Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/117

 his neighbors make time to help him get together the necessary materials to build a new home; gladly sheltering him and his family meanwhile; with never a thought of reward. They love to hunt, and, when they have a chance, go to the woods in large parties for that purpose, always sharing the game equally.

In our civilized communities such an unselfish, disinterested condition of life is quite out of the question. Our race is in a stage of development that makes a similar state of things impossible. Ego is now the all-absorbing subject; the foremost in every thought and deed. Until we succeed in moderating our selfishness there will always be millionaires and beggars; with periodical uprisings of the enraged masses, who, in their assault on capital, do about as much harm to the rich man as a butterfly's delicate wings could inflict upon a stone wall: the wings are bruised and weakened; the wall is unaltered. Only when men cease to love money will mankind be well off, and that time is not near at hand.