1914] on Some Aspects of the American Democracy 223 



towards definite ends ; and, when these definite ends are understood, 

 what may be called the high humanity of our simple scheme of lifv 

 becomes clear ; and clear, too, becomes its peculiar adaptability to the 

 conditions of modern life. 



In the study of modern societies, it is a great gain to recognize 

 in the beginning that the only fixed thing is change. There can be 

 nothing stable in a world the chief characteristic of which, now ai 

 least, is a continuous readjustment of man's relations to man, and 

 especially in his relations to the mass of men — constant readjustment, 

 that is, in all Imman relationships, and in all social and governmental 

 problems. Such instances as I have used indicate continuous change 

 — change in educational ideals and aims, change in industrial condi- 

 tions and therefore in governmental relations to industry, change 

 brought by new physical discoveries, by improvements in transporta- 

 tion, change bringing new problems in every department of activity. 

 Now, when nothing is stationary, the more easily your social and 

 political organization is adaptable to change, the less trouble you will 

 have ; in other words, the more mobile you can keep your society, if 

 only you can keep its character true, the better it will fare. 



The last appeal, of course, in a democracy is to the will of the 

 majority ; and the will of the majority, we have proved over and 

 over again, will come back, after whatever aberrations, to the funda- 

 mental striving for the greatest possible freedom of opportunity. 



Now, the will of the majority is not without its tyrannies, but its 

 ryrannies can be neither terrible nor enduring so long as no majority 

 can become fixed and come to be regarded by men as a part of the 

 •order of nature. A democracy turns to and reverses itself when it 

 awakes to an error. And there is an orderly way at hand always to 

 reverse itself. This constant restlessness keeps it safe. For this 

 reason, the preservation of the mobility of society is of vastly greater 

 importance than either the definite failures or the definite successes 

 of any mere problems of government during any given period. 

 Neither a government nor a society can safely trust to the generosity 

 of its especial beneficiaries ; it can trust for its continued well-being 

 only to the easily provoked activity of its victims, and its victims 

 must have power to enforce their protest. A majority is not so likely 

 to abridge the liberty of others as it is to widen its own privileges ; 

 and that is what you want. For, as a rule, no class ever gets liberty 

 or opportunity that it does not itself take. Nobody confers liberty or 

 opportunity on it as an alms. Alms-givers try to repair the damage 

 that society has already suffered. They can seldom prevent further 

 damage being suffered : that usually comes from the self-assertion of 

 those who are the victims of discrimination or are in danger of 

 becoming victims. 



In other words, we in the United States have constantly to 

 struggle for our ideals — for our liberties of opportunity, social, in- 

 dustrial, and political. We cannot rest and feel that they are secure. 



