THE HOMOSEXUAL & DEMOCRACY

By T. M. Merritt

It is not often that one has the opportunity to participate in a situation of historical importance, one wherein the remote consequences are likely to affect the happiness and welfare of countless numbers of people. One Institute with its plans and activities seems to this writer to be such an occasion.

The theme of the history of Western Europe in its social development has been twofold. It has in both cases referred to the obtaining of the goods of life which have changed but little in their major categories in historic times. Man wants the satisfaction of certain basic economic needs: food, clothing, and shelter, a satisfying family or love life, participation in community life as a respected member, health or physical welfare, a religious or philosophical outlook on life, that is, some understanding or explanation of the world wherein he finds himself, wholesome recreation activities, and finally the means of communicating with his fellows. Of course there are infinite variations in detail, but essentially man's wants, or values, if you wish, fall into these categories and he spends his time and effort to secure the satisfactions thus included. The theme of the development of the history of Western Europe refers first to the distribution of the satisfactions of life. Some men have always enjoyed the goods of life, such as they were, but all too often at the expense of others, that is, by exploiting them, or by climbing on their shoulders, one might say. At this point history shows the unending struggle to achieve a broader dis-

tribution of the goods of life and the principle emerges that everyone is entitled to such of the goods of life as he has the capacity and interest to make use of in so far as he does not encroach upon the same right of others. This principle may be termed that of democracy and its ever greater realization becomes the goal of social evolution. Some thoughts on this subject are the content of the present

paper.

The second aspect of the theme refers to the technique by which the goods of life are obtained and is the more philosophical side of the question. Here it suffices to say that man is coming to an ever greater recognition that rationality or intelligence provides the technique above all others for the increase of his welfare and happiness. This topic will be elaborated in the second part of this study.

As was said before, in all epochs some men have enjoyed such goods as there were and it has been man's fate to have to strive unrelentingly sometimes to dislodge a greedy and monopolizing minority from positions of power and perhaps oftener to secure the recognition of the majority if one belongs to an unpopular minority. The content of history is largely made up of examples of such efforts. A few will be given.

The often-praised cultures of Greece and Rome were superstructures built upon slavery of a most degrading kind. It is said that the free youth of Greece, when the Helots became too numerous, went out at night and killed them for sport as modern

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