Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



instinct which characterises the animals, his chief 

 motive is now to use his powers to gratify this or 

 that sense or desire. These become abnormally 

 magnified, and the man soon places his main 

 good in their satisfaction ; and abandons his true 

 Self for his organs, the whole for the parts. Property 

 draws the man outwards, stimulating the external 

 part of his being, and for a time mastering him, 

 overpowers the central Will, and brings about 

 his disintegration and corruption. Lastly, Property 

 by thus stimulating the external and selfish nature 

 in Man, draws him away from his Fellows. In 

 the anxiety to possess things for himself, in order 

 to gratify his own bumps, he is necessarily brought 

 into conflict with his neighbor and comes to 

 regard him as an enemy. For the true Self of man 

 consists in his organic relation with the whole 

 body of his fellows ; and when the man abandons 

 his true Self he abandons also his true relation to 

 his fellows. The mass-Man must rule in each 

 unit-man, else the unit-man will drop off and die. 

 but when the outer man tries to separate himself 

 from the inner, the unit-man from the mass-Man, 

 then the reign of individuality begins — a false 

 and impossible individuality of course, but the 

 only means of coming to the consciousness of the 

 true individuality. With the advent of a Civilisa- 

 tion then founded on Property the unity of the 

 old tribal society is broken up. The ties of blood 

 relationship which were the foundation of the 

 gentile system and the guarantees of the old fraternity 

 and equality become dissolved in favor of powers 



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