A mechanistic view of war and peace . y the somber desertion of wife or mother; theglory of the bayonet charge by its disembowelledvictims; the report of the staff commander by thatof the surgeon general; the monument to the vic-torious general by the rude cross on the grave otthe private soldier; the brilliant uniform by therags of poverty; the rejoicing of the victors bythe enduring hate of the vanquished. The happi-ness and serenity of life should be contrasted withthe illogical ending of life through war. Children should be taught to regard as heroesthose also who have made possible the co
A mechanistic view of war and peace . y the somber desertion of wife or mother; theglory of the bayonet charge by its disembowelledvictims; the report of the staff commander by thatof the surgeon general; the monument to the vic-torious general by the rude cross on the grave otthe private soldier; the brilliant uniform by therags of poverty; the rejoicing of the victors bythe enduring hate of the vanquished. The happi-ness and serenity of life should be contrasted withthe illogical ending of life through war. Children should be taught to regard as heroesthose also who have made possible the conquest ofnature through invention and discovery; those whohave striven for and have achieved great ideals ofgovernment, of education, of science and of has as worthy heroes as has war! When man comprehends his own mechanism,when he understands the dominating influence ofhis progenitors-and appreciates the infinite possi-bilities of his training, then he may reach a gradeof civilization which will enable him to invigorate. EVOLUTION TOWARD PEACE 103 himself without ruin. Struggle is a biological neces-sity, and even war is preferable to pusillanimouspeace leading to degeneracy. When the mechanistic viewpoint is generally un-derstood, a viewpoint that fixes all responsibilityfor human action here and now within ones self;that teaches that one generation predeterminesthe action of the next generation ; that the newborninfant is only the plastic clay from which the realman is created,—a new meaning will be given to edu-cation. Then we may be intelligent enough to havethe greatest talent of the country, not at the head ofarmies, or strategy boards, not in finance or industry,but at the head of the state educational by money and public opinion, a group ofsupermen may evolve a system of mechanistic train-ing which will mold the next generation into a higherdegree of adaptation to environment — an increasedfitness for service to country and to fellow-cit
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
