MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 17 



Undoubtedly, a worker may become so inured to routine that he will feel 

 uncomfortable when out of the traces of his daily occupation ; but such is an 

 acquired feeling. It does not make for the zest and interest which lead men to 

 push joyously ahead to newer planes of achievement. 



The two points of view discussed above are not necessarily contradictory. 

 Normal human beings are so constituted as to enjoy activity which makes for 

 worth-while results. What is considered to be worth-while obviously changes 

 with time, place and kind of civilization. But, the normal active, non-lazy 

 individual placed in an environment chieflly characterized by monotony and 

 the lack of incentives for improvement or change, will after a time accept 

 the present acliievements as sutlicient and follow the daily routine without 

 enthusiasm. Certain vigorous and recalcitrant persons will rebel and try to 

 escape from the hum-drum and correctness of the place and period ; these are 

 the heretics, the radicals, the I. W. W.'s. 



One of our able and successful business managers out of his experience 

 has put the matter very clearly. "The desire for self-expression is one of the 

 most fundamental instincts in human nature, and unless it is satisfied it is 

 bound to manifest itself in all sorts of abnormal ways which today are work- 

 ing such havoc in society." The late John E. Williams testified before the 

 Commission on Industrial Relations that "the I. W. W.'s would not be very 

 different from the other people if they had the proper organ of expression. 

 It is just that sense of futility of their lot, of their means of action, that 

 makes people resort to these measures of force." The last sentence is worthy 

 of more than passing notice ; it presents a vital fact from a man of much 

 practical experience. Unfortunately, industry is offering little opportunity 

 for self-expression to the average worker ; it does not stimulate the interest of 

 the worker in his work. In the use of potent incentives, modern large-scale 

 routine industry has progressed little beyond slavery and serfdom. 



It is too much to expect men to act conservatively and according to the 

 customary procedure when they have little or no opportunity for the normal 

 expression of human wants and desires. If they are unable to satisfy the 

 instinct for food or for self-assertion, they will inevitably become biased, 

 gnarled, knotted and perverse individuals. To make them more like the well- 

 to-do conservative, the unblessed must be made more well-to-do. Tlie much- 

 abused and much-feared I. W. W. is composed largely of men whose instincts 

 for family life, for acquisition of wealth, for contrivance or workmanship, and 

 for self-assertion have been inhibited. Better treatment, better wages, oppor- 

 tunity in youth to acquire a little property are solvents for extreme radicalism. 



Psychologists point out that changed environments have frequently 

 changed individuals in an extraordinary manner, — from ne'er-do-wells to 

 leaders, from criminality to useful .citizenship, from sluggishness to a condition 



^Swift, Psychology and the Day's Work, pp. 28-29. 



