Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-08-21
ISMS AND PROGRESS.
THE AMUSING SIDE OF so CALLED
HUMAN WISDOM.

An Ideal From n bad Source 49, It
Means Wealth For the Few and
Rags For the Mil1ion-ProbIems We
Haven't Solved.
Especial Correspondence
1t has often been stated by first class
authorities on the subject that the ma
jority of books having permanent
value in healthy human growth are
only read by few professional people
or students In each generation, while
the bulk of the trashy literature is read
by millions upon millions. That Is the
experience of every librarian or obsery-
ant person along that line. The fact is
accepted as self evident. Besides, our
whole blind march through history
proves that. And not only that, but the
fact is that even In the trashy litera-
ture so greedily devoured by the mil
lions, wise o. otherwise-even in that
literature we can find enough to teach
minds how to think If we only try to
read that trash not simply to pass time,
but TO derive some instruction from It
Mental INERTIA has no doubt been one
Of the great enemies of humanity thus
far. Puck has recently expressed that
inertia as follows;
'It Is pity that our ancestors left us
so many problems which they should
have solved; also that we are willing to
pass the problems along There we
have splendid condensation of histor-
ical development. Each generation
claims as a matter of course to have
solved certain problems, but can we
prove that 1t has not evolved one or
more problems for each one IT may
have solved or has any problem been
solved at all2
In the order of science, sound phllos-
ophy or even but plain sense we have
to grasp the fundamental elements of
a given subject before we attempt to
solve any problem in connection with
It. Take the subject Of human growth
and therefore that of social growth,
and what is the general idea of most
of our wise people In relation to social
growth? Suggest to them any ism, as
they call it-that is, any simple, well
defined process with which to com
mence any social reconstructlon-and
they don't want to even study that ism,
that process. They simply assert its in
efficacy without proving 1t. And they
implicitly tell you that social growth
Is a group of incidentals without any
Fundamental element about it. Just as
well say that the cosmos itself is
group of incidental forces without the
fundamental one of gravitatlon or
that religion Is a mass of sentlmentali-
ties and abstract dogmas without any
concrete fundamental moral law at the
root of all sentiment.
And now look at the folly of It, We
have thus far abode by n certain Ism in
what we have called progress We have
always stood by the ism of "legalized
banditism" In our social adjustments,
Or, rather, maladjustments, while pre-
tending that nature or God had left us
without any good ism through which
to reverse the bad ism on the founda-
tions of which we have raised the fab
ric of our civilization. The logic of hu-
man wisdom has always been some
thing subllmely amusing-one funda-
I lDtlllul DItttSH O1 N NllCD W tlttl IL
building that shall be shaking forever,
giving US piles of trouble through
countless centuries and no fundamen-
tai process on which to build up solid
social fabric. And yet by the law of
opposites one Ism implies another Ism,
as the north implies the south and the
east implies the west, as white carries
| ho Of h1orIF {frht fhnt Of
wrong beauty that of ugliness, order
that of disorder, etc.
| Take now the word primary, first in
the order of time or development. Ap-
ply 1t to progress, which, If 1t is any
thing tangible, must take cognizance
of those two elements, development
and time. And yet who can tell you
anything precise about any primary
law of progress? We don't want the
bother of any such law. Perhaps it
would interfere with our precious ism,
| eEotlsm. Perhaps 1t would force us to
adopt the opposite Ism and apply 1t to
the social order anl so permeate all
1 our laws with the spirit of altruism,
| just the ism we hate and on account
l VI W iiN4l NC icluot " dSl &C WI any
| specific process through which to at
least partially suppress some Of our
/ great social wrongs. We don't object
20 sticking to the ism that allows us
1 to get on top of each other. We decid-
edly object to any ism that would es
| tablish equity among us.
And there we are, floating In the
] pf without
pass, without any primary law of prog
ress, yet foolishly asserting that we are
constantly solving problems when we
don't even wish to grasp the basic ele-
ment of any kind of progress, good or
bad, right or wrong With that child
ish infatuation peculiar thus far to hu-
manity we assume that the word prog
ress cannot be subject to any classtica-
tiOn and must necessarily be right no