The history of the progress of mankind from a belief in a state of barbarism to a concept of civilization is a history of the changing concept of what constitutes government. The word government as ordinarily used means simply a workable system whereby men with differing viewpoints may get along together, and is based wholly upon a belief that the earth is peopled with innumerable beings, each of whom has an independent mind more or less in conflict with that of his neighbor. This view of government differs fundamentally from that of Isaiah, who proclaims that the "government shall be upon his shoulder." It is obviously of prime importance to get at the truth of what government really is and how it may be seen to be operative in human affairs, for in the understanding of this lies the solution of one of the most vexatious of all present-day problems.
In the biological realm the so-called law of "the survival of the fittest" is held to be the only operative force, a theory which implies not the slightest spiritual consciousness nor the faintest vestige of self-restraint arising from a moral animus. In it there is no conception of protection for the weak nor the recognition of any inherent right to exist except upon a basis of physical superiority to one's fellows. It is possible that craftiness in discovering means of self-protection may simulate self-restraint, but the genuine finding of one's own in another's good is unknown in the purely biological world and presumably had faint expression in primitive orders of society.
It is only when spiritual values begin to be perceived that mankind is confronted with the necessity for devising some plan whereby the individual may be assured protection in his search for these spiritual values, and at the same time the group as a whole may be safe from disintegration. These two factors, the interest of the individual as contrasted with the interest of the group, have always entered into the question of human government, and a proper safeguarding of each is the demand of any successful system.
