu

l ated
by Lamarck and upheld by most scientists until almost
the end of the nineteenth century O f course Lamarck
ism was merely a modication of the tradi ti ona en
vi ronm
ent ali st
attitude : it admitted that heredi ty
possessed some import ance but it maintained environ
ment as the basic factor
Now a moment s reection must suggest the tre
mendons practical di fferences between the theori es of
environment and here di ty This is no mere academic
matter ; it involves a radically diff erent outlook on every
phase of life from religion and government to personal
conduct Let us examine the facts of the case
.
T HE
36
REV O LT AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N
Down to ou
r own days mankind had generally believed
that environment was the chief factor in existence Thi s
was only natural The true character of the life process
was so closely veil ed that it coul d not well be discovered
except by the methods of modern science ; the workings
of heredity were obscure and easily co nf ounded with
environmental in uences
The workings of environ
ment on the other hand were clear as day and forced
themselves on the attention of the dullest Observer To
the pressing problems of environment therefore man
devoted himself seeking in the control of his surrou
nd
in gs both the betterment of the race and the curing of its
ill s O nly occasionally did a few reective minds catch
a glimpse of the heredi tary factor in the problem of lif e
That marvellous breed of men the ancient Greeks had
such glimpses of the hi gher tru
th With their charac
t eri sti c insight they discerned clearly the p ri nciple of
heredi ty gave considerable thought to it and actually
evolved a theory of race betterment by the weedi ng out
of inferior strains and the multiplication of superiors
i n other words the Eugenics theory of to day

For example as early as the sixth century B C the
Greek poet Th eogni s of Megara wrote : We look for

rams and asses and stallions of good stock and on e b e
li eves that good will come from good ; yet a good man
minds not to wed the evil daughter of an evil sire
Marvel not that the stock of ou
for
r folk is tarnished
the good is mingling with the base

A century later
Plato was much interested in biological selection as the
best method for race improvement He suggested that
.
THE
IRO N LAW O F IN EQUALITY
37
the state should mate the best with the best and the
worst with the worst ; the former sho u
l d be encouraged
l d be
to breed freely while the o ffspring of the u
n t sho u
destroyed Ari stotle likewise held that the state should
strongly encourage the increase Of superior types
O f course these were but the visions of a few seers
whi ch had no practical results The same is true of those
other rare thinkers who like Shakespear with his famous
lines about nature and nurture evidently grasped

the hereditarian idea The mass of m an kind continued
to hold that environment was the great matter for con
sideration
Now a belief i n the transcendent importance of en
sions of great
V i ronm
ent leads inevitably to certai n concl u
practical importan ce In the rst pla ce if it be true that
man is moulded p ri marily by hi s environment it logically
follows that he has merely to gain control over hi s en
vironm
ent i n order to change himself al most at will
Therefore according to the environmentalist progress
depends not on h u
man nature but on conditions and
institutions Agai n if man is the product of hi s environ
ment human differences are merely eff ects of environ
mental di fferences and can be rapidl y modied by en
vironment al changes
Lastly before the supreme im
portance of environment all hu
man differences whether
individual or racial sink into insignicance and all men
are potentially equa

Such are the logical deductions from the envi ronmen
t ali st theory
And this theo ry was certainly attractive
It not only appealed to those wounded feelings of self
,
THE
38
preservation and self esteem among the ill endowed and

the unfortunate which we have previously examined but
it appealed also to many of the most superior mi nds of
the race What could be more attractive than the
thought that humani ty s ills were due not to in born
shortcomings but to faulty surroun di ngs and that the
most backward and degraded hu
man bein gs mi ght p os
sibly be raised to the hi ghest levels if only the environ
ment were sufciently improved ? This appeal to al
truism was powerfull y strengthened by the Christian
doctrine Of the equality of all soul s before God What
wonder then that philosophers an d scientists combined
to elaborate theories about mankind of a wholly environ
mentali st character ?
All the great thi nkers of the eighteenth centu
ry (who
still inuence our ideas and institutions to a far greater
degree than we may i magine) were convin ced believers
in natural equali ty
Locke and Hume for example
taught that at birth the human mind is a blank sheet

and the brain a stru
ctureless mass lacking inherent or
gani z ati on or tendencies to develop in this way or that ;
a mere mass of undened potentialities whi ch through
experience association and habit through education
in short could be moulded and developed to an unlimited
1
The doctri ne
extent and in any manner or direction
l ated by Rous
of natural equality was brilliantly formu
seau and was explicitly stated both in the Ameri can
Declaration of Independence and in the French Declara
tion of the Rights of Man The doctrine in its most
-
ocracy ?
W M c D ou
eri ca S af e f or D em
gall Is A m
res)
p 2 1 ( New York
Le c tu
1
te
(Lowell Institu
THE
IR O N LAW O F IN EQUALITY
39
un compromising form held its ground until well p ast

the middle of the nineteenth century At that period
so notable a thi nker as John Stuart M ill coul d declare
roundly : O f all vulgar modes of escaping from the con

sideration of the eff ect of social and moral i nuences on
the human mind the most vul gar is that of att ri buting
the diversities of conduct and character to inh erent nat
ural diff erences

Mills s utterance may be considered an expression of
pure envi ronmentalism At the moment when he spoke
however the doctrine had already been considerably
modi ed In fact by the beginning of the nineteenth
century the progress of s cience had begun to lif t the
veil which obscured the mystery of heredity and sci en
tists were commencing to give close attention to such
matters At rst the phenomena of inh eri tance were not
believed to aff ect the basic importance of environment
This idea was clearly stated early in the ni neteenth cen
tu
ry by the French naturalist Lamarck Lamarck as
sert ed that the forms and functions of living bei ngs arose
and developed through use and that such changes were
di rectly transmitted from generation to generation
In
other words Lamarck fo rmulated the theo ry of the in
heritance of acquired characteristics which was destin ed

to domin ate biological thi nking down to a generation
ago This theory which is usually termed Lamarck
ism was merely a modication of the old envi ronmen

t alist phi losophy
It admitted the factor of here dity
but it considered heredity dependent upon environmental
inuences
,
40
T HE
REVO LT AGAINST C IV ILIZATI O N
con sequences of Lamarckism not merely upon the nine

r own times
The pri mal
te enth century but also upon ou
importance of here di ty may to day be accepted by most
scientists and by an increasing number Of forward looking
persons everywhere but it has as yet neither deeply pene
t rated the popular consciousness nor sensi bly modi ed
r institutions
The march of new ideas is slow at be st
ou
and however much we may be ch an gin g ou
r thi nking we
are still l iving and acting un der the environmentalist
theories of the past O ur politic al educational and so
cisl systems remain al ike rooted in Lamarckism and
proceed on the basic premise that environment rather
than heredi ty is the chief factor in human existence
Th e emotional grip of Lamarckism is very strong It
is an Optimistic cree d appealing to both hopes and sym
pathics To Lamarckism was due in large measure the
cheery self c ondence of the nineteenth century with its
i table progress Indeed
assurance of automatic and illim
in some resp ects Lamarckism incre ased rather than
dimini shed the tradi tion al faith in environment Before
Lamarck men h ad beli eved that the new born in di vidual
was a blank sheet on whi ch society could wri te
Now
came Lamarck asserting that much of this wri ting could
be passed on by inh eritance to succeeding generations
with cumulative effect Consideri ng the powerful agen
cies whi ch society had at its di sposal government the
church the home the school philanthropy etc it was
easy to believe that a wiser and i ntenser application of
these social agencies Off ered a sure and speedy road to
the millenni um
,
THE REVO LT
42
AGAINST C IVILIZATIO N
ent social and educational systems are fou

nded in large
1
part on thi s false foundation
Let us now consider the rise of the new biology whi ch
l an inuence upon ou
has already exerted so powerfu
r
philosophy of life and which promises to affect profoun dl y
the des tinies of mankin d Modern biology can be said
to date from the publication of Darwin s work on The
ral S elec ti on
in the
Ori gi n of S p eci es by M eans of Natu
year 1 859 Thi s epoch making book was ercely chal
lenged and was not generally accepted even by the sci en
ti c world until the last quarter of the nineteenth century
Its acceptance however marked nothin g short of a revo
Darwin established th e
lu
ti on in the realm of ideas
p ri nciple of evoluti on and showed that evolution p ro
A second great step was soon taken
ceed ed by hered i ty
by Francis Galton the founder of the science of Eu
geni os or Race Betterment

Darwin had centred his
attention upon animal s G al ton applied Darwin s teach
ing to man and went on to break new ground by point
ing ou
t not merely the inborn diff erences between men
but the fact that these differences could be controlled ;
that the human stock could be surely and l astingly i m
proved by increasing the number of individuals endowed
with superior qualities and decreasing the number of in
feri ors In other words Galton grasped full y the mo
mentous implications of heredity (whi ch Darwi n had not
done) an d announced clearly that heredity rather than
envi ronment was the basic factor in lif e and the pw e
lever of human progress
Popenoe nd Johnson A pp li d Eu
g ni cs p 33 ( New Yo k
.
T HE
IRO N LAW O F INEQUALITY
43
Like most intellectual pioneers Galton had to wait

long for adequate recognition Al though his rst eugeni c
wri tings appeared as early as 1 86 5 they did not attract
a tithe of the attention excited by D arwin s work and
it was not until the very close of the ni neteenth century
that hi s theo ry gained wide acceptan ce even in scientic
circles whil e the educated publi c di d not become really
aware of it u
ry
n til the openin g years of the present centu
O nce fairly started however the idea made rapid prog
ress In every part of the civi lized world scientists took
up the work and soon a series of remarkable discoveries
by biologists lik e Weismann DeVri es and others put the
1
new science on a sure and authoritative foundation
We have already i ndicated how momentous has been
the change in outlook wrought by the new biological
revelation not merely in the eld of abstract science but
also in every phase of practical human e xistence Th e
discovery of the t rue nature of the life process the cer
tainty that the v ast inequalities among men are due
primarily to heredi ty rather than environment and the
discovery of a scientic method of race improvement
are matters of transcendent importance Let u
s examine
some of their practical aspects
O ne of the most striki ng features of the life process is
,
Th e mass of mo ern
olog cal l era u
re i s very grea , and i n a ge n
or
l e m
i ne e l ab ora e re e re n ce oo n o es ou
eral
ld b e ou
t
lace
I will, h e re ore , merely re er t h e re ad er t o t wo e xc elle n man u
als on
is
eld , wi h s e cia l re ere nce t o i t s eu
ge n c s s d e : Pop en oe and J ohnso n, A p
or ,
J H olmes, T he Trend of the
a nd S
p li ed Eu
gen i cs ( Ne w
R ace ( Ne w
or ,
T h e la e r or c on ai ns goo d and a irly u
ll
b l ogra
es a t t h e e nd of e ac
c a
er
rom
ese t wo m
a nu
a ls t h e
rea d er wh o d esires t o go
ee er n o t h e el
can nd t h e necessary cl ews
1
w k ik
t f
t p
bi i
phi
Y k
bi
Y k
it
t
f t t
tt w k
t
h h pt
F
th
d p i t
d
Of p
th
44
T HE RE V O LT
the tremendous power of heredi ty The marvellous p o

ten ey of the germ plasm is increasingly revealed by each
fresh biological discovery Carefully isolated and pro
t ected against external inuences the germ plasm per
its predetermi ned course and even
sistently follows
when actually interfered with it tends to overcome the
difcul ty and resume its normal evolution
This persistency of the germ plasm is seen at every
stage of its development from the isolated germ-c ell to
the mature individual Consider it rst at its earliest
stage Ten years ago biologists generally believed that
the germ plasm was permanently injured and perma
b y certain chemical substances and
nently m
odied
disease toxins like lead alcohol syphili s etc These
noxious inuences were termed racial poisons and

were believed to be prime causes of racial degeneracy
In other words here was a eld where biologists used to
1
a dmit that environment di rectly modied heredity in
profoun d and lastin g fashion To-day th e weight of evi
dence is clearly the other way While it is still generally
admi tted that inj ury to the germ plasm does occur most
biologists now thi nk that such injury is a temporary i n
that is a change in the germ cells which d oes

du
cti on
not permanently al ter the nature of the inherited traits
and which will disappear in a few generations if the in
jury b e not repeated
.
tw
i i t f t h
k pt
p f t
i tt t i
t
i
t
f
t i t p
ti
i
f
ld b e e
Th e di s nc i on b e
ee n d rec
and
nd re c
e f e c s s ou
clearly in m
i nd
Of cou
rse , i t i s er ec ly ev d en
h a env ronmen d oes
n di rec ly aff ec all orm
s of l f e no ab ly b y avori ng c er a n
y es and
h andi ca ing o h ers, and so resu
l n g in th e ncrease of t h e ormer and
t h e d ecrease of t h e la er
ti t
pp
t
t
tt
THE
IR O N LAW O F INEQUAL ITY
45
To quote from an authoritative source : We are thus

in a position to state that from the eugenist s point of
view the ori gi na ti on of degeneracy by some direct action
on the germ pl asm is a contingency that har dl y needs
to be reckoned with
The germ plasm is so care
ful ly isolated and guarded that it is almost impossible
to injure it except by treatment so severe as to kill it
al together ; and the degeneracy with which the eugeni sts
are called on to deal is a degeneracy which is running
al ong from generation to generation and which when
once stopped by the ce ssation of reproduction is in little
danger of being originated an ew through some racial
l
poison
n
Consider ow the life process at its next stage the
st age between conception and b irth It used to be
thought that the germ plasm of the growing embryo
could be inj ured and permanently altered not merely
by the racial poisons above mentioned but also by
certai n
prenatal
inuences such as the mother s
undernourishment chronic exhaustion fright worry or
shock TO day such ide as are utterly discredited Th ere
is not a shred of evidence that the mother s circumst ances
or fee lin gs can aff ect in an y way the genn plasm of her
unbo rn child O f course the mother s condition may
profoundly aff ect the embryo s body plasm so that the
chil d may be born stunted or diseased But the child
will not pass on tho se handicaps by heredi ty to its off
sp ri ng Conversely it is equally certain that nothi n g
the mother can do to improve her un born child will better
Popeno
n d J oh nso n op
i t pp 6364
e a
46
THE
its germ pl asm She may give her child a sounder body
but its here di ty was xed irrevocably the instant it was
con ceived Here then is another eld where the theory
of direct action of envi ronment on heredity has been
denitely di sproved
Let us pass to the next st age B irth has taken place
The individual is out in the worl d and is exposed to en
vi ronmen tal i nuences vastly greater than those which
acted upon hi m duri ng hi s embryonic stage But these
environmental inuences fall upon his body pl asm ; hi s
germplasm is as carefully isolated and protected as was
his parents so that the same laws which we have al ready
discussed will apply to hi m as well as to them
Furthermore the eff ect of the environment even upon
the body plasm will depend largely upon what sort of
a creature the particul ar individual may be Biology
has recently discovered that the effect of environment
decreases as we ascend the life scale ; in other words
the simpler types are most affected while man the high
est biological typ e seems to be affected least of all This
is a point of great i mportance Certain environmentali st
wri ters have m ai ntained that even though the germ
plasm were unaltered man is so moulded by his envi ron
ment that with each generation the hereditary tendencies
are overcome by circumstances and are thus rendered
ac
t
a
l
l
r
i
c
of
secondary
importance
Such
w
r
i
ters
base
y
p
their argu
ments largely upon scientic experiments made
upon primitive forms of ani mal lif e where striking bodily
changes have been brought about As applied to man
howev er these arguments are mi sleading because the
-
T HE
IRO N LAW O F IN EQUALIT Y
47
ame i nuences which profoun dly affect lower forms have

relatively little eff ect upon the hi gher ani mals and still
less upon man hi mself Man is therefore least aff ected
by and most independent of environmental inuences
Th is matter h as been ably summed up by the American
biologist Woods who has formulated it as The Law of

1
Diminishi ng Environmental In u
Woods shows
en ces
not only that environment al inuence di minishes accord
ing to the individual s rank in the biological scale but
also that even withi n the body of the parti cular indi
vidual envi ronmental in uence diminishes with the evo
lu
ti onary rank of the tissue affected and in proportion t o
its age Thi s is important in connection with possible
environment al inuence upon the human brain Says
Woods : It must be remembered that the brain cells

even of a child are of all tissues farthest removed from
any of these primordial states The cells of the brain
ce ased subdivision long before birth Therefore a pri ori
we must expect relatively li ttle modication of brain
function
Fin ally Woods shows that environmental
inuence diminishes with the organism s power of choice
This is of course of the utmost importance regarding
man For as Woods says : This may be th e chief reason

why human bein gs who of all creatures have the greatest
power to choose the su
rroundings congenial to their spe
ci al nee ds and natures are so li ttle aff ected by outward
con di tions The occasional able ambitious and deter
mined member Of an obsc u
re or degenerate family can
s
Fr d i k A d m
e
er c
u
ences,
L a s of D imi n
M onthly, A ri l , 1 9 1 0
W ood s
Popula r S ci enc e
ishing
Environmen al In
48
TH E
get free from his u

n congenial associates
So can the weak
s ( even if a black sheep from the n est
or lazy or viciou
fold) easily nd his natural haunts
From all thi s Woo ds concludes : Experi mentall y and

statistically there is not a grai n of proof that ordina ry
environment can alter the sal ient mental and moral trai ts
in any measurable degree from what they were prede
i ned to be through innate i nuences

t erm
l ded more by heredity
We thus see that man is mou
and less by environment than an y other living creature
and that the vast diff erences observable between human
beings are mai nly predetermined at the instant of con
cept i on
with relatively little regard to what happens
af terward
Let u
s now ob serve some of the actual workings of
heredity in man both in the good and bad sense In
r attention mainly
the present chapter we will devote ou
to the superior typ es leaving ou
r consideration of the
inf eri or for the next chapter
N ow what do we know about superi or individuals ?
We know that they exist and that they are due to h e
That is a good begi nnin g but it would not get
redi ty
us very far unl ess we knew more along the same li nes
Fortunately we not only know that superiors tend to
produce superior offsp ri ng but that they produce such
offspring according to natural laws whi ch can be deter
mined statistically wi th a high degr ee of accuracy (An d
of course the same is true of the production of inf e ri ors )
The production of superi or persons h as been stu di ed
by modern biologists from Galton down to the present
.
T HE
50
men Nevertheless despite diff erent ratios of h eri tabil

ity superiority still remains a family affair ; G al ton found
that nearly half of the great men of England had dis
i sh ed close relatives
t in gu
Galt on s studi es of English greatness have been oriti
cised as applying to a country where caste lines are sharply
drawn
To test these obj ections the Ameri can biologist
Woo ds transferred the inquiry to the United States a
land where Opportunities have been much more equal
and rigid caste lin es vi rtually absent How was it with
the great men of America ? If they were fou
nd to have
fewer di stinguished relatives than the great men of Eng
land it wou
ld be a great feather in the environmentalists
cap since it woul d tend to show that given equal Opp or
ni ty success does not depend on famil y stock
tu
O n the
other hand if what was tru
e of England should hold
good also of America the theory of here di tary superiority
wou
l d be much more rmly established
1
The result of Woods s study was a strikin g conrms
tion of Galt on s researches Woods took two groups of
i shed Americans : a large group of
distingu
listed as
emi nent in the standard di ctionaries of biography ; and
a small group of the 4 6 very eminent Americans admitted
to the Hall of Fame

Now how were these emi nent
persons related to each other ? If superiority di d not
run in families it is evident that thei r chances of re

l ati on shi p would be no greater than that of th e rest of
the population which ratio Woods foun d to be statis
,
Fr d
e
S ci enc e
Ad ams W oods,
M onth ly, M ay, 1 9 1 3
eri c
Heredi y
and
th e
Hall
Of F m
a
e,
"
Pop u
la r
THE
LAW OF
IR ON
INEQUALITY
51
tic al ly 1 in 500 However as a matter of fact the

emi nent Ameri cans were found to be related to each
other n ot as 1 to 500 but as 1 to 5 Furthermore by
picki ng ou
and form
t the more eminent among the
i ng a new group this group was found to be related to
each other as 1 to 3 Most striki ng of all were the re
lt s Obtained by considerin g the very supe ri or group
su
list ed in the Hall of Fame Here the ratio of relationshi p
rose to 1 in 2 while if all their eminent relations were
coun ted in they averaged more than one apiece Thus
distinguished Ameri cans are discovered to be from 500 to
times as much related to other distin gui shed per
sons as is the ordinary American O r to put it in an
l ation
other way something like 1 per cent of the pop u
of the United States is as likely to produce a genius as
is all the rest of the country put together the other
99 per cent
It might to be sure be obj ected that even in America
the early environment of emi nent men mi ght be on the
average more favorable than that of the mass of the pop
u
l ati on
Thi s Objection is met by another of Woods s
investigations a very able and elaborate study of the
1
rov al famili es of Europe
Here is a class of persons where
no one can doubt that the environment is uni formly
favorable If Opportunity rather than inh erited capacity
be the cause of success then most of the members of thi s
,
Ad ams Woods, M enta l a nd M oral Hered ity i n Roya lty, New

Yor ,
enc e of M ona rchs, New
See al so hi s b oo , The I n u
or ,
1 9 1 3 , a nd hi s ar i cl e,
Sovere i gns an d t h e Su osed In u
e n ce of Op p or
tu
ni ty ,
S ci ence, 1 9 Ju
ne, 1 9 14 ,
e re D oc or W oods answe rs som
e cri ti
c sm
s of hi s
or
1
Fred i k
k 1 906
er c
w k
wh
pp
Y k
52
T HE
class ought to have succeeded and succeeded in about

the same degree because to every one of royal blood
the door of opportuni ty stands Open Yet the resu
lt of
Woods s study was just the reverse of thi s Despite the
good environment almost uniformly present superiority
in royalty as in other classes is found to be a distinctly
famil y matter
Royal geniuses are not scattered hap
hazard over the genealogical chart ; they are concentrated
in isolated chains of closely related indi viduals O ne
chain centres in Frederick the Great another in Queen
Isabella of Sp ai n a third in William the Silent and a
fourth in Gustavus Adolphus An d be it also noted
inferi ority in royalty is equally segregated royal du
llards
and degenerates also ru
nni ng by families
But how about superior individuals who ri se from ap
rently medi ocre stocks ?
E
nvironmentalist
w
ters
are
a
r
i
p
forever compiling li sts of great men who came from
nothi n g
These c ases have however been carefully
investigated and the more they are stu died the more
convin cing grows the evidence that greatness never arises
nothi ng
Take Abraham Lincoln He was
ou
t of
long a shi ni ng example for the envi ronmentalist thesis
Lincoln is popularly supposed to have come from poor
l in
whi te trash of a very inferior order But carefu
As
vest igati on proves that this is emphatically not so
So far from his later

one of the investigato rs remarks :
career being unaccounted for i n his origin and early hi s
tory it is as fully accoun ted for as is the c ase of any
1
And a recent authority goes on to state : The
man
Id M T b ll Th E ly L if
f A b h m Li n oln N w Yo k 1 896
,
ar e
ar
e o
ra a
T HE
IRO N LAW O F INEQUALITY
53
Lincoln family was one of the best in Ameri ca and while

Abraham s own father was an eccentric person he was
yet a man of considerable force of character by no means
the poor white trash which he is Often represented to
have been The Hanks famil y to which the Emanci
had
also
maintained
a
high
r s mother belonged
a
t
o
p
1
level of ability in every generation
Fu
rthermore
Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hank s the parents of Abra
2
ham Lincoln were rst cousins
O f course there are a considerable number of disti n
h
u
i
s
ed individuals whose greatness genealogy cannot
g
as yet explain But in most cases this is because very
little is di scoverable about their ancestors Fu
rthermore
as Holmes j u
st ly remarks :
It should be borne in mind
l iar complex of qualities
that greatness involves a pecu
the lack of any one of which may prevent an in dividual
from achieving an eminent position A great man h as
to do more than simply ex ist ; he must accomplish labors
of a particul arly noteworthy ki nd before he is cro wned
with fame and many a man of splendi d natural endow
ments h as fallen short of achieving greatness through
f
some inherent weakness of character or the lack of su
ci ent i nspiration or dri vi ng force
Great men not only
have to be born great ; they also have to achieve great
ness and if they receive their proper recogni tion in the
eyes of the world greatne ss h as to be thrust upon them
besides Great men it is t rue seem to ri se hi gher than
,
tud y of Li n oln s mat rnal lin

nk
N w Yo k 1 8 99
Pop enoe nd J ohnson op ci t p 3 3 3
Ha
1
For
s,
a s
e , se e
H Hit ch cock , Nancy

.
THE REVOLT
54
AGAINST CIVILIZATI ON
thei r source Generally they come from an an cest ry

considerably above mediocrity An d I venture to ex
press the opinion that a great man has never been pro
A great
du
ced from parents of subnormal mentality
man is more apt to ari se if both parents are of very su
perior ab ility than if only one parent is above mediocrity
Where the great man appears to stand far above the level
of hi s imme diate ancestors it is due in large part I believe
to the fact that each parent supplied peculiar qualities
lacking in the other assisted also by qualities from more
remote ancestors which may have conspired to furnish
the necessary complement Of heredi tary factors
O ne thi ng is certain and that is that you cannot mak e
greatness ou
t of mediocrity or good abili ty ou
t of inborn
duln ess by all the ai ds which environment and education
1
or anythi ng else can possibly o ff er
Indeed even if we a dmit that great men may occa
si onally arise from stocks whi ch had never shown any
signs of superi ori ty thi s ought to strengthen rather than
weaken our belief in the force of heredity As Woods
well says when it is considered how rarely such an an
cestry produces a great man it must be evident that hi s
greatness is due to an accidental conjunction of favorable
traits converging through hi s parents and meeting in
.
Finally how except by heredity can we explain the

enormous differences in achievement between great num
bers of persons exposed to the same environment and
enj oying si milar opportunities ?

In terms of environ
pp 1 1 5 1 16 (N w Yo k
S J H olm s The T nd of th R
,
re
ace,
THE IR O N LAW OF
INEQUALITY
55
ment the Oppo rtunity to become a great physicist was

open to every one of the thousands of university students
who were the contemporaries of Lord Kelvin ; the op
to
become
a
great
musician
has
been
Open
to
t
u
n
i
o
r
t
y
p
all the pupils in all the conservatories of music which
have ouri shed since Joh ann Sebastian Bach was a choir
boy at Li meburg ; the opportunity to become a multi
millionaire has bee n open to every clerk who h as wielded
a pen sin ce John D Rockefell er was a bookkeeper in a
Clevel an d store ; the Opportuni ty to become a great mer
chant has been Open to every boy who has attended an
American public school since the time when John Wana
maker at fourteen years of age was an errand boy in a
1
Philadelphia book store
Such are the investigations of biology con cerni ng hu
man inequalities They are certainly striking and they
all point to the same conc lusions namely :
that such
inequalities are inborn ; that they are predetermined by
heredity ; an d that they are not i nherently modied by
either environment or opportuni ty
B ut thi s is o nl y half the story Within the p ast twenty
years the problem of human inequal ity has been ap
r
a
h
ll
l
along
a
who
y
new
ine by a di ff erent branch
o
c
e
d
p
of science
psy chology And the n di n gs of these psy
ch ol ogi cal investigatio ns have not o nl y tallied with tho se
of biology in further revealin g the i nheri ted nature Of
human capacities but have also proved it in even more
striking fashion and with far greater possibilities of prac
tical application
All yn e I eland Dem
ocracy and the Hu
m n Equ
ation p
153 ( New
Yo k
,
'
THE
56
REVO LT AGAINST C IVILIZATI O N
The novelty of the psychological approach to the prob

lem is evident when we realize that where as biology has
been investigating m ai nl y the individual s ancestry or
actions psychology examin es the mi nd itself The best
known instruments of psychological investigation are
the so called Intelli gence Tests rst invented by the

French psy chologist Binet in the year 1 905 From Binet s
relatively modest beginni ng the mental tests have in
cre ased enormously in both complexity and S cope cu
l
mi nating in those gigantic investigations conducted by
the American army authorities during the late war when
more than
men were mentally tested i n a va
1
ri ety of ways
Furthermore despite the notable progress
whi ch it has already made the psychological method ap
pears to be still in its inf ancy and seems likely to yield
far more extraor di nary results i n the near future
Yet the results already attained are of profound signif
i c ance It has been conclusively proved that intelligen ce
is predetermined by heredity ; that individuals come into
the world diff erin g vastly in mental capacities ; that such
diff erences rem ain virtuall y constant throughout lif e and
cannot be lessened by environment or education ; that the
present mental level of any individual can be deni tely
ascertained and even a child s future adult mental level
,
Th e
d t
a a
pub li sh ed
X V edi ted
b ee n
the ed by th e Uni t
i n d t i l in : M m
oi
ga
e a
ed
t tes army i nt
a
elli genc e
tests h
ave
f the Nati onal A cad emy of S ci ences
rs o
b y M ajor R M Y er es
use ul ab ri dgmen , con ai n
i ng many of t h e ch e c on clu
si ons, e t c , i s t h e smaller vol u
me b y M ajors
er e s a n d
oa u
m: A rmy M en tal Tests, New or , 1 920 See also val
nab l e di sc u
ssi ons of hi s ma er i n : Pu
bli cat i ons of th e A meri ca n S ociolog
i ca l S ocwty, vol X V,
1 0 2 1 2 4
For u
r h er di scu
ss ons, see
oo s by
C onkl n, Irelan d , and M cDou
gall , alrea y c te
vol
Y k
Y k
.
if
t
pp
tt
Y k
f t
d i d
b k
THE
58
REV O LT AGAINST CIVILIZATI ON
there is usually no further growth of mental capacity

albeit exceptionally superi or intellects continue to grow
in capacity for several years thereafter
A large number of careful investigations made among
school chi ldren have revealed literally amazing dis
crep anci es between their chronological and their mental
ages In classes of rst grade grammar school children
where the chronological age is about six years some pupils
are found with mental ages as low as th ree whi le other
pupils are found with mental ages as high as nin e or ten
Similarly in rst-year high school classes where the
chronological age is about fourteen years th e mental
age of some pupils may rank as low as ten or eleven while
the mental age of others may rise as high as ni neteen or
twenty
And be it remembered the I Q of any individu al

child once di scovered can be counted on as a constant
factor which does not change with the lapse of time
For example : Take two children rated by their birth
certicates as bein g both four years old but with mental
ages of three and ve respectively Wh en they are chron
ologi cally eight years old the mental age of the duller
child will be about six wh ile the mental age of the
brighter child will be about ten And when they are
chronologically twelve years old their respective mental
ages wi ll be approximately nin e and fteen Assumi n g
that growth of mental capacity stops in both children at
the chronological age of sixt een the ratio of their mental
ages as then attained will remain constant between them
That is why the mental ages
all the rest of their lives
.
THE
IR O N LAW O F INEQUALI TY
of
59
persons over sixteen once ascertained can be regarded

The onl y exceptions are those com
as xed quantities
r
i
i
l
rare
individua
l
s
of
very
supe
or
mentality
a
r
a
t
v
e
y
p
whose intelligence contin ues to grow a few years longer
and who are consequently very far in advance of their
f ellows Two methods of mental grading are employed :
years ; adu
lts are
c hildren are graded according to
graded accordin g to qualitative ratings ranging from
very superior through average to very inferior

Space forbids any detailed d iscussion of the actual
make-u
Their number is legion and
p of mental tests
Yet they all yield the
t h eir specialization is min ute
l ts
N O matter what trait of the
same general res u
individual be chosen resu
l ts are analogous If one takes
the simplest traits to eliminate the most chances for
confusion one n ds the same condi tions every ti me
Whether it be sp eed in marking off all the A s in a pri nted
sheet of capitals or in putting together the pieces of a
puzzle or in giving a reaction to some certain stimu
l us
or in makin g associations between ideas or drawin g g
ures or memory for various thin gs or giving the opp o
sites of words or discrimination Of lifted weights or suc
cess in any one of hundreds of other mental tests the
conclusion is th e same There are wide diff erences in
the abili ties of individuals no two being alike either
1
mentally or physically at b irth or any time thereafter
We thus see that human beings are sp aced on widely
different mental levels ; that they have a vari ety of men
tal statures just as they have a variety of physical
Pope noe nd Johnson pp 7 7 7 8
,
"
60
T HE
REV O LT AGAINST CIV ILIZATIO N
statures and that both are b asically due to inheri tance

Furthermore it is extremely signicant to observe how
closely intelligence is correlated with industrial or pro
fessi onal occupation social and economic status and
racial origin Nowhere does the power of heredity show
forth more clearly than in the way i nnate superiority
tends to be related to actual achievement Despite the
r social system contains many defects which
fact that ou
h an dicap superior in dividuals and foster inferiors ; de
Spite the fact that our ideas laws and institutions are
largely based on the fallacies of environmentalism and
natural equality ; nevertheless the imperious urge of

superior germ pl asm beats against these man made bar
ri ers and tends to raise the superior individuals who bear
it albeit only too often at the cost of their racial ste
rili ty through their failure to leave chi ldren
Another noteworthy point is the way psychology has
conrmed biological and sociological theories
Both
biologists and sociologists have long been coming more
and more to regard social an d racial status as valid in
Now comes psychology
di cati ons of innate quality
approachi ng the problem from a new angle and with
diff erent methods and its ndin gs coincide closely with
those which the other sciences have already made How
close is thi s coincidence a few examples will show
Taking rst a couple of English researches : a com
pari son was made of the in tellectual capacity of the boys
at a certain private school who were mostly the sons of
O xford dons (i e members of the u

niversity facul ty)
and the capacity of the boys at a municipal school at
,
LAW OF
IR O N
THE
INEQUALITY
61
tended by boys from the town population I will quote

ll
a
the resu
who
l ts in the words of Professor M cD ou
g
supervi sed the experiment and of Mr H B English
who conducted it Says Professor McDou

Th e
gall :
municipal school was an exceptionally good school of its
kind the teachi ng being in many resp ects better than in
the other the private school ; the boys were from good
homes sons of good plain citizens shopkeepers and
skil led artisans and so forth Without going into detail
I may say summarily that the resul t was to show a very
marked superiority of the boys Of the school frequented
1
by the intellectual class
An d Mr English states :
Al though the groups are small they are exceedingly

homogeneous and thoroughly representative of the chi l
dren in two social or economi c strata The wri ter does
not hesitate therefore to predicate these results for the
children of the entire classes represented or to conclude
that the children of the professional class exhibit between
twelve and fourteen years of age a very marked superi
And P rofessor M cDou

ori ty in intelligence
gall adds
the follo wing interesting comment :

The result is all
the more striking if youreect on the follo wing facts :
First every boy h as two parents and inherits his quali
ties from both Secondly it has not been shown that
uni versity dons prefer clever wives or that they are par
larly clever in choosing clever wives
It remains
ti cu
then highly probable that if the wives of these men were
.
1
1
all
M cD ou
gall
H
p
Engli sh
,
61
Ya le
,
P sy h
c olo
d i es
S tu
te d by M cDoug
o
qu
T HE
62
sbands
all as superior in respect of intell ect as their hu
the superiority of thei r sons to the boys of the other group
1
wou
l d have been st ill more marked
In this connection let me quote the conclusions of
another British psychologist who made a simil ar experi
ment with like results : For all these re asons we may

conclude that the superior prociency at intelligen ce
tests on the part of boys of superior parentage was i n
born An d thus we seem to have proved marked i n
heritability in the case of a mental character of the high
"
est ciV i c worth
Let us now p ass to America The United States off ers
a more instructive eld because with its more uid social
structure and its heterogeneo u
the
cor
s racial make-u
p
relations between intelligence social or economic status
and racial origin can be studied simultaneously
Before discussing these American experiments let u
s
recall certain facts For a long time past American b i olo
gists and sociologists have been coming more and more
to the foll owing conclusions : ( 1) That the old Native
Ameri can stock favorably selected as it was from the

races of northern Europe is the most superi or element
in the American population ; (2) that subsequent i m
migrants from northern Europe though coming from
substantially the same racial stocks were less favorably
selected and average somewhat less superior ; (3) that
the more recent immigrants from southern and eastern
,
M cD ou
gall
pp
2
1
6
6
,
"
2 C ri l B u
Bri ti sh
In ell gence ,
Ex erimen al T es s of
r ,
eneral
y
oted b y M cD ou
rna l of Psychology, vol III
J ou
gall
qu
t i
THE
IR O N LAW O F IN EQUALITY
63
average decidedly inferior to the north European

elements ; (4) that the negroes are inf erior to all other
elements Now let us see how psy chological tests have
con rmed these biologic al and sociological conclusions
1
O ne of the most recent of these experi ments was that
conducted upon several hundred school children in the
primary grades The children were classied in two
ways : accordin g to racial o rigin and accor ding to eco
nomic social status of parents The racial classications
were :
chil dren of American born whi te parents ; (b)
chil dren of Italian immi grants (most ly south Italians) ;
The economic
(0) colored (negroes and mul attoes)
social classications of p arents were : ( 1) professional ;
(2) semi professional and higher busin ess ; (3) skilled
labor ; (4) semi -skill ed and un skill ed labor The I Q

