IN HIGHER PEOPLES 151 



selves in the place of other peoples, and to treat 

 them as they would themselves be treated. 



But, except by occasional individuals here and 

 there, moral consideration is by men not extended 

 in a serious way beyond the boundaries of their 

 own species. Non-humans are outsiders. They 

 may be attacked, beaten, starved, killed, eaten, de- 

 ceived, cut to pieces out of curiosity, or shot down 

 for pastime. *'Wild" animals, that is, those spe- 

 cies which are not in any way attached to the 

 ''tribe," are especially destitute of all considera- 

 tions of human justice and mercy. They are mere 

 targets for anyone who wants to practice shooting. 



The tribal instinct is the instinct to stand by 

 one's group and to exaggerate the importance of 

 one's place of living. It is the instinct of partial- 

 ity — the instinct which prompts one to say: "My 

 Country! May she ever be right. But right or 

 wrong, my Country!" "Patriotism," as it is 

 usually understood, is an expression of the tribal 

 instinct. The true patriot does not believe that his 

 country is the only country in the world, nor neces- 

 sarily the best country ; but he wants it to be a bet- 

 ter country than it is, and he works to make it so. 



"The world is my country,'^ said Thomas 

 Paine. Such words come from men whose sympa- 

 thies are too big to be limited to any particular 

 group of human beings. Any one who is com- 

 pletely recovered from the tribal instinct does 

 not stop even at the bounds of his species, but is 

 a brother to all that feel. 



