Evening star., 1932-11-01
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
1. G. M.
CIvILIzING OURSELVES. u ESsret.
Dean Martin. New York: y, ).
Norton & Co,

'ClVllzeQ alreaQy? Hardy. MOI
with the count of war, perpetually i'm
pending. still against us. Wars ever
more frequent, wider in scope, more
ingenious in means Of destruction. more
sweeping in devastation and slaughter.
Hardly, when the bulk of international
intercourse centers upon comparative
war strength and divides in disagree
ment over inequalities Of armament.
Hardly, when poverty and want are toll
Grated in the midst of abundance.
Hardly. when bigotry still points but
one narrow path to the front door of
heaven, when laws become merchan-
disc for the full pockets and when
medicine is a dole for the poor and
obsequious hours Of attendance upon
the rich. Hardly, when philanthropy
even becomes primarily front-page buSi-
ness and concern. when society itself,
that class so favored by advantage. is
but a fiutter of parade and pretense,
tossing about toys OF speech and gesture
as emblems of sophistication and cul-
ture.
BY this hasty seizure Of shortcomings,
where others are waiting to enter the
list, we stand on something like the far
side of any adequate measure Of civili-
zation, of being civilized. With all the
means Of this achievement about us we
still lag, self-contentedly, far to the
rear OF that objective set for man above
the other animals.
| An interesting word, civilization. I"
It. too, has grown astonishingly by
natural expansion to meet the demands
made upon it. At first it merely desig-
mated those living in towns, cities,
/ groups. These. as set apart from the
more primitive outsiders. BY the con-
/ facts of neighborhood, with their nat
ural cumulative riv3lries, there grew up
new modes Of life, ways of speech and
dress, more courteous manners, more
/ cleanly habits, more interest in mat
ters not Immediately personal to bed
and board. In word. the city man
became, little by little, through contacts
and emulation, class apart from the
outsiders III remote places out of reach
of these humanizing influences. The
tremendous benefits of association in
creased. And with the advantages
grew, naturally. effects of less beneficial
character. But in the main, the move
ment was upg de. The movement of
men, banded in associations, first for
personal safety and then through long
stretches Of time for many other gains
than those of bodily security.
The purpose of this searching study
is to discover, if maybe, reasons for
the startling disparity, in the modern
day between material achievement and
a true. complete civilization. A period,
thls one, OF amazing successes in every
department Of Industrial activity. In
ventions applied TO this field, discover
les enlarglng II, findings Of science
made TO its advancement. These are
familiar to all, because these have
worked a great liberation in many di-
rectiCns. As little case in point. the
housewife. no longer keeps house .
She presses a button or turns a crank.
instead, and things are done like magic,
things that used to be sheer drudgery.
All done, in no time at all, the lady
steps into her car and joins the un-
ending line of millions who are, today,
simply ridin' round. A homely and ia
millar case to point upon the harvest
Of leisure that has come to thousands
through the workings of science IN any
number of common industries A dis
tinct future menace at this point too,
We are told. But that is another story
One for some future political conscience
TO seize in support of the economic
reality that should, and must, buttress
the activities of government. Just at
the moment, however. this author pre-
fers to point out that this greatly in
creased leisure all the way from the
field Of drudgery to that of playtime
and personal indulgence, that this gift
of leisure has not granted the tremen-
dous boost to the arts of living. TO cul-
ture, to civilization that under our
claims it should have done. Education
training, are open and free. Cults
abound, with every manner Of improve
ment and advance carried in their
premises. The mental and spiritual
sides Of life receive an enormous
amount Of ballyhoo. Yet all the bar
barism all the sayagery, cited at the
beginning of this book survey. with
more besides, are living part Of thi;
boastful and self-satisfied present.
Mentally we have not grown up
These are the words. such the conclusion
Of this student after looking US over
not only face to face. and eve to eye
but in the long backward look that In,
cludes our beginnings. In spite Of oul
material activity. in spite Of our truly
astounding accomplishments in mate
rial matters. We are still, so this author
maintains. living mentally and splrltu'
ally under the direction. even under tht
control Of superstition, belief IN magic
and necromancy, in every manner O
fetch that, under human encourage
ment, has persisted from the savage
| days that invented it up to the super
latively enlightened hour for which w
make such extravagant claims ana @
which We are 50 proud-we. the cap
: sheaf of human development, OF civil
zation itself.
This interesting study is in no sense
not even by implication. an accusation
, a registration of evil intent We are
like all the world besides, a part OF ou
own environment, with certain persona
legacies to push us ahead or to hold U
back. "Civilizing Ourselves" Is merel.
an urgent suggestion that we size our
selves up mentally and spiritually, t
see something of the measure in Which
/ we-you and I-are retardlng tn
! growth of culture. of spiritual things
that would give our civilization the 1ul
and ripe rounded beneficence that Got
has right to expect from man ere
! ated in His own image"
, In partial extenuation Of that which
might otherwise look like utter igno
rance or sheer madness on our part
the author cites out of history certain
advantages that we have missed. Ger
tain obstacles that we have encountered
, An interesting reference is to the Re
naissance. To the fact that We missed
in large measure, the art, the phi
5 losophy. the wisdom. the bright awaken
ing of that movement. 1t swept too ia
south of our beginnings in Europe. W.
are children Of middle Germany in 1t
professionalism, sweeping northward int
: England and seizing upon the ironsid
reformers of that region. We came t
this country, protesting the rigors ant
illiberalism of the old country. Here
hard land and hard resistant moo'
In spiritual restrictions, these combine'
to shane life in the New World upon
: pattern of Puritan rigidity and of eco
J nomic structures that left no room, for {
, long, long stretch of time, to give shelter
to the more kindly hours and warme
hearts that underlie all true culture
5 that must be the controlling force il
any lasting civilization. Hard to define
those elusive elements that cultivate tn
mind and spirit of man. lifting it ia
above the material gains Of what i
] known as progress. Is it education
e Yes. but it may be the education o