( intelligence quotient) of each category was then ob
tai ned the obj ect being to di s cover what correlations
( if any) existed between racial origin economic social
status and intelli gence Here are the results :
Europe
Ameri cans of
I Q
I Q
I Q
t tus ( 1 )
soc al s a
(2 )
(3 )
Ameri cans grouped togeth er

I talians
Th s ex er men , c on u
c ed b y M i ss A
lege, i s q u
o e d b y M c D ou
63
gall (
rec ly rom M i ss Arli tt i n ad va n ce of h er
men seems to ave een c onduc e in t h e
di t f
t
p i
t
d t
1 25
1 18
1 07
I Q
I Q
I Q
C olored
92
All
pp
td
106
84
83
Bryn M a r C ol
h e av ng ob ai ne d th e a a
own
u li ca on Th e experi
year 1 92 0
H Arli tt ,
.
h i
p b
of
ti
d t
T H E RE V O LT
64
A similar experi ment made on chil dren i n New York

City public schools by the well known authority Pro
1
l ts
fessor S M Terman yields st rikingly simil ar resu
In thi s case the children were graded simply accordi ng
to racial ori gin of parents the classications being : ( 1)
Parents native born whi te Americans ; (2) parents north
i grants ;
European immi grants ; (3) parents Italian imm
r
4
parents
Po
tuguese
imm
i
grants
H
ere
are
the
e
r
)
(
-
u
l ts
Ameri can
rop ean
North Eu
Itali an
Portu
guese
I Q
I Q
.
1 06
1 05
I Q
.
84
Note how the respective I Q s of both the American

and the Italian groups are identical in both experi ments
although the children examined were of cou
rse not the
same
Here are the conclusions of Professor Terman regard
in g the correlation between economi c social status oi
parents and intelli gence in chil dren as a resul t of his
many researches upon school chil dren from New York
to Californi a : Intelligence of 1 1 0 to 1 20 I Q (thi s range

is dened as superior in telli gence ) is approxi mately ve
times as common among children of superior social status
as among children of inferior social status the proportion
among the former being about 24 per cent of all and
among the latter only 5 per cent of all The group of
superior intelli gence is made up largely of chi ldren of
S M T m n In t lli g n of S h ol Chi ld n p 5 6 ( N w Yo k
.
'
er
e ce
c o
re
T HE
66
t elligen ce
REV OLT AGAINST CIVILIZATI O N

of
adults Fortunately we possess a great

mass of valuable data from the mammoth investigations
conducted by the Uni ted States army authori ties upon
more than
ofcers and men during the late
l
war
These investigations were planned and directed
by a board of emin ent psychologists It is interesting to
note that they were inspired not by abstract scientic
motives but by motives of practical efciency In the
words of two leading members of the investigating board
Maj ors Yoakum and Yerkes :
The human factors in most practical situations have

se of ou
r conscio u
been neglected largely becau
sness of
ignorance and ou
Whereas
r inability to control them
engineers deal constantly with physical problems of qual
ity capacity stress and strain they have tended to thi nk
of problems of human conduct and experience either as
u
nsolved or as insoluble At the same time there h as
existed a growin g consciousness of the practical signif
i can ce of these human factors and of the importance of
r knowledge
such systematic research as shall extend ou
r directive power
of them and in cre ase ou
Th e grea t war from which we are now emergin g into

a civilization i n many respects new h as already worked
marvellous changes i n our points of view ou
r expect a
tions and practical demands Relatively early in thi s
supreme struggle it became clear to certain individuals
that the proper util ization of man power and more par
l arly of mind or brain power would assure ultimate
t i cu
victory
All this h ad to be done i n the least possible
bli tions l dy q uoted on this point
See pu
.
ca
a re a
IR O N LAW O F INEQUALITY
THE
67
tim " Never before in the hi story of civili z ation was

brain as contrasted with brawn so important ; never
before the proper placement an d utiliz ation of brain
power so essential to success
Ou
r War D epartment nerved to ex ceptional risks by
the stern necessi ty for early victory saw an d immediately
seized its Opportuni ty to develop various new lines of
personnel work Among these is numbered the psy
Great will be ou
r good fortune if the
ch ologi cal service
lesson in human engineeri n g whi ch the war has taught
r civil in
is carri ed over di rectly and eff ectively into ou
1
ti ons an d activities
stitu
The purpose s of these psy chological tests were as
stated in the army orders : (a) to aid in segregating the
mentall y incompetent (b) to classi fy men accor din g to
their mental capacity (c) to assist in selecting competent
men for responsible positions

And to quote a sub
sequent ofcial pronoun cement after the admini stration
In the Opini on of this ofce these reports

of the test s :
indicate very deni tely that the desired results have
been achi eved

So much for the ai ms behin d the tests Now for the
tests themselves As already st ate d they were admi ni s
ofcers and men
Great
t ered to more than
care was taken to elimi n ate the disturbing in uence
of environmental factors li ke l ack of education and i g
moran ce of the English language Separate tests were
devised an d the close correlations obtained showed
lly segregated
that inborn intelli gence had been suc cessfu
Y oakum n d Y k es A my M ental T sts p p vii viii ( Int od uti on)
,
er
THE
68
REVO LT AGAINST CIV ILIZATI O N
Besi des general intell igence gradings special studies ao

cording to army rank civilian occupation racial origin
etc were made on large groups consisti ng of samples

t aken at many poin ts from the general m ass
The following is the system of general grading em
ployed to indicate the degree of individual intelligence :
,
uperi or i ntelli gen ce
very s
h igh
C
0
D
D
E
uperi or i ntelli gen ce
g i ntell igence
averag e i ntell ig en ce
low avera ge i n te llig en ce
i nf eri or i nt elli gen ce
very i nferi or i ntellig en ce
untea ch able men rejected

time
avera e
at on ce or af er a sh or
Let us now see how the

men examined graded
according to intelligence and what men tal age these
cl assications implied :
,
Thi s table is assuredly depressin g Probably never

before has the relative scarcity of hi gh i ntelligence been
so vividly demonstrated It strikin gly reinforces what
biologi sts and sociologists have long been telli ng us : that
.
THE
IRO N
LAW or
INEQUALIT Y
69
the number of reall y superior persons is small and that

the great maj o ri ty of even the most civilized p Opu
la
tions are of mediocre or low intelligen ce which be it
remembered neither education nor any other environ
mental agency can ever raise Thi nk of thi s table s social
signicance "Assuming that these
men are
a fair sample of the entire population of approximately
(and there is every reason to believe that it
is a fair sample) thi s means that the average mental age
rteen ; that forty ve mil
of Americans is o nl y about fo u
lions or nearly one half of the whole population will
never develop mental capacity beyond the stage repre
sented by a normal twelve year old chil d ; that only
thi rteen and oneh alf milli ons will ever show superi or
intelligence and that onl y four and one-half millions can
be considered talented
Still more alarming is the prospect for the futu
re The
overwhelming weight of evidence (as we sh all later show)
in dicates that the A and B elements in America are barely
reproducing themselves whi le the other elements are i n
creasing at rates proportionate to thei r decreasing intel
lectual capacity : in other words that intelli gence is to
t of the Americ an population
day bein g steadily bred ou
So much for the general results of the Ame ri can army
tests Now let us consider some of the special cl assi ca
tions notably those relat ing to the correlation of in tel
li gen ce with army rank civilian occupation and racial
,
In all these special clas sications the correlations were

r study mi ght lead u
precisely what ou
First
s to expec t
.
70
T HE
REV O LT AGAINST CIVILIZATI O N
as to army rank : the great maj ority of ofcers whether

actually commissioned or in ofcers training camps were
found to be of A and B intelligence Fu
rthermore in
those branches of the service where a hi gh degree of tech
ni cal kn owledge is required the highest degree of intel
In the engineers and the artill ery
li gen ce was found
nearly all the of cers graded A whereas in the veter
in ary corps less than one sixth of the ofcers graded A
and nearly two fth s graded C Among the non coms
( sergeants and corporals) one half or more graded C
The rank and le were mostly C men with a small mi
nori ty of A s and B s and a somewhat larger minority
of D s (E men of course being excluded from the ser
vice)
Next as to the correlation between intelligence and
civilian occupations : the professions were found to con
tain a great maj ority of A and B men ; the percentage
of superior intelligence sank steadil y through the skilled
and semi skilled occupations un til it was least of all
among the common laborers very few of whom were
foun d to possess intelli gence grading higher than C while
most of them graded C
or D Space forbids the tex
tual reproduction of the statistical tables whi ch are very
elaborate ; but any one who cares to examine them i n
the works already quoted will see at a glance how sym
metrical and logical are the gradings
Fi nally as to the correlation between intelligence and
racial origin : two separate researches were made Th e
rst of these was a comparison between white and colored
drafted men ; the other was a double grading of drafted
,
THE
IRO N LAW O F INEQUALIT Y
men of foreign birt h
Le t
u
s visualize the results
71
of
the
i ntelli gence ratings of white and colored by the foll ow
ing table addi ng one other category (that of the ofcers)
to visualiz e the diff erence between the intelli gence level
of the ofcers corps an d the levels of both white and
colored drafted men :
.
C olore
Draf
30
37
0
8
30
0
The above table needs no comment : it speaks for it

self "
Now as to the se cond study concerning the correlation
between i ntelli gence and racial origin : the gradi ng of
foreign born drafted men This investigation as already
st ated was dual : the men were graded both up and down
the scal e ;
both according to superiority an d in
feri ori ty of intelli gence

In the followin g tables su
periority means A an d B grades combined whil e in

feri ori ty
means D and E grad es combined
-
TABLE I :
P ER C E N T A G E
OF
n try
C ou
N w
or
Holla n d
Sco lan d
ay
Ireland
Tu
r ey
ree ce
t ly
Poland
I
IN ER IOR IT Y
of
B irt h
THE
72
T ABLE II :
C or try
of
PER CENTAGE
SU ER IOR IT
OF
B irt h
Ireland
Tu
r ey
En gland
Sc o lan d
H olla nd
C anad a
Ru
ssi a
G
It
re e ce
aly
m
B elgi u
Polan d
eden
These tables are very interesting Note how constant

are the positions of the national groups in both tables
periori ty
Al so note how surely a high percentage of su
and vi ce versa
c onnotes a low percentage of i nferio rity
O f course these tables refer merely to the intell igence
eri c a ;
they may not be
of foreign born groups i n A m
particularly good c ri teria for the entire home pop u
l ations
But they do give us a good
of the countries mentioned
indication of the sort of people Ameri ca is getting by
immi gration from those coun tries and they i ndicate
cl early the intell igence levels of the various foreign born
m
c
o
n
r
m
a
roups
in
A
erica
And
once
more
we
see
a
g
tion of those biological sociological and psychological
researches whi ch we have previously mentioned ; viz
that the in telligence level of the racial elements which
America has received from northern Europe is far above
that of the south and east European elements
We have al ready indicated how great are the possibili
ties for the practical employment of mental tests not
merely in the army but also in education industry and
.
74
TH E
they are di sciplined and controlled The c ase is somewhat

simi lar with respect to the emotions
Probably it
will not be long until we shall have some method Of mea
su
ring the quality Of emotional di sturbances
and thi s
r judgments ; but to what
will increase the accuracy of ou
ever degree of independence the emotions may be as
si gned their util ity is determined by the di scipl ine of
intelli gence Emotional control is we ak i n those of low
mental level The higher the level the greater the pos
1
sibili ty of rational control
We have thus far considered the nature of intelligen ce
and we have found it to be an inborn qual ity whose c a
a
i
is
predeter
m
i
ned
by
heredity
Biologically
this
c
t
p
y
is i mportant because a man may not make much actual
u
se Of hi s t al ents and yet p ass them on to chil dren who
will make use Of them In every day life however ca
rac
a
i
i
is
important
ch
ey
as
it
expresses
itself
in
c
t
y
p
p
tical performance as evidenced by knowledge and action
We here enter a eld where environment plays an im
portant part since what a man actually learns or doe s
depen ds obviously upon environmental factors like edu
cation training and Opportunity Let us once more re
call the di stinction between intelligence and knowl
edge : intelligence being the capaci ty Of the mi nd knowl

edge the lli ng Oi the min d Let us also remember the
a
true meanin g Of the word education
bringing
forth Of that which potentiall y exists

NOW precisely how does environment affect perform
ance ? In extreme c ases envi ronment may be of maj o r
Li ht nb g
op
i t p 104
.
er er,
THE
IR O N LAW OF INEQUALI T Y
75
importance A genius condemned for lif e to the fate of

Rob inson C ru
soe would obviously accomplish very little ;
while on the other hand a man Of mediocre capacity if
m
i
iven
every
possible
advantage
ght
make
the
utmost
g
But how is it under ordinary cir
of hi s slender talents
mstances especial ly under those substantially equal

cu
circumstances which it is the avowed ai m of modern
democratic ide al s to produce ?
Before discussing thi s point in detail however let u
s
t j ust what we mean by

stop and nd ou
equal circum
ni ty ?
stan ces
DO we mean equality of Opportu
O r do
we mean equali ty of p erformance and recomp ense ? The
two ideas are poles asunder ; yet they are Often conf used
in thought and frequently intentionally confused in
ment Equality of opportunity means freedom Of
argu
diff erent individuals to make the most Of similar con
di ti ons and by logical impli cation freedom to reap re
wards proportionate to respective achievements Equal
ity Of performance and recompense on the contrary
means the xin g of certain standards accordin g to which
action will be st imu
l ated and rewards appo rtioned Thi s
last is what most Of the hot-gospell ers of levelling social
equality have in the back Of their heads They may

camouage thei r doctrines with ne phrases but what
they really intend is to han di cap and defraud supe ri or
intelli gence in order to give every body a fair show

r present soci al system we see many instances
Even in ou
Of the waste and injustice caused by levellin g pra o

tices : bright pupils held back to keep st ep with dullards
and bright workmen discouraged from doing their best
.
THE
76
by graspin g employers or ordered to go slow by union

rules setting the pace by their less competent fellows
Th is di stinction being understood let us now see how
environment aff ects performance with individuals under
conditions Of equal opportunity How for example does
equality of training or education aff ect i ndivi dual achieve
ment ? The answer is another st riking proof Of the power
of heredity
Not only is such equality of conditions u
n
able to level the inborn diff erences between indi vidual s ;
on the contrary
it i ncreases the dierences i n resu
lts
Equali zin g practice se ems to increase diff er

achi eved
The superior man seems to have got his present
en ces
superiority by hi s own nature rather than by superior
advant ages of the p ast since duri ng a peri od of equal
1
advantage for all he i ncreases hi s lead
As M cDou
a
ll
g
j ustly remarks : The higher the level of innate capa city

2
the more is it improved by education
We th u
s see that even where superior indi viduals have
no better opportunities than inf eriors environment tends
to accentuate rather than equalize the diff erences between
men an d that the only way to prevent incre asing in
equality is by deliberately holdi ng the superiors down
Certainly the whole trend Of civilization is toward
increasin g in equality In the rst place the deman ds
made upon the individual are more and more complex
The di fferences in traini ng and edu
and di erenti at e d
cation between savages are relatively insignicant ; the
.
h
whi t
p
p
p i ip
th
it
t
POpenoe and J o nson,

92 Th e au ors c e several
ch
hi s r n c le is clearly es ab li s ed
i cal est s b y
1
48
M cD ougall ,
1
c are
ful psy ch olog
TH E
IR O N LAW O F INEQUALI T Y
77
diff erences between the feudal baron and hi s serf were

comparatively slight ; the di erences to day between
casu al laborers and captains Of industry are eno rmous
Never before has the function of capacity been so i mpor
tant and so evident
The truth is that as civil ization progresses social
status tends to coin cide more and more closely with
racial val ue ; in other words a given popul ation tends
to become more and more differentiated biologically the
upper social classes containing an ever larger proportion
of persons of superior natural endowments while the
l ower social classes contain a growing proportion of i n
feri ors The intelli gence tests which we have previously
considered show us how ma rked thi s tendency h as b e
come in advan ced modern societies like England and the
United States and there is every reason to believe that
nl ess the civil izing process be interrupted t h is strati
u
cati on will become even sharper in the future
Now preci sely how does this incre asi ng stratication
come about ? We have already di scussed this poi nt in
a general way We have seen how the dynami c urge of
superior germ pl asm surmounts environmental barriers
an d rais es the individual socially ; whi le conversely i n
feri or individual s tend to si nk in the social scale
Thi s
Let u
s now look at the matter more closely
process by which in dividuals mi grate socially upward
The Social
or downward from class to cl ass is termed
L adder
The e ase with whi ch people can go up or down
this ladder depends on the exibili ty of the social order
and social exibili ty in turn characterizes progressive
-
78
TH E RE V O LT
civili z ations In the less advanced types Of civilization

social exibility is rare Society crystalli zes into closed
c astes sons are compelled to foll ow the callin gs of their
fathers superior in dividuals cannot rise and hi gh born
inf eriors are kept from sinkin g to their proper levels
Thi s means waste inefciency and imperfect utili zation
Of human resources
However as civilization progresses its very complexity
and needs compel greater efciency ; society becomes
more exible ; and the social ladder works better and

better Latent talent ri ses more easil y from the ranks
while the upper class cuts ou
t more of its dead wood and
thus tends to free itself from degenerate tain ts whi ch
have rui ned so many aristocratic castes The abou
nding
vigor Of American lif e for example is largely due to the
way in which abili ty ten ds to be recognized wherever it
appears and is given a chan ce to make good

Thus
l ation ri se
in course Of time the superi or strains in a popu
to the top whil e the inf eri or elements sink to the bottom
The upper classes are continually enriched by good new
blood while the lower classes drained Of their best ele
ments are in creasin gly i mpoverished and become in
creasin gly inf erior
Thi s segregation of populations according to racial
value is produced not merely by the social ladder but
by an other process known as assortative mating

Con
t rary to certain romantic but erroneous notions careful
scientic investigation has proved conclusively that like
tends to mate with like

Giants are not prone to marry
dwarfs nor do extreme blonds usually prefer dark bru
,
THE
IR O N LAW O F INEQUAL I T Y
79
nettes An d what is true of physical ch aracteristics is

equall y true of mental and emotional qualities P eople
tend to marry those not too unlike themse lves And i n
addition to the action of personal preference there is
superad ded the e ffect of propinquity Indivi duals are
usu
ally attracte d to those with whom they associate
These are usually of thei r own class wi th common stand
ards si milar tastes and like educational attainments
B ut th ose are the very persons who are apt to be of the
same general type Thus as popul ations get more dif
ferentiat ed assortative mating widens the class gaps
Superiors tend more an d more to marry superiors medi
ocri ty tends to mate with me di ocrity while the inf erior
and the degenerate become segregate d by themselves
At rst sight it might seem as though the action of the
social ladder would nu
ll ify the action of assortative mat
ing B ut when we look at the matter more closely we
see that this is not the c ase Where social exibili ty per
mits individuals to migrate e asil y like tends oftener to
associate and hence to mate with lik e

The self ma de
man is more apt to nd a wife of hi s own caliber and

is not compelled to choose exclusively from among the
women Of the lower social cl ass in which he was born
O n the other hand hi gh born incompetents or black
sinkin g rapidly are less likely to drag down with

sheep
them hi gh type mates Thus the social ladder and as
far from conicting reinforce each
sort at ive mating
other and sift the population according to true racial
val ues wi th cumul ative eff ect
The sustained intermarriage of a we ll -selected upper
.
TH E
80
class raises society s apex into a sharply dened peak or
cone Woods h as termed this process Social C onic a
1
tion
The members of such coni ed groups display
clearly marked traits and possess hi gh average racial
value O n the other hand the lowest social classes seg
regated and drained Of their best elements
similarly
conify
into well marked racial inf eriority
The extent to which these selective processes workin g
for generations in a hi ghl y civili zed society may drain
the lower social classes of their best racial elements is
strikingly shown by the case of England That marked
diff erences of in born capacity exist between the Bri tish
upper and lower social strata has of course long been
realized but the rapidity with which the gap has been
widenin g has been recently shown by two hi stori cal mea
rem
s and talent
su
ents of the social distribution of geni u
in the Uni ted Kingdom conducted respectively by Have
lock Ellis and Doctor Woods The results of these studies
have been ably summari z ed by All eyn e Irelan d whom I
will quote
Says Ireland : What these investigations disclose is

that over a period of several centuri es there has occurred
.
A ams Woo s h as ma e a nu
l re
m er of care u
searc e s ou hi s q u
dy
lead ng
es i on , hi s la es b ei ng a ge nealog c al s u
M assa ch u
se s amili es,
h eir in ermarri ages,
s e ci al re eren ce t o
race d over a
roxi m
nd
eri od
a
a e ly
ree h u
ndre d ye ars romt h e ou
re sen
i ng
se s Bay C ol ony ( 1630 ) t o t h e
d ay
Hi s
th e M assach u
d a a a ve not yet b een u
em
b li sh ed , b u
t D oc or Woods h as sh o n
to
e i n M SS
u
r
ermore , at t h e S ec ond In erna i onal C on gress
Eu
gen c s, h eld at New or C i y i n Se emb er, 1 921 , D oc or Woods read
a
a er su
mmari z in g th e resu
l s of
is s u
dy w c w ll b e ul sh e in
t h e C ongress s rocee d n gs
1
d
d
b
f
t
t
t t
i
t
Of
i
tt f
with p
f
t
t
p
O f pp
t th
f
f
tt
p
t
p
t
w th
F th
t t
Of
Y k t
pt
t
t
th t
hi h i
p bi d
P
i
D oct or h
Of
t h
m
p p
ederi ck
82
TH E
public and a title of nobility in the appreciation Of the

political leaders
With every circumstance of lif e growing constantly

more favorable to the self assertion of genius and talent
in the lower cl asses in England how was it that the
contributions to emi nent achievement from that group
fell from an average Of
per cent of the total to a pro
portion of
per cent ?
It seems to me that as the vast improvement in en

vi ronment al conditions had not only failed to produce
an increase in hi gh achievement by those whom thi s im
provement had done most to serve but had on the con
t rary taken place p ari passuwith a very seri ous decline
i n achievement the cause must be sought in an i nuence
powerful enough to Offset whatever b enecent effects
improved environment might actually exert upon a sta
ti onary class during a single generation
This inuence I deem to have been that of assor

Its operation appears to have been of
t ative matin g
a dual character O n the one hand the eff ect in heredity
of intelligence mating with intelligence of stupidi ty wi th
stupidity of success with s u
ccess to put the matter
roughly h as been to perpetuate and to in crease these
traits i n the re spective groups O n the other hand the
practical social consequenc es of these eff ects being pro
oc
du
ced under conditions of an ever broadeni ng d em
rati z ati on of soc i al li fe h as been that the more intelli gent
and successful elements in the lower classes have been
constan tly ri sing out of their class into one socially above
it This movement must have the consequence of drain
,
THE
LAW OF
IR O N
INEQUALITY
83
ing the lower cl asses of talent and genius and through

a process of social migration of incre asing the genius
and talent of ea ch succee di ng upper layer in the social
1
seri es
We thus see that as civilization progresses inborn
superiority tends to drain ou
t Of the lower social levels
And probably never
Up into the hi gher social classes
before in human hi story has th is selective process gon e
on so rapidly and so thoroughl y as to day
But it may be asked : Is thi s not a matter for rejoi c
ing ? Does not this i mply the eventual forma tion of an
aristocracy Of supermen blessing all classes with th e

oweri ngs of its creative genius ?
Unf ort u
nately no ; not as soci ety is now consti tuted
O n the contrary if these tendencies continue under pres
ent socia l condi tions the con centration of superiority in
the upper social levels will spell general racial impoverish
ment and hence a general decline of civili zation Let us
remember that fatal tendency ( discussed i n the preced
ing cha pter) to use up and exterminate racial values ;
to impoverish human stocks by the dual process of so
l tiplyi ng in
ci all y ster ilizing superior strains and m u
feri ors The history Of civil ization is a series Of racial
trage dies Race after race has entered civilization s por
tals ; entered in the pink of condi tion full Of superio r
strains slowly selected and accumul ated by the drastic
methods of primitive life Then one by one these race s
have been insidiously drained of thei r best until unable
Alleyne Irelan
( New Y ork ,
Democracy
and
the
ma n Equation,
Hu
pp
1 39 1 42
THE RE V O LT
84
they have sunk back into impotent m edi

The only reason why the torch of civilization
ocri ty
has continued to ame high is because it has been passed
on from hand to hand ; because there have always been
good stocks still racially protected by primitive con di
tions who could take up the task
TO day however this is no longer so The local civil i
z ati ons of the p ast have merged into a world -ci vi li za tion
which draws insistently on every high type stock in exist
r modern civilization has m ade
ence That is why ou
such marvellous progress because it h as had behind it
the pooled intell igence Of the planet B ut let us not
deceive ourselves "Behind this brave show the same
fatal tendencies that have wrought such havoc in the
past are still working working as never before "In the
next chapter we shall consider closely these factors Of
racial decline Suf ce it here to state that in every civi
liz ed country to day the superior elements in the p Opu
lation are virtually stationary or actually declini ng in
numbers while the mediocre and inf erior elements are
rapidly increasing
Such is our racial balan ce sheet And be it remem
r civili zation
bered : ou
unl ike its predecessors cannot
l ders because there are no
shif t the burden to other shou
more untapped racial reserves

N O noble barbari
ans
wait to step forward as in the past ; the barbarians
and savages who still remain in the world are demon
strab ly of inf erior caliber and can contribute little or
nothing to the progress of civil ization
If then ou
r civi lization i s to survive it must conserve
to carry
on,
T HE IR O N LAW OF
INEQUALITY
85
and foster its own race values Happily ou

r civili zation
possess es two great advantages over past ti mes : scientic
knowledge and the scientic spiri t T O us have been
revealed secrets Of life our forebears never knew And
to us has been vouchsafed a passion for truth such as the
world h as never seen O ther ages have sought truth
r age se eks it from
from the li ps Of seers and prophets ; ou
scientic proof O ther ages have had their saints and
m artyrs d auntless souls who clung to their faith with
unshakable constancy Yet ou
r age has also its saints
and martyrs heroes who cannot only face death for
their faith but who can also scrap their faith when facts
have proved it wrong There indeed is courage "And
r hope
therein lies ou
This matchless love of truth this spiri t of science which
combines kn owledge and faith in the synthesis Of a hi gher
r t ime
Most
wi sdom as yet inspires o nl y the lite of ou
Of us are st ill more or less under the spell Of the past
the spell of passion prejudice and unre ason It is thus
that ideas and ideals clearly disproved by science yet
claim the all egian ce Of multitudes Of worthy men
The dead hand of false doctrines and fallacious hopes
lies indeed heavy upon us Laws institutions customs
ideas and ideals are all stamped deep with its imprint
O ur very min ds and sou
ls are imbued with delusions like
environmentalism and natural equality from whose

emotional grip it is hard to escape Mighty as is the
new truth ou
r eyes are yet blinded to its full meaning
ou
r hearts sh r
i nk i nsti nctively from its wider implications
and ou
r feet falter on the path to higher destinies
.
86
THE
These reactionary forces stub bornly impede the prog

ress of those deep going eugenic reforms which must
r civil ization is to be saved
spee di ly be undertaken if ou
from declin e and our race from decay
Thi s is serious enough But there is something more
serious stil l The reactionary forces which we have just
described though powerful are after all essentially
negative in character With the spread of enlightenment
they would soon wi ther if they stood alone But they
do not stand alone Behi nd them sheltered by them
lurks a positive aggressive force : Th e Under Man "
The Under Man is unconvertible He will not bow to
the new truth becau
se he knows that the n ew tru
th i s not
i
o
r
hi
m
Why
should
he
work
for
a
higher
civ
lization
f
when even the present civi lization is beyond hi s powers ?
What the Under Man wants is not progress but regress
regress to more primitive conditions in which he woul d
be at home In fact the more he grasps the signicance
of the new eugenic truth the uglier grows his mood
So
long as all men believed all men potentially equal the
Under Man could delude hi mself into thinking that
changed circumstances might raise him to the top Now
that nature herself proclaims him irremediably inf erior
hi s hatred of superi ority knows no bounds
This hatred he has always instinctively felt Envy
and resentment Of superi ority have ever been the badges
Of base mi nds Yet never have these badges been so
n t ed so deantly worn as to day
ercely au
This ex
plains the seemi ng paradox that j ust when the character
the cry for
O f superiority becomes supremely manifest
-
TH E IRO N LAW OF
INEQUALITY
s7
levelling equality rises supremely shri ll The Under

Man revolts against progress "Nat u
re herself having
decreed him uncivili z able the Under Man declares war
on civilization
These are not pretty facts B ut we had better face
them lest they face us and catch us unawares Let us
then underst an d once and for all that we have among
us a rebel army the vast host Of the unadaptable the
incapable the envious the di scontented lled with in
sti ncti ve hatred of civilization and progress and ready
on the instant to rise in revolt
Here are foes that need watching
Let us watch
them
.
CHAP TER III

THE NEM ES I S OF T H E
INFER I OR
RA C IAL impoverishment is the plague of civilization

This insidious disease with its twin symptoms the ex
ltiplication of
ti rp ati on of superior strains and the mu
inferiors h as ravaged humanity like a consumi ng re
reducing the proudest societies to charred and squalid
.
We have already examined the lif e process which per

ates both superiors and inferiors according to their
p etu
kind so we can now pass to a practical consideration of
inferior types
First of all however let us carefu
l ly di stinguish
between inf eriority s two aspects : physical inferiori ty
an d mental inf eriority
It is mental inferiority which is
Physically the human species seems
ou
r chief concern
equal to all demands which are likely to be made upon
it Despite civilization s d eleterious aspects and despite
the combined action of modern medi cin e and phil an
th rOpy in keeping alive physically weak in dividuals
humanity does not appear to be threatened with general
physical decay We are heirs of a physical selection which
goes back tens of millions perhaps hundreds of millions
Of years to the very o ri gin of lif e and its benecial in
il
u
en c e is so wide spread and deep goin g that a few m
lenni a of partial escape from its workings have pro
ced only supercial effects
du
,
88
TH E
90
days this was believed to be a normal rather than an

O ur forebears considered so
abnormal phenomenon
ci ety s withering away at the top and breeding from b e
low as natural an d inevitable Take the attitude of the
Romans for example Roman society was divided into
six classes The sixt h or lowest social class made up
Of paupers vagabonds and degenerates was exempt
from civic duties mili tary service and the payment of
t axes But was thi s class debarred from having chi ldren ?
Not at all O n the contrary it was positively encouraged
These dregs Of the Roman populace were
to do so
termed proletari ans

producers Of Off spring " In
other words a man might be incapable of civic duties
incapable of bearin g arms i ncapable Of paying taxes but
was considered not only capable but specially apt for
bearing chi ldren who were accepted as his contribution
to society Think what an attitude on racial matters
thi s i mplies "NO wonder Rome fell "And yet let us
not forget that thi s was substantially the attitude Of ou
r
grandf athers and that it is still the attitude of millions
Of so called educated persons Here is once more

evident the dead hand of the past perpetuating Old errors
and blocking the effective spread Of new truths
This mi ngli ng of old and new forces is in fact mainl y
r social
r esponsible for the peculiarly acute nature of ou
Traditional in uences makin g for
an d racial problems
racial decay are as active as ever perhaps more so O n
the other han d many new factors like universal educa
tion high standards preventive medici ne and birth
control all of which may be come powerfu
l agents Of rac e
,
THE
NEM ESIS O F
T HE
INFERI O R
91
betterment have thus far worked mainly in the direction

Of racial decay by speeding up both the social st erili z a
tion of superi or individuals and the preservation Of in
,
feri ors
Perhaps never before have social condi tions been so
dysgenic so destructive of racial values as to day
In the earlier stages Of society man i nterfered little

with natural selection But duri ng the last century the
increase of the philanthropic spirit and the progress of
medi cine have done a great deal to interfere with the
selective process In some ways selection in the human
race h as almost ceased ; in many ways it is actually re
versed that is it results in the survival of the inferi or
rather than the supe ri or In the olden days the crimi n al
was summarily executed the weakly chi ld died soon
after birth through lack Of proper care and medical at
tention the insane were dealt with so violently that if
they were not killed by the treatment they were at least
left hopelessly incurable and had li ttle chance of b e
coming parents Harsh measures all of these ; but they
kept the germ plasm of the race reasonably puried
T O day how is it ? The i nefci ents the w astrels

the physical mental and moral c ri pples are carefull y
preserved at public expense The criminal is turned ou
t
on parole after a few yea rs to become the father of a
family The insane is discharged as cured again to
take up the duties of citizenshi p The feeble min ded
l ly educated Often at the expense Of his
c h ild is painfu
normal brother or sister In short the u
ndesirables Of
the race with whom the bloody hand of natural selection
-
THE
92
rsed
would have made short work early in life are now nu
1
along to Old age
And as already stated factors like
birth control education and hi gh social standards are
simultaneously extirp ating the superior elements at an
unprecedented rate
Such is the situation Now what is to be done ? R e
turn to the gri m methods of natural selection ? O f

course not No sensible person could possibly advocate
such a thi ng It wou
ld not only outrage ou
r moral sense
but it would also yield results far inferior to other methods
of race betterment which science has already discovered
a
and elaborated That is the hopeful aspect of the situ
tion Grave though ou
r present plight may be we do
not have to waste precious time casting about for theo
reti cal solutions
Science especially that branch of
science known as Eugenics or Race Betterment

shows us a way far more efcient as well as innitely
more humane than the crude wasteful methods of natural
sele ction which while ki lling out most of the bad took
m an y Of the good at the same ti me
Science there
fore Off ers u
s a way of escape from impen di ng perils
not by a retu
rn to natural selection but by way of an
n
o
v
e
d
social
selection
based
upon
natural
law
i
tead
r
im
s
p
of as hi therto upon ignorance and haphazard
Det ai led
di scussion of the eugeni c programme will be deferred till
s
the concluding chapter Of this book At present let u
i ority in order better
continue our survey of human inf er
to appreciate how imperative the speedy application Of
eugeni c me asures to society h as come to be
Popenoe nd John son p p 1 48 1 49
,
94
TH E
etc It is highly here ditary and u

nfor
nat ely it is frequently associated with great physical
tu
strength and vitality so tha t feeble-mi nded persons
usually breed rapidly with no regard for consequences
In former times the n u
mbers of the feeble minded were
kept down by the stern processes Of natural selection
but modern charity and phi lanthropy have protected
t hem and have thus favored their rapid multiplication
Th e feeble minded are becoming an in creasingly serious
problem in every civili zed country to day The number
of Obviously feeble minded persons i n the United States
is estimated to be at le ast
Duri ng the last few
re m an y of the worst cases have been
decades to be su
segregated in institutions where they are Of course kept
from breeding ; but even to day the number of the segre
gated is onl y about 1 0 or 1 5 per cent of those who shou
ld
clearly be under i nstitutional care the balance mean
while causing endless trouble for both the present an d
future generations
The rapi di ty with which feeble minded stocks spread
and the damage they do are vivi dl y ill ustrated by nu
merous scientic stu dies which have been compiled Both
in Europe and America these studies tell the same story :
feebleminded in di viduals segregating in clans spread

i ng lik e cancerous growths disturbing the social life and
infecting the blood Of whole communities and thri ving
better their condition by

on mi sguided efforts to
1
chari ty and other forms of social service

i mprovidence ,
mmari e s of several of t h e b e s - no n of h e se s udi e s may b e

