CHAPTER IV

WHAT THE PEOPLE IN COMMUNITIES ARE SEEKING

MAN has been called a bundle of wants, and these wants are constantly leading him to act in such a way as to satisfy them.

health

First of all, men desire life and health. They will ordinarily give up anything in order to preserve their lives. Good health is one of the most priceless pos- The desire sessions. A perfectly sound and healthy body for life and is one of the greatest joys a man can have, and without it he is unable to satisfy his other desires to the fullest extent. Recall the provisions made for the protection of iife and health by the colonists mentioned in the first chapter.

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Another thing that people want is to own something. Boys and girls like to have things that they can call their own. The things that men seek to own-houses, The desire cattle, books, pictures, and the like constitute for wealth wealth. The desire for wealth is a very strong one, stronger in some persons than in others. What a man owns is valuable because of what he can do with it. It helps him to sustain and protect life. It enables him to enjoy comforts and luxuries that he could not otherwise have. It makes it possible for him to educate himself, to satisfy his desire for art, to travel, and to enter more Men engage in farming, in manufac

fully into social life.

turing, in buying and selling, and many other forms of business to satisfy their desire for wealth.

The desire for knowledge

Men also want knowledge. That is why children ask so many questions, and why boys like to take things to pieces to see how they are made. It is this desire that led Nansen to the arctic regions, and Livingstone to the heart of Africa. It lies at the foundation of all science. It was one of the foremost desires that led to the founding of the settlement in the West (chapter I).

Men also take pleasure in things that are beautiful. This may lead to travel, to the collection of pictures, to the erection of beautiful buildings, and to the maintenance of There is a great

The desire for right

eousness

well-kept streets and lawns.

The desire for beauty variety of activities for the satisfaction of the desire for beautiful things. How did this desire show itself in the community mentioned in the first chapter? No race or tribe of men has ever been known that did not have some form of religion. The religious desire is characteristic of men. In every community there are certain things that men do to satisfy it. It may be the sacrificing of animals, as among the ancient Hebrews. It may be the throwing of children to the crocodiles, as in India. It may be the building of beautiful temples, as in ancient Greece. It may be waging a great war, like the Crusades; or it may be the founding of a hospital or some other charitable institution. The desire for the spread of religion was the chief motive of the settlers mentioned in the first chapter. Man desires companionship. He has been called a social animal. He engages in many forms of activity to gratify his desire to associate with other men. How fully could this desire be satisfied in the little community founded in the West?

The desire for companionship

Many of the things that men do are the result of several

desires

One desire

sometimes shuts out all

others

of these desires working together. A man's desires for knowledge, for beautiful scenery, and for health Combinamay combine to lead him to the mountains. tions of When Columbus sailed on his voyage of discovery, he was led by his desire for knowledge, his desire for wealth, and his desire to extend the influence of Christianity. Sometimes one desire may seem to obscure every other desire in the life of a person. The love of wealth may take such possession of a man that he becomes a miser, or perhaps dishonest. It has sometimes happened that a man has become so enthusiastic in the pursuit of art, or of science, that he has sacrificed his health, or even life itself, as in the case of André, who attempted to reach the north pole in a balloon. History tells us of men who were so devoted to what they believed to be their religious duty that they became hermits, shutting themselves away from all companionship, denying themselves riches, mutilating The welland starving the body, and even suffering death. rounded But in every normal person there are found all the desires named, and the well-rounded life is made up of activities to satisfy all of these desires in due proportion.

life

satisfying

Two persons may have the same desires, but may attempt to satisfy them in different ways. The Flathead Indians bind boards upon the foreheads of their Different children, flattening them, because they think the ways of result is beautiful. A certain people blacken the same their teeth and scorn Europeans who have desire "white teeth like dogs." So among us there are people who seem to take delight in things that are repugnant to others. The miser and the spendthrift both have wrong ideas of the use of wealth. One man's desire for com

panionship may lead him into profitable associations with

others.

The same desire in another may lead him to waste his time in the evil influences of the saloon.

of activities

Where there are so many desires and so many ways of satisfying them it is not strange that the activities of peoConflicts of ple sometimes conflict. The robber, in his purdesires and suit of wealth, conflicts with the desires of others. One man may erect a cheap and ugly building that is a nuisance in the neighborhood. An employer may maintain a poorly ventilated factory or store that endangers the health of those who work for him. A crowd of young people in their love of sport and companionship may interfere with the peaceful pursuits and the comfort of others. That community is best to live in, in which each citizen not only has the greatest opportunity to satisfy his desires in life, but also recognizes the fact that all other citizens have their desires, and an equal right to satisfy them.

In the course of time men, living together in communities, have developed various means to secure harmony, and to prevent the rights of one from being Three means to interfered with by others.

Means to secure

harmony secure these results are:

1. The school. Its chief purpose is to train children for citizenship; that is, for membership in the community. (See chapter XV.)

2. The church. It works through the religious desires of men. Its service in helping men to live harmoniously together may be expressed by its teaching, "Do unto others as ye would be done by."

3. Government. It establishes and enforces laws for the common good, which all should willingly observe. It is not something placed over us from without, to tyrannize over us, and to be feared and antagonized. It is a friend

of our own making, and should be cherished and supported by every citizen to the fullest extent possible. The beneficent purpose of government is stated in the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, which reads:

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America,

FOR INVESTIGATION

1. What things are done in your own home for the purpose of satisfying the desires mentioned in this chapter?

2. What are some of the things, outside of your home, that the people of your community do to satisfy these desires?

3. What desires are gratified by a person who does the following things: paints his house; attends a concert; visits a sick friend; buys a book; makes a garden; keeps a dog; takes out a fire-insurance policy; keeps a store; goes to church; attends a lecture?

4. Show how a person's desire for companionship may conflict with his desire for knowledge; how his desire for wealth may conflict with his desire for health or for companionship.

5. Give illustrations of how some persons, in satisfying their desires, interfere with the attempts of others to satisfy theirs.

6. Does community life make it easier, or more difficult, for men to satisfy their desire for life; for health; for wealth; for knowledge; for beauty; for religion? Explain.

7. Show how, in the school, the pupil who "does as he pleases interferes with the liberty of others. Is it right that his own liberty should then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right to "do as one pleases "?

8. Study together in class the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and, if possible, a part of the bill of rights of your state constitution. Find how many of the desires mentioned in this chapter are there provided for.

9. Mention one way in which government helps you to satisfy each of the desires mentioned in this chapter.