Mankind may be likened to a vast army on the march. It is preceded by:
(1) Pathfinders, called explorers, inventors, and discoverers, whose business it is to find new avenues of development and achievement.
Then come the
(2) Commanders with their staff of Organizers. These direct and co-ordinate the movements of the masses in directions judged to be for the general welfare. They are followed by
(3) The Rank and File, consisting of those who live and work along accepted and well-established lines in all grades of society, taking no risks and making no changes.
(4) The Stragglers, or those who work for themselves alone, without reference to the needs and prospects of the community. Among these must be classed the squatters and backwoodsmen, and small crofters and peasants who grow their own food and weave their own cloth. They do not belong to civilized society, though they do no harm to it and cannot quite escape its influence.
(5) The Campfollowers and Vultures, who have no regard for the welfare of the community, but prey upon it for their own ends.
Classes (1) and (2) are by far the most important and valuable constituents of the human race. They are the growing element, the “cambium,” the grey matter of the brain. Whoever has sufficient originality to strike out an original course, combined with loyalty to humanity at large or to a smaller community; whoever is capable of leadership, whether in war or peace, art or commerce, industry or politics; whoever can lead others forward and inspire them with courage to face difficulties—he belongs to the élite of mankind, to whatever grade of society he may belong. Far behind his class come the rank and file of commonplace drudges, who work in a rut and submit to being led like sheep. They may be clerks, domestic servants, trade union operatives, pensioners, or small investors. They form the large, undistinguished, but useful mass of humanity. Many kings have belonged to this class.
Both the large capitalist and the trade union boss I should class among the Commanders, and I should assign them a high rank in human progressive elements. The former is often a Pathfinder in commerce and industry, and the latter often points the way to the betterment of manual workers. Both are in a position of great power, but are exposed to the temptation to abuse it. The financier may succeed in restricting the free market in an important human community for his own enrichment and aggrandizement. The trade union boss may make a “corner” in a certain form of labour and so deprive the community of some essential commodity, such as housing accommodation. When this degeneration takes place, both these types must be put into the Vulture class.
The same judgment must be passed on those who use the machinery of the medium of exchange to further objects contrary to the interests of the community, such as usurers, and purveyors of intoxicant drugs. These also are among the Vultures.