35 2 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
tion of development ; but because it will not get its fullest mean- ing, whether in the development of the activity or in that of the consciousness of society, or because it will even be taken as alto- gether too philosophical to be practical. That resistance devel- ops appeals to everybody; but, at least with any clearness, it is not so commonly recognized that resistance means real, positive par- ticipation. True, we know from physics that action and reaction or resistance are equal, and with this knowledge we asso- ciate also the unity of force : in a world of manifold independ- ent forces the equation would be meaningless ; but we are not in the habit of applying our physics to the conscious activities of society. And yet, if we will but keep sober, we may do so with great profit. True also that we know in a general way that, for individuals or classes or whole peoples, the mere knowledge that there is another life apart from their own, in the next yard per- haps, or across the mountains or seas, or even on another planet, makes that other life a partv to their own ; for there never was anything without that did not either tempt or repel, and that, in doing either, did not somehow implicate the other ; yet, as a rule, we do not take even this knowledge seriously enough really to affect our interpretations of human life. But surely we ought to be serious here. The other man, the other class, the other nation, the other life, whether friend or enemy, whether spiritual or worldly, has a positive share in this life, in my life ; and the rivalry or active opposition of the other, instead of weakening the partnership, develops it. To rely on the corner-stone again, can obstacles, real obstacles, ever be met except by adaptation to them ? But and I apologize for what is near to being repetition, yet venture also to say that no principle is more important to the thought of the day than this adaptation is equivalent to singleness of activity among all who are parties to the process. The parties to the process, however, like the Presby- terian and the Unitarian, are conscious as well as active, and in the same sense with a single consciousness and a single activity ; and their conscious activity can be nothing more nor less than will at once their individual wills and a social will. Human history, therefore, or personal life, record that
