At the Root
by H. P. Lovecraft
----------------------Written 1918
---------------------To those who look beneath the surface, the present universal war drives home
more than one anthropological truth in striking fashion; and of the verities
none is more profound than that relating to the essential immutability of
mankind and its instincts.
Four years ago a large part of the civilised world laboured under certain
biological fallacies which may, in a sense, be held responsible for the extent
and duration of the present conflict. These fallacies, which were the foundation
of pacifism and other pernicious forms of social and political radicalism, dealt
with the capacity of man to evolve mentally beyond his former state of
subservience to primate instinct and pugnacity, and to conduct his affairs and
international or interracial relations on a basis of reason and good-will. That
belief in such capability is unscientific and childishly naive, is beside the
question. The fact remains, that the most civilised part of the world, including
our own Anglo-Saxondom, did entertain enough of these notions to relax military
vigilance, lay stress on points of honour, place trust in treaties, and permit a
powerful and unscrupulous nation to indulge unchecked and unsuspected in nearly
fifty years of preparation for world-wide robbery and slaughter. We are reaping
the result of our simplicity.
The past is over. Our former follies we can but regret, and expiate as best we
may by a crusade to the death against the Trans-Rhenane monster which we allowed
to grow and flourish beneath our very eyes. But the future holds more of
responsibility, and we must prepare to guard against any renascence of the
benevolent delusions that four years of blood have barely been able to discard
forever the sentimental standpoint, and to view our species through the cold
eyes of science alone. We must recognise the essential underlaying savagery in
the animal called man, and return to older and sounder principles of national
life and defense. We must realise that man's nature will remain the same so long
as he remains man; that civilisation is but a slight coverlet beneath which the
dominant beast sleeps lightly and ever ready to awake. To preserve civilisation,
we must deal scientifically with the brute element, using only genuine
biological principles. In considering ourselves, we think too much of ethics and
sociology - too little of plain natural history. We should perceive that man's
period of historical existence, a period so short that his physical constitution
has not been altered in the slightest degree, is insufficient to allow of any
considerable mental change. The instincts that governed the Egyptians and the
Assyrians of old, govern us as well; and as the ancients thought, grasped,
struggled, and deceived, so shall we moderns continue to think, grasp, struggle,
and deceive in our inmost hearts. Change is only superficial and apparent.
Man's respect for the imponderables varies according to his mental constitution
and environment. Through certain modes of thought and training it can be
elevated tremendously, yet there is always a limit. The man or nation of high
culture may acknowledge to great lengths the restraints imposed by conventions
and honour, but beyond a certain point primitive will or desire cannot be
curbed. Denied anything ardently desired, the individual or state will argue and
parley just so long - then, if the impelling motive be sufficiently great, will
cast aside every rule and break down every acquired inhibition, plunging
viciously after the object wished; all the more fantastically savage because of
previous repression. The sole ultimate factor in human decisions is physical
force. This we must learn, however repugnant the idea may seem, if we are to
protect ourselves and our institutions. Reliance on anything else is fallacious
and ruinous. Dangerous beyond description are the voices sometimes heard today,
decrying the continuance of armament after the close of the present hostilities.
The specific application of the scientific truth regarding man's native
instincts will be found in the adoption of a post-bellum international
programme. Obviously, we must take into account the primordial substructure and
arrange for the upholding of culture by methods which will stand the acid test
of stress and conflicting ambitions. In disillusioned diplomacy, ample armament,
and universal military training alone will be found the solution of the world's
difficulties. It will not be a perfect solution, because humanity is not
perfect. It will not abolish war, because war is the expression of a natural
human tendency. But it will at least produce an approximate stability of social
and political conditions, and prevent the menace of the entire world by the
greed of any one of its constituent parts.
The Lovecraft Library wishes to extend its gratitude to Eulogio García Recalde
for transcribing this text.
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