The sun., 1918-07-28
Germany SWelled by Revolving Eg0tism
Unpeakab
Out ard Civilized Nations Peril

In these men may be foolish, misplaced
and dangerous; but it is there nevertheless
and its effects are all too discernible.
The German temperament is by nature
idealistic. Idealism takes small hold on
the American mind, and it is precisely
here where the Anglo-Saxon and the
Teuton are most sharply differentiated.
the world of realities; that of the latter
on philosophy. The former sees the fact,
the deed, the result; he believes in causes
because they produce actual effects. If
he is to have faith in principles he must
witness their concrete manifestation. From
the beginning his companion was Nature.
Her influence was sane, healthful, invig-
Grating. He sowed ideas and reaped
things.
How the Teutons Differed.
But the Teuton sought life, success,
liberty and happiness through metaphys-
les. Philosophical by nature, idealistic,
much given to dreamy melancholy, he
lost touch with things as they are and
6iewed them through those subjective the
queathed to the world in such large and
barren quantities. Instead of Selling and
enjoying the things that count as they
lay about him in concrete profusion, he
discussed the grounds of being. its sources
and limitations, cropping in mist Of
vagaries, while his Anglo Saxon brother
was basking in the sunlight of real
achievement. Let US study the following
picture, for it describes accurately the
relation Of the German mind to its en-
vironment:
A man keeps himself secluded in a
closed room to certain moment of his
life. He has no view of the external
world, but knows that there is one. He
has no access to it, as it has none to him.
What will he do in his solitudeF He will
create a world for himself, world spun
out of his own consciousness, such world
as he believes the external one to be- Nat
urally this ideal world will contain exactly
what he wills and wishes 1t will be his
notion of what the ottside world is or
ought to be. At certain moment of his
life he leaves his confinement and goes
forth TO live among men.
Two worlds confront him, different
from each other, with many contradictions
and discrepancies; limitations and imper-
fectiOns abound in the external existence
of which he had never dreamed, which
were not included in the world of his own
creation. What results from the clash
of comparisOn7 Either he must reject
one Of them, or he must readjust them
both until they eventually harmonic Just
here lies the popularity of the Germanic
temperament. The Teuton clings to the
sphere Of his ideal creation, and is forced
to deny the objective world in which the
rest Of us live. He cannot reconcile the
contradictions; he cannot give up what
he has evolved out of his very soul. So,
strangely enough, his ideal world becomes
to him the real one, and the real world
becomes nonresident
Live in an Isolated Idealism.
And finally. the Germanic temperament
feels an isolated idealism. A man may
live in a community but not be of it. In
this respect he is exclusive and isolated
lie may walk among his fellow men, see
and be seen, eat, sleep and share the ex-
tcrnal phenomena of community life. But
in everything that pertains to compan-
ionship, to the enjoyment Of common in
terests, 10 participation in the public
veal, to the recognition of realities OBJ
jective to himself, he may be absolutely
segregated from those who live about him,
whose actual environment lie shares. He
thus denies the existence Of everything
except his own subjective experiences, and
in this sense he dwcls in state Of isO-
lated idealism. What is true of individ-
uals is also true of nations Germany has