首页 >出版文学> The Theory of the Leisure Class>第25章
  ChapterNineTheConservationofArchaicTraitsTheinstitutionofaleisureclasshasaneffectnotonlyuponsocialstructurebutalsoupontheindividualcharacterofthemembersofsociety。Sosoonasagivenproclivityoragivenpointofviewhaswonacceptanceasanauthoritativestandardornormoflifeitwillreactuponthecharacterofthemembersofthesocietywhichhasaccepteditasanorm。Itwilltosomeextentshapetheirhabitsofthoughtandwillexerciseaselectivesurveillanceoverthedevelopmentofmen’saptitudesandinclinations。Thiseffectiswroughtpartlybyacoercive,educationaladaptationofthehabitsofallindividuals,partlybyaselectiveeliminationoftheunfitindividualsandlinesofdescent。Suchhumanmaterialasdoesnotlenditselftothemethodsoflifeimposedbytheacceptedschemesuffersmoreorlesseliminationaswellasrepression。Theprinciplesofpecuniaryemulationandofindustrialexemptionhaveinthiswaybeenerectedintocanonsoflife,andhavebecomecoercivefactorsofsomeimportanceinthesituationtowhichmenhavetoadaptthemselves。
  Thesetwobroadprinciplesofconspicuouswasteandindustrialexemptionaffecttheculturaldevelopmentbothbyguidingmen’shabitsofthought,andsocontrollingthegrowthofinstitutions,andbyselectivelyconservingcertaintraitsofhumannaturethatconducetofacilityoflifeundertheleisure-classscheme,andsocontrollingtheeffectivetemperofthecommunity。Theproximatetendencyoftheinstitutionofaleisureclassinshapinghumancharacterrunsinthedirectionofspiritualsurvivalandreversion。Itseffectuponthetemperofacommunityisofthenatureofanarrestedspiritualdevelopment。
  Inthelatercultureespecially,theinstitutionhas,onthewhole,aconservativetrend。Thispropositionisfamiliarenoughinsubstance,butitmaytomanyhavetheappearanceofnoveltyinitspresentapplication。Thereforeasummaryreviewofitslogicalgroundsmaynotbeuncalledfor,evenattheriskofsometediousrepetitionandformulationofcommonplaces。
  Socialevolutionisaprocessofselectiveadaptationoftemperamentandhabitsofthoughtunderthestressofthecircumstancesofassociatedlife。Theadaptationofhabitsofthoughtisthegrowthofinstitutions。Butalongwiththegrowthofinstitutionshasgoneachangeofamoresubstantialcharacter。Notonlyhavethehabitsofmenchangedwiththechangingexigenciesofthesituation,butthesechangingexigencieshavealsobroughtaboutacorrelativechangeinhumannature。Thehumanmaterialofsocietyitselfvarieswiththechangingconditionsoflife。Thisvariationofhumannatureisheldbythelaterethnologiststobeaprocessofselectionbetweenseveralrelativelystableandpersistentethnictypesorethnicelements。Mentendtorevertortobreedtrue,moreorlessclosely,tooneoranotherofcertaintypesofhumannaturethathaveintheirmainfeaturesbeenfixedinapproximateconformitytoasituationinthepastwhichdifferedfromthesituationoftoday。ThereareseveraloftheserelativelystableethnictypesofmankindcomprisedinthepopulationsoftheWesternculture。Theseethnictypessurviveintheraceinheritancetoday,notasrigidandinvariablemoulds,eachofasinglepreciseandspecificpattern,butintheformofagreaterorsmallernumberofvariants。Somevariationoftheethnictypeshasresultedundertheprotractedselectiveprocesstowhichtheseveraltypesandtheirhybridshavebeensubjectedduringtheprehistoricandhistoricgrowthofculture。
  Thisnecessaryvariationofthetypesthemselves,duetoaselectiveprocessofconsiderabledurationandofaconsistenttrend,hasnotbeensufficientlynoticedbythewriterswhohavediscussedethnicsurvival。Theargumentishereconcernedwithtwomaindivergentvariantsofhumannatureresultingfromthis,relativelylate,selectiveadaptationoftheethnictypescomprisedintheWesternculture;thepointofinterestbeingtheprobableeffectofthesituationoftodayinfurtheringvariationalongoneortheotherofthesetwodivergentlines。