Su
1
16 1
J
s
O
no
e
a
n
d
o
h
n
o
n
59
2
4
0
P
e
o
l
m
7
H
e
s
in
p
,
;
,
tk w
pp
t
pp
foun d
THE
T HE
NEME SIS O F
INFERI O R
95
A typ ical c ase is that of the Juke Family whi ch

was rst investigated in the year 1 877 and re investi
gated in 1 91 5 To quote from the ori gin al study : Fro m

one lazy vagabond nicknamed Juke born i n rural
New York in 1 720 whose two sons marri ed ve degen
i n g about
per
erate sisters six generations numbe r
sons Of every grade of idleness viciousness lewdness
pauperism disease idiocy insanity and cri minali ty
were traced O f the total seven generations 300 died
i n i nfancy ; 3 1 0 were professional paupers kept in alms
houses a total Of
years ; 440 were physically wrecked
by thei r own diseased wickedness ; more than half
the women fell into prostitution ; 1 30 were convicted
criminals ; 6 0 were thi eves ; 7 were murderers ; o nly 20
learned a trade 1 0 Of these in state prison and all at a
state cost Of over
By the year 1 91 5 the
clan had reached its ninth generation and had greatly
lengthened its evil record It then numbered
in
als half Of whom were alive
About the year 1 880
di vidu
the Ju
kes had left their original home and had scattered
widely over the co u
ntry but change of environment
had made no material change in their natures for they
still showed the same feeble mindedness indolence

licentiousne ss and dishonesty even when not handi
capped by the associations of their bad fami ly name and
despite the fact Of their bein g surrounded by better social
The cost to the state had now risen to

con di tions
about
As the investigator remarks all this
evil might have been averted by preventing the repro
Ibi d pp 1 59 1 60
ote d b y Pop no an d J ohnson p 1 59
Qu
,
THE
96
duction of the rst Jukes As it is the Jukes problem is
still with us in growing severi ty for in 1 91 5 out of ap

proximately 600 living feeble-mi nded and epileptic Jukes
1
there are only three now in custo di al care
A striking illustration of how superiority and degen
i ned by here dity is aff orded
sracy are alike rigidly determ
2
by the Kallikak Family of New Jersey During the
Revolutionary War one Martin Kallikak a young

soldier Of good stock had an ill icit aff air wi th a feeble
min ded servant girl by whom he had a son Some years
later Martin marri ed a woman of good fami ly by whom
he had several legitimate children N ow th is is what
happened : Martin s legitimate chil dren by the woman
of good stock all turned out well and founded one Of the
most distinguished famili es in New Jersey

In this
family and its collateral bran ches we nd nothi ng but
good representative citizenshi p There are doctors law
yers judges educato rs traders landholders in short
respectable citizens men and women promi nent in every
phase of social lif e They have scattered over the United
States and are prominent in thei r commu
ni ties wherever
There have been no feebleminded
they have gone
among them ; no ill egitimate chil dren ; no immoral
women ; onl y one man was sexually loose

In sharp
contrast to thi s branch of the famil y stand the descen
,
u
t h e rea l name of th e famil y
n d ed from t h e G ree k word s

ni c kn ame c omp ou
good
2
Thi s i s,
m p
ti
It i s a scie n c
and
b ad
in
s rong ly di ve rgen
.
F m
The
ood Bad
a
ily,
ranch es
arac e r of i ts t wo
1
Hol es,
31
sh or
c
of c o rse, not
to
c arac eriz e
th e
TH E
98
Unlike feeble-mindedness insanity is Often associated

1
with very superior qualities whi ch may render the af
i cted individuals an acute menace to society
The
feeble minded never overturned a state An essentially
negative element they may drag a civilization down
toward sodden degeneracy but they hav e not the wi t
to disrupt it The in sane on the other hand are apt to
be intensely dynamic and to misuse their powers for de
structive ends We sh al l presently see h ow many apostles
of an archic violence and fu
rious discontent have been
persons of ill balanced mind Such persons are of course
rarely insane in the techni cal sense of being clearly
committable to an asylum They represent merely
one aspect of that vast outer fri nge of mental u

n
soun dness which is scattered so widely through the gen
eral population But even the acute asylum c ases

are lamentably numerous In the United States for
example the asylum popu
l ation numbers over
and it is well known that besides those actu al ly in insti
ti ons there are multitudes of equally a
tu
fi cted persons
in private custody or even at large
Another class of pronounced defectives are the epi
l ep ti cs Epilepsy is clearly here di tary bei ng probably
,
An e x raord n ary dea u

se d to b e
s was a orm
d ely eld h a geni u
of i nsani y
C are u
l sci en i c i nves i ga i on h as cl early di s roved hi s
n o i on
For one hi ng, elab ora e s a i s i c al s u
ersons
d i es of emi ne n
h ave sh o n h em t o b e less li ab le t o i n sa ni y h an i s th e general p op u
la
i on Of c ou
rse , a c onsi derab le nu
mb er of emi ne n men can b e li s e d wh o
un q ues i on ab ly su
ro a hi c
rai s
Bu
t i t was not
ff ered rom vari ou
s neu
h ose rai s h a ma d e h em emi nen ; on t h e c on rary ,
e se
e re h and
i cap s Some h ere b ac in h ei r a nces ry a a n was n rod u
ce d i n o a
n d , su er or s ra n, and
sou
rod u
ce d
i s d sh armon c comb i na ion of
a li ies
qu
t
t
w t
f
t
t t t t
t
w
k
p i t i
.
wi
t t
t t t
t
t t
p t
t
th
t t
t t
t
th
ti t
i t
i
i
.
t p
THE NE M ESIS
OF
T HE
INFERI O R
99
due like feeble mi ndedness and hereditary insanity to

some factor in the germ plasm whi ch causes abnormal
development Like insanity it is Often associated with
Superior mental qualities but it is even more Often asso
ci ate d with feeble min dedness
and its V ictims tend t o
be dangerously antisocial epilepsy being frequently con
n e ct ed with the worst crimes Of violence
The spreadin g
of epileptic strains among sound stocks is un questionably
disastrous causing grave social dangers and lamentabl e
racial losses
Besides these outstanding causes of degeneracy there
are some other forms Of defect whi ch though in dividually
not so serio u
s represent in the aggregate a distinct b u
r
den to society and drain upon the race Among thes e
may be classed congenital deafness and blindness some
types of deformi ty and certain crippling diseases lik e
Hu
nt ington s chorea All such defects being hereditary
inict repeated damage from generation to generation
and tend to spread into sound stocks
r melancholy s u
rvey of the defective
SO en ds ou
classes
In every civilized country their aggregate num
bers are enormous and under present social con di tions
they are rapidly increasing In the United States for
example the total number of the patently feeble minded
in sane and ep ileptic is esti mated to be fully
And as already stated even this alarming total repre
sents merely those persons sufferin g from the more ex
treme forms of taints which extend broadc ast through
the general population The extent of such contamina
tion is revealed by several estimates made independently
-
T HE
1 00
by competent investigators who all consider that over

l ation of the Uni ted States
3 0 per cent Of the entire pop u
1
carri es some form Of mental defect
In great part to
be sure defect is latent in the germ plasm and does the
bearers no harm Yet the taints are there and are apt
to come out in their children especially if they marry
persons carrying a similar defect i n their inheritance
And even if we exclude from consideration all purely
latent defects the problem presented by those act ually
su
ff erin g from less acute forms of defect than those pre
vi ou
sly desc ri bed is one of almost incalculable gravity
for both society and the race There can be no question
that in efciency stupidity pauperism crime and other
forms of an tisocial conduct are largely (perhaps mainl y)
due t o inborn degeneracy The careful scientic inves
ntries on paupers
t i gati ons conducted in many co u
tramps criminals prostitutes ch ronic inebriates drug
ends etc have all revealed a high percentage Of mental
defect
When to these ou
t and out social fai lures we
add the numberless semi fail ures gradin g all the way
from the unemployable casual laborer to the erratic
genius wasting or perverting his talents we begin to

l y terrible action of inheri ted degeneracy
re ali ze the tru
working generation after generation tainting and spoil
.
Opini on of som f th m mb s f th Eug ni R eco d

ing Am i n i nti i nv stig ti n nt n th p b
O f
nd O
l m
Th w ll k n wn p y hi t i t R
n ff
b li v th t v
s
nt
f pp
ntly n
i s f n uop thi d
3 1 p er
m l p pl
1
Su
c
c e,
is t h e
t h e lead
e
ce
e o
er ca
are
s c
sc e
a rs s
or
er
osa
eo
re o
ce
e are carr er
cs
rr
ese
e r
ro
o er
fect
1
For su
mmar es of several of ese i nves i ga ions, o Amer can and
ro ean, see Popenoe and Jo nso n ,
Eu
1 57- 1 60 ; 1 7 6 1 83 ; Holmes,
7 3-9 7
.
th
pp
b th
pp
1 02
T HE
that the mobs which sp ri ng up from nowhere at the slight

est let u
p in police control are mostly Ameri can born
with scarcely an illi terate among them ; yet they revert
to the sway of their animal instincts qu
it e as spon
sly as benighted Russians
t an eou
It is foll y to keep up the delusion that more democ

racy and more education will make over these ill born
into good citizens Democracy was never intende d for
degenerates and a nation breeding freely of the sort that
must continually be repressed is not headed toward an
extension of democratic liberties Rather it is inevitable
that cl ass li nes shall harden as a protection against the
gron numbers Of the underbred just as in all previous
cu
l tu
res
However remote a cataclysm may be ou
r
present racial trend is toward social chaos or a dictator
-
Meanwhile we invite social turmoil by advancing

muddled notions of equality Democracy as we loosely
re of earthly
idealize it nowadays is an overdrawn pictu
bliss ; it stirs the little brained to hope for an impossible
levelling of human beings The most we can honestly
exp ect to achieve is a fai r levellin g of Opportuni ty ; but
every step toward that end b ri ngs ou
t more distin ctly
those b asic inequalities Of inherit an ce which no envi ron
mental effort can improve SO di scontent is loudest in
those least capable of grasping Opportunity when it i s
1
O ffered
In this connection we mu
st never forget that it is the
high grade defectives who are most dangerous to

mphr y pp 7 7 80
Hu
,
NEM ESIS O F THE INFERI O R
THE
1 03
social order It is the near-geni us the man with

the fat al t ai nt which perverts hi s t al ents who Oftenest
rouses and leads the mob The levell ing social revolu
r own day like Syn di cali sm An
ti on ary doctrin es of ou
ring yet basic
archi sm and Bolshevism supercially all u
ally false and destructive are essentially the product of
nd brai ns
unsound thinking by unsou
The sociologist
Nordau ably analyzes the enormous harm done by such
persons and doctrines not only by rousing the degenerate
el ements but also by leadi ng astray vast numbers Of
average people biologicall y normal enough yet with in
telli gen ce not high enough to protect them against clever
fallacies clothed in fervid emotional appeals
Says Nordau :
Besides the ext reme forms of de
n
l
r
a
there
are
mi
der
forms
more
r
less
i
n
o
s
i
n
c
o
c
e
e
y
p c
g
n ous
not to be di agnosed at a rst glan ce These
however are the most dangerous for the community
because their destru ctive inuence only gradually makes
r guard against it ; indeed
itse lf felt ; we are not on ou
in many cases we do not recognize it as the re al cause
Of the evil s it conjures u
vi
whose
serious
importance
l
s
e
p
no one can doubt
A mattoid or half fool who is full of organic feelings

of dislike generalizes hi s subj e ctive state into a system
ism of Weltschmertz we ari ness of life An
of pessim
other in whom a l oveless egoism dominates all thought
and feeli ng so that the whol e ext erior world seems to
him hostile organizes hi s antisoci al instincts into the
theory of anarchi sm A t hi rd who suff ers from moral
insensibility so that no bond of sympathy links him
th e
T HE
1 04
with h is fellow man or with any living thi ng and wh o

is Obsessed by vanity amoun ting to megalomania
preaches a do ctrine of the Superman who is to know
no consideration and no comp assion be bound by no
moral principle but live his own life without regard
for others Wh en these half fools as often happens
speak an excited language when their imagination u
n
bri dl ed by logic or understandin g supplies them with
Odd startling fancies and surprising associations and
images their writings make a strong impression on u
n
wary readers and readi ly gain a decisive inuence on
thought in the cultivated circles Of their time
O f course well balanced persons are not thereby

changed into practising di sciples of these morbid cults
But the preachings of these mattoids are favorable to
the development of similar dispositions in others ; serve
n
to polari ze in their own sense tendencies Of hi therto u
certain drift and give thousands the courage Openly
impudently boastfully to confess and act in accordance
with convictions whi ch but for these theo ri sts with their
noise and the ash of their tinsel language they would
have felt to be absurd or infamous which they would
have concealed with shame ; whi ch in any case would
have remained monsters known only to themselves an d
imprisoned in the lowest depths of their consciousness
SO through the inuence of the teachings of degen

conditions arise which do not like the
c rate half fools
c ases of insanity and crime admi t of expression in gures
but can nevertheless in the end be dened through their
political and social effects We gradually Observe a
,
1 06
THE
lik e a cancerous blight and threatening to corrode society

Again st these assaults
to the very marrow of its being
of inferiority ; agai nst the cleverly led legions of the de
generate and the backward ; where can civilization look
for its champions ? Where but in the slender ranks of
the racially superi or those A an d B stocks whi ch

i n iAmeri ca for example we know to day constitute barely
1 3 % per cent of the population ? It i s this thin red line

Of ri ch untainted blood which stands between u
s and
barbarism or chaos There al one lies our hope Let us
not deceive ourselves by prating about government

education
democracy : our laws our constitutions
our very sacred books are in the last analysis mere paper
barriers whi ch will hold only so long as there stand b e
hind them men and women wi th the intelligence to under
stand and the character to maintain them
Yet this life lin e Of civilization is not only thi n but is
wearing thinner with a rapidity whi ch appall s those fully
aware of the facts We have already stated that prob
ably never before in human history have social conditions
been so destructive of racial val ues as tod ay because of
both the elimi nation of superior stocks and the multi
plication of inf eri ors
O ne dangerous fallacy we must get out of our heads :
the fallacy Of judging human popul ations by what we
see among wild varieties of plants and animals Among
these latter we observe a marked stability of type and
we are apt to conclude that for man as for other life
forms evolution is a slow process in which a few gen

erati ons coun t for little and therefore that we need not
.
THE
NEM ESIS O F
THE
INFERI O R
107
worry overmuch about me asures of race betterment b e
cause we have plenty of time

A perilous delusion this "
and a fu
rther indication of
our unsound thinki ng and supercial knowledge of the
laws of life A trie more intelli gent reection would
show us the profound unl ikeness of the two cases Ani
mals and plants (where not domesticated by man )
live in the state of nature where they are subjected
to the practically unvary i ng action Of natu

ral selec
tion
Their germ plasm varies in quality j ust like hu
man germ plasm (as skil ful breeders like Luther Burbank
have conclu
ral selec
sively proved) ; but with them nat u
tion elimi n ates all but a narrow range of characteristi cs
whi ch keeps the breed at a xed level ; whereas civilized
man living largely under self made conditions replaces
natural selection by various social selections which pro
duce the most profound a nd rapid modications
There is a point wh ich we must keep in mi nd : the
rapi di ty with which the qualities Of a species can be
altered by a change i n the character of biological selec
tion It is li terally amazing to observe how mankind has
for ages been wasting its best effort s in the vain attempt
to change exi sti ng i ndi vi duals instead of changing the
race by determini ng whi ch existing individuals sho u
ld
and should not produce the next generation
O f course racial changes by means of social sele ction
have not waited for man to di scover them ; they have
been going on from time immemorial The trouble is
that instead of lifting humanity to the heights as they
might have done if intelligently di rected they have been
.
1 08
THE
workin g haphazard and have usually wrought decadence

and rui n
The startling rapidity with whi ch a particular stock
may be either bred into or ou
t of a given popu
l ation
can be accurately determined by discovering its rate Of
increase compared to that of the rest of the popul ation
l timate factor in this rate of incre ase is what
An d the u
is known as the di fferential birth rate

It h as long
been known that populations breedi ng freely tend to in
cre ase extremely fast But what is true of a popu
l ation
as a whole applies equally to any of its constituent ele
l ation those elements
ments Thus in any given popu
which reproduce themselves the fastest will dominate
the average character of the nation and wi ll do so at an
ever-i ncreasi ng rate
Let us take a rather moderate ex
ample of a differential birth rate to show how diff erences
barely noticeable from year to year may in a few genera
tions entirely transform the racial scene Take two stocks
each consistin g of
individuals the one just failing
to reproduce itself while the other incre ases at say the
rate of the general English population by no means an
extreme level of fecun di ty At the end of a year the rst
stock will have become 996 at the end of a century it
will have decli ned to 6 87 whil e after two centuries it
will number only 4 72 O n the other hand the second
st ock wil l after a year number
in a century
and in two centuries about
In other words at
the end of a hundred years (from three to four genera
tions) the more prolic stock would outnumber the less
prolic by 6 to 1 and in two centuries by 30 to 1 As
.
T HE
1 10
REVO LT AGAINST CIVIL IZATI O N
who m arry Taking the civili zed world as a whole it

has been found that about fou
r chi ldren shou
l d be born
per marriage if a stock is to reproduce itself In a few
countries like Australia and New Zealand and in certai n
high grade groups where the death rates are very low
an average of th ree chi ldren per marriage may be enough
to reproduce the stock but that seems to be about the
absolute mi ni mum of fecundity which wi ll ever su
i ce
N ow bearing in mi nd these reproductive mi nima what
do we actuall y nd ? We nd that in Europe ( excludi ng
the more backward countries) the superior elements of
the popul ation average from two to four children per
marriage ; that the me di ocre elements average from four
to six children per marriage ; that the inferior elements
considered as a whole average from six to seven and one
half chil dren per marriage ; while the most inferior ele
ments like casual laborers paupers and feeble minded
defectives considered separately average about seven to
eight ch ildren (illegitimMe births of course included)
The differential birth rates in the diff erent quarters Of
the great Eu
ropean cities are typical
Some years before
the late war the French sociologist Bertill on found that
in Paris and Berlin the births i n the slum quarters were
more than three times as numerous as the births in the
best residential sections whil e i n London and Vienna
they were about two and one-half times as numerous
In the United States conditions are no better than i n
Europ e in some respec ts they seem to be rather worse
O utside of the South and parts of the West the ol d native
American stock is not reproducing itself the birth rates
.
THE
NEM ESIS O F
T HE
INFERI O R
111
of immigrant stocks from northern and western Europe

are rapi dly falli ng whi le the birth rates among the im
migrant stocks from southern and eastern Europe remain
high and show comparatively slight diminution The
American intell ectual groups are much less fert ile than
similar European groups The average number Of chil
dren per married graduate of the lea din g Ameri can col
l eges like Harvard and Yale is about two while among
the leadin g women s colleges it is about one and one half
Furthermore the marriage rates of college men and
women are so low that considering married and singl e
graduates together the statistic al average is about one
and one half children per college man and something less
than three-fourths of a child per college woman Pro
fessor Cattell has investigated the size of families of 4 4 0
American men of science choosing onl y those cases in
whi ch the ages of the parents in dicated that the family
was completed Despite a very low death rate the birth
rate was so much lower that as he himself remarks it

is Obvious that the families are not self perpetuating
The scienti c men under fty of whom there are 26 1
with completed families have on the average
chil
dren about 1 2 per cent of whom die before the age Of
marriage What proportion will many we do not know ;
but only about 75 per cent of Harvard and Yale graduates
marry ; onl y 50 per cent of the graduates Of colleges for
women marry A scientic man h as on the average about
seven tenths of an adu
lt son If three fou
rths of hi s
sons and gran dsons marry and their fami lies continue
to be of the same size
scientic men will leave about
-
"
1 12
T HE RE V O LT
grandsons to marry and transmit their names and

their heredi tary traits The extermination will be stil l
more rapid in female lines

In sharp contrast to these gures note the high birth
rates in the tenement districts of America s great cities
In New York for example the birt h rate on the East
Side is over four times the birth rate in the smart
residential districts Commenting on similar conditions
in Pittsburgh where the birth rate i n the poorest ward
is three times that of the best residential ward Messrs
The signicance of such

Pop en oe and Johnson remark :
gures in nat u
ral selection must be evident
Pittsburgh
like probably all large cities in civi li zed countries breeds
from the bottom The lower a class is in the scale of i n
t elli gen ce the greater i s its reproductive contri bution
Recalling that intelli gence is inheri ted that like begets
like in thi s respect one can hardl y feel encouraged over
the quality of the pop u
lation of Pittsburgh a few genera
1
tions hence
rthermore it must not be forgotten that such dif
Fu
ferenti al b irth rates imply for America problems more
complex even than those in Europe ; because whereas
in Europe they involve mainl y shifts in group intelli gence
in America they mean also changes of race with all that
that i mplies in mo dications of fu
ndamental national
temperaments ideals and institutions And that is
precisely what is taking place in many parts of America
to day New England for example once the prolic
nursery of the ambitious intelligent Yankee stock

nd J ohnson p 139
P p no
3 50
e a
THE
1 14
Si nce the American popul ation (with the exception of

its south and eas t Eu
ropean immigrant stocks and its
negroes) probably averages about as high in i ntelligence
as do the no rth European peoples it is not difcult to
foresee that if intelligence continues to be bred ou
t of
the race at its present rate civilization will either slump
The fatal effects of
or crash from sheer lack of brains
a brain famine are well described by Professor McDou
a
ll
g
in the followin g lines :
The c ivilization of Ameri ca depends on your con

And
ing to produce A and B men in fair numbers
t inu
at present the A men are 4 per cent the B men 9 per
cent and youare breeding from the lower part of the
The A men and B men the college bred do not
cu rve
maintain their numbers while the popu
lation swells
If this goes on for a few generations will
enormously
not the A men and even the B men become rare as white
elephants dropping to a mere fraction Of 1 per cent ?
It is only too probable
The present tendency seems to be for the whole curve

to shi ft toward the wrong end with each successive gen
And this is probably true of moral quali ties
e rati on
l d come
If the time shou
as well as of in tellectual stature
when you
r A and B men together are no more than 1
r a mere fraction Of 1 per cent of the p Opu
l
a
r
cent
o
e
p
tion what will become Of your civilization ?
Let me state the c ase more concretely in relation to

one of the great essential professions Of which I have
some inside knowledge ; namely the medi cal profession
Rvo hun dred or one hundred years ago th e knowledge
,
THE
THE
N EM ESIS O F
INFERI O R
to be
1 15
acqui red by the medic al student before entering

upon the practice Of hi s profession was a comparatively
small body of empiri cal rules The advance of civiliz a
tion h as enormously multipli ed thi s knowledge and the
very existence Of ou
r civili z ed communities depends upo n
the continued and effective application of thi s vast body
The acqui ri ng and the ju
of me dical art an d science
di ci ou
s application Of this mass of knowledge makes very
much greater demands upon the would b e practitioner
l es of ou
th an did the m astery of the body of ru
r fore
fathers Accordingly the length of the curricul um pre
r medi c al students has constantly to be
scribed for ou
drawn out till now its duration is some six years of post
graduate study
The students who enter upon this long and severe

course of study are already a selected body ; they have
l ly We
p assed through high school and college successfu
may fairly assume that the great maj ority of them b e
long to the A or B or at le ast the C
group in the army
scale of intelligence
What proportion of them do you supp ose prove

capable of ass imilating the vast body of medical knowl
edge to the point that renders them capable of applying
it intell igently an d effectively ? If I may venture to
generalize from my own experience I wou
l d say that a
very considerable proportion even of those who p ass
thei r exami nations fail to achi eve such effective assimi
lation The bulk of modern medical knowledge is too
vast for thei r cap acity of assimilat ion its complexity t oo
great for their power of un derstan ding Yet me dical
,
1 16
THE
science continues to grow in bulk and complexity and

the dependence of the communi ty upon it becomes ever
more intimate
In this one profession then which makes such great

and increasing demands on both the intellectual and the
moral qualities of its members the demand for A and
B men steadil y increases ; and the supply in all prob
ability is steadily diminishing with each generation
An d what i s t aking place in this one profession is

it would seem takin g place in all the great professions
and higher callings O ur civili zation by reason of its
increasing complexity is making constantly i ncreasing
demands upon the qualities of its bearers ; the qualities
of those bearers are di minishi ng or deteriorating rather
1
than improving
The larger aspects of the problem are ably stated by
Whetham who writes : Wh en we come to consider the

birth rate as at present affecting ou
r social structure we
nd that it is highest in those sections of the community
whi ch like the feeble-mi nded and the insane are devoid
Of intell igent personality or like m an y of the unemployed
and casual laborers seem to be either without ideals or
without any method Of expressing them In all the social
groups which have hi therto been distinguished for cc
h eren ce for industry for good mental and physical 0 3
i
a
i
t
f
for
power
organization
and
ad
nistration the
c
o
m
y
p
birth rate has fallen below the gu
res necessary to main
tain the national store of these qualities Great men are
scarce ; the group personality is becoming indistinct and
M D ou
g ll pp 1 63 1 68
,
T HE RE V O LT
1 18
AGAI NST CIVILIZATI O N
The fact is that under present conditions com

i
l
few
people
of
the
right
sort
can
a
ord
to
r
se
a
r
a
t
v
e
f
f
a
i
y
p
large famili es of well born well cared for an d well edu
This is the basic reason for that sharp
c ate d chil dren
drop in the birth rates of the upper and middl e classes
of all civili zed lands which has occurred duri ng the past
half century O f course the drop h as been h astened by
l taneous discovery of variou
the simu
s methods for pre
venti ng conception which are collectively termed birth
control
H owever it was not so much the new methods
as the insistent economic and social pressure to employ
them which accounts for the rapidi ty in the fecu
n dal
decline Under the conditions Of modern lif e a pro
nou
n ced decline in the birth rate was inevitable
To
cite onl y one Of several reasons the progress of medical
science had greatly reduced the death rate and had thus
made possible an enormous net increase of popu
l ation
T o have maintained an unchecked birth rate would have
meant for the Western nations congested masses of h u
manity like those of Asia dwelling on a low level of
poverty
T O escape this fate the more intelligent and far sighted
elements in every civili zed land began quickly to avail
themselves of the new contraceptive methods and to
limit the size of their families in this manner That raised
a great publi c outcry (largely on religious grounds) and
1
in most countries the imparting of contraceptive knowl
li
H ll nd
mu
st
nd
In
f w nli ght n d om
n it i s n t b ly Au
ptiv m th ods w w l om d d b i th ont ol
N w Z l nd
on t
l ts
kn wl dg i f ly imp ted to ll l ss s Th s i l nd i l su
n t i l b irth
h v b n
ll n t p t i u
l ly in m
i nimi i ng dif f
tes nd
thus v ting sudden g oup shi f ts in th p opul ti on
race
ea a
ee
a er
ra ce
ar
ree
e x ce
ar
r
ere
c a
ar
ra
o a
oc a
ere
e c
a,
an
o a
-c
rac a
-r
re
THE
N EM ESIS O F
THE
INFERI O R
1 19
edge was legally prohibited Such action was extremely

stupid and very disastrous To far sighted communi
ties it should have been evident that with the appearance
Of new social factors like lowered death rates higher liv
i ng cost s and ris ing st andards a lower birth rate was
simply inevitable ; that civi li z ed peoples could n ot and
woul d not go on breedin g like an imals as they had done
in the Old days of cheap living and low standards when
a high birth rat e was Off set by the un check ed ravages of
death
But a reduced birth rate being inevitable the only
questions whi ch remained were : How and by whom
shou
l d it be reduced ? Shoul d it be by the traditional
methods of celibacy (tempered by illicit sex relations and
prostitution) deferred marriage inf anticide and abor
1
tion ; or should it be by the new contraceptive methods ?
Again : Shou
ld all sections of the popul ation lower thei r
birth rates or should only the more intelli gent classes ?
Unfort unately for the race it was the latter alternative
whi ch prevailed
Instead of sp re ading contraceptive
knowledge among the masses an d thus mitigat ing as
far as possible the evils of a racially destructive differen
tial birth rate society succeeded in keeping the masses
in ignorance and high fecundity whereas it emphatically
did not succeed in keeping contraceptive knowledge from
the more intelligent who incre asingly practised birth
.
must
fully di stin guished f om pr venti on of on ce p

ti on M thods of p eventing conce pti on are re nt d is ov ri s; bor
tion has bee n p tised since very an i nt times Some of t h most pri mi
ti v survi ving peoples li k e t h Austr lian bla cks and th e South Afri can
b ushmen are hi ghl y skilled in procuring ab ortions
1
A
.
borti
on
be
c are
ce
rac
c e
T HE
1 20
control and diminished their contributions to the popu

lation
Here then was a great p otenti al instru
ment of race
betterment perverted into an agent of race decadence
With blind insistence upon mere numbers and an utter
di sregard of quality society deliberately fostered the in
feri or elements at the expense Of the superiors The re
lt s are such as we have already examined in our study
su
Of the differential birt h rates of tod ay
r survey of the general factors of race im
So ends ou
poverishment Before closing however we must note
one special factor of the most melancholy signi cance
the Great War The Great War was unquestionably the
most appalling cat astrophe that ever befell mankind
The racial losses were certa
as grave as the materi al
losses Not onl y di d the war itself destroy immeasurable
racial values but its aftermath is proving onl y slightly
less unf avorable to the race Bad social conditions and
the frightfu
lly high cost of living continue to depress the
birth rates of all save the most reckless and improvident
elements whose increase is a curse rather than a blessing
To consider only one of the many causes that to-day
keep down the birth rate of the superior elements of the
popu
lation take the crushi ng burden of taxation through
ou
t Europe which hi ts especially the increase of the upper
rday Revi ew ex
and mi ddl e cl asses The London S atu
plained this very clearly when it wrote editorially : From

a man with
a year the tax gatherer takes 600
The remaining
owing to the decreased value of
money has a purch asing power about equal to 700 a
THE
1 22
work frugal living a mi nimum of pleasu

re an d a maxi
mum of anxiety
Although the war did not hit Ameri ca as hard as it
did Eu
rope its racially evil effects are evident here also
A recent e di torial of the New York Ti mes well describes
not merely some of the eff ects of war but likewise some
Of the results Of that short-sighted phi lanthropy which
pe nali z es the thrifty and the self resp ecting elements to
coddle the charity seeking and the i mprovident Says
thi s editori al : Health Commi ssioner Copeland s state

ment that the birth rate Of native Ameri cans i s decli ni ng
in compari son with that of the foreign element in ou
r
popul ation contai ns nothing new except it be hi s remark
that the decli ne h as been accelerated by the war Tha t
such a resu
lt was inevitable h as long b een evident A
vast preponderan ce of the fo reign element are wage
earners whose i ncom es rose doggedly step by step with
the cost of living Natives of nati ve parentage are pre
n
r
a
n
l
d
brain
workers
who
e
salaries
remained
much
o
e
t
s
y
p
what they h ad b een The result was a sharp loweri n g of
their stand ard Of livin g which cou
l d onl y have checked
their already low birth rate D uring the war the Com
mi ssioner of Chari ti es Bird S Coler reported that for
the rst time in the hist ory of hi s commi ssion educated
people who had hitherto been self sustaini ng and self
respectin g members Of the mi d dl e class brought hi mtheir
children sayin g that they could no longer provide food
an d clothi n g
Doctor Copeland s statistics of inf ant mortality tell

a si milar story Among infan t s of native born mothers
,
THE
N EM ESIS O F
t h e rate
TH E
INFERI O R
1 23
is 90 per
as against 79 for French mothers
i an 6 9 for Austro Hu
ngari an 6 4 for Rus
7 5 for Bohem
si an 58 for Swedish and 43 for Scotch Thi s difference
Doctor Copeland attri butes to the fact that American
mothers are less inclined to make use of the Baby Health
Stations whi ch are conducted by his department For
accustomed to depend on these
ei gn born mothers are
an d other governmental agencies
It is only under the
b itterest compulsion such as led mi ddle-class parents to
brin g their children to the Commissioner Of Chari ties
t hat Americans apply for public aid in their family life
Meantime these people of native birth pay largely in
t axes for the many governmental agencies that aid the
immigrant laborer and his family D uring the war Henry
Fai reld O sborn protested against this inequ
ity on the
k
round
that
it
was
ma
ing life impossible for the edu
g
c at ed Americ an
whose home is the stronghold of ou
r
n ational tra ditions
How serious the situation has become is evident in

the statistics Of ou
r pop u
In 1 9 1 0 there were in
lation
New York
native Ameri can s of native parentage
O f natives of foreign or mixed parentage there were
and of the foreign born
a total of
as aga inst the
natives of native parent
a ge
Complete gu
res for 1 920 are not yet available but
Doctor Copeland is authority for the statement that the
proportion of those whose traditions are of foreign origin
is rapi dly increasing His statement ends with an exh or
t ati on against birth control the spiri t of which is ad
mirable though its logic is not clear What he h as in
124
T HE
mind evidently is not b irt h control but birth release

among Americans of the older immigrations That as
he apparently believes is a merely moral matter but hi s
own statement shows that it has a deeper basis in modern
economic conditions These were doubtless emphasized
by the war but they had been operating for many dec
ades before it and continue to exercise their in uence
with increasing force

That is precisely it The war terri ble as it was merely
hastened a racial impoverishment which had been long
at work ; wore somewhat thinn er the lif e-line of civiliza
tion which was already wearrng thin and spurred to
ercer energy those waxin g powers of barbari sm an d
chaos which we shall now directly consider
-
THE
1 26
must remember however that revolutions do not spri n g

casually ou
Behi nd the revolution itself
t of nothing
there usuall y lies a long formative period during whi ch
the forces of chaos gather while the forces of order de
cline Revolutions thus give plenty of warni ng of their
approach for those who have ears to hear It is onl y
because hitherto men have not understood revolutionary
phenomena that the danger signals have been di sregarded
and society has been caught un awares
The symptoms of incipient revolution can be di vided
into three stages : ( 1) Destructive criticism of the exist
ing order ; (2) revolutionary theorizing and agitation ;
(3) revolutionary action The second and third stages
will be di scussed in subsequent chapters In the pres
ent chapter let us consider the rst stage : D estructive
Criticism
Strong well poised societies are not overthrown by
revolution
Before the revolutionary onslaught can
have any chance of success the social order must rst
have been undermi n ed and morally discre di ted This is
accomplished p ri marily by the process of destru
cti ve crit
i cism Destructive c ri ticism must clearly be distingu
i shed
from constructive c ri ticism Between the two there is
all the di fference between a toxin and a tonic Constru o
tive cri ticism aims at remedying defects an d perfecting
the existing order by evolutionary metho ds Destructive
criticism on the contrary inveighs against current de
fects in a bitter carpin g pessimistic sp i ri t ; tends to
despair of the existing social order and either asserts or
implies that reform can come onl y through sweeping
,
THE
LURE O F THE P RIMITIVE
1 27
changes of a revolutionary character Precisely what the

destined goal is to be is at the start seldom clearly de
scribed That task belongs to the second stage the
stage of revolutionary theo ri zing and agitation Destru o
tive criticism in its initial aspect is li ttle more than a
voicing of hitherto inarticulate emotion s a preli minary
crystalli zation of waxing di ssatisfactions and discontents
Its range is much wider than is commonly supposed for
it usually assails not merely poli tical and social matters
but also subj ects like art and literature even science
an d learni ng
Always there crops ou
t the same spiri t
of morose pessimism and i ncipient revolt against thi ngs
whatever these may be
as they exi st
A fundamental quality of destructive criticism is its
glorication of the primitive Long before it elaborates
speci c revolutionary doctrines and methods it blends
with its condemnation of the present an idealization of
what it conceives to have be en the p ast Civilization is
assumed either to have begun wrong or to have taken a
wrong turning at some comparatively early stage Of its
development B efore that unf ortunate event (the source
of present ills) the world was much better
Hence the
di scontented mind turns back with lon ging to those pris
tine halcyon days when society was sound and simple
and man happy and free The fact that such a Golden
Age never really existed is of small moment because
this glorication Of the p rimitive is an emotional reaction
of dissatised natures yearnin g for a return to more ele
mental con di ti ons In whi ch they feel they would be more
at home
.
1 28
T HE
REVO LT AGAI NST CIVILIZATI O N
An d its emo
Such is the Lure of the Primitive
Thi s is well
ti onal appeal is unquestionably strong
illustrated by the popularity of writers like Rousseau
and Tolstoy who have condemned civili zation and
pre ac hed a return to nature

