Just as men are by nature unequal in mind, so they are by nature unequal in body; some are born with naturally strong and vigorous constitutions, while others are weak and delicate from birth. Some portion of these differences may, of course, be diminished by proper care and training, and many a person who has started with a weak body has become, in after life, an athlete. But the great mass of physical inequalities between men are due to nature alone, and would remain, no matter how carefully we reared and trained our children. Were this fact not true, it would be possible to train all persons to perform the great feats of strength and endurance which we admire in the typical athletes, and all persons could be trained equally well for all such trades as require great physical power; but our common experience of life shows us that this is impossible. Only a limited number of persons are fit to become blacksmiths, and just as lack of requisite mental power may bar an individual from one trade, lack of requisite physical power may bar him from another. Thus, physical inequality has also great influence on economic life and on individual production. Given equal opportunities, equal mental and moral character, and the capacities of individuals must vary enormously, owing to the physical inequalities existing between man and man.
Men are by nature morally unequal; that is, they differ greatly in character. We all know that the personal dispositions of men vary greatly even when they have been subjected to the same moral influences. One man is naturally steady, another is shiftless; one is reckless, another is discreet; one is temperate, another is a tippler; one has a high sense of honor, another has few scruples; one is active, another is lazy; one has a strong sense of moral responsibility, while another is indifferent to his duties. In spite of all that moralists have done throughout the ages, vast moral differences exist in different human beings— differences which are but slightly and gradually modifiable in course of time. Accepting mankind as we find it, with all these important differences of character in the individual, the conclusion is inevitable that these moral variations also have a decided and remarkable influence on the productive capacities of different individuals. Even were all men mentally and physically equal, the great differences of moral character alone would doubtless have an enormous influence on their actual productive capacities, which would thus vary according to the presence or absence of the necessary moral qualifications requisite for each calling.
The essential and vital fact to be borne in mind is, that men are very unequally endowed by nature with intellectual and physical powers, and moral character. Now, differences in mind and body and character are not, and never can be, subject to legislative influence. No act of parliament can order a man to be intelligent, or strong, or virtuous. All that society can do is to attempt to give equal opportunities to all for mental, physical, and moral development; and were this carried out even to the extremest conceivable point, the natural inequalities would persist, and might even become still more marked; for nowhere do brains, muscle, and backbone so vigorously and aggressively assert themselves as where there is equal opportunity and free competition.
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