“In the chapter on Exchange it has been demonstrated that, in a state of isolation, man’s wants surpass his faculties, and that, in the social state, his faculties surpass his wants.
“This excess of faculties over wants proceeds from exchange, which is—association of efforts—separation of occupations.
“Thence an action and a reaction of causes and effects, in a circle of progress which is infinite.
“The superiority of faculties over wants, creating for each generation an excess of wealth, permits it to rear a more numerous offspring. A generation more numerous implies a better and more marked separation of occupations, and a new degree of superiority given to faculties over wants.
“This exhibits an admirable harmony.
“Thus, at a given epoch, the general aggregate of wants being represented by 100, and that of faculties by 110, the excess of 10 is thus divided,—5, for example, goes to the amelioration of men’s condition, to the provoking of wants of a more elevated character, to the development of self-respect, etc.,—and 5 to the augmentation of their numbers.
“The wants of the second generation are 110,—namely, 5 more in quantity, and 5 more in quality.
“But for that very reason (for the double reason of the more complete physical, intellectual, and moral development, and of the greater density of population, which renders production more easy), the faculties have also increased in power. They will be represented, for example, by the figures 120 or 130.
“New excess, new division, etc.
“And let us not fear the trop plein. The elevation of wants, which is nothing else than the sentiment of dignity, is a natural limit. . . . .”