Rousseau is in fact
the leading exponent Of that wave of destructive cri ti
cism whi ch swept over Europe in the latter half of the
eighteenth century the forerunner of the French R evolu
tion ; while Tolstoy is one Of the leading gu
res in the
simil ar nineteenth centu
ry movement that heralded the
revolutionary cataclysms of to-day
In di scussing
Rousseau and Tolstoy we will consider not merely thei r
teachi ngs but also their personali ties and ancestry b e
cause these latter vividly illustrate what we have already
Observed that character and action are mainl y deter
mined by heredity
Take rst the c ase of Rousseau Jean Jacques Rous
He
seau is a striking example of the tainted genius
was born Of unsound stock his father being dissipated
violent tempered i ghty and foolish Jean J acques
proved a chip of the old block for he was neurotic

mentally unstable morally weak sexually perverted
and during the latter part of hi s life was undoubtedly
insan e Together wi th all this however he possessed
great literary talents his style persuasiveness and
charm captivatin g and convincin g multitudes He a o
and in the
cordi ngly exe rted upon the world a profound
main a baneful inu
ence which is working indirectly
l ly even to day
but powerfu
Such was the champion of noble savagery against

.
T HE
1 30
ry hi s words undoubtedly
the eighteenth centu
produced a refreshing effect ; just as a j aded city man to
day returns invigorated from a month s roughing it

in the wilds The trouble was that Rousseau s grain
of truth was hidden in a bushel of noxious chaff so that
people were apt to rise from a reading of Rousseau not
inspired by a sane love for simple living fresh air and
exercise but inocu
l ated with a hatred for civilization
and consumed wi th a thirst for violent social exp eri
ments The eff ect was about the same as though ou
r
hyp othetical city man shoul d return from his month in
the wi lds imbued with the resolve to burn down his
house and spend the rest of hi s lif e naked i n a cave In
short : Although Rousseau s injunction Go back into

the woods and become men "may be excellent advice
if interpreted as a temporary measure Go back into the
woods and remain there is a counsel for anthropoid
1
apes
The eff ect of Rousseau s teaching upon revolutionary
thought and action will be discussed later Let us now
turn to the more recent champion of the p ri mitive
Tolstoy Count Leo Tolstoy came of a distinguished
but eccentric stock Hi s mature philosophy of life
particu
larly his dislike of civilization and fondness for
the primitive is clearly accounted for by hi s heredity
The Tolstoys seem to have been noted for a certain wild
ness of temperament and one of the family Feodor
Ivanovich Tolstoy was the famous Ameri can the
Al eu
t e of Gri b oyedoff who was so obsessed by Rou
s
N H W bst er World Revolu
ti on p 2 (London and Bost on
ci ety
of
THE
THE
LURE O F
PRIMITIVE
1 31
us teachings that he endeavored to put Rousseauism
sea
into practice had himself tattooed l ike a savage and
tried to live absolutely in the state of nature

Leo
Tolstoy s life was characterized by violent extremes
ranging from furious dissipation to ascetic frugali ty and
from complete scepticism to boun dless religious devo
tion Athwart all these shi fts however we may discern
a growing distaste for civilized life as a morbid and u
n
natural comp lication a will to simplif y a metaphysical
urge backward toward the condi tion of primitive man
He repudiates culture and approves all that is sim e
natural elemental wild In his writings Tolstoy de
nou
n ces cul ture as the enemy of happiness and one of
his works The Cossacks was written specically to
prove the superiority of the life Of a beast Of the eld
Like hi s ancestor the tattooed Al eu

Leo Tolstoy
te
early fell under the spell of Rousseau and was later
deeply inuenced by Schopenh auer the ph ilosopher of
pessimism In his
Conf essions
Tolstoy exclaims :
How Often have I not envied the unl ettered peasant

I say let your affairs be as
hi s lack of learning
two or three and not a hundred or a thousand Instead
illi on coun t half a do z en and keep you
of a m
r accounts
Simplify simplify simplif y "
on your thumb nai l
Instead of three meals a day if it be necessary eat but
one instead of a hundred dishes ve ; and reduce other
thi ngs in proportion

The celebrated Russian novelist and critic D mitri
M erezhkovski thus analyz es Tolstoy s instinctive aver
sion to civilization and l ov e of the primitive : If a stone

,
m
.
T HE
1 32
lies on top of another in a desert that is excellent If

the stone has been placed upon the other by the hand of
man that is not so good But if stones have been
placed upon each other and xed there with mortar or
iron that is evil ; that means construction whether it
be a castle a barracks a prison a customs hou
se a
hospital a slaughter house a church a public build
ing or a school All that is bui lt is bad or at least
suspect The rst wil d impulse whi ch Tolstoy felt
when he saw a building or any complex whole created
by the hand of man was to simplify t o level to crush
to destroy so that no stone might be left upon the other
and the place might again become wild and simple and
puried from the work of man s hand Nature is to
him the pure and sim e ; civilization and cultu
re repre
sent complication and i mpurity To return to nature
means to exp el impurity to simplify what is complex
1
to destroy cul ture
In analyzing Tolstoy we become aware of a biological
problem transcending mere family considerations ; the
question of Russian folk nature comes into view The
Russian people is made up chi ey of primitive racial
strains some of which (especially the Tartars and other
Asiatic nomad elements) are distinctly wil d stocks

which have always shown an instinctive hostility to
Russian history reveals a series of volcanic
civilization
eruptions Of congenital barbarism whi ch have blown to
,
tsche A llge
D mitri M erez hkovski , T olst oy an d B olsh evi sm, D eu
mei ne Zei tun g 1 5 1 6 M arch , 192 1 Q uoted from the transla tion in The
L i vi ng A ge, 7 M ay , 192 1
THE
134
Scyt hian hordes sweep down upon it and level it to the

earth They burn and ravage until they leave the wilder
ness to resume its sway The craving for unbroken dis
tances for a dead level for n aked nature for phyn cal
evenness an d metaphysical uniformity the most an cient
ancest ral impulse of the Scythian mind manifests itself
equally in Arakcheyev Bakunin Pugachev Raz in Lenin
and Tolstoy They have converted Ru
ssia into a va
can t level plain They woul d make all Europe the same
1
an d the whole world the same
Economists have expressed surprise that Bolshevism
should have est ablished itself in Russia To the student
Further
of ra ce history it was a perfectly natural event
more while the late war may have h astened the catas
t rOph e some such catastrophe was apparently in evitable
because for years previou
s to the war it was clear that
the Rus si an social order was weakening while the forces
of chaos were gathering st rength
The decade before
the war saw Russia suff erin g from a chronic crime
wave known collectively to Russian sociologists as
Hooliganism
which seriously al armed competent Ob
servers In the year 1912 the Russian mini ster Of the
interior M aklakov stated : Crime increases here The

number of cases h as grown A partial explanation is the
fact that the younger generation grew up in the years of
revolt 1 905 1 906 The fear of God and of laws disap
pears even in the vill ages The city and ru
ral population
is equally menaced by the Hooligans
In the followin g
year ( 1 91 3) a leading St Petersb u
rg newspaper wrote
Fromth rti l in th D uts h A llg mi n Z i tung p vi ously quoted
.
'
e a
c e
c e
re
TH E
LURE O F
THE
P RIMITIVE
1 35
editorially :
mass phenomenon is un
known to western Europe The Apaches who terroriz e
the popul ation of P ari s or London are people with a dif
ferent psycholo gy from that of the Russian Hooligan

An other St P etersbu
rg paper remarked about the same
time : Nothing human or divine restrains the destru o

tive fren zy of the untrammelled will of the Hooligan
There are no moral laws for hi m He v al ues nothing
and recogni zes nothi ng In the bloody ma dness of hi s
acts there is always somethi n g deep ly b lasp hemous dis
An d the well known Russian

gusting purely bestial
writer Menshi kov drew this really strikin g picture of
Novoye
soc ial conditions in the p ages of his organ
a
All
over
Russia
we
the
s
e
growth
Vrem
s
ee
f
:
a
m
o
y
Hooligani sm and the terror in which the Hooligans
hold the popul ation It is no secret that the army Of
c riminals increases constantly The Courts are literally
near exhaustion crushed under the weight of a mountain
Th e police are agoni zin g in the struggle with
of cases
crime a struggle which is beyond their strength The
p ri sons are congested to the breaking point Is it pos
sible that thi s terri ble thi ng will not meet with some heroic
resistance ? A real civil war is going on in the depths Of
the masses which threatens a greate r destruction than
an enemy s invasion Not Hooliganism but Anarchy :
this is the real name for that plague which has invad ed
the villages and is invading the cities It is not only
degenerates who enter upon a lif e of debauch and crime ;
already the average normal masses j oin them and onl y
exceptionally de cent village youths still maintain as much
Hooliganism ,
as a
T HE
1 36
possible a lif e of decent endeavor The younger people

of course make a greater show than the elderly peasants
But the fact is that both the former
and the ol d men
and the latter are degenerating into a state of savagery
and bestiality
Could there be a better description of that breakdown
of the social controls and up s urge of savage instin cts
which as we have alre ady seen characteri zes the ou
t
break of social revolutions ? This was precisely what the
Ru
ssian Nihi lists and An arch ists had been preachi ng for
generations This was what Baku
n in had meant in h is
favorite toast : To the destruction of all law and order
n chainin g of evil passions " For Bakunin

an d the u
The P eople were the social outcasts brigan ds

thi eves drunkards and vagabonds
Criminals were
frankly his favorit es Sai d he : O nly the proletariat

in rags is inspired by the spiri t and force of the coming
soc ial revolution

Referring once more to the matter of Russian Hooli
1
p
r
i
or
to
19
4
there
is
good
round
for
believing
m
a
n
i
s
g
g
that the crime waves which have affli cted western

rope and America since the war are of a simil ar na
Eu
ture Recently a leading American detective expressed
nmen who to day terrorize

his conviction that the gu
American cities are i mbued with social revolutionary
feelings and have a more or less instinctive notion that
they are ghting the social order Mr James M Beck
solicitor general of the United States has lately uttered
a similar warning against what he terms the exception al
revolt against the authori ty of law whi ch is taking

as
THE RE V O LT
138
ble (if they resemble an ything) the idols of West Af ri can
negroes As for expressioni st painting it seems to

bear no normal relation to anyt hing at all Those
crushed mutilated forms vaguely discerned ami d a riot
surely this is not rea

unl ess
of shri eking colors ;
bedlam be reality "Most extraordin ary of all is that
u
l tra modern school of
painting which h as largely
discarded pain t in favor of materials like newspaper clip
pings buttons and sh bones p asted sewn or tacked
on its can vases
Al most as ext ravagent is the new poetry

Stru
c
tu
re grammer metre rhyme all are deed Ration al
m eanings are carefull y avoided a senseless conglomera
t ion of words being apparently sought after as an end in
itself Here obviously the revolt against form is well
nigh complete The onl y step whi ch seemi ngly now re
mai ns to be taken is to abolish language and have
poems without words

Now wha t does all thi s mean ? It means simply one
more ph ase Of the world wide revolt agai nst ci vi li zati on
by the u
n adaptable inf erior and degenerate elements
seeking to smash the irksome framework of modern so
ci ety and revert to the congeni al levels of chaotic bar
b ari smor savagery Normal persons may be inclined to
r artistic and literary rebels
laugh at the vagaries of ou
but the popular vogu
e they enj oy proves them to be reall y
no laughi ng matter Not long ago the English poet Al
fred Noyes warned earnestly again st the wide-sp read
harm done by Literary Bolsheviki

We are con
fronted to day he said by the ext raordinary spectacl e

.
LURE O F THE PRIMITIVE
TH E
of
1 39
literary rebels each chained to hi s own solitary

height and each chanting the same perennial song of
hate against everyt hi ng that h as been achi eved by past
generations The worst of it is that the world applau ds
them The real rebel to day is the man who stands by
unpopular truth ; but that man has a new name h e is
called commonplace
The literary Bolshevism of the
p ast thi rty years is more responsible for the present peril
of civilization th an is realized
One cann ot treat all the
laws as if they were mere scraps of paper without a ter
ri ble reckoning and we are beginn in g to see it to day
It has led to an all round l owerin g of standards

Some Of the modern wri ters who take upon themselves
to wipe ou
t the best of ancient writers cannot wri te
grammatical English Their art and literature are in
c reasingly B olshevist
If we look at the columns of
the newspapers we see the unusual spectacle of the p o
li ti cal editor desperately ghting that whi ch the art and
literary portions of the paper uphold
In the name of
reality many writers are indul ging in shabby forms of
1
make believe and are reducing all reality to ashes
In similar vein the we ll known German art critic
Johannes Volkelt recently deplored the destructive ef
fect s of
expressioni st art and literature
The de
moralization of our attitude and sentiment toward lif e
itself he writes is even more portentous than our de

clini ng recognition of artistic form
It is a mutilated
deformed moron humanity which glowers or drivels at
,
From M N y s
Some A pects f M
1
o e
le c u
re
ode rn Poe
b f th R y
ty F b uy
e ore
o al
r ar
tituti on of Lond on on
Ins
1 920
TH E
1 40
us through expressionist pictures All they suggest is

profound morbidi ty Thei r j aded unh ealthy mood is
relieved onl y by absurdities and where these cast a ray
Of light i nto their rudi mentary composition it is only a
broken an d j oyless one Likewise that which repels us
r younger school is its scornfu
most in the poetry of ou
l
st igmatizing of the past without giving us anything
positive in its place ; its pathetic groping in its own self
wreckage ; its conf used helpless seeking after some
steadfast ideal Th e soul is exhausted by its ce aseless
chasing after nothing Is lif e a shallow j oke ? A crazy
dream ? A terri fyin g chaos ? Is there no longer sense
in talking of an ideal ? Is every ideal self illusion ?
These are the quest ions which drive the soul of to day
Calm consciousness of
ai m
l essly hither and thither
power an d mastery the unaffected glow of health
threaten to become lost sensations O veralert self
consciousness associated with a mysteriou
s revival Of
atavistic bestial ity and extreme overren ement hand
in hand with slothful love of indolence characterize the
1
discord whi ch clouds the artistic mind of the period
i ght be expected the spirit of revolt whi ch at
As m
tacks simu
ltaneously i nstitutions customs ideals art
literature and all the other phases of civilization does
not spare what stands behind namely : individuality
and intelligence To the levelling go spel of social revolu
tion such things are anathema In its eyes it is the
m ass not the indivi dual whi ch is precious ; it is quantity
not quality which coun ts Superior intelligence is by
F om th Vi nn N u F i P
1 9 A p il 1 92 1
.
re e
resse,
CHAP TER V
THE GR OUND- SWELL OF R EVOLT
REVOLUTIONAR Y unrest is not new Every age has had

its di scontented dreamers preachi ng utopia its fervid
agitators urging the overthrow of the existing social
order and its restless rabble stirred by false hopes to
ugly moods and violent action Utopian literature is
very extensive going back to Plato ; revol u
tionary agi
n true to type si nce Spartacus ; whi le
t ators have ru
proletarian ri sings have vari ed little in basic character
from the servile revolts of antiquity and the jacqueries

of the Middle Ages down to the mob upheavals of Paris
and Petrograd
In all these social revolutionary phenomena there is
nothi ng essentially novel There is always the same
violent revolt of the unadaptable inf erior and degen
elements again st civilized society in atavistic
c rate
reaction to lower planes ; the same hatred Of superiors
and erce desire for absolute equali ty ; nally the same
tendency Of revolutionary leaders to become tyrants and
to transform anarchy in to barbarous despotism
As Harold Cox justly remarks : Jack C ade as descri bed

by Shakespeare is the perfect typ e of revolutionary
and hi s ideas coincide closely with those of the modern
school of Socialism He tells his followers that all the
realm shall be in common that there shall be no money ;
.
1 42
GR OUND SWELL O F REV O LT
THE
1 43
all
shall eat and dri nk on my score ; and I will apparel

them all in one livery that they may agree like brothers
A little later a member of the bourgeoi sie is brought
before him a clerk who conf esses that he can read
and wri te Jack Cade orders hi m at once to be hanged
with his pen an d inkhorn about hi s neck
P ossibly
the intellectual Sociali sts of Great Britain might hesi
n com
tate at this point ; the danger woul d be getting u
fortably near to themselves B ut the Russian B olshe
viks have followed J ack Cade s exampl e on a colossal
scale In another direction Jack Cade was a prototype
of present-day revolutionists ; for whil e preachin g equ al
ity he practised autocracy
Away he cries to the mob
Bu
rn all the records of the realm My mouth shall be
1
the P arliament Of England
Nevertheless despite its lack of basic originality the
revolutionary u
nrest Of modern times is very diff erent
from and inni tely more formidable than the kindred
movements of the past There is to day a close alliance
between the theoretical and the practical elements a
clever tting of means to ends a consistent elaboration
and
of plausible doctrines and persuasive propag an da
a syndi cation of power such as was never known before
In former times revolutionary theorists and men of ac
tion were unable or unwilling to get together The early
utopian ph ilosophers did not write for the proletariat
wh ich in turn quite ignored their existence Further
more most of the utopians however revolutionary in
theory were not revolutionary in practice They sel
H C ox Economi c L i b ty pp 1 9 1 1 92 ( Lond on
er
TH E RE V O LT
144
dom believed in violent methods It is rather difcul t

to imagine Plato or Sir Thomas More pl anning the mas
sacre of the bourgeoisie or heading a dictatorshi p of the
proletari at In fact so convinced were these utopian
idealists of the truth of their theories that they believed
that if their theories were actually put in pract ice on
even a small sc al e they would be a prodigious success
l d thus lead to the rapid transformation of so
an d wo u
Such
c i ety without any necessity of violent coercion
was the temper of the idealistic Socialists and Com

muni sts of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuri es
like Robert O wen who fou

n ded various
model com
muni ties believing implicitly that these would soon

convert the whole world by the mere force of thei r ex
ample
Thus down to comparatively recent times the cause
of violent social revolution lacked the support of leaders
combining in themselves the qualities of moral earnest
l ness in other words per
ness intelli gence and forcefu
sons most of whom belong to the type whi ch I have
previously described as the misgu

ided su
perior
De
i
r
i
v
of
such
leadersh
p
revolutionary
un
e
t
was
d
e
r
s
p
mainl y guided by unbalanced fanatics or designi ng
scoundrels ; and it is Obvious that such leaders whatever
their zeal or cleverness were so la cking in intellectual
poise or moral soundness that they invariably led their
foll owers to speedy disaster
The modern social revolutionary movement dates
from about the mi ddl e of the eighteenth century Ever
since that time there has been owing a continuous stream
.
T HE
1 46
the Terror all the symptoms of social revolution appeared

-surge of bestiality
in their most horrid form : u
sense
p
less destruction hatred of superiors ruthl ess enf orce
ment of levelling equality etc The most ext rava

gant political and social doctrines were proclaimed
prop
Bri ssot urged communism and announced that
Robespierre showed hi s hatred of geniu
s
erty is th ef
and learni ng by sending the great chemi st Lavoisier to
the guill otine with the remark : Science is ari stocratic :
the Republic has no need of savants

As for Ana
Hebert and other demagogues they
ch arsis C loot z
preached doctrin es whi ch woul d have reduced society to
a cross between chaos and bedlam
Af ter a few years the Terror was broken The French
race was too fundamentally sound to tolerate for long
such a hideous dictatorshi p of its worst elements The
destruction wrought by the Revolution was however
appalli ng Not merely was France dealt wounds from
which she has never wholly recovered but also spiri ts
Of unrest were liberated whi ch have never since been
laid The apostoli c succession of revolt has remained

unbroken Marat and Robespierre are to-day reincarnate
in Trot zky and Lenin
The nal eruption of the wani ng Terror was the well
known conspiracy of Babeuf in the year 1 796 Thi s con
spiracy together with the personality of its leader and
namesake is of more than passing interest Babeuf lik e
so many other revolutionary le aders of all periods was a
man whose undoubted talents of intell ect and energy
were perverted by a taint of insanity His intermittent
,
THE
GR O UND SWELL OF REV O LT
1 47
ts of fren zy were so ac ute that at times he was little

be tter than a raving homicid al maniac
Nevertheless
his revolutionary activities were so striking and his
doctrines so ad vanced that subsequent revolutionists
have hailed him as a man ahead of his times

The
Bolshevi k Thi rd International for example in its rst

manifesto paid t ri bute to B abeuf as one of its spiri tual
fathers
That this B olshevik compliment was not undeserved
is proved by a study of his famous conspiracy Therein
B abeuf planned nothing less than the entire destru
ction
of the existing social order a general massacre of the
possessing cl asses and the erection of a radically new
proletarian order founded on the most rigid and level

Not merely were diff erences of wealth
ling equali ty
and social station to be prohi bited but even intellectu
al
se it was feared
diff erences were to be discouraged becau
that men mi ght devote themselves to sciences and
thereby grow vain and averse to m anual l abor

f s incendiary sp iri t is well revealed in the fol
Bab eu
n duPeu
l
lowin g lines taken from his organ Le Tri b u
p e
Why does one sp eak of laws and property ? P roperty

rpers an d l aws are the work of the
is the share of usu
st rongest The sun shi nes for every one and the earth
belongs to no one GO then my fri ends and disturb
overthrow and up set this society which does not su
it
you Take everywhere all that you like Su
r
t
e
u
i
p
y
belongs by right to him who h as nothing This is not
i ends and brothers
If constitutional barriers are
all fr
Opposed to your generous efforts overthrow without
.
TH E
148
scruple barriers and constitutions Butcher without

mercy tyran ts patricians the gilded million all those
immoral beings who would oppose your common happi
ness You are the people the true people the only people
worthy to enjoy the good thi ngs of thi s world "The j us
tice of the people is great and majestic as the people i t
self ; all that i t does is legitimate all that it orders is
sacred
Bab eu
f s plans can be judged by the followin g extra cts
from his Manifesto of the Equals whi ch he drew up

on the eve of his projected insurrection :
People of France for fteen centuries you have lived

1
For six years
in slavery and consequent unhappiness
you have hardly drawn breath waiting for independence
happiness and equali ty Equality "
the rst desire of
nature the rst need of man the pri ncipal bond of all
legal association "
Well "We intend henceforth to live and die equal

as we were born ; we wish for real equali ty or death ; that
is what we must have An d we will have this real equal
ity no matter at what price Woe to those who int er
pose themselves between it and us "
The French Revolution is only the forerunner of

another revolution very much greater very much more
Equali ty "We will
solenm whi ch will be the l ast
consent to anything for that to make a clean sweep so
as to hold to that onl y Perish if necessary all the arts
s"
provided that real equality is left to u
C om
munity of Goods " NO more p ri vate property in l and
dui ng th years of th Frw h R voluti on since 1 789
I
.
TH E
150
REVO LT AGAINST CIV ILIZATI O N
Robert O wen Saint Simon Fourier and others were

elaborating their utopian philosophi es and were foun di ng
model communities which were expected to convert

the world peaceably by the mere contagion of their suc
l example
The speedy fai lure of all these Social
cessfu
isti c experi ments discouraged the idealists and led the
discontented to turn to men of action who promised

speedier results by th e use of force At the same time
the numbers of the discontented were rapidly increasing
The opening decades of the ni neteenth century witnessed
the triumph of machine industry and capitalism

As
in all times of transition these changes bore hard on
mul titudes of people Economic abuses were rife and
precipitated into the social depths many persons who
did not really belong there thus swelli ng the prole
tariat to unprecedented proportions while also giving

it new leaders of genui ne ability
The culmination of all thi s was the revolutionary wave
To be sure 1 848 li ke the French Revolution
of 1 848
was not wholly a social revolutionary upheaval ; it was
largely due to political (especially nationalistic) causes
with which this book is not concerned But as in 1 789
so in 1848 the political malcontents welcomed the aid
of the social malcontents and gave the latter their oppor
Furthermore in 1 848 as in 1 789 Paris was the
ni ty
tu
storm centre A galaxy of forceful demagogues like
i Louis B lanc and P roudhon roused the P aris
Blan qu
mob attempted to establish a Commu
n istic Republi c
and were foiled only after a bloody struggle with the
more conservative social elements
like
,
.
THE
GRO UN D S WELL O F REV O LT
1 51
Unlike 1 789 however the social revolutionary move

ment of 1848 was by no means conned to France In
1 848 organized social revolutionary forces existed in
most European countri es and all over Europe these
forces promptly drew together and attempted to eff ect
a general social revolution At thi s moment appears
the notable gure of Karl Marx chief author of the
famous Comm u
nist Manifesto wi th its ri nging pero
ration : Let the ruling cl asses tremble at a communi stic

revolution The proletarians have nothi ng to lose but
their chain s They have a world to win Working men
of all countries unite "

The ri se of Karl Marx typies a new in uence whi ch
had appeared in the revolutionary movement the in
u
ence of the J ews
B efore the nineteenth century the
Jews had been so segregated from the general pOpu
la
tion that they had exerted almost no inuence upon
popul ar thought or action B y the year 1 848 however
the Jews of western Europe had been emancipated
from most of their civil di sabilities had emerged from
their ghettos and were beginni ng to take an active part
in community lif e Many Jews promptly adopted rev
olu
ti onary ideas and soon acquired great in uence in
the revolutionary movement For this there were sev
eral reasons In the rst place the Jewish min d in
and sharpened by the di alectic
stin ctively analytical
subtleties of the Talmud takes naturally to dissective
criticism Again the Jews feeli ng themselves more or
less apart from the nations in whi ch they live tended
to welcome the distinctly international spiri t of social
THE
1 52
revolutionary doctrines Lastly the Jewish intell ec

als with their quick clever intelligence made excell ent
tu
revolutionary leaders and could look forward to attain
ing hi gh posts in the oi cers corps of the armi es of

revolt For all these re asons then Jews have played
an important part in all social revolutionary movements
from the time of Marx and Engels down to the largely
Jewish Bolshevist regime in Soviet Russia to day
The revolutionary wave of 1 848 soon broke in com
There followed a period durin g which
plete defeat
ra dical ide as were generally discredi ted Both idealistic
and violent methods had been tried and h ad signall y
fail ed O ut of this peri od of eclipse there graduall y
emerged two schools of social revolutionary thought :
State Socialism under the leadership of

one kn own as
Marx and Engels; the other Anarchi sm dominated

by Proudhon and Michael Baku
ni n
These two schools
were ani mated by quite di fferent ideas drew increasingly
ap art and became increasingly hostile to one another
O f course both schools were opposed to the existing
social order and proposed its overthrow but they di ffered
radically as to the new type of society which was to take
its place Marx and his followers believed in an organ
i z ed Commu
nism where land wealth and property
should be t aken ou
t of private han ds and placed under
the control of the state The An archi sts on the other
hand urged the complete abolition of the state the
spontaneous seizure of wealth by the masses and the
free dom of every one to do as he liked unh ampered by
any organi zed social control
.
'
THE
1 54
trialism by its very being was bound rapidly to concen

trate all wealth in a very few hands wiping ou
t the
middle classes and reducing both bourgeois and working
man to a poverty stricken proletari at In other words
he predicted a society of billionaires and beggars This
was to happen withi n a couple of generations When
it did happen the wage slaves were to revolt dis

possess the capitalists an d establi sh the Socialist com
monwealth Thus would come to pass the social revolu
tion
But note : th is revolution according to Marx
was ( 1) sure (2) soon (3) easy In Marx s last s tage of
capitalism the billi onaires would be so few and the beg
gars so many that the revolution mi ght be a mere

holiday perhaps effected without sheddin g a drop of
blood Indeed it might conceivably be eff ected accord
ing to existin g political procedure ; for on ce have u
ni
versal suffrage and the overwhelming maj ority of pro
letari an wage-earners could simply vote the whole new
order in
From all thi s it is quite obvious that Marxi an Socialism
however revolutionary in theory was largely evolutionary
in practice And thi s evolutionary trend already visi
ble in Marx became even stronger with Marx s suc
Marx himself despite the sobering effect of
cessors
his intellectual development remained emotionally a
revolutionist as shown by hi s temporary relapse into
youthf ul fervors at the time of the Pari s Comm u
ne of
1 87 1
This was less true of hi s c olleague Engels and
still less true of later Socialist leaders men like Lasall e
and Kautsky of Germany Hyndman Of England and
,
THE
GRO UND SWELL O F REVO LT
1 55
Spargo of Ameri ca Such men were reformist rather
than revolutionary Sociali sts ; they were willing to

bide their time and were apt to pin their faith on ballots
rather than on barricades Furthermore Reformist
Socialism did not assail the whole idealistic and insti
For example it
r civilization
ti onal fabric Of ou
tu
mi ght preach the class war but accordin g to the
Marxian hypothesis the worki ng class was or soon

l d be virtually the entire community
wou
O nl y a few
great capitalists and their hirelings were left without the
pale Again the revolution as seen by the Reform

ists was more a taking-over than a teari n g down since
e xisting in stitutions both state and private were largely
to be preserved As a matter of fact Reformist Social
ism as embodi ed in the Social Democratic political

parties of Continental Europe showed itself everywhere
a predo mi nantly evolutionary movement ready to
achi eve its Obj ective s by i nstalments and becoming
steadily more conservative Thi s was so not merely
because of the in uence of the leaders but also because
of the
changing complexion Of their following As
Marxian Sociali sm became less revolutionary and more
l titudes of
reformist it attracted to its membership mu
liberals
persons who desired to reform rather than
to destroy the exi sting social order and who saw in the
Social Democratic parties the best political instruments
for bringing reforms about
In fact Reformi st Socialism might have entirely l ost
its revolutionary character and have become an evolu
ti onary li beral movement had it not been for two handi
THE
1 56
caps : the spiritual blight of its revolutionary origin and

the numbing weight of Marx s intell ectual authori ty
Socialism had started out to smash modern society by a
violent revolution Its ethi cs were those of the class
war ; its goal was the di ctatorshi p of the proletariat ;

and its phi losophy was the narrow materialistic concept
of
economic determi nism
the notion that men are
moved solely by economic self interest All this had
been l ai d down as fundamental truth by Marx in his
Capi tal which became the infallible bible of Social
Is
Now this was most unfortunate because Marx had

taken the special con ditions Of his day and had pictured
them as the whole Of world hi story We now know th at
the middle decades of th e nineteenth century were a
very exceptional transition period in which society was
onl y beginnin g to adjust itself to the sweeping economi c
and social changes which the Industrial Revolution

had brought about T O day most of the abuses again st
whi ch Marx inveighed have been distinctly ameliorated
wh ile the short sighted philosophy of i mmediate self
interest regardless of u
ltimate social or raci al con
sequences which then prevailed has been profoundly
modied by experience and deeper knowledge We must
1
not forget that when Marx sat down to write Capi tal
modern sociology and biology were virtually unknown so
that Marx believed implicitly in fallacies lik e the omnip
natural equality whi ch

ot ence Of environment and
,
Th e rs
of re searc
vol
u
me
of
Capi ta l was
mposi tion
and co
published
in 186 7 ,
f te many
years
THE
158
mg moreasingly restive an d straining their eyes for the

Red dawn
Before di scussing Syndicalism however let u
s turn
back to examine that other revolutionary movement
An archi sm whi ch as we have already seen arose simul
sly with Marxian Socialism in the middl e of the
t aneou
ni neteenth century
O f course the Anarchist idea was
not new Anarchist notions had appeared promi nently
i n the French Revolution the wilder Jacobin dem a
es lik e Hebert and C loot z preaching doctrines whi ch
gogu
were Anarchist in everything but name The launchi ng
of Anarchism as a self conscious movement
however
dates from the mi ddl e of the nineteenth century its
founder bein g the Frenchman Proudhon Proudhon took
up the name Anarchy (whi ch had previously been a

term of opprobri um even in revolutionary circles) and
adopted it as a profession of faith to mark hi mself off
ni sm whom he de
from the believers in State Comm u
tested an d despised Proudhon was frankly an apostle
I shall arm myself to the teeth again st civi

of chaos
liz ati on
he cried
I shall begin a war t hat will end
only with my li fe " Institutions and ideals were alik e

assailed with im acable fury Reviving Brissot s dic
tum Property is theft Proudhon went on to assail
religion in the following terms : God that is folly and

cowardice ; God is tyranny and misery ; God is evil To
me then Lucifer Satan "
whoever you may be the demon
that the faith of my fathers opposed to God and the
Church "
While Prou dhon foun ded Anarchism h e had neither
.
THE
GRO UN D S WELL O F REV O LT
1 59
the organi zin g skill nor the proselyt ing ability to a ecom
li
H
i
h
important
tangible
results
s disciples were few
s
p
but among them was one who possessed the talents to
succeed where hi s master had failed This was the cele
ni n
B akuni n is another exam e
b rated Michael B aku
tain ted geni u

s
Spru
ng from a Russian noble
of the
family B aku
al bril
ni n early displayed great intell ect u
li an cy but hi s talents were perverted by hi s idle and tur
bulent disposition so that he was soon at hopeless outs
with society and plunged into the stream of revolution
whi ch presently bore hi m to the congenial comradeship
of P roudhon
As stated in the previous chapter Ba
kuni n was tru
l y at home o nl y in the company of social
rebels especially criminals and vagabonds hi s favorite
toast being : To the destruction of all law and order
and the unchaini ng of evil passions "

In the pe ri od after the storm of 1 848 B akunin was
busy forming his party Hi s programme of action can
ti on
be judged by the following excerpts from his R evolu
ary Catechi sm drawn up for the guidance of his foll owers
states Bakunin must let nothin g

Th e revolutionary
st an d between him and the work of destruction For
him exists onl y one single pleasure one single co nsolation
the success of the revolu
one reward one satisfaction
tion Night and day he must have but one thought but
implacable destruction
If he continues
one aim
to live in this world it is onl y to annihilate it all the more
For this reason no reforms are to be advocated ;

surely
on the contra ry
every eff ort is to be made to heighten
and in crease the evil and sorrows whi ch will at len gth
.
T HE
1 60
wear out the patience of the people and encourage an i n
surrection en masse
It is easy to see how Anarchism with its measure
less violence and hatred of any organized social control
shou
l d have clashed ercely with Marxian Socialism
becoming steadi ly more reformist and evolutionist in
character As a matter of fact the entire second half of
the nineteenth century is lled with the struggle between
the two rival movements In this struggle Socialism was
the more successful The Anarchi sts made a frantic bid
for victory in the Paris Commune of 1 87 1 but the bloody
failure of the Commune discre di ted Anarchi sm and tight
rOp e
ened the Socialist grip over most of Eu
Only in
Italy Spain and Russia (where Anarchy ou
r
i shed as
Nihili sm did Anarchism gain anything like prep on

derance in revolutionary circles
Nevertheless Anarchi sm lived on as a forcefu
l minor
ity movement di splaying its activity chiey by bomb
throwings an d by assassinations of crowned heads or
other eminent personages These outrages were termed
by Anarchi sts the Propaganda Of the Deed and were

intended to terrori ze organized society and arouse the
proletariat to emulation at one and the same time The
ultimate aim of the An archists was of course a general
massacre of the possessin g classes

As the Anarchi st
Johann Most declared in his organ Frei hei t in 1 880 :
It is no longer aristocracy and royalty that the people

i ntend to destroy Here perhaps but a cou
d
p e grace or
t wo are yet needed
No ; in the coming onslaught the
object is to smite the entire middle class with annihi la
.
THE REVO LT
1 62
AGAINST CIV ILIZATI O N
eady intolerable world worse than before and thus has

