roo THE SHADOW OF THE WORLD’S FUTURE
thing that may evidently be misjudged is the world’s
psychology. The spirit behind aggression can never
promise a bright future for Man. There are those
who think that the only mistakes made are the decisions
to make the conflicts armed conflicts. To such it is
submitted that had the conflicts been non-moral commercial
 ones, the issues would still be subject to the
moral world-basis and would be untoward ultimately.
They create intense antagonisms.
It is when such matters are kept in view that the
relationship of Nationalism to the peopling of the
world becomes very significant. When nationalism is
supremely egoistic, it is non-moral and conflicts with
the ideals of nationalism developed for the benefit of
humanity. Is it, as a fact, true that “ no nation liveth
unto itself?” In short, is there a higher worldpurpose
 than the organisation of a people for power and
self-aggrandisement, viz., to ensure both its well-being
and its beneficence to all other peoples?
One sees the smile of incredulity of those whose real
faith is that there is but one god and that god is
Material Power, power which arises from a knowledge
of the nature of material things; power which can
create material wealth; and can create also instruments
of awful disaster to those who oppose them; power
which can create instruments, too, that can help us to
explore the realm of the physical and subjugate Nature
to our ends with extraordinary success, compelling
her to contribute more to the purposes of human
life and human sustenance.
It is this power, some will assert, that has already
revealed the way for greater multitudes to live on
earth; a fact proved by the large rate of the recent
increase, compared with Man’s mysteriously slow
development in the past. To this one may answer:
“Yes, it has undoubtedly shown that the accessions
of knowledge may be beneficent in their effects, but