nations, some racial and religious groups outbreed others and thus
gradually supplant them--_for the future is to those who furnish its
populations_.




CHAPTER V

RACIAL DEGENERATION AND THE NECESSITY FOR RATIONALIZATION OF THE MORES

Racial decay in modern society; Purely "moral" control dysgenic in
civilized society; New machinery for social control; Mistaken notion
that reproduction is an individual problem; Economic and other factors
in the group problem of reproduction.


From the discussion in the preceding chapter, it becomes apparent that
for the half of the female element in a savage society possessing the
most vigor and initiative to turn away from reproduction would in the
long run be fatal to the group. Yet this is what occurs in large measure
in modern civilized society. Reproduction is a biological function. It
is non-competitive, as far as the individual is concerned, and offers no
material rewards. The breakdown of the group's control over the detailed
conduct and behaviour of its members is accompanied by an increasing
stress upon material rewards to individuals. So with growing
individualism, in the half of the race which can both bear children and
compete in the social activities offering rewards, i.e., the women who
are specialized to the former and adapted to the latter, there is a
growing tendency among the most successful, individualized strains, to