But in the business of as
t eni ng the social revolution
sassinati on it is often better to murder good persons and
to spare wicked ones ; because as Bakunin expressed it
in hi s R evoluti onary Catechi sm wicked oppressors are
people to whom we concede lif e provisionally in order

t hat by a series of monstrous acts they may drive the
n
k
eople
into
i
evitable
revolt
The
illing of wicked
p
l
eople
imp
ies no really valuable criticism of the exist
p
If you kill an unjust judge you may

i ng social order
be un derstood to mean merely that you thin k judges
t of your way to kill
ought to be just ; but if you go ou
a just judge it is clear that you obj ect to judges al
together If a son ki lls a bad father the act though
meritori ous in its humble way does not take us much
f urther But if he kills a good father it cuts at the root
O f all that pestilent system of famil y affection and loving
kin dness and gratitude on which the pres ent system is
1
l argely based
Such is the sp irit of Anarchism Now Anarchi sm is
n oteworthy not o nl y in itself but also as one of the p ri me
motive forces in that much more important Syndi cal
i st movement which we will now consider The signif

i can ce of Syndicalism an d its outgrowth Bolshevism can
h ardly be overestimated
It is no exaggeration to say
that it is the most terrible social phenomenon that the
world has ever seen In Syndicalism we have for the
ll edged phi losophy of
rst time in human histo ry a fu
r
P f
G ilb ert
ro essor
ry,
C entu
Ju
ly
1 920
Mu
rray,
tanism and
Sa
th e
World
-Or er
,
The
THE GR OUND SWELL OF REVOLT
1 63
the Under Man the prologue of that vast revolt against

civilization whi ch with R ussian B olshevism has ao
ally begun
tu
If we examin e Syndicalism in its mere technical eco
no mi c aspect its full signicance is not apparent Syn
di calism takes its name from the French word S yndi cat
Trades Union and in its restricted sense mean s

or
the transfer of the instru
ments of production from p ri vate
or state ownership into the full control of the organized
workers in the respective trades Economically speak
in g Syn di calism is thus a cross between State Socialism
and Anarchism The state is to be abolished yet a fed
erati on of trades uni ons and not anarchy is to take its
place
Viewed in thi s abstract technical sense Syndicali sm
does not seem to present any specially startli ng inn ova
tions It is when we examine the Syndi calists animating
Spirit their general phil osophy of li fe and the manner
in which they propose to attain their ends that we realize
that we are in the presence of an ominous novelty the
mature phil osophy of the Under Man Thi s phi losophy
of the Under Man is to day called Bolshevism
Before
the Russian Revolution it was kn own as Syndicalism
But B olshevism and Syn dicalism are basicall y one and
the same thi ng Soviet Russia has really invented noth
ing It is merely practisin g what others had been preach
ing for years with such adaptations as normally attend
the putting of a theory into practice
Syndicali sm as an organized movement is primarily
the work of two Frenchmen Fernand Pellou
ti er and
T HE
1 64
Georges Sorel O f course just as there were Socialists

before Marx so there were Syndicalists before Sorel
Syndicali sm s intellectual progenitor was Proudhon who
in hi s writings had clearly sketched out the Syndical i st
l
theory } As for Syndicalism s savage violent u
n com
promising spirit it is clearly Anarchi st in origin drawing
its inspiration not merely from Proudhon but also from
Bakunin Most and all the rest of that furious company
of revolt
Revolt " There is the essence of Syn dicali sm : a

revolt not merely against modern society but against
Marxian Socialism as well And the revolt was well
timed When at the very end of the nineteenth centu
ry
Georges Sorel lifted the rebel bann er of Syndicalism the
hour awaited the man The proletarian world was full
of discontent and disillusionment at the long dominant
Marxian phi losophy Half a century had passed since
Marx rst preached hi s gospel and the revolutionary
millennium was nowhere in sight Society had not b e
come a world of billionaires and beggars The great
capitalists had not swallowed all The middle classes
still survived and prospered Worst of all from the revo
lu
ti onary view point the upper grades of the working
classes had prospered t oo The skilled workers were
in fact becomi ng an aristocracy of labor They were
,
Ab out th e y 1 8 60 P oud h n wr t : A cco di ng t o my i d rail

mi n
m nuf t o y ship t c
t o t h wo k s wh om th y
w y
py wh t t h hiv i s t o t h b ; th t i t th e same time th ei inst u
o cu
m n t nd th i dw lli ng th i coun t y th eir t itory th i p op ty
dhon O ppos d th exploit tion of th
ilw ys
Fo thi s
on Pr u
wh th b y comp ni of
pit list o b y th e state Th e mod rn Syn
di list i d a i s he e p f ctly pit mi d
1
ear
s, a
e, a
ca
e r
er e
ca
are
ea,
r er
err
e r
ze
s, a
es
ee s
o e
re as
er
ac
e r
ra
er
1 66
THE REVO LT
shou
l d have seen revolutionary Socialists Anarchists all
the antisocial forces of the whole world grouped un der
the banner of Georges Sorel ? For a time they went under
di fferent names : Syndicalists in France Bolshevists in
Russi a I W W s in America ; but in reality they

formed one army enl isted for a single war
Now what was this war ? It was rst of all a war for
the conquest of Socialism as a preliminary to the con
quest of society Everywhere the o rt hodox Socialist
parties were ercely assailed An d these Syndi calist
assaults were very formidable because the orthodox
Socialists possessed no moral lines of defense Their
arms were palsied by the virus of their revolutionary
tradi tion For however evolutionary and non militant
the Socialists might have become i n practi ce i n theory
they had remained revolutionary their ethics continu
ing
to be those of the class war the destruction of the
possessing classes and the dictatorship of the prole
tariat
The Americ an economist Carver well describes the
ethics of Socialism in the following lines : Marxian So

ci ali sm has nothing in common with idealistic Soci al ism
It rest s not on persuasion but on force It does not
profess to believe as did the ol d idealists that if Social
ism be lifted u
In fact
p it will draw all men unto it
it has no ideals ; it is materiali stic and militant Being
materiali stic and atheistic it makes no use of such terms
as right and justice unl ess it be to quiet the consciences
It insist s
of those who still harbor such superstitions
that these terms are mere conventionalities the con
,
THE
GR O UN D SWELL O F REVOLT
167
mere bugaboos invented by the ru

ling cas te to k eep
the ma sses under control Except in a conventional
sen se from this crude materialistic poin t of view there is
neither right nor wrong justice nor in justice good nor
Until people who still believe in such silly notions
b ad
divest their minds of them they will never understand
the rst principles of Marxian Socialism
Who creates our ideas of right and wrong ? asks the
Socialist
The ru
ling class Why ? To in su
re thei r
domina tion over the masses by depriving them of the
power to thi nk for themselves We the proletarians
when we get i nto power will domin ate the situati on ; we
shall be the ruling caste and naturally shall do what
the ru
ling castes have always done ; that is we shall
determin e what is right and wrong D o you ask us if
what we propose is j ust ? What do you mean by jus
tice ? D o youask if it is right ? What do you mean
by right ? It will be good for u
That is all that right
s
1
and just ice ever did or ever can mean
As Harold Cox remarks : The Socialist i s ou

t to de
stroy Capitalism and for that end he encourages or con
dones conduct which the world has hi therto condemn ed
as crimin al
The real ethics of Sociali sm are the
ethics of war What the Socialists want is not progress
i n the world as we know it but destruction of that world
as a prelude to the creation of a new world of their own
imagining In order to wi n that end they have to seek
the support of every force that makes for disorder and
c ep t s
vs
Pr f
o essor
Ci vi li zation
N C arver, in his Introd u

cti on t o Boris Brasol s S oci a lism
( New York ,
1 68
T HE REV O LT
to appeal to every motive that stimulates class hatred

Their ethical outlook is the direct reverse of that which
Instead
h as inspired all the great religions of the world
of seeking to attain peace upon earth and good W ill
among men they have chosen for their goal uni versal
warfare and they deliberately make their appeal to the
1
p assions of envy hatred and malice
Such are the moral bases of Socialism To be sure
Marxian Socialism had tended to soft pedal all this
ry
and had become by the close of the nineteenth centu
a predominantly pacic
refo rmi st
movement in
practice But thi s peaceful pose had been assumed not
from any ethi cal change but because of two practical
reasons In the rst place Marx had taught that so
ci ety would soon break down through its own defects ;
that the possessing classes wou

l d rapidly destroy each
other ; and that Socialists mi ght thus wait for society s
decrepitude before giving it the death stroke instead of
risking a doubtful battle while it was still strong In
the second plac e Socialism as a proselyt i ng faith wel
comed liberal converts yet realized that these would
not come over i n any great numbers unless it coul d
present a reformist face to them

Reformi st Socialism as it stood at the close of the
ni neteenth century thus rested upon equivocal moral
foundations Its policy was based not upon principle
but upon mere expedi ency Th e Syndicalists saw this
and used it with deadly effect When the reformist
leaders reprobated the Syndicalists savage violence the
C o E onom
i c Li b ty pp 2 7 nd 42
.
x,
er
THE REV O LT
1 70
AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N
According to Georges Sorel : Violence class struggles
without quarter the state of war en p ermanence were

to be the birthmarks of the social revolution As
another French Syndicalist Pouget exp ressed it : Revo

lu
ti on is a work of all moments of to day as well as of
to morrow : it is a continuous action an every day ght
without truce or delay against the powers of ext ortion

The methods of the class war were summed up un der
the term direct action

These methods were numer
ou
s the most important being the strike and
sabotage
Strikes were to be continually called for any or no reason ;
if they failed so much the better sin ce the defeated
workers would be left in a sullen and vengeful mood
Agreements with employers were to be made only to
be broken because all lies deceit and trickery were j us
enemy
tiable nay imperative against the
Even
while on the job the Syndicali st was never to do good
work was al ways to do as little work as possible ( ca
and was to practise sabotage i e spoil

goods and damage machi nery if possible without det ec
tion The obj ects of all this were to ruin employers
demorali ze industry decrease production and thus make
living con di tions so hard that the masses would be roused
to hotter discontent and become riper for mass action

Meanwhile everyt hi ng must be done to envenom the
class struggle Hatred must be deliberately fanned
not onl y among the masses but among the possessing
classes as well Every attempt at conciliation or u

n der
standing between combatants weary of mutual inj ury
must be nipped in the bud Says Sorel : To repay with

,
TH E
171
black ingratitude the benevolence of those who woul d

protect the worker to meet with insults the speeches of
those who advocate human fraternity to reply by blows
at the advocates of those who would propagate social
peace all thi s i s assure dl y not in conformity with the
rules of fashionable Socialism but it is a very practical
rgeois that they must mind
method of showin g the bou
their own business
Proletari an violence appears
on the stage at the ve ry time when attempts are being
made to mitigate coni cts by social peace Violence
gives back to the proletariat their nat u
ral weapon of
the class struggle by means of frightening the bourgeoisie
and proting by the bourgeois dastardliness in order to
impose on them the will of the proletari at

The uncompromising ghting spiri t of Syndicalism
comes ou
t vividly in the following lines by the American
Syndicalist Jack London :
There has never been anyt hing like this revolution

in the history of the world There is nothi ng analogous
between it and the Americ an R evolution or the French
It is unique colossal
R evolution
Other revolutions
compare with it as asteroids compare wi th the sun It
is alone of its kind ; the rst world revolution in a world
whose hi story is replete with revolutions And not
o nl y this for it is the rst organized movement of men
to become a world movement limited only by the limits
of the planet
Thi s revolution is unlike all other revolutions in

many respects It is not sporadic It is not a ame of
l ar discontent arising in a day and dying down in
pop u
,
T HE RE V O LT
1 72
AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N
a day Here are

comrades in an organi zed
international world wide revolutionary army
The cry of thi s army is No quarter " We want all
that you possess We will be content with nothin g less
r hands the reins
than all you possess We want in ou
of power and the destiny of mankind
Here are our
hands They are strong hands We are going to take
your governments your palaces and all your p u
rpled
ease away from you
The revolution is here now
1
Stop it who can
Syndicali sm s deant repu di ation of traditional moral
ity is well stated in the following quotations from two
leaders of the I W W ( Industrial Workers of the

the chief Syndicalist group in America The
rst of these quotations is from the pen of Vincent St
John and is taken from his booklet The I W W
ctu
re and M ethods
As Mr St John is
Its Hi story S tru
regarded by Syndicalists everywhere as one of their
ablest thinkers hi s words may be taken as an auth ori
Says Mr
t ative expression of Syndicali st philosophy
St John : As a revolutionary organi zation the Indus

trial Workers of the World aim to u
se any and all tactics
that will get the results sought with the least exp endi
ture of time and energy The tactics used are determin ed
solely by the power of the organi zation to make good
in their u
The question of ri ght or wrong does not
se
concern us
In si mil ar vein another I W W leader Arturo
Gi ovanni tti writes : It is the avowed inten t ion of both

J ck London R volution nd Oth Ess ys pp 4 8 ( N w Yo k
.
er
1 74
THE REVO LT
AGAINST CIV ILIZATI O N
resul t will be chaos which will give the Syndic al ist s their
opportunity In that hour the organi zed Syndicalist
minority leadi ng the frenzied starvin g masses an d
will
ai ded by crimi nals and other antisoci al elements
overthrow the social order seiz e all property crush the
bou
rgeoisie and establish the soci al revolution
This social revolution is to be for the benet of the
Syn di calism hates
Proletari at in its most literal sense
rgeois
not merely capitali sts and bou
but also the in
and even the skil led workers

the aris
t ellectu
als
Syndi c alism is instin ctively hostile

tocracy of labor
to intelligence It pins its faith to i nsti nct that deeper
knowledge of the u
n differentiated hum an mass; that
a nti ty so much more precio u
proletari an qu
s th an indi
a li ty
alist i c qu
Both the intellectual lite and thei r
vi du
works must make room for the proletari an cu

lture of
the morrow Intell ectuals are a useless p ri vi leged
cl ass ; art is a mere r esiduum bequeathed to us by an

1
ari stocratic society
Science is likewise condemned
C ri es the French Syndicalist Edouard Berth in hi s
pamphl et signi cantly entitled The M i sdeeds of th e
a ls:
In tellectu
Oh the little science la p eti te sci ence
whi ch feigns to attain the truth by attai ni ng luci di ty
ri ties
Let us go back
of exposition and shirks the obscu
to the subconscious the psychologic al source of every
inspiration 1
Here we see the fu
l l fri ghtfulness of Syndicalism
Bolshevism "Thi s new social revolt prepared a genera
tion ago and launched in Sovi et R ussia is n ot merely a
,
Sorel
THE
1 75
war against a social system not merely a war against

ou
r civili zation ; i t i s a war of the ha nd agai nst the brai n
For the rst time since man was man there has been a
deni te schi sm between the hand and the head Every
progressive principle which mankind h as thus far evolved :
the solidarity of civilization and culture ; community of
interest ; the harmonious synthesis of muscle in tellect
an d sp ir
i t all these the new heresy of the Under M an
howls down and tramples in the mud Up from the
dark purlieus of the underworld strange battle shouts
come win ging The un derworld is to become the world
the only world As for our world it is to be d estroyed ;
as for u
s we are to be killed
A clean sweep " Not
r intellects and
even the most beautiful products of ou
souls interest these Under Men Why sho u
ld they care
when they are fashioning a world of their own ? A
The Under Men despis e
ha nd world not a head world
thought itself save as an instrument of in vention and
production Their guide is not r eason but the prole
tari an truth of instinct and passion the deeper self

below the re ason whose sublimation is the mob Spak e
Georges Sorel : Man has genius only in the measure that
he does not think

The citiz ens of the upper world are to be extirpated
along with their institutions and ideal s The doomed
cl asses are numerous They comp ri se not merely the
billionaires of Marx but also the whole of the upper
and middle cl asses the landowni ng countryfolk even
the skilled working men ; in short all except those who
work with their untutored hands p lus the elect few who
,
1 76
TH E
for those who work with their untutored

hands The elimination of so many classes is perhaps
unfortunate However it is necessary because these
classes are so hopelessly capitalist and bourgeois that
unless eli mi nated they would surely infect at its very
bi rth the gestating underworld civilization
Now note one important point All that I have just
said applies to Syndicalism as it stood prior to the
Russian Revolution of 1 91 7 Every point that I have
treated has been drawn from Syn di calist pronounce
ments made before the appearance of Bolshevism

We must recognize once and for all that Bolshevism is
not a peculiar Russian phenomenon but that it is merely
the Muscovite manifestation of a movement which had
formulated its philosophy and infected the whole civi
li z ed world before the beginni ng of the late war Thus
s
when in the next chapter we come to contemplate R u
sian Bolshevism in action we shall view it not as a
purely Russian problem but as a local phase of some
thi ng which must be faced fought and mastered i n
every quarter of the earth
h
s
o
i
ze
hi
l
o
p
p
1 78
T HE
blood in aming their wi ll to power and nerving

their hearts to victory
Th e Bolshevik triumph in Russia had it is true been
won by numerically slender forces t he numbers of con
Communist
vi nc ed Bolsheviks who formed the ruling
Party numberi ng only about

or
out of
a population of
But this was really a
powerfu
l stim u
l ant to the
world revolution be cause
it proved the ability of a determined ruthless minority
to impose its will upon a disorganized socie t y devoid of
capable leaders and thus encouraged revolutionary
minorities everywhere to hope that they might do the
same thin g especially with the Russian backing upon
which they could henceforth rely As a matter of fact
Bolshevik revolutions have been tried in many lands
since 1 91 7 were actually successful for short peri ods in
Hungary and Bavaria and are certain to be attempted
in the future since in every par t of the world Bolshevik
agitation is persistently and insidiously go ing on
The Russian Bolshevik Revolution took most of the
world by surprise particularly the orthodox Socialists
heedful of Marx s prophecy t hat the revolution wou
ld
l tra capit ali st cou
begin in u
n tries and not i n economi
cally backward lands like Russi a barely ou
t of the agri
cultural stage To those who realize the true nature
of social revolution an d the special characteristics of
Russian lif e however the outbreak of social revolution
i n Russi a rather t h an in Western countries is precisely
what might have been expected Social revolution as
we have already seen is not progress but regress; not a
t heir
UN DER MAN
THE
REBELLI O N O F
THE
1 79
step forward to a higher order but a lurch backward to

a lower plane Therefore countries like Russia with
veneers of civilization laid thinly over instinctive wild
ness and refractory barbarism are peculiarly liable to
revolutionary atavism
Furthermore we have seen that the Russian Bolshevik
Revolution was not a chance happening but the logical
outcome of a process of social disintegration and savage
resurgence that had long been going on For more than
half a century the Nihi lists had been busily farmi ng

the smouldering res of chaos their methods and ai ms
being alike frankly desc ri bed by on e of their number
D ost oi evsky who wrote fu

l ly fty years ago : To re
duce the vill ages to confusion to spread cyni cism and
scandals together with complete disbelief in everything
and eagerness for something better and nally by means
of res to reduce the country to desperation "Man
ki nd has to be divided into two u
n equal parts : nine
tenths have to give up all indi viduality and become
so to speak a herd
We will destroy the desire
for property ; we will make use of drunkenness slander
spyi ng ; we will make use of incredible corruption ; we
will stie every geni us in his infancy We will proclaim
destruction There is going to be such an upset as the
world has never seen before

The growin g power of the violent subversive elements
showed clearly in the course of the Russian Revolution
of 1 905
That movement was not primarily a social
revolution ; it was at rst a poli tical revolution directed
by the Intelligentsia and the liberal bourgeoisie

,
T HE RE V O LT
1 80
against the corrup t and despotic Czari st autocracy

No sooner was the Czarist regime shaken however than
the social revolutioni sts tri ed to take over the move
ment and turn it to their own en ds It is instructive
to remember that in the Social Revolutionary Party
C ongress of 1 903 the extremists had gained control of
the party machinery an d were thenceforth known as
Bolsheviki
dominating the less violent Menshevi k
wing The leader of thi s successful cou
p was none other
than Nikolai Lenin Therefore when the revolution of
t the social revolutionists under the
1 905 broke ou
leadershi p of Lenin were pledged to the most violent
action
It was in the autumn of 1905 about six months after
the beginnin g of the political revolution that the BO1
ing a di c
sh evi ki attempted to seize control by proclaim
organized into Soviets

t at orshi p of the proletari a
The attempt however failed ; but this abortive coup Of
the social revolutioni sts involved the fail ure of the whole
revolutionary movement Frightened by the spectre of
class warfare and social chaos the political revolutionists
cooled Czarism rallied and re established its authority
Russia s hope of a liberal constitution al government
faded away and Czari sm continued in the saddle until
the Revolution of March 1 91 7
Thi s second revolution was almost an exact replica
of the rst
At the start it was dominated by political
.
t
t O pp
Bolshevi ki ,
less v olen
1
as
M enshevi ki ,
t d lit e lly m ns thos in th e m jority Th ir

nt
utvot d t t h C ongr ss of 1 903 b e c me known
thos i n th e mi no ity
ransla e
one
or
ra
s, o
e
ea
T HE
1 82
so frightful that in order to avert utter chaos the B0 1

shevik leaders have been force d to revive some of th e
despi sed capitalist methods such as private trading

the employment of hi gh salari ed experts and certain
forms of private property They have also attempted
to stimulate production by establishi ng an i ron despotism
over the workers forcing the latter to labor virtuall y
as slaves so that the Bolshevist regime has come to be
known sardonically as a dictatorshi p over the pro
let ari at
Perhaps these measures may save Russia
from absolute ru
i n ; perhaps not
Time alone will tell
But even if things now take a turn for the better thi s
will be due not to Bolshevism but to a practi cal repudia
tion of Bolshevism by its own leaders It is by its doc
tri n es and by its acts done in accordance with thos e
doctri nes that Bolshevism must be judged Let us see
then what Russian Bolshevism means in theory and in
applied practice
The fun damental characteristic of B olshevism is its
vi olence
O f course this was also a basic element in
Syndi calism but the Bolshevists seem to stress violence
even more than their Syndicali st predecessors Bol
sh evi sm c ahnl y assumes wholesale class warfare of the
most ferocious character on a world wide scale for an
indenite peri od as a normal phase of its development
and as necessary for its success For example : the
American j ournalist Arthur Ransome in hi s convers a
tions with the Russian Bolshevik leaders found them
contemplating a period of torment for the world at

large lasting at least fty years The class wars which
,
THE REBELLI ON O F THE
UN DER MAN
1 83
would rage in western Europe and Ameri ca would be

inni tely worse than R ussia s would ann ihilate whole
populations and would probably imply the destruction
1
of all culture
The appalli ng i mplications of thi s Bolshevi k principle
of permanent violence have repelled not merely b e

li evers in the existing social order but also many persons
not wholly hostile to Bolshevism and even re ady to wel
come a social revolution of a less destructive character
The Menshevik Gregory Zilb oorg thus criticises B ol
mob psychology (and incidentall y expounds

sh evi sms
the Menshevik theory of revolution) in the following
lines :
The B olshevists have an almost reli gious almost

frantic faith in the masses as such Dynami c masses
are their ideal B ut they overlooked and still overlook
the fact that the masses even the self-c onscious masses
are often transformed into mobs and the dynamic power
of a mob may scarcely be reasoned wi th
The fallacy i n the Bolshevist reasoning lies in in

cluding people as well as mob in the term masses
The blind faith in the m asses is a silent but potent
indication that they accept the crowd and the crowd
psy chology as the most j ustiable factors in social lif e
Such an acceptance implies the further acceptance Of
two very dangerous factors The rst is that revolu
tion is a blow a moment of spontaneous destruction
Imme di ately followin g this blow there arises the necessity
for stabilizing the social forces for a constructive life
R ansome Ru
ssi a i n 1 9 19 pp 83 8 7 ( New Yo k
T HE REVO LT
1 84
I take it that the work Of construction must begin not

when we have reached a point beyond which we can
not go but when we have completely changed the social
element As soon as the Old codes as a system are
done with we must give up destroying and turn to con
For this purp ose we must ga t her all ou
cting
r
st ru
intellectual forces relyin g on the m asses to help us
but not being guided by them So that when a revolu
tion puts power into the hands of a group or a class
even di ctatorial power we must imme di ately begin to
solidari ze the social forces The Communist theory
omi ts the necessi t y for this soli dari z ati on and there
fore admits of no compromise or co Operation It cre
i nority
ates fundamental principles Of a ru
l e by a m
Government by a minori ty is dangerous not because it
is opposed to the traditional idea of democracy and the
tradit i onal worship of the maj ority but because such
government necessitates the employment of continuous
violent methods and maint ain ing continuously in the
minds of the masses a consciou
sness of danger and the
necessity for destruction And that is the second dan
r
er
o
u
s
factor
Under
such
a
condition
the
m
a
s
ses
a
e
g
permanent mobs able onl y to hate to ght and to de
stroy
In simil ar vein President M asaryk of Czechoslovakia
(himself a moderate Socialist) asserts that The Bolshe
and contin ues : Leni n

vi ki want revolution at any cost
considers armed revolution the prin cipal constructive
,
Zil b oorg, The
York ,
assi ng o
the Old Order i n
Eu p pp
ro e,
1 84- 1 8 6
(New
THE REVO LT
186
AGAI NST CIVILIZATIO N
B olshevik methods is too terri ble ; and secon dl y be

cause even after paying the p ri ce I do not believe
the result would be what the Bolshevi ks profess to
1
desire
In this connection it is instructive to note that the
Russian Bolshevik leaders have never repudiated or
even mo di ed their fundamental reliance upon violent
methods Lenin s famous Twenty O ne Points M ani

festo laying down the terms upon which Socialist groups
throughout the world wou

ld be admi tted to the Thi rd
International commands i mplacable war Open or se

cret both against existing society and against all So
unist fold An d Trotzky in
ci alists outside the Comm
The
hi s recent pronouncement signicantly entitled
2
Defense of Terrori sm
ercely justies all Bolshevi k
acts and poli cies as ali ke necessary an d ri ght
Another of Bolshevism s fundamental characteristics
is its desp oti sm a despotism not onl y Of the Bolshe
l ation but also of
vist min ority over the general popu
the Bolshevik leaders over their own followers Here
again Bolshevism is merely developing ideas already
formula ted by Syndicalism The Syndi calists abandon
ing the Marxian deference for the masses in general

deni ed the necessity or desirability for hee ding their
wishes and considered only the class conscious mi

nor
i ty of the proletari at in plain language their own
crowd As the French Syn di calist Lagardelle put it :
,
b er, 1 920
1
d R uss ll
Ber ran
.
Engli h t
s
hevik Th eory
Bols
bli
The New Repu
tion publi shed in London
ransla
1 922
3 Novem
T HE REBELLI ON O F THE
1 87
UN D ER MAN
The mass unwieldy and clumsy as it is must not here
Furthermore in carrying ou
t
t its mind
speak ou
their programme the Syndicalist leaders might rely
wholly on force without even condescendin g to explana
ilh et :
tion In the words Of the Syndi calist Brou
The
masses expect to be treated with vi olence and not to
be persuaded
They always obediently follow when a
single man or a clique shows the way
Such is the law
o f collective psychology
The R ussian B olshevi k leaders evidently had these
i deas in mi nd when they made their successfu
l cou
p
d etat in November 1 91 7
Bolshevik theory as preached
to the masses had hitherto been that the di ctatorship
wou
l d be a short transition pe ri od
O f the proletari at
e nding with the rapid anni hilation of the capitalist and
bourgeois classes after which there would be no more
government but a fraternal liberty

That the Bol
dictatorshi p mi ght last longer than most p ro

shevik
l et ari ans expected was however hi nted at by Lenin
hi mself in a circul ar issued shortly before the November
c ou
Shall the Bolsheviks remain in
p and entitled
P ower ?
Here Lenin blu
ntly states hi s attitude O f
c ourse he says we preached the dest ruction of the State
a s long as the State was in possession of ou
r enemies
But why should we destroy the State after having our
selves taken the helm ?
re an or
The State is to be su
a
n
i
z
d
l
e
ru
e
by
a
pri
v
ileged
mino
r
i
ty
Well
let
us
in
g
ou
r tu
rn substitute ou
r mino r
i ty for theirs and let us
ru
n the machi nery "
And thi s is precisely what the Bolsheviks have done
,
T HE
188
REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATI ON
Instead of destroying the State they have built up one

Of the most iron despotisms that the world h as ever seen
with an autocratic governing clique functioning through
a centralized Red b u
reaucracy and relying upon a
Red army powerful enough to crush all di saffection

NO parliamentary Opposition no criticism is permitted
NO book pamphlet or newspaper may be printed which
disagrees with the Bolshevik Government Further
more there are no signs of any relaxation of thi s despotic
attitude The recent concessions like private trad

ing are purely economi c in character ; the Bolshevik
Government itself has frankly ann ounced that no poli ti
cal concessions will be made
and that absolute power
will remain in its hands The economic concessions are
termed merely temporary to be revoked as soon as
the Russian people has become sufciently educated

al ong Bolshevik l ines to make possible the establishment
Of pure Communism
O f course this means that the dictatorship is to

be indenitely prolonged As Lenin hi mself candidly
remarked recently to a visiting delegation of Spanish
Social i sts : We never spoke about liberty We practise

the proletariat s dictatorship in the name Of the minor
ity because the peasant class have not yet become pro
let ari an and are not with us
It will continue until
they subj ect themselves

But would the dicta t orship end even if t he whole
Russian people should subject themselves to C om

muni sm? It is highly improbable O n this po int
Ber tran d Russell makes some very acute remarks the
,
1 90
T HE RE VO LT
by bayonets without popular support Is it not almost

i nevitable that men placed as the Bolsheviks are placed
in Russia (and as they maintain that the Communi sts
must place themselves wherever the social revolution
succeeds) wi ll be loath to relin qu
i sh their monopoly of
power and wil l nd re asons for remainin g until some
l d it not be fat al ly
new revolution ousts them ? Wou
easy for them without altering the economi c st ru
cture
to decree large salaries for high government ofcials
and so reintroduce the Old inequalities of wealth ? What
motive would they have for not doin g so ? Wh at mo
tive is possible except idealism love of mankind non
economic motives of the sort that Bolsheviks decry ?
The system created by violence and the forcible rule of
a minority must necessarily all ow of tyrann y an d ex
l
i
i
n
and
if
h
m
an
nature
is
what
Marxists
assert
o
a
t
o
t
u
;
p
it to be why should the rulers neglect such Opportuni ties
Of selsh advantage ?
It is sheer nonsense to pretend that the rul ers of a

great empire such as Soviet Russia when they have
become accustomed to power retain the proletari an
psychology and feel that their class interest is the same
as that of the ordinary working man
This is not the
case in fact in Russia now however the truth may be
concealed by ne phrases The government has a cl ass
consciousness and a class interest quite di stinct from
those of the genuine proletari an who is not to be con
founded with the paper proletari an of the M arxian
1
schema
.
ssell , op
Ru
cit
T HE
THE
REBELLI O N O F
UN D ER MAN
1 91
Thus in Russia as in soci al revolutions throughout

history we see emerging the vicious circle of chaos suc
There is the tragedy of social
ceeded by despotism
l ing class
upheavals the upshot being that the new ru
is usually inferi or to the Old while society has mean
time suff ered irreparable cultural and racial losses
How indeed can it be otherwise ? Let us look once
more at Russia Consider rst of all the B olshevik
leaders Some of them like Lenin are really able men
but most Of them appear to belong to those sinister
types ( tainted geni uses paranoi acs unbalanced fa

nati cs unscrupulous adventurers clever criminals etc )
who always come to the front in times of social dissolu
tion which indeed give them their sole Opportunity
In fact this has been a dmitted by no less
of success
a person than Lenin hi mself In one of hi s ext raor
di nary bursts of frankness he remarked in hi s speech
n
before the Third Soviet Conf erence Among one h u
dred so called B olsheviki there is one re al Bolshevik
with thi rty nine criminals and si xty fools

It wo u
ld be ext remely instructive if the B olshevik
leaders could all be psycho an alyzed Cert ai nly many
Of their acts suggest peculiar ment al states The atroci
ties perpetrated by some of the Bolshevik Commissars
for example are so revoltin g that they seem explicable
only by mental aberrations like homicidal mania or the
sexu
al perversion known as sadism
One such scienti c examination of a group of B0 1
shevik leaders has been made At the time of the R ed
terror in the city of Kiev in the summer of 1 91 9 the
,
THE
1 92
REVO LT AGAINST C IV ILIZAT IO N
medical professors Of Kiev University were spared on

l ness to their terrorist masters
account Of their usefu
Three Of these medical men were competent alienists
who were able to diagnose the Bolshevi k leaders mentally
in the course of their professional duties Now their
diagnosis was that nearly all the Bolshevik leaders were
degenerates of more or less unsound mind Further
more most of them were alcoholics a majority were
syphilitic while many were drug ends Such were the
dictators who for months terrorized a great city Of

more than
inh abitants commi tted the most
endish atrocities and butchered many leadi ng citizens
1
i ncluding scholars of international reputation
O f course what is t rue of the leaders is even truer of
the followers In Russia as in every other social u
p
h eaval the bul k of the ghting revolutionists consists
l ent and worthl ess elements of the
of the most turb u
population far outnumbering the small nucleus of gen
uine z ealots for whom the revolution is a pure ideal
The original Red Guard of Petrograd formed at the

time Of the November cou
was
a
most
unsavory
lot
p
made up chiey Of army dese rters grmmen and foreign
adventurers especially Letts from the Baltic Provi nces
The Bolshevik leaders from the start deliberately in
amed the worst passions of the city rabble while the
.
t inst nc was th mud O f P f so Flo insky O f

K i v Uni v ity n i t n ti on l u
tho ity on Sl vic hi to y nd juis
prud n e H l d b fo t h R v luti on y T ib un l fo x mi n ti n h
ut b y n Of hi s judg s
was sh t i n p n
wom n m mb
n md
Ro
T hi w m n
fo m p ostitut w s pp ntly unde
S hw t
of li q u
I it t d b y one O f th p f s s nsw s t o a
t h e i n un
nd
esti on sh e drew h r evolv
d at hi m killin g himinst ntly
qu
1
Th e
most
agran
e rs
sa
a e
ar z
ce
n er a
re
co
or
rr
ar
er
a e
er a
e,
re
r e
ro e s
r er
er,
ro e s or
are
er
T HE
194
REV O LT AGAINST C IVIL IZATI O N
Anarchists and Syndicalis ts In Russia it is felt by all

the revolutionary parties Here for example is h ow
the Menshevik Gregory Zilb oorg describes the bou
r
The great enemy of a genuine revolution is

geoisi e :
not capitali sm itself but its by product its b astard
off spring the middle class ; and as long as the middle
class remains intact in Europe a revolution is not possi
ble
Materialism demonstrated a certain diabolic
genius in creating its faithf ul servant the middle cl ass
The rule of the middle class is nothing less than a
dictatorshi p of the propertari at
While that dictature
1
lasts the new order of society wil l remain unborn
Such being the attitude of revolutionists of all shades
the fate of the Russian middle cl ass es after the Bolshevik
triumph was a foregone conclusion As a matter of fact
the Bolshevi ks proce eded to shatter thi s stumbling
block of the revolution with a ruthless ei ci ency u

n
paralleled in hi st ory The middle classes were pro
scribed en masse
Boorjooy
becomin g as fatal an
epithet in Soviet Ru
ssia as Aristocrat was in Jacobin
France Al l over Russia the bourgeois were degraded
into persecuted pari ahs systematically fenced Off li ke
lepers from the rest of the population and condemn a i
to ultimate extinction as unt to live in the new Com
mu
ni sti c society
l ti
The tragedy that followed b afes description M u
tudes of bourgeois ed beyond the frontiers Other
l titudes scattered across Russia as homeless refugees
mu
The bravest j oined the White armi es and fell ghting

Zilb oo g op ci t p p 240 2 42
.
T HE REB ELLI ON
O F T HE UNDER MAN
1 95
in the civil wars Th e re st huddled i n their desolate

homes like condemned c ri mi na ls waitin g for death ex
posed to every hardship and ignominy that their perse
The most eff ective mean s
t ors could heap upon them
cu
devised by the Bolsheviks for elimin ating the bour
f
i
w
a
s
the
di
ferential fo od ration
The p Opu
i
o
e
s
e
g
lation was g aded by classes and rationed accordingly
members of the Communist Party fari ng best while
Boorjooy
received least of al l in Lenin s j ocose
phraseology bread enough to prevent them from for
gettin g its smell

