THE END OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE

In Europe , or at least in some parts ofEurope—but not, I think, in the UnitedStates of America —there is a latent reaction,somewhat widespread, against basing Societyto the extent that we do upon fostering,encouraging, andprotectingthe money-motivesof individuals. A preference for arranging ouraffairs in such a way as to appeal to the money-motive as little as possible, rather than asmuch as possible, need not be entirely a 'priori,but may be based on the comparison ofexperiences. Different persons, according totheir choice of profession, find the money-motive playing a large or a small part in theirdaily lives, and historians can tell us aboutother phases of social organisation in whichthis motive has played a much smaller partthan it does now. Most religions and mostphilosophies deprecate, to say the least of it,a way of life mainly influenced by considera-tions of personal money profit. On the otherhand, most men to-day reject ascetic notionsand do not doubt the real advantages ofwealth. Moreover, it seems obvious to them

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