180 social heredity and social evolution 



The Subordination of Self 



It is this feature which most sharply differentiates 

 man from animals. Man is the only animal that has 

 felt the necessity of being governed. Throughout his 

 history the individual is constantly called upon and 

 is always read}^ to yield some of his own interests to 

 those of others. While this is the most distinctively 

 human attribute, it is not wholly confined to man. As 

 noticed in a previous chapter, combinations exist 

 among animals, and in these combinations there is 

 always more or less subordination of the individual 

 to the leader. In a troop of monkeys a leader is 

 always found, usually an old male, who enforces his 

 will upon the rest, and the members of the troop 

 yield obedience to the leader. But although thus 

 occasionally found among animals, the principle is 

 universal among men. No tribe is known where some 

 subordination of self-interest is not manifest. "With 

 man it is the central force of development, since this 

 alone has determined the growth in the size of human 

 organizations. The willingness to yield self-inter- 

 ests to those of the family and community has been 

 the factor which has held together the bodies of men 

 that have formed the nations. Without this willing- 

 ness to yield self-interests civilization would have 

 been impossible. Its absence, in anything but a 

 rudimentary condition, has prevented organization 

 among the lower animals, and its universal presence 

 among men has made possible the creation of nations. 



Throughout human history self-subordination has 

 been the foundation of organization. But the object 

 toward which self-sacrifice has been directed has 

 been by no means a constant one. In the lowest 



