The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical Problems — John Shaqi
The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical ProblemsFetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
General
The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical Problems
Fetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
Economics
2. _Wants among animals depend on the environment; that is to say, the
utmost that creatures of a lower order than man can do is to take things
as they find them._ The imagination and intelligence of animals are not
developed enough to lead them to desire much beyond that which is
ordinarily to be obtained. And so the environment shapes and affects the
animal. The fish is fitted to live in the water and thrives there, and
we must believe, enjoys living there. The horse and the cow like best
the food of the fields, and so each species of animal, in order to
survive in the severe struggle for existence, has been forced to fit
itself to the conditions in which it lives. After the animal has been
thus fitted, its desire is for those things normally to be found in its
surroundings. So different animals desire or want different things, but
always it is the environment that determines the want, and not the want
that determines the environment.
[Sidenote: Simple wants of primitive men]
3. _In simpler human societies, wants are mostly confined to physical
necessities; that is, in the earlier stages of society, man's wants are
very much like those of the animals._ Man bends his energies to securing
the things necessary to survival. He feels the pangs of hunger and he
strives to secure food. He feels the need of companionship, for it is
only through association and mutual help that men, so weak as compared
with many kinds of animals, are able to resist the enemies which beset
them. He needs clothing to protect him against the harsher climates of
the lands to which he moves. For the same purpose, to protect himself
against the cold and rain, he needs a shelter, a cave, a wigwam, or a
hut; for a house is but a larger dress.
[Sidenote: Manifold wants in civilized society]
4. _In human society, wants develop and transform the world._ In the
rudest societies of which there is any record, savages are found with
wants developed in a great number of directions beyond the wants of any
animals. Man is not a passive victim of circumstances; his wants are not
determined solely by his environment; his desires soar beyond the things
about him. As men become more the masters of circumstances, their
desires anticipate mere physical wants; they seek a more varied food of
finer flavor and more delicately prepared. Dress is not limited by
physical comfort, for one of the earliest of the esthetic wants to
develop is the love of personal ornament. The rude hut or communal lodge
to protect against rain and cold becomes a home. Out of the earlier rude
companionship develop the noblest sentiments of friendship and family
life. Seeking to gratify the senses and the love of action, men develop
esthetic tastes, the love of the beautiful in sound, in form, in taste,
in color, in motion. And finally, as the imagination and intellect
develop, there grow up the various forms of intellectual pleasures--the
love of reading, of study, of travel, and of thought.
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