16 THE SHADOW OF THE WORLD’S FUTURE
Thus unquestionably no inconsiderable portion of
human effort goes into the development of “luxury”;
and not unfrequently this portion could have gone
into the development of a larger amount of food and
into the maintenance of more offspring.
Man has also greatly lengthened his life by better
national and individual hygiene. This affects his
economic power and efficiency, and perhaps also his
possible reproductive efficiency.
As soon as the existing facts of man’s increase in
numbers are viewed in their proper perspective in the
picture of man’s earth-life, the significance of them
for man’s future becomes, as above said, vividly
apparent. The problems of that future loom large
and seem gravely impressive, and this question of
the future is not a mere academic one, nor is it one of
small practical moment. Already it is influencing the
national policy of peoples who are governed or in-
fuenced by a class capable of being affected by looking
into the future, and considering its probabilities.
There are already a number of territories so peopled
that they can no longer provide directly, by existing
methods, the food-supplies needed by their inhabitants.
They have become, as things are, dependent upon
resources obtained from other territories through the
exchange of their commodities not directly supporting
life, for those which do. They are thus immediately
affected by the developments, and by their attitude to
them, of the people of such other territories, and by
their productions. In this connection it is to be
observed that, with the world’s growing population,
food-production difficulties are already coming into
evidence. Migration questions are also arising, and
the significance of racial, linguistic, social and economic
differences is already impressing itself upon thought-
ful citizens. Even as regards language manifest diffi-
culties are arising in the modern world. For instance,