ANT COMMUNITIES 



of society, if fairly conformed to the type of an ant 

 city, there would be no rank or grade, no rich or 

 poor, no personal distinctions, no individual property. 

 All things would be in common. There would be one 

 and only one property-holder the State; nor would 

 even the faintest desire for separate possessions ever 

 cross the thought of the most fanciful. There would 

 be no lust for riches or superior place or an easier lot 

 in life. One purpose would dominate all with absolute 

 sway : to serve the All the whole community with all 

 one's powers, in any line of required duty, without 

 hesitation, without stint, without reserve, and without 

 pay. 



This is truly a wild speculation! This is to conceive 

 of the inconceivable that human beings could attain 

 the social standards of an ant-hill! One must first 

 suppose a moral revolution which even the dreams of a 

 Golden Age or a Millennium such as idealists in every 

 century have had would dimly depict; a revolution 

 more radical than that implied by a literal conformity 

 to the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount and the 

 Saviour's summary of the moral law. It would be a 

 revolution not only in socjal characteristics, but in in- 

 dividual character, a veritable palengenesis of every 

 member of the commonwealth. Would it be for the 

 better or the worse? Would our race gain or lose by 

 achieving the communistic - individualistic type of the 

 government of ant cities? 



It is evident that there must be a good deal of varia- 

 tion in the food supply even under favorable conditions. 

 This would be felt at times when other labors of the 

 commune, as extension and repair of the living quarters, 

 interfere with the regular foraging. Moreover, there 



10G 