  Theethnologicalpositionmaybebrieflysummedup;andinordertoavoidanybutthemostindispensabledetailthescheduleoftypesandvariantsandtheschemeofreversionandsurvivalinwhichtheyareconcernedareherepresentedwithadiagrammaticmeagernessandsimplicitywhichwouldnotbeadmissibleforanyotherpurpose。Themanofourindustrialcommunitiestendstobreedtruetooneortheotherofthreemainethictypes;thedolichocephalic-blond,thebrachycephalic-brunette,andtheMediterranean——disregardingminorandoutlyingelementsofourculture。Butwithineachofthesemainethnictypesthereversiontendstooneortheotherofatleasttwomaindirectionsofvariation;thepeaceableorantepredatoryvariantandthepredatoryvariant。Theformerofthesetwocharacteristicvariantsisnearertothegenerictypeineachcase,beingthereversionalrepresentativeofitstypeasitstoodattheearlieststageofassociatedlifeofwhichthereisavailableevidence,eitherarchaeologicalorpsychological。Thisvariantistakentorepresenttheancestorsofexistingcivilizedmanatthepeaceable,savagephaseoflifewhichprecededthepredatoryculture,theregimeofstatus,andthegrowthofpecuniaryemulation。Thesecondorpredatoryvariantofthetypesistakentobeasurvivalofamorerecentmodificationofthemainethnictypesandtheirhybrids——ofthesetypesastheyweremodified,mainlybyaselectiveadaptation,underthedisciplineofthepredatorycultureandthelatteremulativecultureofthequasi-peaceablestage,orthepecuniarycultureproper。
  Undertherecognizedlawsofhereditytheremaybeasurvivalfromamoreorlessremotepastphase。Intheordinary,average,ornormalcase,ifthetypehasvaried,thetraitsofthetypearetransmittedapproximatelyastheyhavestoodintherecentpast——whichmaybecalledthehereditarypresent。Forthepurposeinhandthishereditarypresentisrepresentedbythelaterpredatoryandthequasi-peaceableculture。
  Itistothevariantofhumannaturewhichischaracteristicofthisrecent——hereditarilystillexisting——predatoryorquasipredatoryculturethatthemoderncivilizedmantendstobreedtrueinthecommonrunofcases。Thispropositionrequiressomequalificationsofarasconcernsthedescendantsoftheservileorrepressedclassesofbarbariantimes,butthequalificationnecessaryisprobablynotsogreatasmightatfirstthoughtappear。Takingthepopulationasawhole,thispredatory,emulativevariantdoesnotseemtohaveattainedahighdegreeofconsistencyorstability。Thatistosay,thehumannatureinheritedbymodernOccidentalmanisnotnearlyuniforminrespectoftherangeortherelativestrengthofthevariousaptitudesandpropensitieswhichgotomakeitup。Themanofthehereditarypresentisslightlyarchaicasjudgedforthepurposesofthelatestexigenciesofassociatedlife。Andthetypetowhichthemodernmanchieflytendstorevertunderthelawofvariationisasomewhatmorearchaichumannature。Ontheotherhand,tojudgebythereversionaltraitswhichshowthemselvesinindividualsthatvaryfromtheprevailingpredatorystyleoftemperament,theante-predatoryvariantseemstohaveagreaterstabilityandgreatersymmetryinthedistributionorrelativeforceofitstemperamentalelements。
  Thisdivergenceofinheritedhumannature,asbetweenanearlierandalatervariantoftheethnictypetowhichtheindividualtendstobreedtrue,istraversedandobscuredbyasimilardivergencebetweenthetwoorthreemainethnictypesthatgotomakeuptheOccidentalpopulations。Theindividualsinthesecommunitiesareconceivedtobe,invirtuallyeveryinstance,hybridsoftheprevailingethnicelementscombinedinthemostvariedproportions;withtheresultthattheytendtotakebacktooneortheotherofthecomponentethnictypes。
