CHAPTER IX
WORLD-POPULATION AND NATIONALISM

IT has already been mentioned that the existing
attitude of the people of any nation to the balance of
the world’s inhabitants is egoistic; and, within the
nations themselves, the attitude is individualistic. It
is self-evident that these conditions conflict with the
possibilities through which the world can carry the
greatest population possible. The economic pressures
that must inevitably arise as a consequence, and conflicts
 between peoples, greatly affect the question of
what numbers the earth can carry. So long as nations
are liable to go to war, great freedom of migration
is hardly possible, and human activities and wealth
are, moreover, deflected into unprofitable channels.
Governing authorities rely upon the numbers of their
citizens both for the drafts for navies and armies
and for the taxation and loans for the purpose of
prosecuting war.
There is a point of view which, while it may not
obviate the difficulty entirely, tends to do so. If we
recognise that humanity has moral obligations, then,
just as in individual relations, it is required that man
shall maintain goodwill toward his fellow-citizens, and
that he shall react favourably to his communal and
social obligations generally, so is it to be regarded as
normal, and indeed essential, that each people should
have goodwill to all others, and should recognise its
obligations to mankind as a totality.
Should the point of view of, say, a Treitschke or a
Bernhardi become general, the world would certainly
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