Their oi ci al ration bein g quite in
fci ent to sustain lif e the bourgeois eked ou
su
t a
wretched existence by barterin g to food smugglers such
of their goods as had not been seiz ed or stolen and when
these were gon e starved
The result of all this h as been the utter ruin (and in
large part the physical annihil ation) of the Old Russian
middle classes M an y hun dreds Of thousands at the
very least must have peri shed while those still alive
ally broken T O be
are physically wrecked and spirit u
sure there is the so called new bourgeoisie sprung

from the ranks of sly food smugglers and peasant pro
teers But thi s new bou
rgeoisie is far inf erior to the old
in everything except low cunning and crass materialism
In fact the Bol sheviks themselves almost deplore the
di sappearance of the old bourgeoisie when they con
template its sinister successor Says Iz vesti a the B0 1
shevik oi ci al organ : O ur Old bourgeoisie has been

c ru
shed and we imagin e that there will be no return of
Old conditions The power of the Soviets has succeeded
.
1 96
TH E
the Old regime and the Soviet advocates equality and

universal service ; but t he fruits of this era are not yet
ready to harvest and there are already un bidden guests
and new forms Of prot eers They are even now so
numerous that we must take measures against them
But the task will be a difcult one because the new
bourgeoisie is more numerous and dangerous than the
Old The Old bourgeoi sie committed many s ins but
it did not conceal them A bourgeois was a bourgeois
The
Y oucould recognize him by his appearance
Old bourgeoisie robbed the people b ut i t spent part Of
its money for exp ensive xtures and works of art It s
money went by indirect chann els to the support of
schools hospitals and museums Apparently t he Old
bourgeoisie was ashamed to keep eve ryt hing for itself
and so gave back part The new bourgeoi si e thinks of
nothing but its stomach Comrades beware of the new
bourgeoisie
The fate of the middle classes was shared by other
elements of Russian society ; by the nobil i t y gentry
capitalists and intellectuals

The tragedy Of the
intellectuals is a peculiarly poignant one The Russian
intellectuals or Int elli gentsi a as they called themselves
had for generations been Russia s brain and conscience
In the Intelli gentsia were concentrated Russi a s best
hopes of progress and civilization The Intell i gentsia
stood bravely between despotic Czardom and benighted
masses stri ving to liberalize the one and to enlighten
the other accepting persecution and misunderstan ding
as part of its noble task Furthermore beside the al
,
T HE REVO LT
198
fami ne) compelled the Bolshevik Government to abate

i ts persecution and to off er some of the intellectuals
posts in its service However the Offer was coupled
with such humi liating slavish condi tions that the nobler
spiri ts preferred starvation while those who accepted
di d so onl y in d esp
The martyrdom of the Russian Intelligentsia is vividly
described by one of their number i n the following poign
ant lines Says Le o Pasvolsky : I have seen educated

men coming ou
t of Russia ; their general appearan ce and
particularly the crushed hopelessness of thei r mental
processes is a nightmare that haunts me every once in
a while They are a livin g testimonial to the proc esses
that are taking place in Russia
Such an exodus
Of the educated and intelligent as there has been out Of
Russia no country h as ever seen and certainl y no coun
try can ever aff ord The Intelli gentsia h as lost every
thing it ha d It h as lived to see every ideal it revered
shattered every aim it sought pushed away almost ou
t
Embittered and hardened in exile or c rushed
of sight
spiri tually and physicall y under the present government
the tragedy of the Russian Intell igentsia is the most
1
pathetic and poignant in hum an history
The blows whi ch Bolshevism has dealt Russia s intel
lectual lif e have been t rul y terrible Indeed i t is not
too much to say that Bolshevism h as behead ed Russia
The old Intelligentsia is destroyed blighted or in exil e
And so long as Bolshevism rules it is difcult to see h ow
.
Th e
Pasvolsky ,
hf ont hly, Novembe r, 1 920
1
Leo
In
tell ig n tsia un der

e
th e
i ts
Sov e
A tlantic
THE REBELLI ON O F T HE
UN DER MAN
-
1 99
new In telligentsia can arise The Bolshevik Govern

ment h as undertaken the hercul ean task of converting
the whole Russian people to Comm u
ni sm seeing therein
the sole guarantee of its continued exist ence T O this
supreme end everyt hing else must be subordinated But
this means that education learning science art and
every other eld of in tellectual activity is perverted in t o
propagan da ; th at all doubtful or hostile ideas mus t be
excluded ; that no c ritical or independent thi nking can
be tolerated And history h as conclusively demon
st rated that where thought is not free there is no true
i ntell ectual lif e but only intellectu al mummies or abor
tions
Fu
rthermore the still more fundamental query arises
whether even if Bolshevik rul e should soon end Russia
may not have suffered such racial losses that the level
of her intelli gence has been permanently lowered
Ru
s
si a s biologic al losses have been appalling For ve
long ye ars a systematic exti rpation of the upper and
middle classes h as been goin g on and the resu
lts of this
inverse selection are literally staggerin g

The number
of Russian exil es alone
to day scattered to the four
corners of the earth is estimated at from one to two
millions Add to these the hu
ndreds of thou sands who
have perished by execution in prison in the civil wars
and by disease cold and famin e ; add to these again
the millions who survive rui n ed persecuted and thus
u
nl ikely to rear their normal quot a Of chi ldren ; and we
begin to realize h ow the Russian stock h as bee n i m
paired how well the Under-Man has done his work "
a
T HE
200
To be sure against all this may be set the fact that

R ussia s racial losses are probably not so terrible as
those whi ch B olshevism woul d inict upon the more
advanced Western nations Russia s very backwardn ess
together with the c aste like rigidity Of Old Russian so
ci ety minimized the action of the

social ladder and
hi ndered that drainin g of talent from the lower into

the higher social classes whi ch has proceeded so rapidly
in western Europe and Ameri ca Nevertheless even if
R ussia s racial losses are not so fatal as those which
the West would suffer under similar circu
mstances they
must be very grave and largely irreparable
Of course these considerations can have no inuence
whatever upon the conduct of the Bolsheviks themselves
because the philosophy of the Under Man denies h e
redi ty believes passionately in

natural equ ality and
the omni potence Of environment and pins its faith on
mass quantity instead of individual quali ty
Indeed the Bolsheviks believe that the whole world
order both as it now exi sts and as it has in the past
existed is hopelessly aristocratic or bourgeois ; that to
the proletari at it is meani ngless and useless ; that it
shou
l d therefore be utterly destroyed ; and that in its
place mu
i se a new proletarian world order cre
st ar
ated exclusively by and for the proletari at This theory
man
is absolute It makes no exceptions ; all elds of hu
activity even science art and literature being included
The climax of this theory is the Bolshevi k doctrine Of
Proletarian Culture
or as it is termed in Bolshevik
circles Prolet ku
lt
,
THE
202
s forth authori tatively the Bolshevik cultural view

Let u
s see precisely what it is
Lunacharsky categori cally condemns existing bour
geois culture from top to bottom and asserts that it

must be destroyed and replaced by a wholly new pro
r enemies dur
let arian culture
Says Lunacharsky : Ou
ing the whole course of the revolutionary period have
not ceased crying about the ruin of culture As if they
did not know that in Russia as well as everywhere there
is no united common human culture but that there is
onl y a bou
rgeoi s culture an individual c u
l ture debasing
itself into a cu
l ture Of Imperialism covetous blood
thirsty ferocious The revolutionary proletariat aspi res
to free itself from the path Of a dying c u
lture It is
worki n g out its own class proletarian culture
During its dictatorshi p the proletariat has realized that
the strength Of its revolution consists not alone in a
political and military dictatorshi p but also in a cultural
dictatorshi p
Lu
nach arsky s e di torial dictum is enthusi astically in
d orsed by mu
l titudes of Comrades who in prose an d
verse enliven Proletarskai a Kultura s edifying pages
The old bourgeois culture is of course the obj ect Of
erce hatred Sings one poetic soul :
se t
me of our T omorrow we will burn Rafael

De st roy mu
seu
ms crush t h e owers of art
M ai d ens i n t h e ra dian t kingd om Of t h e Fut u
re
Will b e more beaut iful t han Venus d e M il o
In t h e
na
Science (as it now exists) is likewise under the ban
For example one

Comrade Bogdan off desiring to
.
T HE
REB ELLI O N O F
T HE
UN DER MAN
203
show wh at transformations the material sciences and

phil osophy will have to undergo in order to make them
suitable for proletarian understanding enunciates a series
of propositions O f these the ninth is that astronomy
must be transformed from its present state into a teach

ing of the orientation in space and time of the efforts
of labor
To the non Bolshevik mind these ide as sou
nd insane
But they are not insane They are merely a logical
recognition of the fact that in a society organized ex
clusively ou proletarian principles every thread in the
fabri c whe ther it be political social economic or ar
tisti c must harmonize with the whole design and must
be inspired by one and the same idea c lass conscious
ness and collectivism This is clearly perceived by some
contributors Says one : In order to be a proletarian

creator it is not enough to be an artist ; it is also neces
sary to know economics the laws of their development
and to have a complete knowledge of the Marxist method
which makes it possible to expose all the strata and
mo u
ldiness of the bourgeois fab ri c
An d another ob
se rves : Marx has estab lished that society is above

all an organization of production and that in thi s lies
the basis of all the laws of its life all development of
its forms Thi s is the point of view of the social pro
du
cti ve class
the po int of view of the working collec
tive
Indeed one wri ter goes so far as to question the need
for any art at all in the future proletarian culture
Ac
cordi ng to this Co mrade art arose out of i ndi vi du
al
,
THE REVOLT
204
triving passion sorrow disillusion the conict of the

individual with the Fates (whatever shapes they mi ght
take whether those of gods God or Capitalists) In
the Communistic society of the future where everybody
will be satised and happy these artistic stimuli wil l
no longer exist and art will thus become both u
nn eces
sary and impossible
This annihi lating suggestion is however exceptional ;
the other Comrades assu
me that proletarian cu
l ture
wi ll have its artistic side Prolet arian art must how
ass art ; the concepts of geni u
e ver be m
s and individual
rse in
c reation are severely reprobated
This is of cou
a ccordance with the general theory of Bolshevism : that
the individual must be merged in the collectivity ; that
talented in di viduals merely express the will of the mass
incarnated in them This B olshevik war against indi
vi du
ali ty explains why the overwhelmi ng maj ority of
the Russian Intelligentsia i s so irreconcilably Opposed
to B olshevism It also explains why those who have
bowed to B olshevism have ceased to produce good work
They have been i ntellectually emasculated
The Comrades of Proletarskai a Kultu
ra set forth logi
sively the
cal ly why proletarian culture must be exclu
work of proletarians This is because only a proletari an
strong in his class consciousness can thi nk or feel as a
proletarian Therefore only to true proletarians is
r
i
l
iven
the
possibi
ity
cre
a
ting
proleta
an culture
f
o
g
Converts of bourgeois origin may thi nk themselves pro
letari ans but they can never really belong to the creative
To thi s stern ru
le there are no exceptions Even
elect
s
THE
206
The literary work of the studios may be divided into

various branches First the selection of the subj ect
M an y authors have special ability in nding favorable
subj ects while utterly unable to develop them respecta
bly Let them give their subjects to others Let these
and perhaps separate parts of them scenes
subjects
pictures episodes vari ous types and situations be col
l ected
From thi s treasure of thought material wil l be
extra cte d by others
It is precisely in such studios
that a collective composition may be written Perhaps
various chapters wi ll be wri tten by vari ous people
Perhaps various types and situations wil l be worked ou
t
and embodied by various authors The whole composi
tion may be nally wri tten by a single person but with
the constant and systematic coll aboration of the other
members of the studio in the particular work

This appalling nonsense is wittily punctured by an
English critic in the following pungent lines :

What
self respecting author will submit to the bondage of this
hum an machine this factory of literature ? Th is
scheme to my mi nd is too preposterous to requi re an
answer ; yet if one must be given it can be contained in
a single word : S hakesp eare "
Here was an indi vidual who could wri te a better
lyri c better prose could den e the passions better could
draw clearer types had a better knowledge of human
psychology could construct better was superi or in every
department of the literary art to all his contemporaries
A whole studio Of Elizabethans great as each was
in di vidually could have hardly put together a work Of
.
THE RE B ELLIO N
OF
THE
UN D ER MAN
-
2 07
art as collective ( if you will) and as perfect as this one

man by himself Imagine the harmony of Homer bet
te red by a collection of gas bags meeting to discuss hi s
work "Imagine the colossal comedy of an Aristophanes
improved by the assistance of a lot of solemn faced
sans cu
lottes domi nated by an id e r e whom the comic
author might even wish to satiri ze "
l d even lesser men consent to it ? Imagine

Wou
Wells an d B ennett and Conr ad and Chesterton with
their individual mi nds produced in the Opulent diversity
of nature collaborating in one room
Picture to yo u
r
self if youcan a literary workshop shared by Cannan
Lawrence B eresford Mackenzie assisted say by Mrs
Humphry Ward Marie Corelli and Elinor Glyn
To this the Bolsheviks will of course give thei r

stereotyped reply that thi s diverse condition has been
brought about by a bourgeois civilization ; for laws of
nature the stumbling block of good and bad Utopi as
do not exist for them But it is a long way from theory
to practice an d they are a long way from having bound
1
the Prometheus of creation to the Marxian rock
The Russian Bolshevi ks have however tri ed to do so
in at le ast one notable instance We have all heard Of
the famous (or notorious) House of Science where

Russia s survivin g savants have been barracked under
one roof and told to get together and produce
Thus
far the House of Science has produced nothi ng but a
high death rate
John Counos A F cto y O f l i te tu
ber, 1 9 19
ra
re ,
rope , 20 Novem
The New Eu
THE RE V O LT
20 8
l t in Russia
much for Prolet ku
Perhaps it may
be thought that thi s is a special Russian aberration
This however is not the case Prolet ku
l t is indorsed
by Bolsheviks everywhere For example : those stanch
Comrades Eden and Cedar Pau

l twin pill ars of
B ritish Bolshevism and acknowledged as heralds of the
Communi st cause by Bolshevik circles in both Engl an d
and America have devoted their latest book to this very
1
subject
In this book all bourgeois c u
l tu
re is scath
i ngly condemn ed
O ur so called general cu
lture is
a purely class heri tage

There is no cu
l ture for the
common people for the hewers of wood and the drawers
There is no such thing as scientic eco

of water
nom
i cs or sociology
For these reasons say the authors
there should be organized and spread abroad a new kind
Proletcu
lt
Thi s we are informed is
of education
a ghtin g cu
l ture aiming at the overthrow of capitalism
and at the replacement of democratic cul ture and bour
r
a
r
a
t
i
c
r
a
n
d
ideology
by
cultu
e
proletarian
e
o
i
s
e
t
o
c
g
g
ideology
Th e authors warmly indorse the Soviet
Government s prost itution of education and all other
forms of intellectual activity to Communi st propaganda
for we are told that the new education is inspired by
the new psy chology whi ch provides the philos0 ph i

cal just ication of Bolshevism and supplies a theoretical
r
i
n
ar
i
l
uide
our
e
f
forts
the
eld
of
prolet
an
cu
tu
e
f
o
r
g
The recogni tion that sugges
Education is suggestion
tion is autosuggestion and that autosuggestion is the
SO
Ed n nd C d r P ul P letcult ( London nd N w Y k
ti on ( Lon d on nd N w Yo k
ti v R volu
also th ir b ook C
1
rea
ro
or
See
T HE
2 10
REVO LT AGAINST C IVILIZAT IO N
their gospel of hatred and revenge Every nationalist

asp ira t i on eve ry political grievance every social in ju
s
t ice every racial di scrimination is fuel for Bolshevism s
1
incitement to violence and war
To desc ri be Bolshevism s subversive eff orts throughout
l d ll a book in itself
the world wou
Let us conn e ou
r
attention to the two most striking elds of Bolshevist
activity outside of Russia Hungary an d Asia
The Bolshevik regime in Hungary represents the crest
of the revolutionary wave which swept over Central
It was short li ved l ast
ring t he year
Europe du
ing less than six months but during that b ri ef period it
almost ruined Hungary As in Russi a the Bolshevi k
ff
in
H
ungary
was
e
ected
by
a
small
group
of
r
l
cou
e
v
u
o
p
t i on ary agitators taki ng advantage of a moment of
acute poli t i cal disorganization and backed by the most
violent elements Of the city proletariat The leaders
were mainl y you

ng
intellectuals ambitious but not
previously successful in li fe and were mostly Jews The
n
gui di ng spirit was one Bela Ku
a man of ery energy
but of rather une difying antecedents Ku
n had evi
.
"
h ik p p
d
P
d
h ik
cti iti
i dd E t
k
ch p
k
d
h k cti iti
E t
F L
d
P i
y
p tic
ith
h c p
h ik
pii
i p ci y
ich
h k i
ct y
t
hd
h t ti
th
i
kd
c
i h t
th
dy i i
Of
p t i t
Fi
d th
i y ci i
di
t i ph
hit
d
h
y
t di i t c
i
ti y d d
h
th
p ct
ro agan a , see
ese l arger as e
s of Bols e v
au
l M iliu
kov,
For
Bolshevi sm: A n I nterna ti ona l Da nger ( Lon on,
For Bols ev
l e as , see my b oo The New World of
a
v
es i n t h e Ne ar a nd M
IX ( New Yor an d L on on ,
For Bols evi a
Isla m,
a
v
es
r d H ori zon M ond i al ( ar s,

e gen re , T ou
in t h e F ar as , see A
1
ro
G erman , i n ar u
lar, was af rc ted w
a w ol e
of Bols ev
u r s ngs In Bavar a , es e all M un , a Bols evi r g me was a uall
f or a s or
me, i ts over row b e ng mar e b y a massa re
es ab li s e
rge o s
os ages
r s ngs
of b ou
In B erli n
ere we re several b loo
nl an
v l war, e n ng in
t h e role ar a
In
ere was a sangunar
m of th e w es over th e re s T ese are merel th e out

t he r u
s an n g n s an es O f a l ong se r es of revolu onar
isor ers
1
N C o en
1
T HE
REBELLI O N O F
THE
UN DER MAN
211
dently
come to disapprove Of the institution of private

property at an early age for he h ad been exp elled from
school for theft an d later on duri ng a term in j ail he
D own t o
was caught stealing from a fell ow prisoner
Early
191 4 Kun s career was that of a radical agitator
in the war he was captured by the Russians and after
the Russian revolution he j oined the Bolsheviki Picked
by Lenin as a valuable agent he was sent home at the
end of the war with in structions to Bolshevize Hu
n
gary His rst efforts led to his arrest by the Hungarian
authorities but he soon got free and engineered th e
cou
p whi ch placed him and his associates i n power
The new revolutionary government started in on ap
proved Bolshevik lines D eclaring a dictatorshi p of
the proletariat it established an iron despotism en
forced by Red Guards prohi bited liberty Of speech or

the press and conscated private property Fortunately
there was comparatively little bloodshed Thi s was du
e
to the express orders of Lenin who realizing how ex
posed was the position of Bolshevik Hungary told Bela
n to go slow and consolidate his position before taking
Ku
n
more drastic measures Ku
however found it hard
t o control the z eal of hi s associates
Many of these
were burni ng with hatred of the bourgeoisie and were
anxious to complete the revolution

In the l ast days of the Bolshevik regime when its fal l
appeared more and more probable the more violent
elements got incre asingly out of hand Incen diary
sp eech es were made incitin g the proletariat to plunde r
For ex ample
and slaughter the
bou
rgeois classes
,
212
THE REV O LT
Pogany ,
one of the Bolshevik leaders launched th e
followi ng diatribe at the middle classes : Tremble be

fore our revenge "We shall extermi nate you not only
We
as a cl ass but li terally to the last man among you
look upon you as hostages and the comi ng of Al lied
Nor need you re
t roops shal l be of ill omen for you
j oice i n the whi te ag of the coming bou
rgeois arm
i es
f or your own blood sh al l dye it red

As a matter of fact many atrocities took place esp e
c i ally those committed by a bloodthi rsty Comm
issar
named Sz amuely and a troop of ru
fans known as th e
However there was no general massa

Lenin Boys
cre The Bolsheviks were restrained by the sobering
k nowledge that they were surrounded by white arm

i es
and that a m assacre of Budapest bourgeois would mean
their own wholesale extirpation At the very last most
O f the leaders escaped to Austria and thence u
l timately
succeeded in making their way to Moscow
So ended the Hungarian Soviet R epublic D espite
t he relatively small loss of lif e the material damage
done was enormous The whole economic life of the
country was disrupted huge debts were contracted and
H ungary was left a nancial wreck
As matters turned ou
t Soviet Hungary was merely an
episode albeit an instructive episode since it shows
how near Europe was to Bolshevism in 191 9 Quite
o therwise is it with Asia
Here the Bolshevik on et is
very far from h aving failed O n the contrary it has
gained important successes and must be seriously reck
o ned with in the i mmedi ate future
,
21 4
T HE
ded by the political legacy of Russian imperialism

From Turkey to Chi na Asia had long been the scene of
Russian imperialist designs and had been carefu
lly stud
i ed by Russian agents who had evolved a technic of
paci c penetration that mi ght be e asily adjusted to

B olshevik ends To intrigue in the O ri ent required no
origin al planni ng by Trotzky or Lenin Czari sm had
already done this for generations and full information
lay both in the Petrograd archi ves and in the brains of
surviving Czarist agents ready to turn their h an ds as
easil y to the new work as the old
In all the elaborate network of Bolshevik propaganda
which t oday enmeshes the East we must discriminate
between Bolshevism s two objectives : one immediate
the destruction of Western political and economi c power ;
the other ultimate the Bolshevizin g of the O riental
m asses and the consequent extirpation of the native
upper and mi ddle cl asses precisely as h as been done in
Russia and as is planned for the countries of the West
In the rst stage Bolshevism is quite ready to back
O rienta
nationalist movements and to respect O ri
ental faiths and customs In the second stage all these
matters are to be branded as bourgeois and relentlessly

destroyed
l ated
Ru
ssi an Bolshevism s O riental policy was formu
soon after its accession to power at the close of 191 7
The year 1 91 8 was a th e of busy preparation An
elaborate prop aganda organization was buil t up from
various sources : from old Czarist agents ; from the Rus
sian Mohammedan populations such as the Tartars of
ai
O F THE UN D ER MAN
THE REB ELLIO N
2 15
South R ussi a and the Turkomans Of Central Asia ; and

from the nationalist or radical exiles who ocked to
Russia from Turkey Persia India Chi na K orea and
even Japan By the end of 1918 Bolshevism s O riental
propaganda department was well o rganized divided into
three b u
reaus for the Isl amic coun tries India and th e
Far East respectively These bureaus displayed great
activity tran slating tons of B olshevik literature into the
various O ri ental languages trainin g numerous secret
agents and propagandists for eld work and getting

in touch with disaff ected or revolutionary elements
The eff ects of Bolshevik prop aganda have been visible
in nearly all the disturban ces which have afi cted the
O ri ent since 1 9 1 8 In Ch ina and Japan few tangible
successes h ave as yet been won albeit the symptoms of
increasing social unrest in both those countries have
aroused di stinct un easi ness among well inf ormed ob
1
In the Near and Middle East however Bol
servers
In
sh evism h as achieved much more deni te results
dian unrest has bee n stimulated by Bolshevik propa
ganda ; Af ghanistan Turkey and Persia have all bee n
drawn more or less into Soviet Russia s poli tical orbit ;
while Central Asia and the Caucasus regions have been
denitely Bolshevized and turned into Soviet Repub
li cs
dependent upon Moscow Thus Bolshevism is
to day i n actual operation i n both the Near and Mid dl e
East
Fo
volu
ti on y un est in Chi n s L g ndr b ook l d y quote d
Fo soci l u
n st i n J p n s
S n K t y m Th L bo M ov mnt i n
K t y m is th m t p omin nt le d
Of J p
J p n ( C hic g
n s S ci li sm Si n c
w iting t h b ook
f d to h e has g own much
mo vi ol nt nd is now n xt m B lsh vik
,
,
.
r re
ar
re
e e
re
a,
a o,
a
e
ee ,
a a
a a
re
e s
re erre
a,
os
ee
a rea
er
216
TH E
Soviet Russia s O riental ai ms were frankl y announced
at the Congress of Eastern Peoples held at Baku

Transcauc asia in the autu
mn of 1 920 The president
the noted Russian Bolshevik leader
of the congress
Zinoviev stated in his Openi ng address :
We believe this Congress to be one of the greatest

events in history for it proves not onl y that the pro
k
f
E
r
i
workers
and
wor
ing
pea
ants
urope and
s
s
s
o
e
v
e
g
Ameri ca are awakened but that we have at last seen the
day of the awakeni ng not of a few but of tens of t hou
sands of hundreds of thousands of millions of the labor
ing class of the peoples of the East These peoples form
the maj ority of the world s whole popu
l ation and they
alone therefore are able to b ri ng the war between capi
tal and labor to a conclusive decision
The Communist International said from the very

rst day of its existence : There are four or ve times as
m an y people living in Asia as live in Europe We wil l
free all peoples all who labor
We know that the
labori ng masses of the East are in part retrograde Com
rades our Moscow Internation al di scussed the question
whether a socialist revolution could take place in the
countries of the East before those countries had passed
through the capitalist stage You know that the view
which long prevailed was that every country must rst
go through the period of capitalism before socialism could
become a live question We now believe that this is no
longer true Russia has done this and from that mo
ment we are able to say that Chi na In dia Turkey Per
sia Armenia also can and must make a direct ght to
,
218
THE
mi norities Finally the East is lled with every sort of

unrest
The O rient is thus patently menaced with Bolshevism
And any ext ensive Spread of Bolshevi sm in the East
would be a hi deous cat astrophe both for the O rient and
for the world at large For the East Bolshevism wou
ld
The sudden release of the
spell downright savagery
ignorant brutal O riental masses from thei r tradi tional
restraints of religi on and custom and the submergence
of the relatively small upper and middle cl asses by the
ood of social revolution would mean the destruction of
all O rient al civilization and a plunge into an abyss of
an archy from whi ch the East mi ght not emerge for cen
,
the world as a whole the prospect woul d be per

haps even more terrible The weldin g of Russia and
the O rient into a vast revolutionary block would spell a
gigantic war between East and West beside which the
late war wou
l d seem mere child s play and whi ch might
leave the entire planet a mass of ruins
Yet this is precisely what the Soviet leaders are work
ing for and what they frankly even gleefully prophesy
The vision of a revolutionary East destroying the bour
l tation
geois West lls many Bolshevists with wild exu
Says the Bolshevist poet Peter Oryeschin : Holy Mother

Earth is shaken by the tread Of millions of marching feet
The crescent has left the m osque ; the crucix the church
The end of Paris impends for the East has lifted its
sword I saw tawny Chinamen leeri ng through the win
dows of the Urals
Indi a washes its garments as for a
For
THE R EBELLI O N
O F THE UN D ER MAN
21 9
festival From the steppes rises the smoke of sacri ce

to the new god London shall sink beneath the waves
Gray Berlin shall lie in ruins Sweet will be the pain of
the noblest who fall in battle D own from Mont Blanc
hordes will sweep through God s golden valleys Even
the Kirghi z of the steppes

pray for the new era
Thus in the East as in the West the world wearied
and shaken by the late war is faced by a new war the

chaos
.
C HAP TER VII

WAR AGAINST CHAOS
T HE
world is to-day the battle ground of a titani c stru

g
gle This st ruggle has long been gathering It is now
upon us and must be fought ou
N 0 land is immune
t
B olshevik R ussia is merely the standard bearer of a re
volt against civi lization whi ch girdl es the globe
That
revolt was precipitated by the late war and has been
intensied by war s aftermath but it was latent before
l timately burst forth even if Ar
1 914 and would have u
mageddon had been averted
In the present revolt against civi lization there i s noth
ing basically new Viewed histori cally it is merely one
of a series of sim
il ar destructive retrograde movements
What is new however is the elaboration of a revolution
ary phil osophy whi ch has red an d welded the rebelli ous
elements as never before As Le Bon justly remarks :
The Bolshevik ment al ity is as Old as history Cain in

the O ld Test ament h ad the mi nd of a Bolshevik But
it is onl y in ou
r days that thi s ancient mentali ty has
met with a political doctri ne t o justify it Thi s is the
reason of its rapid propagation which h as been under
1
mining the old social sc aff oldin g
The modern philosophy of the Under Man is at bot
n
rationali zing of the emotions of the u
tom a mere
THE
stave
Gu
Le Bon, The
World
in
Revolt,
1 79 (New Yor
l 92 1 Eng
T HE
2 22
REVO LT AGAINST C IVILIZATI ON
i
o
h
t
e
s
s
p
should apparently be that intelli gence is not con

ned to the brain but is diff used over the whole body
Here is good proletarian biology quite in accord with
the Bolshevik doctrine that so called superi or in di

vi du
als are merely expressions of the mass intelligence
It is surp ri sing that so far as can be learned the theory
of cell intelligence is not yet taught i n the Soviet schools
This is a serious omission but it can be reme di ed
Naturally these grotesque perversions of science with
their res u
ltant paradoxes worthy of Mr Chesterton are
easily disposed of by genuine biologists and the under
lyin g an imus is clearly explained R egarding proletarian
biology Professor Conklin remarks : Such a conception

not onl y confuses the di ff erent lines of evolution and their
causes b ut it really denies all the facts and evidences in
the c ase by putting the hi ghest and latest product of the
process into its earliest and most elemental stages It is
not a theory of evolution but rather one of involution or
crea tion ; it is not a new conception of life and its origin
but the Oldest known conception
Such essays evi
d ently owe their o ri gin to emotion rather than to reason
to sentiment rather than science ; they are based upon
desire rather than evidence and they appeal especially
to those who are able to believe what they desire to be
1
li eve
Proletarian science having shown no signs of abili ty

to meet real science in intellectual combat we may ex
p ect to see the proletarian movement fall back upon its
.
E
Yo k
1
C on lin , The Di re ti on
man
f Hu
Ev luti on pp
o
7 3- 74 ( New
WAR AGAINST CHAO S
THE
223
natural weapons passion and violence What see ms

ce rt ai n is that science will become increasin gly anathema
in social revolutionary eyes The lists are in fact alread y
set for a battle roy al between biology and Bolshevism
We have al read y remarked that the more the Under
Man realiz es the signi can ce of the new biological reve
lation the uglier grows his mood
Science havin g
stri pped away i ts sentimental camouage the social
revolution will depend more and more upon brute force
relyin g upon the materialism of numbers and racial i m
overi
ment
achieve
nal
victory
More
and
more
s
h
t
o
p
the revolutionary watchword will be that of the French
Le Cou teau entre les

Communi st Henri B arbusse :
1
D ents
With Your Knife i n Your Teeth "
How shall civiliz ation meet the revolutionary onset ?
B y a combination of two methods : one pal liative and
D is
temporary ; the other constructive and permanent
cu
ssi on of the second method will be deferred till the
next chapter Sufce it here to say that it centres about
ce rtai n deep going refo rms particu
l arly the improvement
Forward lookin g min ds are coming to
of the r ace itself
realize that social revolutions are really social breakdowns
caused (in the l ast an al ysis) by a dual process of racial
impoverishment the elimination of superior strains and
the m u
ltipli cation of degenerates and inferiors Inexo
rab ly the de cay of racial values corrodes the proudes t
civilization which engenders within itself those forces of
chaos that will one day work its ru
in Said shrewd ol d
Thi s is t h e titl of Barb uss

n tl ss class warf a e
rel e
t t
e s la es
b oo
y call
er
i t nt
t o ns
an d
THE REVO LT
2 24
viewi ng the French Revolution :

The most
empires are as close to barbarism as the most
polished steel is to rust ; nations like metals shine onl y
on the surface
More and more we are coming to see that hatred of
c ivilization is mai nly a matter Of heredity ; that Bolshe
viks are mostly born and not made How can we expect
a man to support a social order whi ch he instinctively
d etests or which he is congenitally unable to achi eve ?
An d how can society expect peaceful progress so long
as it spawns social rebels and laggards and at the same
time steri li zes those creative superiors who are at once
its builders and its preservers ?
The fact is that constr u
ction and destruction prog
ress and regress evolution and revolution are alike the
work of dynami c mi nori ti es We have already seen how
numerically small are the talented eli tes which create
and advance high civilizations ;
while Jacobin France
and Bolshevik Russia prove how a small but ru
thless
revolutionary faction can wreck a social order and tyran
nize over a great population O f course these dynamic
groups are composed p ri marily of leaders they are the
ofcers corps of much larger armies which mobilize in
Take the present world
stincti vely when crises arise
crisis In every coun try the champions of the existing
order can count upon the resolute support of all those
who appreciate ou
r civili zation and wish to preserve it
from disruption O n the other hand the revolutionary
n
leaders can coun t with equal condence upon the u
a daptable inferior and degenerate elements who nat
R ivarol ,
c ivili zed
T HE
2 26
However, the mediocre have the defects
their quali
ties Thei r very conservatism is apt to be harmful an d
is frequen t ly disastrous This is because it is u
ni nt el
li gent a mere clingin g to things as they are with no
di scrimination between what is sound and what is u
n
st
soun d or outworn ; a mere blind aversion to change j u
because it is change This is sheer bourbonism An d
bourbonism is dangerous because it blocks progress
prevents reform perpetuates social evils breeds di scon
tent and thus engenders revolution
The chief danger of bourbonism is that it is so power
fu
If society were really guided by its creative elite
l
mediocrity mi ght be useful as a sort of constitution al
Opposition stabilizing and regulating progress Unf or

nat ely society is ruled largely by mediocrity
The
tu
most cursory survey of our world is enough to show that
in poli tics n an ce b u
siness
and most other elds of
human activity a large proportion of the most inuential
gu
res are persons of decidedly mediocre intelligence and
The number of stupid reactionari es in high
c haracter
places is depressing and their stupi di ty is amazing when
we consider their opport u
n ities
In fact these Opp or
ni ti es are the best proof of their inherent st upidity
tu
because the mere fact that so li ttle has been brought
t shows that there was very little there to b ri ng
ou
At rst sight all this may seem to con ict with what
we have previously discovered : that superiors tend to
rise in the social scal e and that in advanced modern
societies there has been a marked concentration of su
ri ori ty in the middle and upper classes
But
when
we
e
p
of
WAR AGAINST C HAO S
THE
22 7
look more closely we see that there is no real discrepancy

In the rst place the con centration of ability in the upper
social strata is n ot absolute but relative Re latively
the upper and middle classes of society undoubtedly
contain a higher percentage of superiority than do the
lower classes But this most emphaticall y does n ot mean
that the upper and middle classes are made up wholly of
superi or persons while the lower social strata are com
posed wholl y of inferiors On the contrary the lower
social strata unquestionably contain multitudes of valu
able st rains whi ch have not yet displayed themselves by
risin g in the social sc al e This is particularly true where
the social ladder and assortative mating have not

d rai ned the lower classes and sharply stratied the p Op u
lation For example in the American Army Intelli genc e
Tests some of the best scores were made by illi terate
ignorant Southern mountaineers who had never before
been outside thei r native valleys In other words primi
tive conditions had held back a high grade Angl o Saxon
stock ; but the intelligence was there p assed on from
generation to generation and only awaiting a favorabl e
Opportuni ty to display itself
We thus see that superior intelligence is not a monopoly
of the upper an d middle social cl asses albeit they do
possess a distinct relative advantage in thi s respe ct
The next question whi ch naturall y arises is : Wh at are
the proportions of superi ors to mediocres and inferiors
withi n these classes ? The question of inferiority need
not long detain us The demands of modern lif e are suf
ci ently great and the social ladder works s u
fciently
.
228
THE
well to weed ou
t most of the distinctly inf eri or indi
als who arise in the upper and middle strata of so
vi du
ci ety by sociall y sterilizin g them as economic failures or
by forcing them down to lower social levels
With mediocrity however it is qu
i te otherwise
A
glance at social statistics is enough to prove that a large
proportion of both the upper and middl e classes mu st
consist of mediocrities Consider the relative size of
social groups In most Western nations from 5 to 10
l ation should certai nl y be counted
per cent of the popu
as belonging to the upper social cl asses while the middle
classes (urban and rural) probably run between 20 and
4 0 per cent
Now compare these gures with the matter
of in telli gence
We have al ready seen that biological
sociological and psychological researches have alike re
ve al ed the fact that hi gh intelligence is rare The Amer
ican Army Intelligence Tests indicate that only 4% per
cent of the American population are Of very superi or
intelligence ( Grade
whil e only 9 per cent are of
superior intelli gence (Grade

