148 EVOLUTION, SOCIAL AND ORGANIC 



to them from all parts of the system, and to 

 regulate the actions in such a way as duly to 

 regard them all ; so it is in the nature of those 

 great and latest-^developed legislative bodies 

 which distinguish the most advanced societies, 

 to interpret and combine the wishes of all 

 classes and localities and to make laws in 

 harmony with the general wants." 



It would seem from this that, a society 

 whose government represents only the inter- 

 ests of a handful of the community while the 

 great majority are uncared for, is suffering 

 from social paralysis. 



Before we pass to the next chapter where 

 we shall examine the position presented in 

 "The Man Versus The State" we will observe 

 one break in Spencer's analogy which he fails 

 to notice. 



When the brain of an animal is wrecked the 

 animal dies; it has no choice. But when the 

 brain of a society fails to represent the inter- 

 ests of the mass of the people who compose 

 that society, or when the social brain runs 

 amuck and invites disaster, society may take 

 its choice, it may elect to die or — it may get 

 a new brain. 



