Our civilization is to a great extent the achievement of such men. The eliminative forces of natural selection are greatly reduced under social conditions. Hence some people say that civilization tends to deteriorate the hereditary qualities of the members of society. Such judgments are reasonable if one looks at mankind with the eyes of a breeder intent upon raising a race of men equipped with certain qualities. But society is not a stud-farm operated for the production of a definite type of men.
Any standard chosen is arbitrary, purely subjective, in short a judgment of value.
The terms racial improvement and racial degeneration are meaningless when not based on definite plans for the future of mankind. It is true, civilized man is adjusted to life in society and not to that of a hunter in virgin forests. The praxeological theory of society is assailed by the fable of the mystic communion. It stems from unfathomable depths, from an urge ingrained in man's essential nature. It is, says one group, engrossment by the Spirit which is Divine Reality and participation, by virtue of a unio mystica , in God's power and love.