We have also
seen that superior intelligence is by no means exclusively
conned to the upper and middle social strata Yet
even if superi or intelligence were so conn ed we have
every reason to believe that these strata wou
ld still con
sist largely of mediocrities for the very simple reason
that there would not be enough genuine superiors to go
around
Thi s raises a third question : Within the upper social
strata what is the relative status of superiors an d
mediocres measured by recognized standards of achieve"
.
230
THE
have little to fear from social revolution A series of

constructive reforms would safeguard the future wh ile
the present revolutionary onslaught would be summarily
repell ed High intelligence is nearly always well poised
and can be depended upon in a crisis to keep cool and
do the right thing Me di ocri ty on the other hand lacks
poise an d vision Yet governments are to day every
where mainl y in me di ocre hands Governments should
govern ; should have faith in themselves and the prin
ciples they stand for ; and shoul d meet the chall enge of
aggressive minorities with intelli gent foresight in stant
action and u
n inching courage
The mere fact that the
revolutionists are a minori ty is no safeguard because it
is determi ned mi norities not p assive maj orities that
get thei r way The lesson of past revolutions parti c
ularly the Russian Bolshevik Revolution is that a small
but resolute faction possesses the same decisive tac
tical advantage as a small but hi ghl y discipli ned and
enthusiastic army attackin g a huge but ill organi zed and
spiritless foe In such cases the assailants have the in
estimable advantage of knowing what they want and
exactly where they mean to make their attack The de
fenders on the contrary not only do not know their own
mi nds but also usually fail to see precisely where when
and how the attack is comin g They stand fearful and
irresolute waiting to be hi t beaten before they are
struck
To avert this danger we need i ntelli gen t action For
one thi ng public Opinion should be carefully inf ormed
about the b asic issues involved When people appreciate
.
THE
WAR AG AINST C HAO S
23 1
l
the true nature of social revolution the irreparable cu
tural and racial losses the terri ble setback to progress
l ation ex
they wi ll realize tha t all sections of the popu
cept the inf erior and degenerate elements would be the
losers and they will resolve determinedly to preserve
civili z ation from disruption
By inf ormation however I most emphatically do
not mean propaganda

The truth about social revo
lu
ti on is enough to open the eyes of all who believe in
orderly progress ; while neither argument nor entreaty
can convert those temperamentally pre di spo sed to vio
lent subversive action We must clearly recognize that
there exists an irreconcilable minority of congenital revo
lu
ti oni sts born rebels against civi lization who can be
restrained only by superior force Thi s rebel mi nority
h as however evolved a phi losophy peculiarly enticing
in these troubled transition times when discontent is
rife Old beliefs shattered and the new goals not yet
pl ainly i n sight Under these circumstances the phi
losophy of revolt has attracted multitudes of persons i m
patient of present i lls and grasping at the hope of violent
short cuts to progress This is particularly true of cer
tain types of emotional liberals who play in with th e
revolutioni sts and are used as catspaws Here we
have the c hi ef reasons for that ide al ization of revolution
which has such a vogue in many quarters However
these u
nwitting dupes are not at heart irre concilable
enemies of society They simply do not realiz e that they
are on a path which leads to chaos If they came to real
iz e social revolution s in evitable cons equences most of
,
T HE
23 2
them would stop ai di ng the revolutionists in their at

tacks on society and woul d j oin forces wi th those who
are stri ving for constructive progress by evolutionary
methods The real revolutionists would thus be depri ved
of much of their present strength
and coul d be more
easily de al t with
N ow thi s may be accomplished by instructive inf orma
tion It cannot be accomplished by propaganda

Hysterical denunciations of Bolshevism specializin g in
atrocity stories and yarns like the nationalization of
women defeat their own Object They divert attention

from fundamentals to details generate heat without
light spread pani c rather than resolution and invite
blind reaction instead of di scri minating action Such
propaganda stirs up a multitude of silly people who run
around looking for Commu
nists under the bed and call in g
everybody a Bolshevik who happens to disagree with

them This modern witch n din g is not only fatuous ;
it is harmf ul as well Many of those denounced as Bol
are not genu

i ne social rebels at all but people
sh eviks
so harassed by social ills or personal misf ort unes that
they bli n dl y take Bolshevism s false promises at their
face value These people need education not persecu
tion To dragoon and insult them simply dri ves them
into the Bolsheviks arms The thing to do is to under
stand exactly who the real B olsheviks are attend to them
thoroughly and then give suspects the benet of the
doubt
The real social rebels shou
l d of course be given short
shri ft NO misguided sentimentality should shield those
,
2 34
THE
REVO LT AGAI NST C IV ILIZATIO N
think what you please Y ou may discuss what you

please Y ou may advocate what you please excep t i t
l
If you preach or in
i nvolve vi olence express or i m
p i ed
sinuate violence you will be punished If you throw
bombs you will be in di viduall y executed If you try
revolutions you wi ll be coll ectively wiped out But so
long as you avoid doing those forbidden things you may
be watched but you will not be interfered with

At thi s point the timid or stupid reactionary may ex
claim : But this is giving Bolshevism a chance to hi de
behi nd legal techn icalities " Granted

Thi s wi ll all ow
revolutionists to conduct a camouaged propaganda
l ts may be dangerous " Gran ted ;

Granted
The resu
all gran ted And yet we cannot do otherwise because
all the h arm the Bolsheviks mi ght do by clever abuse
of their freedom to thi nk and speak would be as nothing
to the harm done by denying them that freedom
Thi s harm would be manifold In the rst pla ce such
action would tend to defeat its own object and to en
cou
rage rather than suppress revolutionary unrest be
cau
se for every camouaged B olshevik who might be
ld
t and laid by the heels ten free spiri ts wou
smoked ou
be impelled to become revolutionists sin ce in their eyes
) B olshevism would be associated
(sin gul ar paradox "
with liberty In the second place any seri ous curtail
ment of free speech wou
l d render impossible the form a
tion of that intelligent public Opinion which we have
already seen to be so necessary for comprehending dif
cu
lti es and conceiving eff ective remedies Lastly such
a policy wo u
l d paralyze intellectual activity enthrone
.
WAR AGAINST C HA OS
THE
235
reaction and block progress To protect society from

disruption ho wever necessary is merely part of a larger
whole Social order must be preserved be cause that is
i
the vit al prerequ site of constructive progress But
constructive progress must t ake place Thi ngs cannot be
left as they are because under present condi tions we are
headed toward racial impoveri shment and cultural de
cline Ou
r chief hope for the future is the scientic spiri t
But that spirit thri ves only on unf ettered kn owledge and
t ruth Lacking this sustenan ce it withers and decays
O ne of Bolshevism s deadly sins is its brutal crushing of
intellectu al freedom Shall we be gu
ilty of the very c ri me
we so abhor in our enemies ? Wh at a wretched outcome :
to escape the destructive tyranny of Bolshevism only
to fall u
n der the pet ri fying tyranny of bourbo nism "
Heaven be praised humani ty is not restricted to so
poor a choice Another path lies open the path of race
betterment And science points the way We already
know enough to make a sure start and increasing knowl
r footsteps as we move on
edge will guide ou
That is
l aspect of the situation
the hopefu
We do not have to
guess We know All we need to do is to apply what
we have already learned and keep on usin g ou
r brains
The resul t will be such a combined incre ase of knowledge
and creative intelligence that many problems to-day in
superable will solve themselves
Furthermore science whi ch points the path to the
future gives us hope for the present as well M ateri ally
the forces of chaos may still be growing especially
through racial impoveri shment ; but morally they are
.
TH E REV O LT
236
being undermined Science especially biology is cutt ing

the ground from under their feet Even a de cade ago
when errors like environmentali sm and natu

ral equal
ity were generally accepted the Under-Man was able

T o day the b asic impor
to make ou
t a plausible case
tan ce of heredity and the real nature of inferiori ty are
becomi ng more an d more widely understood and ap
.
i
r
ated
ec
p
Indeed it is thi s very spread of scientic truth which

n
accounts largely for the growin g violenc e of social u
rest
Consciously or instinctively the revolutionary
leaders feel that the moral imponderables have de

and that they must therefore rely more
sert ed them
and more upon force D oes not Bolshevism admit that
it cannot peacefu
l ly convert the world but can t ri umph
only by the di ctatorshi p of a ruthl ess minority destroy
ing whole classes and then forcibly transforming the
remaining population by a long process of in tensive p rOpa
gan da extending perhaps for generations ? Wh at a mon
mental confessi on
strous doctri n e "But a lso what a m
onu
of m
oral bankru
p tcy "This is the counsel of desperation
not the assurance of victory
r in
That which maddens Bolshevism is however ou
spiration To u
An d her words are :
s science speaks
rsu
Su
m corda " Lift up your hearts" Have faith in
yourselves ; in your civilization ; in your race Tread
condently the path I have revealed to you Ye know
the truth and the truth shall make you free
,
238
THE
very old that it is the last of a long series of revolts

by the unadaptable i nferior and degenerate elements
against civi lizations whi ch have irked them and which
they have therefore wished to destroy The onl y new
thi ng about Bolshevism is its rationalizing of rebel

li ous emotions into an exceedingly insidious and per
suasive philosophy of revolt which has not merely welded
all the real social rebels but has also deluded many mis
guided dupes blind to what Bolshevism im ies Such
is the champion Of the Old primitive past : intrenched
behind ancient errors like environmentalism and natural
equali ty favored by the unrest of transition times and

reinforced by ever multiplying swarms of degenerates
and inferiors
Against thi s formidable adversary stands biology the
champion of the new Biology is one of the nest frui ts
Of the modern scientic spirit Ripened by the patient
labors of earnest seekers after truth biology has now at
Forth from a thousand
t ai ned a splendid maturi ty
quiet laborato ri es and silent library alcoves have emerged
discoveries which may completely alter hu
man destiny
These discoveries constitute the n ew bi ologi cal revela ti on
the mightiest transformation of ideas that the world
m
has ever seen Here indeed is somethi ng new : the u
veiling Of the mysteri ous life process the discovery of
the true path of progress the placing in man s hands of
the possi bil ity Of his own perfection by methods at once
safe and sure Such is the young science of applied b i
ology ; or as it is more generally termed Eugeni cs

the science of race betterment Eugenics is in fact
,
NEO AR IST O C R ACY
239
olving into a higher synthesis drawing freely from

other elds of knowledge like psychology and the social
sciences and thus tting itself ever more completely for
its exalted task
The fundamental change of both ideas and methods
involved in the eugeni c programme is at once apparent
Hitherto all political and social philosophi es however
much they might di ff er among themselves have been
agreed on certain principles : they have all believed that
envi ronm
ent was of basic importance and they have all
proposed to improve m an kind fromwi thout by changin g
a ls through the action of various political
exi sti ng i nd i vidu
and social agencies Eugenics on the other hand beli eve s
that heredi ty is the basic factor and plans to improve
the race from wi thi n by determining whi ch existing in
als shall
and shall not produce succeedi ng gen
divi du
This means the establishment of an i mproved
erati ons
social selection based upon bi ologi cal considerations in
stead of as hi therto upon envi ronmental considerations
Of course thi s new selection would operate mainly
through the old social and political agencies ; but these
would no longer be regarded as having speci c virtu e
in themselves and would be applied only in so far as they
tended to better the race Eugenics does not deny the
eff ect of environment : on the contrary it is precisely
because of environment s bad effects upon the race that
the science of eugeni cs has become such a vital necessity
What eugenics does say however is that environment
however powerful is an indirect secondary factor ; the
direct primary factor being heredity Therefore all
ev
240
THE
environmental inuences should be considered with ref

erence to heredity which shou
ld always be the funda
mental consideration Thus a new criterion of policy
and action is set up for every eld Of human activity
thereby involvi ng a general revaluation of all values
me may be thus succinctly stated :
Th e eugenic program
The problem Of eugenics is to make such legal social

and economi c adjustments that ( 1) a larger proportion
peri or persons will have chil dren than at present ;
of su
(2) that the average number Of Off spring of each superior
person will be greater than at present ; (3) that the most
inf erior persons wil l have no chi ldren ; an d (4) that other
1
inferior persons will have fewer children th an now
O f course eugeni cs does not propose to attain its ob
i
i
n
e
c
t
v
e
a day or at a stroke Inspired as it is by the
j
scientic spiri t it believes in evolution not revolution
and is thus committed to stri ctly evolutionary methods
Eugeni cs advocates no sudden leap into an un tri ed Utopia ;
it desires to take no steps which have not been sci en
tically tested and even then only when these have
gained the approval of intelligent publi c opinion Eu
n
i
n
e
c
i
s
does
claim
however
that
the
momentous
c
e
s
g
tic di scoveries of the past half century enable mankind
to make a sound start in the process of race betterment
It further claims that such a start is i mperative because
racial impoverishment is to day going on so fast an d
the forces of social disruption are growing so ominously
that delay threatens speedy disaster
The truth is that our race is facing the most acute crisis
Pop no and J ohnson A pp li d Eu
g ni s p v ( Pr f c )
,
,
.
e a e
THE REV O LT
242
and
energy he has shown and that the man who h as

repeatedly failed to u
se his one t al ent shall have no
fu
rther chan ce of wasting the corporate resources on
1
hi mself and hi s descendants
The effect of eugenic measures in p ermanent ly lighten
ing social burdens shoul d appeal strongly to a world
lti es
staggering under dii cu
Thi s does not mean that
established metho ds of reform shoul d be neglected
But it must be remembered that such methods aff ect
i ng as most of them do merely the environment requi re
a constant (if not incre asing) expendi ture to be kept up
T o quote Whetham again :

We must recogni ze an
essential diff erence between the two methods
To put
it b ri ey it seems as though work done by heredi ty was
work done once for all The destruction of a tainted
stock will leave a race eternall y the better for its removal
the breeding out of a good strain cau
ses an irreparable
lo ss ; whereas improvements due to environment alone
require a constant expenditure of energy to maintain
them in exi stence The one may be compared to an ac
tual gain of capital as far as the human race is concerned ;
the other involves a constant expenditure of income
perfec t ly justied as long as the increase in capital is
maintained but unjusti able when capital must be drawn
upon
Looki ng at our problem in th is light we see that

there must be some rela t i on be t ween the average inna t e
capaci t y of a nati on and the eff ec t l ikely to be produced
,
W h e tham,
1 91 1
De c aden
ce
an d
i vi li ti
za
on,
Hi bbert J ou
rna l, O
ctobe
r,
NEO AR ISTO CRACY
243
by the expenditure of a given amou

nt of energy on im
proving the environment If a race falls back in its ih
born qualities ; if o wing to the efforts of phi lanthropists
and the burdens of unsou
nd taxation more of the failures
of civi li zation reach maturity and parenthood and fewer
competent persons are brought into existence to su
p
port them not onl y has the nation less energy to use
for the mai ntenance and improvement of its social con
di ti ons but such energy as is avail able wi ll produce a
correspondin gly small er eff ect The old standard can
be maint ai ned if at all only by a policy of overspen di ng
leading to bankruptcy We have in fact conditions in
which retrogression will set in and the environment wil l
1
follow the heredity down hill
Another point to be emphasized is the necessity for
seeing how environmental measures aff ect racial interests
On e of the gravest obj ections to environmentalism is
its tendency to look at social and political reforms as
ends in themselves Scrutini zed from the racial view
poi nt many of these reforms reveal racially harmful
consequences which more than o ff set their benecial as
pe cts and so require their modication in order to be
desirable in the long run Take the matter of poor relief
for example Its necessity and desirability are generally
acknowledged Yet however pathetic may be the ob
ec
t
o
f
s
public charity the interests of society and the
j
race alike require that poor relief carry with it one im
r
a
i
v
obligation
habitual
paupers
hould
be
pre
e
t
e
:
s
p
vented from having children Otherwise charity will
Wh th m op it
.
24 4
TH E REVO LT
l and u
merely mean more paupers a resul t harmf u
nf ai r
both t o the thrifty and capable members of society who
pay the taxes and to society itself which ought to expend
its taxes as far as possible for productive purposes
Again take the question of the social ladder

We
have already observed how the abili ty of superi or in
als to r
i se easil y in the social scale is characteristic
di vi du
This is somethi ng which
of a progressive civili zation
no well informed an d righ t thinking man can deny Ao
rtheran ce of the career open to talent

cordi ngly the fu
is the constant solicitude of social reformers And yet
here too the racial view point is needed Suppose the
social ladder were so perfected that virtually all abil ity

could be dete cted and raised to its proper social level
The immediate resu
l t would be a tremendous display
B ut if thi s problem were consid
of talent an d genius
ered merely by itself if no measures were devised to coun
i li z ation
r
a
the
age
e
c
t
old tendency toward the social ster
t
and elimi nation of successfu
l superiors that di splay of
tal ent woul d be but the prelude to utter racial impoverish
l tu
ment and irreparable racial and cu
ral decli ne As
things now stand it is the very imperfections of the so
whi ch retard racial impoveri shment and

ci al ladder
minimize its disastrous consequences
Rememberin g the necessity for viewing all political
and soci al projects in the light of raci al consequences
let us now consider the eugeni c programme itself The
problem of race betterment consists of two disti nct
phases : the mu
l tiplication of superi or individuals an d
the elimination of inf eriors in other words the exact
T HE REV O LT
246
AGAI NST C IVILIZATIO N
very existence
Congenitally incapable of adjusting
themselves to an advanced social order the degenerate
inevitably become its enemies particu

larly those hi gh
grade defectives who are the natural fomenters of social

unrest O f course the environmentalist argues that so
n rest is due to bad social conditions but when we
ci al u
go into the matter more deeply we n d that bad con
diti on s are due largely to bad people The mere presence
of hordes of low grade men and women condemned by
their very natures to incompetency an d failure automat
i cally engender poverty invite exploitation and dr ag
down others just above them in the social sc al e
r social ills are largely the product
We thus see that ou
i nation of degeneracy
of degeneracy and that the elim
would do more than anything else to solve them But
degeneracy can be elimin ated only by eliminating th e
degenerate And thi s is a raci al not a social matter
NO merely social measures can ever touch the heart of
the problem In fact they tend to i ncrease its gravity ;
because aimin g as they do to improve existing indi
l titudes of the unt and
vi du
als they carry al ong mu
enable them to propagate more largely of their kind
If then society is ever to rid itself of its worst bu
r
dens soci al reform must be increasingly supplemented
by racial reform Unt indivi duals as well as unjust
social conditions must be eliminated To make a better
world we must have better men an d women No reform
of laws or inst itutions or economic systems will bring
that better world unl ess it produces better men and
women too
.
NEO AR ISTO CRACY
24 7
Society must therefore grapple resolutely with the

problem of degeneracy The rst step should be the pre
venti on of all obvious degenerates from having chil dren
Thi s woul d mean in practice segregatin g most of them
in institutions O f co u
rse that in turn would mean a
1
great immediate expense But in the long run such ou
t
lays would be the truest economy We have already seen
how expensive degenerates are to society A single de
generate family like the Ju
k es may cost the state millions
of dollars And to these direct costs there must be ad ded
i ndirect cost s which probably run to far larger gur es
Think of the loss to the national wealth me asured in
mere dollars and cents of a sou
nd energetic stock ru
ined
by an infusion of Jukes blood Thi nk of the immeasu
r
ably greater loss represented by a tainted genius hi s

talents perverted from a potential soci al blessing into
an actu al social curse by the destructive action of a de
enerate
strain
i
n
his
heredity
g
However even if we leave all indirect damage ou
t of
consideration the di rect costs of degeneracy are so oh
vi ou
s and so computable that as a cold nancial proposi
tion the otation of public bond issues to defray the
expenses of immediate wholesal e segregation would be
amply justied
The consequent dimi nution in the
Ev n i n th most ci vili ed c ount i s only sm ll f cti on of thos wh o
l d b cl
ly s g g t d
n d th u
sh ou
nd
in tituti on l c
s
to d y u
d b d f om ll p ossib ility of p od uction In th Uni t d S t t s fo
e
m wh ich nks th hi gh i n thi s spe ct only 1 0 o 1 5 per c nt
O f t h Ob vi ously f bl mi nd d e in instituti on T h
d wi ll c ll
tha t i n th ye r 1 9 1 5 out O f pp oxim t ly 600 li vin g f b l -mi n d d nd
T h ou
e pil ptic J u
k es onl y three w i n custodi l c
s an d c a e fo
th vast h osts of d f ti v s now t l rge wou
l d req u
i re from ve to ten
ti m s t h p ese n t nu
mbe of institutions
,
ear
arre
xa
re
re
ra
ra
ee
e-
e re a
ee
are
a e
er
a e
ere
are a
ra
ar
re
e ec
er
er
- a
are
a e
e,
re
re a
THE REVO LT AGAINST CIV ILIZATI O N
248
numbers of paupers vagabonds criminals etc would

unquestionably enable the State to get all its money
1
back with a handsome prot besides
O f course even the rigorous segregation of all clearly
defective individual s now alive wou
l d not ext i nguish
degeneracy The vast outer fringe wou

l d for genera
tions produce large quotas of in stitutional recruits B ut
these quot as would get steadily smaller because the
c entres of pollution wou
l d have been removed
And
thi s once done the racial stre am would graduall y purify
itself R emember that race cleansing once done is done
for good and all The whole weight of scientic evi dence
shows that degeneracy is caused not by environment
but by heredity ; that the degeneracy with which we
have to deal is an Old degeneracy due to taints which
have been carried along in the germ plasm for generations
If then this mass of degeneracy the accu
mulation of
centuries could be once got rid of it would never agai n
recur Sporadic degenerates might now and then be
born but these isolated cases leaving no off sp ri ng would
be of negli gible importan ce
We thus see that a general and consistent application
of those methods which even now are approved by public
2
Opinion and are al ready practised on a small scale wou
ld
T h c ost O f su
ch institutions woul d not be s gr t as m ny p sons
i m gi
Th old i d
of hu
cks wh t h inm t s w k pt n
g b
n ed is gi ving w y t o th
th
f m-colony i d
H
p ti nts l d
h l thf ul out f-d oor lif wh th y are not onl y c ont nt d b ut n
much of th ir k p It must b m mb ed th t m ny d f cti v s poss ss
t phy ic l st ngt h nd njoy ha d muscul x tion
g
Pub lic O pin i n t o d y g n ll y pp ov s th s g g ti on of d f
t iv s T h e p rin cipal difcu
l ty t o th o ou
gh going s g g ti on is th e m tter
of xpense
,
ne
ea
ea
re a
2
-O
ee
re
arra
ere
ar
ere
e,
e re
- a
er
ere
e ra
ea
ere
a e
e e
ar e er
e re
e re a
er
ea
co
ea
ear
e ee
THE
2 50
a l it is al ways kin d
ward the i ndi vidu
When eugenics
the degenerate must be eliminated it refers not

says
to existing degenerates but to their potential off spring
Those potenti al children if eugenics h as its way will
never be Th is supreme Object once accomplished how
ever there is every reason why the defective in di vidual
should be treated with all possible consideration In
fact in a society ani m ed by eugenic principles de
generates and inf eriors generally would be treated far
better th an they are to day ; because such a society woul d
not have to fear that more charity wou
ld spell more in
feri ors It would also be more in clined to a kindly atti
tude because it would realize that defects are due to
heredity and that bad germ plasm can be neither
punished nor reformed
Fu
r
t hermore the very conversi on of public Opini on
to the eugeni c view point woul d itself tend powerq y to
purify the race by voluntary action Legal measu
res
l d apply in prae
like segregation and sterilization wou
tice only to the most inferi or elements whose lack of in
telli gen ce and self control render them incapable of ap
i
n
r
c
i
a
t
f
the
interests
society and thus make legal
e
o
g
p
comp u
l sion necessary The hi gher grades of unsoundn ess
would not be directly aff ected Right here however the
pres su
re Of enlightened public Opin ion would come int o
play Later on we shall consider the fu
ll implications of
the development in the general population of a t rue racial
consciousness what may be termed a eugenic con
fce it here to say that the exist ence of su

science
Su
ch
an attitude would eliminate the higher grades of mental
.
NEO AR IST O CRACY
2 51
d efect by voluntary action as rapidly as

were bein g eliminated by legal action
the acuter grades

In a society ani
mated by a eugeni c conscience the begetting of unsound
children woul d be regarded with horror and public Opin
ion would instinctively set u
p strong social taboos which
ld eff ectively restrain all except reckl ess and anti
wo u
wh o of course would be restrained
al %
social in di vidu
.
l d not however mean wholesal e

Such social taboos wou
In the rst place a large proportion of tho se
c elib acy
p ersons who carry hereditary taints in their germ plasm
carry them in latent form These latent or recessive

t aints do their bearers personally no harm and in most
c ases will not appear in their chil dren unl ess the bearers
many persons carry ing li ke taints By avoiding unions
with these particular people not only wil l sound children
be reasonably assured by wise matings but the taints
t hemselves will ordi narily be bred ou
t of the stock in a
c ouple of generations and the germ plasm will thus be
Furthermore even those pe rsons who carry
p uri ed
taints which make parenthood inad visable need n ot be
d ebarred from marri age
The sole limi tation would be
t hat they should have no children
An d this will be per
f ectly fe asible because when public opini on acquires
the racial view point the present silly and vicious atti
n
t ude toward birth control will be abandoned and u
d esirable children will not be conceived
By the combin ation of legal social and individual
a ction above desc ri bed the problems O f degeneracy and
i nf eri ority attacked both from above and from below
,
252
THE REVOLT
AGAI NST C IVILIZATI O N
would steadil y dimini sh and the racial stream would be

as steadily puried The point to be emphasized is that
this can be eff ected almost wholly by a broader and more
intelligent appli cation of processes already operating and
already widely sanctioned by public opini on Segrega
tion of defectives appreciation of racial principles wise
marriage selection birth control : these are the main
items in the programme of race purication Thi s pro
gramme is thus seen to be strictly evolutionary and es
The rst steps are so simple an d
senti all y conservative
so obvious that they can be taken without any notable
r social or legal standards and without any
change in ou
real off ense to intelligent public opinion Fu
rt her steps
can safely be left to the future and there is good reason
to believe that those steps will be taken far sooner than
is generally imagined because the good resu
lts of the
rst steps wi ll be so apparent an d so convincing
Such briey is the process of race cleansing known
negative eugenics M an y earnest believers in race

as
betterment are incli ned to mini mize eugeni cs

nega
tive aspect Such persons declare that the vital prob
lem is the i ncre ase of superiors and that the positive

phases of the eugeni c programme must therefore b e
equally emphasized from the start
Now in thi s I think they are mistaken O f course the
isite to
i ncrease of superi or types is an absolute prerequ
the perfecting of the race But race perfecting is a much
more difcult matter than race cleansing and involves
measures for most of whi ch publi c opinion is not yet pre
pared Al so besides questions of expedi ency th ere is
,
THE
254
REVO LT AGAINST CIVIL IZATI O N
t any one who stood to gain by social order and progress

O f course the mediocre m asses would be decidedl y con
servat ive and would hold back progress ; but their con
servati sm would be much more leavened by common
sense cooperation and public spiri t than is now the
case and constructive proposals wou
ld thus get a fairer
heari ng and stand a better chance of ad option
Now when we contrast thi s picture with ou
r present
day world disorganized seethi ng threatened with down
r
i ght chaos I submit that some such stabili zation as I
have desc ri bed must rst be attained before we can de
vote ourselves to creating a super race O ur particular
j ob is stopping the prodigious spread of infe ri ori ty whi ch
r best stocks but
is now going on We may be losing ou
we are losing them much more slowly than we are multi
1
r worst
plying ou
O ur study of diff erential birt h rates
showed us that if these remain unchanged our most i n
t ell i gent stocks will di mini sh from one-third to two thirds
r least
in the next hundred years ; it also showed that ou
intelli gent stocks will in crease from six to tenf old in the
same time O bviously it is this prodigious spawnin g of
inferiors whi ch must at all costs be prevented if society
is to be saved from disruption and dissolution Race
cleansing is apparently the onl y thing that can stop it
r rst con cern
Therefore race cleansing must be ou
O f course thi s do es not mean that race building
should be neglected O n the contrary we sho u
ld be
thi nking hard along those lines Onl y for the i mmediate
r energies upon the
present we should concentrate ou
III
In C ha pt
.
er
NEO ARISTO C RA CY
2 55
pressing problem of degeneracy until we have actuall y

in operation legal measures whi ch will fairly promise to
get it under control Meanwhile the very fact that we
are thi nking eugenically at all wi ll of itself produce im
portant positive resu
lts These may not take the form
reected
of legal enactments but they will be powerft
in changed ideals and stan dards of social conduct The
development of that eugenic conscience whi ch as we

have already seen promises to play so important a part
in the elimination of the hi gher grades of degeneracy
will also impel the well e ndowed to raise larger families
prefer children to luxuries and discriminate between the
high cost of living and the cost of high livi ng People
will think less about rights an d more about duties

will come to consider their race much as they do their
country and wi ll m ake sac ri ces for posteri ty such as
they now make for patriotism
In fact such an attitude will soon render public Opinion
ripe for considering den ite eugenic measures of a con
structive character O ne Of these measures which is
alread y foresh adowed is a remi ssion of taxation propor
1
t i on at e to the number of chil dren in families
Later on
society may O ff er rewards for the production of desirable
c h ildren Such action will however have to be very
carefully safeguarded Any in disc ri min ate subsi di zin g of
large famili es regardless of their racial value would b e
extremely disastrous It wou
l d mean merely another
,
For
x mpl
e a
x mpti on
t i ons f or
e e
ited St ates F d l In come T x g ants a larger

to mar i ed tha n to singl e p sons an d ll ows fu
rt h er d ed u
c
d ep end n ts in cludin g of cou
ch il dren
rse mino
e:
Th e Un
r
e
era
er
THE
256
tax burden upon the thrifty and capable for the stimu
nt
who need no sti mul atin g "O nly
lation of the u
where the racial superi ori ty of the couples i n question is
clearly apparent as shown by proven ability psych ol og
ical tests and sound heredity should such subsidies be
granted
These and a few other kin dred matters are probably
the only denitely constructive legal measures for which
public opinion is even partiall y prepared But there is
nothing discouraging in that The great thin g as al
ready stated is to get people thinking racially With
the development of a eugenic conscience and the curb

ing of degeneracy plans for race building will almost
formulate themselves There is the inestimable advan
tage of a movement b ased on the evolutionary principle
and inspired by the scientic spiri t Such a movement
does not like a scheme for utopia have to spri ng forth
in detailed perfection from the imagination of its creator
like Minerva from the brow of Zeus O n the contrary
it can evolve steadily but surely moving along many
lin es testing its own soundness at every step and win
nin g favor by proofs instead of promi ses
There are several routes on whi ch one can proceed

with the condence that if no one of them is the main
road at least it is likely to lead into the latter at some
time Fortunately eugenics is paradoxical as it may
seem able to advance on all these paths at once ; for it
proposes no deni te goal it sets up no one standard to
which it would make the human race conform Taking
man as it nds him it proposes to multiply all the typ es
THE RE VOLT
258
ogress security and even exist ence ; when they reali z e

th at a single genius may be worth more in actual dollars
than a do z en gold min es while conversely racial de
ral
cadence spells material impoverishment and cul t u
d ecay ; when such things are really beli eved we shall see
ldi ng social programmes and polit
eugeni cs actually mo u
ical policies
And as already stated there is much evidence to show
that this may happen sooner than is now imagined
Many believers in race betterment are undul y pessimistic
O f course their pessimism is qu
ite natural R ealizing as
they do the supreme importance of the eugeni c idea its
progress seems to them u
n conscionably slow To the
student of history however its progress seems ext raor
O nly twenty years ago eugeni cs was
dinari ly rapid
virtually unknown outside of a few scientic circles To
day i t h as won a rm footin g with the intell ectual lite
of every civilized land and h as gained the interested
attention of public Opinion History shows that when
an idea has reached thi s poin t it tends to sp read with
ever acceleratin g rapidity In my opinion then eu
n
i
e
st s whether laboring in the abstract eld of research
g
for the further elucidation of the idea or engaged in en
lighteni ng publi c opinion may one and all look forward
hopefully to the operation of a sort of law of i ncreasing
returns that will yield resul ts as surprising as they are

b enecent as the next few decades roll on
The one deadly peril to the cause of race betterment
is the possibili ty of social disrupti on by t he ant i social
elements in stinctively hostile to eugeni cs as they are
r
p
N EO AR IST O CR ACY
259
every other phase of progressive civili z ation If thi s

peril can be averted the triumph of race betterment is
practically certain becau

se eu
geni cs can deli ver the goods
When public Opini on once realizes thi s publi c opinion
will be not merely willing but anxious that the goods be
delivered When society realizes the incalculable value
of superior stocks it will take precious good care that
its racial treasures are preserved and fostered Superior
stock will then be cherished not only for its high average
value but because it is also the seed bed from which
alone can arise those rare personalities of geni us who
tower like mou
ntain pealmabove the human plain an d
to whose creative inuence progress is primarily due
The people whi ch fosters its superior stocks will be
thus twice blessed In the rst place such stocks will
produce generation after generation an unfaili ng supply
of men and women of abili ty of energy of civic worth
who will leaven society and advance every eld of h u
man endeavor And in addition to all this those same
stocks will from time to time produce a genius o ne

of those innitely rare but innitely precious minds which
change man s destiny and whose names reverberate
athwart the ages
Every race requ

i res leaders
These leaders appear
from time to time and enough is now known about eu
geni os to show that their appearan ce is frequently pre
di ct able not accidental
It is possible to have them
appear more frequently ; and in ad dition to raise the
level of the whole race making the entire nation happier
and more useful Th ese are the great tasks of eugeni cs
to
THE REVO LT
2 60
AGAI NST C IVILIZATIO N
America needs more famil ies like that old Puritan strain
which is one of eugenics familiar examples :
At thei r head stands Jonathan Edwards and behind

him an array of his descendants numbering in the year
1 900
were college graduates ; 1 3
of whom
r greatest colleges ; 6 5 professors in col
presidents of ou
leges besides many pri ncipals of other important edu
cat i onal inst itutions; 6 0 physicians many of whom were
eminent ; 1 00 and more clergymen missionaries or theo
logic al professors; 75 were ofcers in the army and navy ;
6 0 prominent authors and writers by whom 1 35 books
i t were wri tten and published and 1 8 important
of mer
periodicals edited ; 33 Ameri can States and several for
i es have proted by the b enecent inuences
eign countr
of their eminent activity ; 100 and more were lawyers
of whom one was our most eminent professor of law ;
3 0 were judges ; 80 held public oi ce of whom one was
vice-president of the United States ; 3 were United States
senators ; several were governors members of Congress
framers of State consitu
ti ons mayors of cities and minis
ters to foreign courts ; one was president of the Paci c
Mail Steamshi p Company ; 1 5 railroads many banks
insurance companies and large industri al enterp ri ses
have been indebted to their m an agement Almost if
not every department of social progress and of the publi c
weal h as felt the impul se of this healthy and long lived
family It is not known that any one of them was ever
1
convicted of crime
Such is the record of the Jonathan Edwards strai n
Popenoe nd Johnson pp 16 1 1 6 2
THE
26 2
Eugenics
sets up no speci c superman as a type to

whi ch the res t of th e race must be made to conf orm It
is not looking forward to the cessation of its work in a
a l process whi ch seeks
illennium It is a p erpetu
eugenic m
only to raise the level of the race by the production of
fewer people with physical and mental defects and more
people with physical and mental excellences
Such a
l d be able to perpetuate itself to subdue n a
race shou
ture to improve its environment progressively ; its mem
bers should be happy and productive To establish such
a goal seems justied by the knowledge of evolution whi ch
is now available ; and to make progress toward it is pos
1
sible
The eugenic ideal is thus seen to be an ever-perfecti ng
su
Not the superman
of Nietzsche
that
per race
brilliant yet baleful vi sion of a master caste bloomin g
like a gorgeous but parasitic orchi d on a rotting trunk of
servi le degradation ; but a super race cleansing itself
f
h
u
by
the
e
li
mination
o
its
defects
and
ra
i
sing
t
throu
o
g
u
l
f
l
itself throu
by
the
c
tivation
its
qua
ities
h
o
u
t
o
g
Such a race will imply a new civilization O f cou
rse
eve n under the most favorable circumstances neither
this race nor this civilization can come tod ay or to mor
row perhaps not for many generations ; because like
all really enduring creations they will be the products
evolutionary process not of aming
of a progressive
revolution or numbing reaction
Yet thi s evolutionary process however gradual must
r dreams
ultimately produce changes almost beyond ou
nd Johnson p 16 6
Pop no
,
,
.
e a
NEO ARIST O CRACY
2 63
ph ase of human existence will be transformed :

laws and customs arts and sciences ideas and ideals
even man s conception of the Innite
How shall we characteri z e this society of the future ?
I believe it may be best visualized by one word : Neo
A ri stocracy The ide al of race perfection combines and
harmonizes in to a hi gher synthesis the hi therto coni ct
ing ideas of ari stocracy and democracy I am here re
ferri ng not to the specic political aspects which those
ideas have at various times assu
med but to their broader
aspects as philosophies of life and conduct
Viewed in this fundamental light we see democracy
b ased upon the concept of human si mi lari ty and aris
t ocracy based upon the concept of human dierenti ati on
O f cou
rse both concepts are in a sense valid Compared
to the vast diff erences between mankind and other life
fo rms human diff erences sink into insignicance and
mankind appears a substantial unity Compared with
each other the wide diff erences between men themselves
stand ou
t an d mankin d becomes an al most innite di
versity
If these distinctions had been clearly recogni zed de
mocracy and aristocracy would have been viewed as
parts of a larger truth and there mi ght have been no
deep antagonism between them Unf ortun ately both
concepts were formulated long ago when science was in
its infancy and when the laws of life were vi rtually u
n
known Accordingly both were fou
nded largely on false
notions : democracy upon the fall acy of natu
ral equ
a li ty
ari stocracy upon the fall acy of artici al i nequ
ali ty
Eve ry
'
2 64
THE
Thus b ased on error both democracy and aristocracy

worked badly in practice : democracy tending to pro
duce a destructive levelling equality ; aristocracy tend
ing to produce an unjust oppressive inequality Thi s
merely increased the antagonism between the two sys
tems; be cause one was continually invoked to cu
re the
harm wrought by the other and because social ills were
ascribed exclusively to the defeated party instead of
being di agnosed as a joint product
r
For the past half centu
y the democratic idea has
gained an unparalleled ascenda ncy in the world while
t he aristocratic idea has been correspondingly discredited
In deed so complete has been democracy s triumph that
it has been accorded a su
perstitio u
s veneration an d any
criticism of its fundamental perfection is wi dely regarded
as a sort of l semaj est or even heresy
Now this is an unhealthy state of af fairs because the
democratic idea is not perfect but is a mi xture of trut h
with errors like natural equality which modern science

has proved to be clearly unsound Such a situation is
unworthy of an age claiming to be i nspired by that sci en
ti c spiri t whose basic qual ity is unin ching love of truth
In a scientic age no idea should be sacrosanct no
facts above analysis an d criticism O f course criticism
and an al ysis should be measured and scienti c not
ld
mere outbursts of emotion Traditional ideas shou
receive just consideration with due regard for the fact
that they must contain much truth to have established
In like mann er new ideas
an d m ai nt ai ned them
selves
should also receive just consideration so long as thei r
,
THE REVO LT
26 6
being undemocratic they shou

l d answer :
Right you are "Science especially biology h as dis

closed the falsity of certain ideas like natural equality
and the omnipotence of environment on whi ch the demo
cratic concept is largely based We aim to take the sound
elements in both the traditional democratic and aristo
cratic philosophies and combine them in a h igher syn
thesis a new philosophy worthy of the race and th e
civilization that we visualize

