Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of EthicsDrake, Durant
Philosophy
Problems of Conduct: An Introductory Survey of Ethics
Drake, Durant
Ethics
(5) There remain three personal causes which need be the only
permanently troublesome factors- -laziness, self-indulgence, and the
incontinence which results in over- large families. The laziness which
prefers chronic inactivity to work is not normal to human nature, and
will be largely banished by education, the improvement of health, and
the improvement of the conditions and hours of labor. The obstinate
cases of unwillingness to work must be cured by compulsory labor in
farm colonies or on public works; most such cases respond to
intelligent treatment and cease to be troublesome when some physical
or moral twist has been remedied. The waste of income in self-indulgence
of one form or other is more difficult to deal with; but the law can
justly forbid the wage-earner from squandering upon himself money
needed by wife and children, and direct that a due proportion of his
wages be paid directly to the wife. If neither father nor mother will
use their money for the proper welfare of the children, the State must
take the children from them though that step should only be a last
and desperate resort. Finally, there is the tendency, unfortunately
most prevalent among the lowest classes, to have more children than
can be decently cared for. To some extent this evil can be remedied
by the dissemination of information concerning proper methods of
preventing conception [Footnote: There is, however, a danger in the
general dissemination of such information- the danger of increasing
prostitution by lessening one of the chief deterrents there from.];
to some extent by moral training to self-control and a sense of
responsibility. Or the State may undertake the countenance large
families; if this is done (see chapter xxx), steps must of course be
taken to prevent the marrying of the unfit-or, at least, their
breeding. With our rapidly decreasing birth rate, and the spread of
education, which will do away with "lower" classes and fit every one
in some decent degree to be a parent, this will probably be the ultimate
solution. With the disappearance of poverty, the miserable living
conditions of so large a proportion of our population will
automatically improve. But much should be done directly by the State
to prevent such housing conditions as make for physical or moral
degeneration. We are far behind Europe in housing-legislation, and
conditions in most of our cities are going from bad to worse. There
is, however, no need whatever of unsanitary housing; it is merely the
selfishness of owners and the apathy of the public that permits its
existence. The crowding-which in New York City runs up to some
thirteen hundred per acre-can be stopped by simple legislation. The
lack of proper light or ventilation, of proper water supply, plumbing,
or sewerage, of proper removal of ashes, garbage, or rubbish, is
inexcusable. The results of living in the dark, foul-aired, unsanitary
tenements of our slums are: a great increase in sickness and premature
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