Economic development -- Social aspects; Social evolution; Social problems; Work
Something we see already of the larger joy obtainable in social
consciousness, in our pleasure in one another’s work. I do not mean in
personal consumption of it, so to speak, but in our satisfaction in the
achievements of “our” business men, “our” “scientific men,” “our”
inventors, mechanics, artists, discoverers, teachers, and the like. “We”
take pleasure and pride in what “we” do—requiring social consciousness.
Children’s games show the natural development of this feeling in the
human being. A child likes to play alone if he has to; but children like
far better to play together—the excitement and joy of co-ordinate
activity being far greater than in individual activity. This delight in
collective expression increases from age to age. As measured merely by
popular sports and amusements, the game involving a contest of team with
team is more enjoyed than the older sport of individual race and
contest, both by spectator and player.
There remains one more strong cause for our slow-born recognition of
social consciousness, and that is the position of women. Their
activities being confined to an excessive development of sex functions,
and industry on the low stage of solitary disconnected performance, or
at most the first step of group labour, personal service; and this
industry, too, confined to self or family interest altogether; it is not
to be expected that any high degree of social spirit could be attained
by this inchoate mass of individuals in society, but not of it, taking
no part in its processes economic or politic, and no share in its
growing responsibilities; nor is it to be expected that men, though
increasingly socialised by themselves, could avoid the influence of this
unsocialised half of humanity, both through its daily companionship and
the tremendous effect of maternity.
We are still further affected by the result of the position of women in
maintaining an abnormal degree of sex-tendency, and we have seen how
anti-social an influence is the natural belligerence and destructiveness
of masculine energy in excess; therefore, it is no wonder at all that
our social development has been slow, erratic, and liable to extremely
morbid forms and processes. Nothing will conduce so much to the right
growth of society in body and spirit as the progress of women from their
position of prehistoric sex-bound egoism and familism, to their
rightful share and place in the vital processes of Society. They, as
half the component individuals of Society, will then contribute their
share of modern social feeling and action; they, becoming more human and
less disproportionately sexual, will reduce the influence of morbid
sex-tendency in both male and female; and they, as mothers, will rapidly
fill the world with full-blood human beings, instead of the present
half-bloods,—half socialised through the father, but held in prehistoric
individualism through the mother.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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