Cook : Biology in Human Progress 



259 



efifort is misunderstood, of course, by 

 those who beHeve that the country 

 owes the city a living, and also by 

 those who think of farming as only 

 one trade, one branch of "industry," 

 and deserving of no special considera- 

 tion. In reality agriculture is not a 

 mere branch of civilization, but is the 

 root of the whole tree, the root that 

 has produced and now has to support 

 all the branches of urban activity, 

 along with the idle and parasitic ele- 

 ments that figure so largely in urban 

 populations. It is beside the point to 

 complain that the man who tills the 

 soil is "compelled to bear the burden 

 of the social structure," since there is 

 no other way for the social structure 

 to be supported. The tree must have 

 its root, and the root must function if 

 the tree is to grow, but parasites may 

 distort or kill the tree, and our mod- 

 ern civilization is rather heavily in- 

 fested. The branches are fringed 

 with mistletoe, and many kinds of 

 broom-rapes and beechdrops are sap- 

 ping the root. Only as we assess the 

 burden of urban parasitism can we 

 begin to comprehend the true possi- 

 bilities of a symmetrically developed 

 rural civilization, which is the Ameri- 

 can ideal. 



The purpose of founding a rural 

 civilization, expressed with so much 

 conviction by Washington and Jeffer- 

 son, has been relaxed. We are toler- 

 ant and even boastful of our large 

 cities, and take it for granted that 

 sanitation and engin-^ering improve- 

 ments will avoid the deterioration of 

 urban population. Our mental habit 

 is to ignore the dehumanizing effects 

 of urban industrial conditions and 

 then to be surprised and horrified by 

 the barbarism and brutality that ap- 

 pear, as in the relations of capital and 

 labor. Germany was most scientifical- 



ly urbanized and stood in the first 

 rank of industrial and commercial 

 nations, but staked all her attainments 

 on a predatory war. 



If we could accept the diagnosis 

 that the urban state of mind, "the 

 worship of mere numbers," is patho- 

 logical, eugenics and other human 

 welfare considerations would begin to 

 figure in social and economic studies. 

 Conditions and measures would be 

 judged by the eugenic standard of 

 improvement of the race. We would 

 see that the city as a human environ- 

 ment is a mistake, and the question 

 of abating the urban malady of civil- 

 ization might be approached on con- 

 structive lines. One of the first steps 

 would be to develop a better system 

 of education, so that people would not 

 be trained merely for the city, or for a 

 "semimonastic" existence with late 

 marriages and few children. Some 

 talk there has been of country life 

 education, but little of the reality as 

 yet, for the educatioiial value of coun- 

 try life has still to be recognized by 

 the urban specialists who dominate the 

 educational profession. 



The other problems would be solved 

 if more of our capable young people 

 became intelligent enough to remain in 

 the country. The adverse selection will 

 go on as long as the schools are pro- 

 curers for the city. Thousands of ur- 

 banized teachers are telling the children 

 every day, even in rural schools, that 

 the real life is in the city. To fire the 

 mind of youth with the idea that the 

 great prizes of life are to be captured 

 in the city is essentially immoral, and 

 must be condemned and counteracted 

 as a betrayal of the race. Undoubtedly 

 the life of the city often is much easier 

 than that of the country, but certainly 

 the ease and luxury of the city are not 

 the highest ideals, and urbanism for 

 the race is clearly suicidal. 



