84 Chapter 4
you.No oneis moreanxiousto throttlethe moneypower.”^21 WilliamJameshimself
advocatedgovernistideas.His father,HenryJames,wasa greatadmirerof collectivist
communeleaderCharlesFourier,andWilliamadoptedmanyof his father’s ideas.That
explainsWilliam’s derisionof capitalismas “the bitchgoddesssuccess.”^22 As for Ward,
Commagerdeliversno wordsabouthowWardalsohelpedbringgovernisteugenics
advocacyto academicsociology.
UponveneratingWardas the manwhosavedthe EarthfromsocialDarwinismin
general,SDAT, likewise,broadcaststhe ideathatWarddespisedgovernisteugenicsin
particular.Hofstadterwritesabouta 1906AmericanSociologicalSocietyconferencein
whichWardwashorrifiedthatthe speakerprecedinghim“hadpresenteda social-Dar-
winistthesisadvocatingcarefuleliminationof the unfitand dependent,chieflyby eugen-
ic methods.In replyWardbrandedthe doctrinepresentedas ‘the mostcompleteexample
of the oligopocentricworld-viewwhichis comingto prevailin the higherclassesof
societyand wouldcenterthe entireattentionof the wholeworlduponan almostinfinites-
imalfractionof the humanraceandignorethe rest.’ He wouldnot be contented,Ward
continued,to workin so smalla fieldas the educationand preservationof a selectfew of
the higherclasses.‘I wanta fieldthat shallbe broadenoughto embracethe wholehuman
race,and I wouldtakeno interestin sociologyif I did not regardit as constitutingsucha
field.’” HofstadterthenquotesWardas sayingat thatconferencethatthe poorare “by
naturethe peersof the boasted‘aristocracyof brains’ thatnowdominatessocietyand
looksdownuponthem,and the equalsin all but privilegeof the mostenlightenedteach-
ers of eugenics.”^23
SweepingWard’s Eugenicismunderthe Rug
Thereis somethingunsettlingaboutthe mannerin whichthesegovernistauthorshave
whitewashedWardas the eugenicists’bête noir.Scienceand Mythtakesnoticeof the irony
of Wardhavingthe gall to “blastDarwinized-socialtheorywhilesimultaneouslyground-
ing” his ownposition“in a Darwinianvisionof struggle.. .”^24 Universityof Illinois-
UrbanahistorianClarenceJ. Kariercontributesto Bannister’s critique,exposingWardas
an explicitadvocateof eugenics,whitesupremacism,and militaryconscription.^25 Bearin
mindfor the upcomingquotationsthatstiripculturewasan earlysynonymfor govern-
ment-imposedeugenicsthatLesterWardhad employed.On his desireto createa master
race,Dr. Wardstatedin his 1891addressto the BiologicalSocietyof Washington,
It is the rightand the dutyof an energeticand virileraceof mento seizeuponeverygreat
principlethatcan be madesubservientto its trueadvancement,and... to applyit.
Naturalselectionis the chiefagentin the transformationof speciesandthe evolutionof
life. Artificialselection[thatis, selectivebreedingconductedby humanbeings]has given
to manthe mostthathe possessesof valuein the organicproductsof the earth.Maynot
menand womenbe selectedas wellas sheepand horses?Fromthe greatstirp[i.e.,a line
of descendantsfroma commonancestor,accordingtoDictionary.Com] of humanitywith
all its multipliedancestralplasm—someverypoor,somemediocre,... onlya compara-
tive few verygood.. .—fromall this,whymaywe not learnto selecton somebroadand
comprehensiveplanwitha viewto a generalbuildingup and roundingout of the raceof
humanbeings?At leastwe shouldby a rigidselectionstampout of the futureall the wholly
unworthyelements. Publicsentimentshouldbe createdin this direction,and whenthe day
comesthat societyshallbe profoundlyshockedat the crimeof perpetuatingthe leasttaint
of hereditarydisease,insanity,or otherseriousdefect,as it nowis [toward]the compara-
tivelyharmlesscrimeof incest,the wayto practicaland successfulstirpiculturewill have
alreadybeenfound[emphasisadded].^26