THE EXTENSION OF PRIMARY IDEALSPRIMARY IDEALS UNDERLIE DEMOCRACY AND CHRISTIANITY --WHY THEY ARE NOT ACHIEVED ON A LARGER SCALE -- WHAT THEY REQUIRE FROM PERSONALITY-- FROM SOCIAL MECHANISM -- THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPENSATIONIT will be found that those systems of larger idealism which are most human and so of most enduring value， are based upon the ideals of primary groups.Take， for instance， the two systems that have most vitality at the present time梔emocracy and Christianity.
The aspirations of ideal democracy梚ncluding， of course， socialism， and whatever else may go by a special name梐re those naturally springing from the playground or the local community； embracing equal opportunity， fair play， the loyal service of all in the common good， free discussion， and kindness to the weak.These are renewed every day in the hearts of the people because they spring from and are corroborated by familiar and homely experience.Moreover， modern democracy as a historical current is apparently traceable back to the village community life of the Teutonic tribes of northern Europe， from which it descends through English constitutional liberty and the American and French revolutions to its broad and deep channels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
And Christianity， as a social system， is based upon the family， its ideals being traceable to the domestic circle of a Judaean carpenter.God is a kind father； men and women are brothers and sisters；we are all members one of another， doing as we would be done by and referring.MI things to the rule of love.In so far as the church has departed from these principles it has proved transient； these endure because they are human.
But why is it that human nature is not more successful in achieving these primary aims？ They appear to be simple and reasonable， and one asks why they are so little realized， why we are not， in fact， a moral whole， a happy family.
It is not because we do not wish it.There can be no doubt， I should say， that， leaving aside a comparatively few abnormal individuals， whose influence is small， men in general have a natural allegiance to the community ideal， and would gladly see it carried out on a large as well as a small scale.And nearly all imaginative and aspiring persons view it with enthusiasm， and would devote themselves to it with some ardor and sacrifice if they saw clearly how they could do so with effect.It is easy to imagine types of pure malignity in people of whom we have little knowledge， but who ever came to know any one intimately without finding that he had somewhere in him the impulses of a man and a brother ？
The failure to realize these impulses in practice is， of course， due in part to moral weakness of a personal character， to the fact that our higher nature has but an imperfect and transient mastery of our lower， so that we never live up to our ideals.But going beyond this and looking at the matter from the standpoint of the larger mind， the cause of failure is seen to be the difficulty of organization.Even if our intentions were always good， we should not succeed， because， to make good intentions effective， they must be extended into a system.In attempting to do this our constructive power is used up and our ideals confused and discouraged.
We are even led to create a kind of institutions which， though good in certain aspects， may brutalize or ossify the individual， so that primary idealism in him is almost obliterated.The creation of a moral order on an ever-growing scale is the great historical task of mankind， and the magnitude of it explains all shortcomings.
From personality the building of a moral order requires not only good impulses but character and capacity.The ideal must be worked out with steadfastness， self-control， and intelligence.Even families and fellowships， though usually on a higher level than more elaborate structures， often break down， and commonly from lack of character in their members.
But if it is insufficient here， how much less will it suffice for a righteous state.Our new order of life， with its great extension of structure and its principle of freedom， is an ever severer test of the political and moral fibre of mankind， of its power to hold itself together in vast， efficient， plastic wholes.Whatever races or social systems fail to produce this fibre must yield ascendancy to those which succeed.
This stronger personality depends also upon training；and whatever peoples succeed in being righteous on a great scale will do so only by adding to natural capacity an education suited to the growing demands of the situation梠ne at the same time broad and special， technical and humane.There can be no moral order that does not live in the mind of the individual.