Human Society's. Suicide
The Public Mind. By Norman Angel. (Noel Douglas. Is. Cd)
IF a human being may profitably.indiet the human race the author of the Great Illusion has put together a second book of real importance in the world. He thinks that human nature is in danger of destroying human society—that is his thesis : and he describes the symptoms of the crucial and chronic malady with all the lurid skill of a seller of a patent medicine. The advertisement is well done.
By admirably dovetailed quotations he snakes baldly, even cruelly, manifest the absurdity, and indeed wickedness, of the thoughts, words and acts approved by the public during what may be called " hate periods." The Crimea, the Great War that the Allies won, and the peace that they "lost," the Philippine war, the Venezuelan dispute, and the Cuban annex- ation, provide the chief illustrations. Politicians, the Church, the Professors, and not least, the much-abused Press, all take the infection and help to accentuate the evil emotion that takes possession of the public. Truthfulness, truth itself, all capacity to distinguish what is true from -what is false, or any wish to prefer reason before emotion deserts the human brain and will., The leaders say, like Milton's Satan : " Evil, be thou my :good." It is no matter, so he argues, what the form of government, aristocratic or democratic, for Mussolini or Lenin, President Cleveland or Lord Northcliffe or Mr. Hearst or Mr. Lloyd George, each finds himself finally forced to say the thing that the public demands. Their social nature as well as their more selfish interests set them all on the trail of popularity. On occasions of war, though the phrase is not here adopted, the force to which they yield would nowadays be diagnosed as " the herd instinct." It is an instinct that during periods of danger or, what is worse, duppps.ed, danger' debauches the public mind, so that.it will ,believ, it will indeed- positively enjoy, any report that sullies the enemy's
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name anal character. Hate and fear, in short, believe the worst and give their false creed all possible stimulus and 'publicity. After hid diagnosis, Mr. Angel proeeedi—though more briefly and With -less gusto to' his remedy. It is a little vague and disappointing, though vigorously expressed. The fault of the early chapterii is that they are, if possible, too particular. He quotes a number of extreme knaves or idiots expressing themselVes at a time of soiuePopular clain6ur ; and presumes, quite wrongly, that no one answers them, and most are influ- enced by thein. He omits the better side. For example, he abuses the Boer War, but says nothing of the large and generous peace that followed Campbell-Bannerman's historic decision to grant hill political freedoni. Nevertheless, his 'case is strong and perSuastve because the inherent truth is -expressed by concrete examples. This virtue evades the final chapters. He sees no hOpe in the future, no expectation that suicide can be avoided, unless one can teach the general ptiblie to think intelligently. No one will disagree. But the conclusion, as the logieiahs used to say, is " all extent and no content." Let us have a further book from this arch- priest of intellectual pacifism (we use the word in no bad sense) on the exacter Methods that Society should adopt to prevent the floods of lies and hate that overwhelm the natural kindli- ness of the human race. Can school education do it, can religion dO it, could a national Press do it ?
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