ENDS AND MEANS
forms; but, not content with this spontaneous evil, the
dictators are using all the means at their disposal to direct
their subjects* energy along the channels of aggressive
imperialism.
Finally, there is a third alternative—an alternative which
has never been tried before. We can retain pre-nuptial
chastity and absolute monogamy, at any rate for the
ruling classes of our societies; but instead of associating
these practices with the subjection of women, we can make
women the legal equals of men. In this way, as Dr.
Unwin suggests, and in this way only, will it be possible
to avoid that revolt against chastity which, in the past, has
resulted in the decline of once energetic societies. By
making compulsory chastity tolerable, such measures will
prolong the period during which a society produces
energy—will prolong it, perhaps, indefinitely. But they
will do little or nothing to improve the ethical quality of
the energy produced. Even the process which Dr. Unwin
calls 'human entropy' promises no ethical improvement--
only increasing refinement and accuracy of thought and its
expression. Hitherto, as history shows, sexual restraint'
has had the following results. The moral life has been
made possible and some at least of this potential good has
been actualized. Meanwhile, however, in the process of
creating the potentiality for good, much evil has invariably
beeli produced. Our problem is to discover a way to
eliminate that evil, a way to direct all the energy produced
by sexual restraint along desirable channels.
In the preceding chapters I have described the kind of
political, economic, educational, religious and philosophical
devices that must be used if we are ever to achieve the
good ends that we all profess to desire. The energy
created by sexual restraint is the motive, power which
makes it possible for us to conceive those desirable ends
and to think out the means for realizing them. We see,
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