NATURE OF THE MODERN STATE
Mere habit and the force of inertia are also extremely
powerful. To get out of a rut, even an uncomfortable rut,
requires more effort than most people are prepared to make.
In his Studies in History and Jurisprudence Bryce suggests
that the main reason for obedience to law is simply
indolence. 'It is for this reason/ he says, *that a strenuous
and unwearying will sometimes becomes so tremendous a
power „.. almost a hypnotic force/ Because of indolence,
the disinherited are hardly less conservative than the pos-
sessors; they cling to their familiar miseries almost as
tenaciously as the others cling to their privileges. The
Buddhist and, later, the Christian moralists numbered sloth
among the deadly sins. If we accept the principle that
the tree is to be judged by its fruits, we must admit that
they were right. Among the many poisonous fruits of
sloth are dictatorship on the one hand and passive,
irresponsible obedience on the other. Reformers should
aim at delivering men from the temptations of sloth no
less than from the temptations of ambition, avarice and
the lust for power and position. Conversely, no reform
which leaves the masses of the people wallowing in the
slothful irresponsibility of passive obedience to authority
can be counted as a genuine change for the better.1
Reinforcing the effect of indolence, kindliness and fear,
rationalizing these emotions in intellectual terms, is philo-
sophical belief. The ruled obey their rulers because, in
addition to all the other reasons, they accept as true some
metaphysical or theological system which teaches that the
state ought to be obeyed and is intrinsically worthy of
obedience. Rulers are seldom content with the brute facts
of power and satisfied ambition; they aspire to rule dejure
as well as de facto. The rights of violence and cunning
are not enough for them. To strengthen their position in
1 For the relation existing between energy and sexual continence,
see Chapter XV.
57