It now appears that we are held to the path of the past by means of race instinct and the power of imitation, and we are thus prone to believe that the old way is good enough. It is evident that to get out of the beaten path is dangerous. The wild animal that deserts the habits of the race dies a premature death, and the man who possesses the temerity to struggle through the thicket of new things must, of necessity, shorten his span of life. To follow the “same old rut” is easiest for the teacher; to be loyal to the “grand old party” is safest for the politician. But to the contrary, if every man of every generation had followed the beaten path blindly—without deviation, the human race would now be a horde of simians. Because man has possessed the power of progressive thought, he has developed the spirit of radicalism and has thereby made himself supreme.
“The old way anyway—the old way right or wrong” has been the world’s biggest stumbling block. Every innovation must fight for its life. Every good thing has to be condemned in its day and generation. It is Huxley who suggests three stages for the course of a new idea: First, it is revolutionary; second, it will make little difference; third, I have always believed in it. On the other hand, the new way anyway; “we must have a change whether or no”; “we must have something different despite the cost,” have ever been the slogans of waste and destitution. The wars which have not resulted from the prejudice of ultra conservatism have been brought aboutthrough the thoughtlessness of ultra radicalism. The revolutionist, the freak and the anarchist, products of impulse and the spirit of discontent, spring from an unwise love of change.
The world needs conservatism and radicalism not so much as it needs rationalism. It needs men who can hold to the good of the old and adopt the best of the new; men who neither “rust out” nor “waste out”; but wear out. That rational progress may obtain, there must be a perfect dovetailing of the old with the new. Man must leave the beaten path not altogether, but at times. He needs to blaze out a new way not so much as he needs to straighten the bends, tunnel through the mountains, and fill in the swamps of the old way. A rational “liberalism” implies a willingness to follow the old path with a view to improving the imperfections thereof.
9. A RATIONALIZATION OF THE ATTITUDE TOWARD WORK.
On the assumption that true happiness is the ultimate aim of life, we may conclude that anything which does not contribute to this end functions as a curse and not as a blessing. Happiness involves physical comfort and mental joy. To have comfort of the body implies moderate means. The poor cannot be happy because of bodily want. When “physical-man” is not given proper nourishment for healthy growth, then does he goad “spiritual-man” with the pricks of appetite and pain till his wants are appeased. This is a law of nature. On the other hand happiness is not attained through acquisition;neither the millionaires, nor the scholars, nor the famous are the happiest. This is a fact apparent to all. Over worry and over excitement follow closely the heels of much money and high position. Too little brings unhappiness through want; too much brings unhappiness through worry. Therefore man is cursed by his work when the remuneration is not enough for comfort of body, or when the income is too much for poise of mind.
Unless the organs of the body are used they atrophy. Every cell of the physical makeup demands exercise. Work which is not drudgery; work which causes the organs of the body and the powers of the mind to function normally; work which gives comfort without luxury; work which forces one to the highest actualization of his physical and spiritual powers is man’s greatest blessing. In and through such work will man attain his highest state of happiness.
10. THE LOGIC OF SUCCESS.
We may now hope to show that material aggrandizement, the adopted standard of success, is one of the illogical factors of modern life.
The tree of the forest always grows toward the light. It pushes its way through the darkness of the soil into the shadow of the underbrush and finally out into the unobstructed light of the sun. This parallels the progress of the race. From the darkness of savagery into the shadow of barbarism, and finally out into the full light of civilization. Thus has man grown steadily and continually toward better things. But “better things” is arelative term and has changed with the development of the race. “A good healthy idea may not live longer than twenty years.” In consequence growth toward the light has been in accordance with man’s conception of a higher and a better life; which conception is ever changing.
Moreover, growth toward the best is always rewarded by real happiness. It therefore follows that the right road to real happiness extends along the way of better things as conceived by the traveller, man.