  Theseethnictypesdifferintemperamentinawaysomewhatsimilartothedifferencebetweenthepredatoryandtheantepredatoryvariantsofthetypes;thedolicho-blondtypeshowingmoreofthecharacteristicsofthepredatorytemperament——oratleastmoreoftheviolentdisposition——thanthebrachycephalic-brunettetype,andespeciallymorethantheMediterranean。Whenthegrowthofinstitutionsoroftheeffectivesentimentofagivencommunityshowsadivergencefromthepredatoryhumannature,therefore,itisimpossibletosaywithcertaintythatsuchadivergenceindicatesareversiontotheante-predatoryvariant。Itmaybeduetoanincreasingdominanceoftheoneortheotherofthe“lower“ethnicelementsinthepopulation。Still,althoughtheevidenceisnotasconclusiveasmightbedesired,thereareindicationsthatthevariationsintheeffectivetemperamentofmoderncommunitiesisnotaltogetherduetoaselectionbetweenstableethnictypes。Itseemstobetosomeappreciableextentaselectionbetweenthepredatoryandthepeaceablevariantsoftheseveraltypes。
  Thisconceptionofcontemporaryhumanevolutionisnotindispensabletothediscussion。Thegeneralconclusionsreachedbytheuseoftheseconceptsofselectiveadaptationwouldremainsubstantiallytrueiftheearlier,DarwinianandSpencerian,termsandconceptsweresubstituted。Underthecircumstances,somelatitudemaybeadmissibleintheuseofterms。Theword“type“isusedloosely,todenotevariationsoftemperamentwhichtheethnologistswouldperhapsrecognizeonlyastrivialvariantsofthetyperatherthanasdistinctethnictypes。Whereveracloserdiscriminationseemsessentialtotheargument,theefforttomakesuchacloserdiscriminationwillbeevidentfromthecontext。
  Theethnictypesoftoday,then,arevariantsoftheprimitiveracialtypes。Theyhavesufferedsomealteration,andhaveattainedsomedegreeoffixityintheiralteredform,underthedisciplineofthebarbarianculture。Themanofthehereditarypresentisthebarbarianvariant,servileoraristocratic,oftheethnicelementsthatconstitutehim。Butthisbarbarianvarianthasnotattainedthehighestdegreeofhomogeneityorofstability。Thebarbarianculture——thepredatoryandquasi-peaceableculturalstages——thoughofgreatabsoluteduration,hasbeenneitherprotractedenoughnorinvariableenoughincharactertogiveanextremefixityoftype。
  Variationsfromthebarbarianhumannatureoccurwithsomefrequency,andthesecasesofvariationarebecomingmorenoticeabletoday,becausetheconditionsofmodernlifenolongeractconsistentlytorepressdeparturesfromthebarbariannormal。
  Thepredatorytemperamentdoesnotleaditselftoallthepurposesofmodernlife,andmoreespeciallynottomodernindustry。
  Departuresfromthehumannatureofthehereditarypresentaremostfrequentlyofthenatureofreversionstoanearliervariantofthetype。Thisearliervariantisrepresentedbythetemperamentwhichcharacterizestheprimitivephaseofpeaceablesavagery。Thecircumstancesoflifeandtheendsofeffortthatprevailedbeforetheadventofthebarbarianculture,shapedhumannatureandfixeditasregardscertainfundamentaltraits。
  Anditistotheseancient,genericfeaturesthatmodernmenarepronetotakebackincaseofvariationfromthehumannatureofthehereditarypresent。Theconditionsunderwhichmenlivedinthemostprimitivestagesofassociatedlifethatcanproperlybecalledhuman,seemtohavebeenofapeacefulkind;andthecharacter——thetemperamentandspiritualattitudeofmenundertheseearlyconditionsorenvironmentandinstitutionsseemstohavebeenofapeacefulandunaggressive,nottosayanindolent,cast。Fortheimmediatepurposethispeaceableculturalstagemaybetakentomarktheinitialphaseofsocialdevelopment。Sofarasconcernsthepresentargument,thedominantspiritualfeatureofthispresumptiveinitialphaseofcultureseemstohavebeenanunreflecting,unformulatedsenseofgroupsolidarity,largelyexpressingitselfinacomplacent,butbynomeansstrenuous,sympathywithallfacilityofhumanlife,andanuneasyrevulsionagainstapprehendedinhibitionorfutilityoflife。Throughitsubiquitouspresenceinthehabitsofthoughtoftheante-predatorysavageman,thispervadingbutuneagersenseofthegenericallyusefulseemstohaveexercisedanappreciableconstrainingforceuponhislifeanduponthemannerofhishabitualcontactwithothermembersofthegroup。