A year of prophesyingWells, H. G. (Herbert George)
History
A year of prophesying
Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Civilization, Modern -- 20th century; Europe -- History -- 20th century; Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
I suppose if we could set aside the entangling influences of social
position and traditions we should find that men and women fell into a
series between two extremes of temperamental type; the Conservatives
at one end, who like things to go on very much as they are going, only
to be just a little richer and sounder and sunnier, and at the other
end the disturbers who like fresh things to happen and who make fresh
things happen. And of the disturbers there seem to be two main types:
the personal adventurers who want a series of vivid events centring
upon themselves, and do not care very much how much disorder is caused
by their careers, and the innovators with an instinct or a mental habit
of creative service--the scientific worker, the educationist, the
innovating artist, the men with a passion for industrial and financial
and social organisation, who will ultimately remake the world. These
types mingle in most of us, we are all something of each, but in such
prominent British figures as Lord Birkenhead, Mr. Winston Churchill,
or Lord Beaverbrook we seem to have almost pure adventurers, and in
Mr. Sidney Webb or Mr. C. P. Trevelyan almost pure creative service
innovators. But the great financial adventurers are not in politics.
They are behind politics. The un-co-ordinated, inexplicit world of
to-day is all for the bold acquisitive egoist; he causes wars and
prevents peace, the industrialist is in his financial net, he does
things to the exchange and the money in our pockets becomes worthless
counters, he controls the news in our newspapers, and buys the house
over our heads and the ground under our feet. He turns up in all
parties as they suit him, and his eternal antagonist, the creative
service innovator, must use all parties as he can against him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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