we are not identical in our needs. And it means not that we all have a 

 chance to do exactly the same things in the same way, but that we have 

 equal chances to be different — for one person to be a vegetarian, if he likes, 

 and for another to eat meat. 



Since human beings normally live with others, each one must make some 

 concession to those others in various ways. We have to observe the rules 

 of the road and the traffic signals. We have to hold back at mealtime, even 

 if hungry, out of consideration for the group. We have to accept "regi- 

 mentation" as to the exact time for catching trains or boats or for listening 

 to a radio broadcast. This is the price we have to pay for the satisfactions 

 we get from living with other individualities. 



In every kind of civilization the individual is tolerated if he conforms 

 to the rule. Making the most of himself depends upon the kind of civiliza- 

 tion in which he lives, on what kinds of freedom and what kinds of "equal- 

 ity" there are. We value democracy because it is a kind of relationship in 

 which the individual can speak up to suggest changes in customs and in 

 laws or in architecture and education. Such freedom is "equal" for all: it 

 rests on the regard we feel for one another rather than on the privileges of 

 power or standing. For the "right" to speak up and criticize and suggest 

 improvements obliges each one to consider what the others have to say. 



In such a civilization, invention and initiative by countless individuals 

 constantly adjust what we have to what we want or need. It is not neces- 

 sary to wait for a great genius or a dictator or a "revolution" to make a 

 fresh start after conditions have become intolerable. Those who consider 

 individuality important must ask about their civilization. What are the 

 rules? Who makes the rules .^^ How can they be revised? What are they 

 supposed to accomplish? How many of us thrive under these rules, how 

 many of us suffer? 



Is There Individuality among Other Living Things? • 



No Two Alike Each of us knows scores of persons apart, even if we 

 do not know all by name. A shepherd looking after 150 or 200 sheep is 

 usually able to know each one, and he can tell immediately that some 

 particular one is missing. His charges may behave like sheep, but each has 

 about him something distinctive. 



Among several peas taken out of the same pod, we can easily find differ- 

 ences in shape or in the coloring or in the wrinkles of the skin. If we weigh 

 or measure each pea in a pint of peas, we find differences. If we arrange 

 them according to size, we find nearly half close to the average size, very 

 few of the largest, very few of the smallest, and the rest distributed regu- 

 larly on both sides of the middle measure (see illustration, p. 69). 



72 



