Brought to you By ND-Warez.info & WarezPoets.com

114
ON POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND PACIF1SM
physical characteristics-are treated by the majorities among
whom they live as an inferior order of beings. The tragedy of
such a fate lies not merely in the unfair treatment to which
these minorities are automatically subj ected in social and economic
matters, but also in the fact that under the suggestive
influence of the majority most of the victims themselves succumb
to the same prejudice and regard their kind as inferior
beings. This second and greater part of the evil can be overcome
by closer association and by deliberate education of the
minority, whose spiritual liberation can thus be accomplished.
The resolute efforts of the American Negroes in this direction
deserve approval and assistance.
THE HEIRS OF THE AGES
Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querida Verlag, 1934.
Previous generations were able to look upon intellectual
and cultural progress as simply the inherited fruits of their
forebears' labors, which made life easier and more beautiful for
them. But the calamities of our times show us that this was a
fatal illusion.
We see now that the greatest efforts are needed if this legacy
of humanity'S is to prove a blessing and not a curse. For whereas
formerly it was enough for a man to have freed himself to some
extent from personal egotism to make him a valuable member
of society, today he must also be required to overcome national
and class egotism. Only if he Teaches those heights can he contribute
toward improving the lot of humanity.
As regards this most important need of the age, the inhabitants
of a small state are better placed than those of a great
power, since the latter are exposed, both in politics and economics,
to the temptation to gain their ends by brute force. The
agreement between Holland and Belgium, which is the only
bright spot in European events during the last few years, encourages
one to hope that the small nations will playa leading