Often they are
already occupied and defended by stable communities. Their control and
utilization are basic in determining the survival or elimination of
rivals in the competitive struggle.
Above and beyond the need to occupy the "corner lots" of the planetary
land mass was the urge of civilized peoples to advance from littleness
to bigness as a goal in itself. Confined by limitations on communication
and transportation, pre-civilized man was circumscribed and localized.
With the advent of cultivation, land workers were tied to a particular
piece of real estate on which they lived and worked. When asked whether
the village across the valley was Sunrise Mountain the local peasant
could reply: "How should I know? I live here."
Reacting against restricted living and pressed by curiosity and the
spirit of adventure, the imaginative and adventurous members of each
generation pressed outward from the homeland toward wider horizons. Many
traveled. Some migrated. Others pursued the will o' the wisp of
expansion by adding field to field. The grass always looked greener on
the other side of the mountain. The ambitious expansionist therefore
tried to control both sides.
"Move on! Move on!" became the watchword, without any particular
emphasis on quality. In one civilization after another bigness
(magnitude) was accepted as a symbol of success, because "the more you
get and keep, the happier you will be.
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