200 ANIMAL LIFE 



be traced in the relation of men and society. Thus, among 

 men as among animals, self-dependence favors complexity 

 of power. Dependence, parasitism, quiescence favor de- 

 generation. Degeneration means loss of complexity, the 

 narrowing of the range of powers and capabilities. It is 

 not necessarily a phase of disease or the precursor of death. 

 But as intellectual and moral excellence are matters associ- 

 ated with high development in man, dependence is unfa- 

 vorable to them. 



Degeneration has been called animal pauperism. Pau- 

 perism in all its forms, whether due to idleness, pampering, 

 or misery, is human degeneration. It has been shown that 

 a large part of the criminality and pauperism among men 

 is hereditary, due to the survival of the tendency toward 

 living at the expense of others. The tendency to live with- 

 out self-activity passes from generation to generation. 

 Beggary is more profitable than unskilled and inefficient 

 labor, and our ways of careless charity tend to propagate 

 the beggar. That form of charity which does not render 

 its recipient self-helpful is an incentive toward degenera- 

 tion. Withdrawal from the competition of life, withdrawal 

 from self-helpful activity, aided by the voluntary or invol- 

 untary assistance of others these factors bring about de- 

 generation. The same results follow in all ages and with 

 all races, with the lower animals as with men. 



