Social Evolution 327 



the conditions of progress in our modern societies, 

 fails to see that most of the stress to which he refers 

 does not have anything to do with increased diffi- 

 culty in obtaining a living, or with the propagation 

 of the race. The great prizes are battled for among 

 the men who wage no war whatever for mere sub- 

 sistence, while the fight for mere subsistence is keen- 

 est among precisely the classes which contribute 

 very little indeed to the progress of the race. The 

 generals and admirals, the poets, philosophers, his- 

 torians and musicians, the statesmen and judges, the 

 law-makers and ' law-givers, the men of arts and of 

 letters, the great captains of war and of industry 

 all these come from the classes where the struggle 

 for the bare means of subsistence is least severe, 

 and where the rate of increase is relatively smaller 

 than in the classes below. In civilized societies the 

 rivalry of natural selection works against progress. 

 Progress is made in spite of it, for progress results 

 not from the crowding out of the lower classes by 

 the upper, but on the contrary from the steady rise 

 of the lower classes to the level of the upper, as the 

 latter tend to vanish, or at most barely hold their 

 own. In progressive societies it is often the least 

 fit who survive; but, on the other hand, they and 

 their children often tend to grow more fit. 



The mere statement of these facts is sufficient to 

 show not only how incorrect are many of Mr. Kidd's 

 premises and conclusions, but also how unwarranted 

 are some of the fears which he expresses for the fu- 

 ture. It is plain that the societies and sections of 



