Competitiveness is by no means wholly an evil.When it takes the form of emulation in the service of the public, or in discovery or the production of works of art, it may become a very useful stimulus, urging men to profitable effort beyond what they would otherwise make.It is only harmful when it aims at the acquisition of goods which are limited in amount, so that what one man possesses he holds at the expense of another.When competitiveness takes this form it is necessarily attended by fear, and out of fear cruelty is almost inevitably developed.But a social system providing for a more just distribution of material goods might close to the instinct of competitiveness those channels in which it is harmful, and cause it to flow instead in channels in which it would become a benefit to mankind.This is one great reason why the communal ownership of land and capital would be likely to have a beneficial effect upon human nature, for human nature, as it exists in adult men and women, is by no means a fixed datum, but a product of circumstances, education and opportunityoperating upon a highly malleable native disposition.
What is true of competitiveness is equally true of love of power.Power, in the form in which it is now usually sought, is power of command, power of imposing one's will upon others by force, open or concealed.This form of power consists, in essence, in thwarting others, for it is only displayed when others are compelled to do what they do not wish to do.Such power, we hope, the social system which is to supersede capitalist will reduce to a minimum by the methods which we outlined in the preceding chapter.These methods can be applied in international no less than in national affairs.In international affairs the same formula of federalism will apply: self- determination for every group in regard to matters which concern it much more vitally than they concern others, and government by a neutral authority embracing rival groups in all matters in which conflicting interests of groups come into play; lout always with the fixed principle that the functions of government are to be reduced to the bare minimum compatible with justice and the prevention of private violence.In such a world the present harmful outlets for the love of power would be closed.But the power which consists in persuasion, in teaching, in leading men to a new wisdom or the realization of new possibilities of happiness--this kind of power, which may be wholly beneficial, would remain untouched, and many vigorous men, who in the actual world devote their energies to domination, would in such a world find their energies directed to the creation of new goods rather than the perpetuation of ancient evils.
Envy, the third of the psychological causes to which we attributed what is bad in the actual world, depends in most natures upon that kind of fundamental discontent which springs from a lack of free development, from thwarted instinct, and from the impossibility of realizing an imagined happiness.Envy cannot be cured by preaching; preaching, at the best, will only alter its manifestations and lead it to adopt more subtle forms of concealment.Except in those rare natures in which generosity dominates in spite of circumstances, the only cure for envy is freedom and the joy of life.From populations largely deprived of the simple instinctive pleasures of leisure and love, sunshine and green fields, generosity of outlook andkindliness of dispositions are hardly to be expected.In such populations these qualities are not likely to be found, even among the fortunate few, for these few are aware, however dimly, that they are profiting by an injustice, and that they can only continue to enjoy their good fortune by deliberately ignoring those with whom it is not shared.If generosity and kindliness are to be common, there must be more care than there is at present for the elementary wants of human nature, and more realization that the diffusion of happiness among all who are not the victims of some peculiar misfortune is both possible and imperative.A world full of happiness would not wish to plunge into war, and would not be filled with that grudging hostility which our cramped and narrow existence forces upon average human nature.A world full of happiness is not beyond human power to create; the obstacles imposed by inanimate nature are not insuperable.The real obstacles lie in the heart of man, and the cure for these is a firm hope, informed and fortified by thought.
