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The Externalization of the Hierarchy - Section III - Forces behind the Evolutionary Process
Some nations, particularly the great democracies, like the British Commonwealth of Nations and the United States of America, now realize that these attitudes and activities must end and that the hope of the world lies in the spread of right human relations, in economic interchange, broad unselfish international politics and the growth of the spirit of cooperation. They believe unalterably, and as a basic national policy, in the rights of the individual and that the State exists for the benefit of that individual; to that they add the belief that the State also exists for the benefit of all other states and for humanity as a whole. Other nations, such as the Axis Powers, are violently crystallizing the ancient viewpoints, emphasizing the worst aspects of the old and evil order, and are aggressively grasping all that they can for themselves. They regard the individual as of no value and hold that he exists only for the benefit of the State; they believe that the State is the sole unit of importance, and that only their particular state counts. They divide the family of nations into a superstate for the control of Europe and another for Asia, and regard all other states as slave states; they would perpetuate the ancient evil of force and war and would and do resort to unheard-of cruelties in the effort to raise their state to supreme eminence. [375] This is the old order which must pass, but its dangers must be recognized. For its abolishing, the United Nations are fighting, but the difficulties are many, even though the spiritual strength of all good men is on their side and the Forces of Light are fighting to aid them. The nationalistic spirit is not dead as yet in any country. It must be helped to die. Minorities with historical backgrounds but no territorial rights are clamoring for a place to call their own and in which to build up a nation. The small nations are full of fear, wondering what place in the family of nations they will be permitted to hold, and whether the evil plans of the Germans will spare any of their citizens eventually to form a nation. The demand for national recognition is widespread; the emphasis upon humanity as the important unit is little heard. Those nations impede the path of progress who live in the memory of their past history and boundaries and who look back upon what they call "a glorious past," resting upon the recollection of national or empire rule over the weak. This is a hard saying, but the nationalistic spirit constitutes a grave peril to the world; if perpetuated in any form, except as contributory to the good of humanity as a whole, it will throw the world (after the war) back into the dark ages and leave men no better off than they were, even though there have been twenty years of travail and agony. We could take the nations, one by one, and observe how this nationalistic, separative or isolationist spirit, emerging out of an historical past, out of racial complexes, out of territorial position, out of revolt and out of possession of material resources, has brought about the present world crisis and cleavage and this global clash of interests and ideals. But it would profit not. The intelligent student of history (who has no nationalistic bias) knows well the facts and is deeply concerned today with the processes which must be brought to bear to end the world strife. He knows that the efforts to attain national aggrandizement, a place in the sun, Lebensraum, financial supremacy, economic control [376] and power must end. At the same time he realizes that if humanity is to get rid of these evil products of selfishness, certain basic values must be preserved. Past and present cultures and civilizations are of great value; the peculiar genius of each nation must be evoked for the enriching of the entire human family; the new civilization must have its roots in and emerge out of the past; new ideals must come forth and be recognized, and for that the events and education of the past will have prepared the people. Humanity itself must be the goal of interest and effort, and not any particular nation or empire. All this has to be wrought out in a practical, realistic manner, divorced from visionary, mystical and impractical dreams, and all that is done must be founded on one basic recognition - human brotherhood, expressing itself in right human relations. The revolt so widely prevalent against the "vague visionings" of humanitarian dreamers is based upon the fact that out of the welter of words and the plethora of plans, little of practical value has emerged and nothing sufficiently potent to end the old and horrid ways of life. Nothing really effective had been done, prior to the war, to offset the visible and shrieking evils. Palliative measures have been tried and compromises made for the sake of peace, but the basic evils of national ambition, economic disparity, and virulent class distinctions (hereditary or financial) still remained. Religious differences were rampant, racial hatreds widespread, and the economic and political orders remained corrupt, fostering party, social and national strife.
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