THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF PROGRESS 183 



cerned, is interested in his own survival, but from the 

 broader aspect of nature he counts for nothing what- 

 soever. The struggle for existence aims at the 

 species and not the individual. When a Daphnia 

 may produce millions of offspring in the course of a 

 summer, the survival of any one is a matter of no 

 concern. It is only the species and its continuation 

 which is of importance, and to this the interests of 

 the individual are ruthlessly sacrificed. For the 

 benefit of the colony the individual soldier ant is 

 sacrificed without hesitation. Throughout the lower 

 orders of animals this principle holds, and it holds 

 more or less forcibly in all animals below man. 



Even with early man we find no advance. With 

 primitive man and savage races the individual counts 

 for scarcely more than in the community of ants. 

 The wars of savage races take no account of the life 

 of the individuals. Each man is ready to sacrifice his 

 own life in these combats for military glory, fame, or 

 even the simple love of combat, and the chieftain 

 does not regard the individual life as of value. 

 Throughout savage races, and even the lower races 

 of barbarians, a man's life is of no value. It is only 

 the life of the family or the tribe that is of signifi- 

 cance, and toward their preservation is directed the 

 sacrifice of individuals. 



In considering the relation of the individual to his 

 conditions two distinct factors are to be considered. 

 The first is his independence of action, that is,; 

 freedom; the second is the value and breadth of his 

 life. As concerns the first, it is clear that centraliza- 

 tion, with the growing size of organizations, has 

 always taken place at the expense of individual free- 

 dom. The savage alone has absolute freedom, and 



