Each
society attempts to stamp the individuals with its own image and
likeness. The success or failure of this effort to assure individual
adjustment to the social norm and conformity to its practices varies
with the prosilitizing enthusiasm of the society and with the ration of
adaptability and self-consciousness of its individual members.
Western civilization has produced a bourgeois human being intensively
conscious of his capacities and anxious to try himself out in the
rough-and-tumble of the market place and on the battlefield; to
initiate, undertake, direct, administer. In the main, these are
characteristics of the human male, though the female often possesses
them in a greater or lesser degree.
Western civilization has opened the doors wide to aspirants eager to win
out in the game of grab-and-keep. It has been equally kind to their
chief executives, organizers and managers who rank second or third in
the chain of command. These individuals come from widely different
backgrounds. The social mobility of a bourgeois society gives them
opportunity to climb high on the ladder of preferment.
Many of those who fall into line, adapt themselves to the civilizing
process, accept with alacrity the chances that come their way, but do
not reach the top of the success ladder. They have the health, energy
and assertiveness necessary to keep climbing. They accept their
assignments and carry them out with modest success.
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