O f course it may be asked why if thi s new philosophy
is such a synthesis it might not be called Aristo-democ
racy or even N eo D emocracy

To which I would
answer that I have no b asi c objection provided we all
Labels matter comparatively little
agree on the facts
It is the thi ngs labelled which count
Yet after all labels do have a certain value If they
mean precisely what they say this in turn means exact
i nformation as to the facts and hence avoids the pos
sib ility of unsoun d reasoning based on faulty prem
i ses
Now I believe that f or the ti me bei ng at any rate the new
philosophy should be called Neo Aristocra cy ; be

c au
se it involves rst of all the disestablishment of the
democratic cult and the rehabil itation of the discredited
aristocratic idea For despite its many u
n sound ele
ments the aristocratic idea does contain somethi ng en
nobli ng which must be preserved and incorporated i nto
the phi losophy of the morrow To day therefore the
value of the aristocratic principle sho u
ld be emphasized
as a healthy in tellectual reaction aga inst the overweening
preponderance of the democratic idea
Generations
c sed
of
NEO AR IS TOC RACY
26 7
hence when the elimination of degeneracy and even of

mediocrity shall have produced something like generalized
superiority the approach to rea l equality between men
will have become so evi dent that thei r philosophy of life
may better be termed Neo D emocracy

Other times
other fashions Let us not usurp the future
O ne last point should be carefully noted Wh en I
speak of Neo Aristocracy as applicable to-day I refer
At present no basic political
to outlook not practice
Certainly an y
c hanges are either possible or desirable
r existing social upper classes as

thought of ou
N eo
l d be to put it mildly a bad j oke

Aristocracies wou
We have already seen that while these cl asses do u
n
questionably contain the largest percentage of superi or
strains they are yet lo aded down with medioc ri ties and
are peppered with degenerates and inf eriors We must
absolutely banish the notion that Neo Aristocracy wil l
o
f
rpetuate
that
cardinal
vice
traditional
ar
stocracy
i
e
p
caste
Classes there probably will be ; but these classes
however dened thei r functions wi ll be extremely uid
as regards the individuals who compose them No true
su
perior wherever born will be denied admission to the
hi ghest class ; no person wherever bo rn can stay in a
class unless he measures up to sp ecications
f
The attainment o Neo Aristocracy im ies a long
political evolution the exact course of which is probably
unpredictable However a recognition of the goal and
of the fundamental principles involved sho u
ld help us
r way
on ou
That way will assuredly be long At best it will prob
,
m
.
268
T HE
ably take many generations It may take many cen

r
i es Who knows whether our present hopes are not
tu
dreams ; whether the forces of chaos will not disrupt
civili zation an d plunge us into a D ark Age

l d be left u
Well even so there wou
faith For may
s
we not believe that those maj estic laws of life whi ch now
stand revealed will no more p ass utterly from human
ken than have other great discoveri es like the sowing of
grain and the control of re ? And therefore may we
not hope that if not to day then in some better ti me
the race will insu
re its own regeneration ? To doubt
this would be to deny that mysterious p ri mal urge whi ch
raising man from the beast lifts his eyes to the stars
.
INDEX
2 70
u
B ro i lh et . 1 87
uc l e , 4 1
u h a, l 4
u an
th e . 1 0 7
u e 28
xp e i
en ta l
T ests of
rt .
Bu
yri
ut e b y M c
Gene a 1 1116 111 06 116 8 ,
62
ga
Sa u
e ,
ewh on , as e e en ce ,
B t e
22 1 n
B
B
B
B
k
dd
rb k Lu r
rk
C l E rm
rl
q o d
D ou ll
m l Er
rfr
ul r
.
C d J k p rf t ty p of r volut i o
y 1 42 f
C r p o t l rvi u d r 7 ; g
l l4
C rv r T N I t rod ut i o t B l
C mh
ti
quot d 1 6 6
S i li m
17
C t t ll Prof or 1 1 1
C tury T h Gi lb r t M urr y quot d
from 1 6 2
C h ld i vil i z t i o i 6
Ch i
i vi li z t i o
du bi li t y of 7 9
Ch r i ti do t ri of qu li t y 3 8
C i vi li z t i o l i w t r d m d
l w of i vi l i
m 6 : p rog r i 7
ti
d d
1 1 : w ig h t of
y 9
mod r 1 5 ; r i l l m t of world
i vil i z t i o
84 : t h r
t
d by d g
r y 10 1 ; d f
t d g
g i
r y 106 ; i r
li b y l t
t
m r ri g f w hi ld
1 1 7 ; th r
d b y d t ut i v ri t i i m 1 2 7
d b y r volut i o 1 4 0
th
t
m t h od g i t r volut i o 2 23 i ;
d of i nt lli g t t i o b y 23 0
tio
p i t t i tud
d
23 3 J ;
l upp ort of 23 8
b i ologi
Cl w 1 6 9 1 8 2 17
A
h
i
1 4 6 1 58
Cl t
Col r B i rd Commi i o r of Ch r i
ti
1 22
C ll g gr du t m rri g d b i rt h
r t mo g 1 1 1 f
Communi m t t mpt d i 1 84 8 1 50 :
M rxi 1 5 2 ; i R u i 1 7 8 1 8 1 ;
ry of 1 84 : p ri of u d r B ol
th
h
i m 1 8 5 i ; R u ll
d rt i o
of p rt y 1 8 9 17
Co kli E dwi Gr t T h Di r ti f
Hum E luti quot d 2 2 2
Cop l d H l t h Commi i o r 1 2 2
Cour o Joh A F tory f Li t r ur
quot d 2 0 7
Cox H rold E n mi L i b rty quot d
142
167 i
Cri m w v n tur of 1 3 6
Cri t i i m S D st ru ti v
C ubi m 1 3 7
Cz ri m 1 80
ac
e,
ar
a sa
e ra
ec
se
s a
oc a
ce
as
'
raso
on,
za
en
as
ess
en
e,
ea , c
n ese c
an
eca
e n,
es e n an
c ac
c ac
ea e n e
a a ns
n c eases ce
ns,
ac
n ac
ars s,
ss
ne
a es,
a e a
eo
ce
e an
on ,
ec
on o
ne
'
e at
e,
es,
c s
co o
ee
ese
ac
ss
n,
ea
n s,
e
an
vo
n.
an
sse
ss a ,
s ev s
a e an
an ,
o e e
'
ar,
e s,
a e
ac
ca
en
n,
es an
c a
n,
en
oo z ,
c s
nee
en
ea
e c
s a a ns
ac
re n .
rea e ne
en s
e e
es r c
ass
e e nse
e ne
s ec
n,
a e,
ac a
ess n ,
on
n . c ass c ,
za
ra
ne
n,
an
ns n .
D arb i shi re A
I ntr
od
ucti on
to 0 Bi
l
r fr
221
D rwi T h O ri gi f S p i by M
r l S l ti 42
f N tu
D v port 1 1 3
D t h of t h M i ddl Cl
1 21 6
D l r t i o of I d p d
38
D l r t i o of t h R igh t of M
38
D f ti v
I f ri ori t y
S
t r vol u
D f
B ol h vi m
ti o
g i
t
Ci vi l i z t i o
S
Dg r y r i l
d g rm pl m 44
u of i f ri or i t y 1 00 t h t t
:
i vi li
tio
10 1 245 f 4 l
d r hi p
i n 1 0 2 ; d t rut i v
o i l i u of
1 0 2 1T ; l i m
i
tio
of 2 4 6 ; i t i
tu
ti
t r t r i t 24 7
248 f
S
l o I f r i or i t y
D mo r y
ov rdr w pi t u 1 0 2
i u
t t h or y 2 6 4
f i
D t rut i v ri t i i m y mp t o m of i
ipi
d 126
t r vol u
ti o
126 ; d
j ; g lori t i o of t h p ri mi t i v b y
1 27 ; R ou
u xp o t of 1 2 8
D t rmi i m o omi 1 5 7
D ut h A l lg m i Z i tu a M
h
k
ki qu
ot d from 1 3 1 i 1 33
D vr i 4 3
D t i
ky 1 7 9
D y mi mi or i t i 2 2 4
E dw rd
Jo t h f mi ly of 2 6 0
E goi m or igi of t h ory of t ur l
q u li t y 3 2
E gyp t i vi l i z t i o i n 6 ; dur n f
i vi l i z t i o
i
9
E lli H v l k 8 0
E g l
1 5 2 1 54
E g l d r i l d so i l l ti v
i
80
p ro
E ngli h H or B Y l Psy h l gi l
di
quot d b y M D ug ll 6 1 3
S tu
E vi ro m t o t r t d wi t h h r di t y
up or
L m r ki m t r
35
t
of 40 ; l w of di mi i hi g i
u
4 7 t ;
ff t u
p p rform
of h r di t ry i n li n t i o 7 4
E pi l p y 9 8 f
E qu li t y
tu
r l S N tur l quli t y
E ug i 3 6 ; i
fou d d b y Fr
G l to 4 2 ; to i mp rov o i l
i
l ti o 9 2 2 3 9 ; f to B ol h i m
2 3 8 ; p rog r mm of 2 4 0 2 4 4
2 52 ;
p o i t i v nd g t i v 2 4 5
d i di
to k
g t r t m t of
bli opi i o d
i d ul
249
pu
2 50 1T ; o i l ou dn
d 2 53 f
on i t i ou t ow rd 255 ; t x
ti o
d 2 55 ; p r t i
li t y of 25 7 f ;
26 1 f
p rf t i g pr
.
o ogy , as
e e e nce ,
n,
en
eans
ec es
ec a a
ec a a
n,
ac a
na
e s
ns
e nce
rea
ea
e s c a
es
as
es
ons
an
n,
s e
n e
za
an ,
ca se
e n ce ,
ee
e en e ac
n e
ee
e en se a a ns
en
asse s.
es
e ec
ee
n e
a s
an
c ac
ns
c en
an
es
en
n s
sc e
ov s
ne
n en
c.
e ne
ec
ssea
re .
n,
e e
c s
e c
ca
on ,
e ec
ea
e c
n o
ere z
es,
os o e vs
na
s,
na
s,
ns
e oc
n e s,
an
ac a
ace
en
ance
a c
na
n s
ns.
ee
an
oe
en
ea
n an
ec
sn ess
ac
e,
n an
a a
ca
ocess.
ess a n
an
s c a
s ev s
ne a
c s
a s,
sc e n
s c a
n e
n,
n,
on
ec
sc e nce
se ec
esse s
ca
en cs,
c s
e e
e e
as e
e nces,
c oo
a e
an ce
se ec
c a
a ce o
es,
en
cesses n ,
an
na
ns n ,
an ,
es,
INDEX
E urop i vi li z t i o pp r i n 6 ;
of po i bl r volut i o i 2 9 ;
u
lt
v r g i n 1 1 0 ; t x t i on
b i rt h r t
d bi t h r t in 1 2 0
E vol ut i o i t n of L w f I n g u li
t y 3 0 E : f ll
y of p r ll l b t w
nd h u
m b i g 1 06 j i z
wi ld li f
r p ud i t d b y S y di li m 1 6 9
l H r di t y I qu li t y t
S
E xp r i o i m 1 3 7
F bl mi d d h r t ri z t i o of 9 3
u d r h ri t bl p rot
f ; i r
Juk F mi l y 9 5
94 ;
tio
K lli k k F mil y 9 6
Fl i ky Prof
or 1 9 2 n
Fouri r 1 50
Fr d ri k t h G t 5 2
Fr m T h r f r n to L owi
ti l
i
22 1 n
Fr h C n di n p roli t o k i N w
E gl
d 1 13
Fr h R volut i on 1 4 5 J
F ut ui m 1 3 7
G l to Fr i found r of E ug i
4 2 t : t u
d y of up ri or p r o 4 8
G rm pl m 3 4 : p ot n y of 44 ; i
l ti o n of 4 5
G rm n y B ol h vi m in 2 1 0 n
ro 1 7 2 17
Gi
nn t ti A r t u
i vi li z t i o i n 6 ; A t h
Gr
l
i
di rnm nt
ni n i vi li z t i on 1 0
rly 3 6
i p l of h r d i t y i
of p r i
Gu t vu A dol ph u 5 2
H ll f F m i n di vi d u l t udi d b y
W ood 50 3
H rv rd g r du t s r p r o d u t i o n
mo g 1 1 1 1 1 3
Heb rt 1 4 6 1 5 8
H r di t y 1 2 ; o i l 1 2
td
on t r
wi th vi ro m t 3 5 3 2; L m r k
f 4 0 ; im
i m o ppo
i mpo rt n
port n di ov d 4 3 : p ow r of
44 ; mo u
ld r of m n 4 8 gr t
d 4 8 t ; i nt lli g n
nd 5 6
H i od l 4
H i bb rt J ourn l N ord u quot d f rom
1 03 i ; W h t h mqu
ot d from 2 4 2
H i t h o k C H N n y H nk s
r f r n 53 n
H oll nd b i rt h - ontrol i n 1 1 8 n
H olm 8 J T h T r nd f th R
r f r n 4 3 n 9 4 n 9 7 1 09 n ;
quot d 53 9 6
H om r 1 4 20 7
H ooli g i m 1 3 4
H ou of S i n 20 7
H um 38
c
e,
ss
ns a
- a e
an
n,
ns a
a e
ce
a a
an
e e
"
n s
e-
n c ease
re a
'
e e e
c s
as
s e
sce
n ea
e e
s,
a s s
e.
s,
a e
e e
s c a
en
en
ere
ce
ea n ess
a c
sc
ce
as e
ses
es
nc
so
eec e , c ass c c
s a
"
e s ns.
en cs,
ova
an c s,
n,
ar
ce
a s.
rs
an
eo
e nc
an
e,
e nc
"
c es n .
ess
a n,
ec
ee
ee n
a ac e
es
or n s
n,
ca
ne
e n s,
ee a so
ee
a e
e ss
a a
e a
n,
ac
re
e a es
ea
ce a
'
e e e
as
e.
s.
"
c e
'
"
ce .
ce ,
an s
se
a c
e e e
'
es,
ce ,
ac e,
.
2 71
H umph r y 1 0 1 j
H u g ry B ol h vi min 1 78 2 1 0 j
H y d m 1 54
I di i vi l i z t i o p p r i 6
I dutr i l R volut i o 1 56
I dut r i l U i o i t
m
S y di
I qu li t y l w of 3 0 i di vi du l d
ti ti
t y p di
C h p II ; b i
logi l i v t ig t i o of 3 0 p y
h l gi
l i v t ig ti o
of 5 5
o i l t r d t ow rd ( umm ry ) 7 6 f
l o E vol u
tio
S
d I f r i ori t y
I f t mort li t y i A m r i 1 2 2
I f ri ori t y p h y i l d m t l p t
i vi li z d l i f i
of 88
r
m
t l 89 g m i f t ti o
i d f ti
l
f b l mi d d i
t
h r di t y
93
ri p t i o f
d d
mb r of d f t i v 9 9 d
9 4 1T ; u
from h i g h gr d 1 0 2
d
g r
ur for 1 0 2
m
y
I i t y h r di t r y form 9 7 :
up ri ori t y
d 98
d
umb r
:
of l um
98
I t lli g
r t b i olog i l d v lop
m t of 8 9
t t
I t lli g
5 6 t ; fo r hil dr
r ul t b t i d from 5 9 pi :
57
i t ll t ul
p i t y h ow b y 6 0 l :
of d ul t 6 6 I th A rmy; 5 6 6 6
purp o
d m t h od
67
u
it
d r ti g
6 8 2 8 9 1 1 3 2 2 5
22 7 f
I t lli g t i 1 7 9 1 9 6 J
I t n t i o l A r h i t Co g r 1 6 1
Ir l d Al l y D mo r y d th
Hum Equ ti n q ut d 5 5 80
it d 56
I b ll of S p i n 5 2
i t l li g
It li
of h i ldr i
A m ri
6 3 a ; p roli
t k in N w
E gl d 1 1 3
It ly A r h i mi 1 60
I W
1 66 172
I ti qut d 1 9 5
J u 14
J w p roli to k i N w E gl nd
i 1 84 8 1 5 1 f
1 1 3 ri i g i u
Joh o S P p
Juk F mi l y 9 5 i 24 7 2 6 1
K lli k k F mi l y 9 6
K ut k y 1 5 4
K lvi L rd 5 5
K
ky 1 8 1
K
h
t
20 5
Ki v Uni r i t y 1 9 2 nd n
e
s e
an,
ne
n s s,
ca
oo
ca
es
n an
n e
c asses,
no c
oc rac
nsa n
s
asy
n e
ve
e ec
e c
es.
an
e,
s,
an
e s
cases,
e n ce ,
ec e n
ca
'
en
n e
e n ce
n e
e s s.
ec
ca
a ne
"
ses an
s an
ac
s,
re"
s,
n s.
en ,
s o
es
en
nsan e .
an
ns n
esc
e e
as ec s
n c eases
e ec
e s
en a
an
'
ca ,
an
n e
e e
a n es a
ee
en e
s ca
ns
n an
ee a s
'
an
ns
es
a:
ons,
en
s c a
sa
e ren
n,
ea
n,
ns a
a, c
en s a .
n e
na
n er a
e an
na c
an
sa
an
o e
e nce
an
c s oc
n,
na c
en
ca ,
"
c ac
n e
ans,
ess,
ne ,
zves a,
o e
es s,
ns n
es
n,
ere ns
e nce
o e n oe
,
erz
ee
sn
s,
'
'
e n se v,
ve s
INDEX
2 72
Krop ot ki Pri 1 53 n
2 10
Ku B l
L g rd ll 1 8 6
L m r k 1 3 3 5 ; t h ory of i h ri t n
of qui r d h r t ri t i
3 9 i ;
of t hi g 40
i mp or t
L ll 1 54
L voi i r 1 4 6
G ut v T h Wo ld i R volt
L B
quot d 2 2 0
L g d A F T ur d H i M
r fr
2 10
di l
L i N i k ol i 1 4 6 1 80 1 8 1 1 84 1 8 7
1 8 8 1 9 1 1 95 2 0 1
L i B oy 2 1 2
Li h t b rg r J P T h S i l S i g i
rfr
l
f M t l L
quot d 7 3 E
73
Li ol A br h m 5 2
Li t r y B ol h vi ki 1 3 8 f
hk
k i qu
M
ot d
Li i g A g Th
from 1 3 1 i 1 3 3 ; M ry k
quot d from 1 84 j
L do J k R oluti
d O th r E
quot d 1 7 1 f
y
Lo do S turd y R vi w quot d 1 2 0
Lo do T i m quot d 1 2 1 f
Lowi R ob rt H rti l i T h Fr
221
rfr
m
Lu h r ky P l t k i K ultur
20 1
L vov Pri
181
M D u
: I A m ri
g ll W i ll i m 6 5
D m r y ? quot d 3 8 6 1
S f f
1 09
rfr
7 6 1 1 4 i ;
i i t r of t h
Rui n m
M kl k
i t r i or 1 3 4
M r t 146
M rx K rl 1 5 1 1 6 4 1 6 5 ; C mmu i t
M if t 1 5 1 ; p o or of t t
ommu i m 1 5 2 i ;
d
i li m
C p i t l 1 5 3 1 5 6 ; do t ri 1 54 1 5 6
i vok d b y
1 56
i t ti o
1 6 8 ; li m
S y di l i t ( B ol h vi t ) 1 6 9 2 0 3
M ryk T G R luti ry T h ry
Eu p
quot d 1 84
i
pi ri t uli t y of 7
M di m l i vili z t i o
M d o ri t y umb r 2 2 5 ; o i l v lu
l umb r 2 2 8
2 2 5 i ; p ro p or t i o
t tu
229
d i u
M h viki 1 8 0 d 1 83
M hi kov 1 3 5
d B l
ki D m
it i T l t y
hk
M
ot d 1 3 1 1 3 3 3
h i m qu
M t h od g i t r volut i o B ol h
Ci vi li z t i n
vi m t
S
n,
n,
n ce ,
e a,
'
a a
e,
a c
ac
e,
se
on ,
s a
re ,
as
en n
s,
en
"
ov s
e re z
on an
ev
sa s,
asa
ac
n,
e e e nce .
as
e,
oc a
eve s,
e,
s e
vn
on
e ar
n,
on
or z on
en a
"
ca nce o
nc
e e en ce ,
"
s,
e,
en n ,
ce
'
es,
e,
c es n
e e e n ce ,
an , as
n ac a s
ee
ro e a rs a a
a,
n ce ,
or
a e
.
n e
a a
ca
n s e
ss a
c a
an
ns,
asa
va
e i
e ns e
e,
e s,
en ce ,
an
ens
s c a
e s,
s an
eo
n, s
na
s a
ovs
e rez
s ev s
An
n e na
o a
e e ence ,
as
en
en a
as,
e,
an
ann ,
a an s
an
ec
a ns
ee
o so
an
n,
d lui o 3 0 : g
ori gi of t h ry 3 2 ; mot i o l b i
of 3 3
vi ro m t li t t h ory
C h r i t i do t ri 3 8 of p
37
m
tu i t y p rfor m
d
p
p
75
R ou
u b li v i
b li v r i 1 56
1 2 9 ; M rx
N t ur l l t i o 1 7 i ; m di i i t r
f r wi t h 9 1
low modi ti o
ud r 106 j
N g ro i f ri ori t y of i A m ri 6 3
i th
rmy 7 1 ; g r l 8 9
A ri t o r
t loo k t w rd
N
y 2 63 ; ou
th 265
d
w t ru
y t h i of old
N w E gl d dif f r t i l bi rt h r t
i
1 12 5
bli
Th
ot d
N w R pu
R u ll qu
from 1 85
Cour o quot d from
207
ot d 1 2 2
N w Y rk T i m qu
N w Z l d
ui t bl b i rt h r t in
1 1 0 bi rt h o t r ol i
1 18
N ihi li t 1 3 6 1 7 9
N ord u M
r ti o f
Th
D g
Cl
d P op l
quot d 1 0 3
N y V r my M h i kov quot d
from 1 3 5 f
N oy A lfr d S m A p t f M d r
P try quot d 1 3 8 f
at
ur al e qua l i t y
n
eo
or
e nse ,
e es
rec o
n,
er
n,
n,
c ne
n e
ns
ca
n e
es,
e a
e o
ne
c,
- a es
sse
e,
n s
s s,
'
e s,
ea a n
e en
ca ,
an
an
n,
en e a
c ac
es s
s n
an
se ec
sse a
an ce ,
as s
n e,
na
en a
an
as
o as
en
as
n,
- a e
n,
ax ,
'
asses a n
ovo e
e ene a
e s,
en s
a,
es,
oe
o e n
s ec s o
B li v r i R u i 1 3 3
O rr 1 00
O y
hi
P t r 2 18
O bor H ry F i l d 1 2 3
Ow
R ob r t 1 4 4 1 5 0
O ld
e e
ss a ,
en
n,
n,
esc
e s
"
en ,
a r
'
on a
evo
ro e,
s s
s e
s s
ca
'
ne ,
s a e 80
n s
ns
n s
es o,
an
e e e n ce ,
as
a ov,
oc ac
1 8 1 : B o shevi s
I t r ti n l D g r
rfr
2 10
M ill Joh S t u rt vi ro m t li t
quot d 3 9
Mor S i T h om 1 4 4
Mo t Joh
1 6 4 ; Fr i h i t q u
ot d
1 6 0 17
M urr y Gi lb rt S t i m d th
ot d 1 6 2
W rld O rd r qu
,
en
ea c
cs,
a ac e
a n ce
asa
n e
k ov P au
l
M ili u
s e
P r i Commu 1 6 0
l ky L
P
T h I t l li g t i u
nd r
th S
i t qu
ot d 1 9 8
P ul E d
lt d
d C d r Pr l t u
Cr i R luti 2 0 8 d
P ll u
ti
F r d 163
P r i n m ph or t l g r ph y f 7
P t r t h Gr t 1 3 3
Ph o i i g ll y 7
Pl t o 1 4 1 4 2 1 4 4 ; i t r t d i b i l g i
l
l ti o 3 6 f
a
n e,
asv o s
eat ve
er,
e s a s, se
e e
en c an
ca
e n , an
se ec
ea
n,
oe c
an
an
on ,
e n an
evo
en s a
n e
ov e s,
eo,
e e
s,
n e es e
.
o o
INDEX
2 74
ovi t
l aunc h ed
l r vol
B ol v k mp r
o
r vol o
r m
p r o Jo
rlz o
todd rd o rop
r
2 13
Ilm rfr
2 10
l
t t i ti
l t udy of
Su
p ri or
h i ldr
burd i 1 1 7
48
2 60 ;
rvi v l pl ti i t y of p i i d 1 6 ;
Su
quli t i d t r mi i g 1 6 f ; l t i o
l o So i l
S
l ti o
nd 1 7
vi m o t ri b
S yndi li m 1 0 3 ; B b ou
ut t 1 4 9 ; t r d t ow rd r volut i o
phi lo o ph y of t h U d r M
1 57
hi g of 1 6 3
d t
1 6 2 1T ; vi w
1 6 9 ; hi t ry of 1 6 3 f ; r vol t
of 1 64 ; i d t i t y wi t h B ol h
I W
166 ;
i m 1 63
d th
1 6 8 i
u r formi t fou d t i o
h
l w 1 6 9 pi ri t h ow
t
171
r pudi t
b y J k Lo do
p ro
t r d i ti o
l mor li t y
172
doom d
l
g r mm of 1 7 3 ;
u d r 175
e
t
Ru
ssi a , soci a
sh e i
E
i e 1 90 3
i n 1 74 ;
ut i ns
ssi an e
S ee als R u
i n , 1 60
S p ai n Ana c hi s
h n , 1 55
S a g
S t e i i at i n , 2 4 9 n
T he N ew Wo ld of
a
L th
S
,
,
sa
sa
c asses.
as
es
n n
ca
es
se nce
za
e -
an ,
,
as es
s e
es c ass
ns,
a es
n,
ar,
na
n,
ac
n s
e ac
an
en
se ec
eac
s o
s.
s an
n,
se ec
se s
c a
en
o,
v s
as
en
ee a s
ca
s ec e s a
e e
11
en a
e e e nce ,
as
c asses
muel y
212
rb ll Id M T h E rly L if f
ol quot d 5 2
A br h mL i
rop 1 20
T x ti o
nd bi r t h r t i n E u
f
I t lli g n f S h l
S M
T rm
Ch i ld r quot d 6 4 172; T h M
quot d 6 5
ur m t f I t lli g
36
Th
g i of M g r
h mpi o of
1 28
T ol t y Cou t L
p ri mi t i v 1 3 0 : t mp r m t i
th
u
l tu
f mi ly of 1 3 0 d ou
r
d b y R ou u 1 3 1 ;
131
i u
ki
ly i of 1 3 1
hk
M
P up l L B b uf quot d
T r i bu d
from 1 4 7 f
T
t ky L o
146 18 1
d d 2 3 ; t t i t ud
U d r M
t w rd i vi li z t i o 2 3 opp i t i o
nc
a a
n,
n a
a a
e,
a e
an ,
ne
en ,
en
s o
en c e,
e o,
: c
ov s
s an a
e,
ss
e,
e.
ro z
'
en
ssea
en c e
e re z
n ce s c
en
e a
e,
ea
a a,
c oo
n e
eo n s
e ce o
e -
n,
an ,
"
e ne
n,
os
to so i l ord r 2 4 : i ty ontrol
of 2 5 ; ty p of l d r of 2 5
l t t xi t i ll m 2 7 ; l u
tio
u d b y 2 8 ; t h r t pr t
i vi l i z t i o
d y
86 g r s t m nt
tow rd up ri ori t y 8 6 : S y di li m
h i p h i lo o ph y 1 6 2
1 75
Vi
Nw Fr i P r
V lk l t
quot d from 1 3 9 17
V lk l t Joh
quot d 1 3 9 f
V ol t i r
1 29
V ort i i m 1 3 7
c a
es
a en
e en
e e
ca
esse,
a nn es,
esen
enn a
re vo
ea en s
en ,
n,
s c
e s
ea
s e n ce n a
n ca se
soc e
'
e,
c s
W anama er J oh n 5 5
W ar G reat ( u
ropean )
a al
r ci
an d
ma
t e ri al l osses d u
ri ng . 1 2 0 . 1 2 2
W e ste r.
H , W orld R evolu
ti on.
uoted , 1 3 0 ; as re e ren ce . 1 4 5 n
W ei s ann, i o ogi cal research es of . 3 4 .
43
W h et h a . W
D an d C D . ered i ty
an d S oci ety.
ote d . 4 1 ; D eca d en ce
and C i vi i zati on , as re eren ce . 1 0 9 n ;
uoted , 1 1 6 i , 24 2
W i lli a t h e S i en t . 5 2
W ood s, F red eri c
d a s, L aws of
D i i ni sh i n g E n vi ron en tal
I n u
uote d an d ci te d , 4 7
ences,
H eredi
t an d th e H all of F a e , c i t ed ,
M en ta and M oral
ered i ty : 11 R oy
a ll y, etc
c i te d . 5 1
an d n
M SS
st u
d y c i t ed . 80 a nd n
W or d -ci vi i za t i on , r ci l e e ents in,
84
W or d s Work, re erence to Pl t t arti cle.
73 n
N
q
f
m
b l
m
C
qu
l
f
q
l
m
k A m
m
m
q
m
u
l
H
.
'
'
'
l
l
a a l
.
'
rk 6 6 f S l Y o kum
o kum 6 6
( wi t h Y r k ) A rm
y
M t l T t qu
ot d 6 6 7 3
Zil b
P i g f th
g Gr g ory Th
O ld O d r
E ur p quot d 1 4 1
1 83
1 94
Zi ov i v 2 1 6 17
Ye
Y a
es,
oor
es s,
r e
en a
ee a so
o e,
in
es
ass n

The Revolt Against Civilization

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The Revolt Against Civilization

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T H E R EV O L T

Pri nt ed i n t h e Uni te d St ates of

AGAINST C IVILIZA T ION

THE REVOLT AGAINST CIVI LIZATION

C IVILIZAT ION is th e oweri ng of the human species It

REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N

not a steady advance but rather a slow wandering now

thus fundamentally conditioned by race In any par

THE R EVOLT AGAINST

but al so di scovering others of a hi gher order

Indeed even the rst li ght burdens h ad in some cases

fellows have vegetated for countless ages in primeval

BUR DEN O F CIVILIZATIO N

for the future of mankind that most of these sur

the subtler menace of paci c penetration

disaster It upsets living standards socially sterilizes

civilizing tide set in rst displaying itself in the Clas

sic civilization oi Greece and Rome and persisting

down to the Western Civilization of our own days

ing th e paltry hoards of earlier days ; he lives in a man

made environment astoundingly diff erent from the

not still reckon in horse power

semaphore telegraphy of the P ersians and probably

REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N

at the w ave of a magician s wand Steam electricity

petrol an d a whole seri es of mysterious rays and

waves gave man powers of whi ch he had not even

one with Nineveh or Tyre ?

less perchance ours turned out to be the exception

REVO LT AGAINST CIVILIZATIO N

women are able to support it the structure rises broad

a superi or race we do not imply that all the membe rs

the supreme importance of quality In no h u

begi n to see the fall acy of such fatalistic notions as Th e

Law of Civili zation and D ecay

REV O LT AGAINST C IVILIZATIO N

We have observed how civili zations as they progress

animals It h as in fact b een happily termed social

Indeed social heredity

These environmentalist argu

learning illustrates the hard fact that each succes

que ry : May there not come a point where the youthf ul

A declin e in civili zation means that the

men con mplating matrimony used to go in for hi gh

thinkin g in order to have brai ny sons while expectant

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the classics condent that their off spring would be barn

BUR DEN O F CIVILIZATI O N

with no correlative increase

strength to b ear them

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unfortun ate ly th ese vital inuences are mainl y of a de

this plasticity as they set with time an d development

each stock came to consist of many strai ns varying

ing in the state of nature qualities like strength i n

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range of opportuni ties and responsibilities Under primi

inh eri ted energies Glowing wi th the re of achi evement

ruin The stock had regressed gone back and the

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superior strains it sinks into permanent me di ocri ty and

termed atavistic revolt

O f course these superiors

mediates are not parked off by clear cut lines ; on the