Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-22
The "Back-to-Nature" Fake.

The philosophical interludes which
narrative of his African hunting ex-
periences have more than once chal-
lenged our attention, and warrant al
fusion to the home thrust which he
gives to the "back-to-nature" fake in
the last installment of his serial con-
tribution to Scribner's.
The notion that man is at his best
in his natural state, and that the ap-
proach of the millennium must come
through the abandonment of civilized
arts and a reversion to a state of ma
ture is a common preachment 1t is
remnant of the tradition that the
golden age was enjoyed by primitive
man and the conclusion that another
golden age will be ours only when we
restore the conditions of ancestral life.
Mr.. Roosevelt's experiences in Africa
have evidently confirmed him in the
belief that the "back-to-nature" cry is
on a par with the nature fake, for he
says:
1t is only I'm Nightmares that the average
dweler in civilized countries now undergoes
the hideous horror which was the regular
and frequent portion of his ages-vanished
forefathers, and which is still an every day
incident in the lives of most wild creatures.
But the dread is short-lived, and it's horror
vanishes with instantaneous rapidty. In
these wids the game dreaded the lion and
other flesheating beasts rather than man.
Death by violence, death by cold, death by
starvation-these are the normal endings of
the stately and beautiful creatures of the
" ilderness. The sentimentalists who pratt
tie about the peaceful life of nature do not
realize its utter mercilessness; although all
they would have to do would be to look at
the birds in the winter woods, or even at
the insects on a cold morning or cold even
ing. Life is hard and cruel for all the
lower creatures. and for man also in what
the sentimentalsts call state of nature.
The savage of today shows us what the
fancied age of gold of our ancestors was
really like; it was an age when hunger,
cold, violence, and iron cruelty were the
ordinary accomplishments of life If Mat
thew Arnold, when he expressed the wish
to know the thoughts of earths vigorous,
| lIlDeS Oh lue past Idu really uO-
sired an answer to his question, he would
have done we'll to visit the homes of the
| existing representatives of his vigorous,
primitive" ancestors, and watch them feast
ing on blood and CUTS; while as for the
| 'pellucid and pure" feelings of his imagi-
nary primitive maiden, they were those OF
any meek. cowlike creature who accepted
marriage by purchase or of convenience, as
a matter of course.
If the existence of the semi-savages
in darker Africa is anything like what
we would have to endure IL we should
really go back to nature, no one OF
sane mind would for a moment think
of making the exchange OF his own &C.
cord. While gazing at the inspiring
pictures of human beatitude on the
threshold of civilization undisturbet
by the work and worries of these later
artificial innovations, it is worth while
remembering that the man who is
nearest to nature is in all probability
also furthest from comfort and con
tentment, and absolutely devoid of al
the countless enjoyments which are
today freely in possession of the
humblest member of civilized society