But man is not naturally cruel. He does not really enjoy being a slave
driver, either of human or animal slaves, although he can be hardened to
it with shocking ease if there seems no other way of getting what he
wants. So he usually welcomes that Great Liberator, the Machine. He
prefers to drive the tireless engine than to whip the straining horses.
He had rather see the farmer riding at ease in a mowing machine than
bending his back over a scythe.
The Machine is not only the Great Liberator, it is the Great Leveler
also. It is the most powerful of the forces for democracy. An
aristocracy can hardly be maintained except by distinction in dress, and
distinction in dress can only be maintained by sumptuary laws or
costliness. Sumptuary laws are unconstitutional in this country, hence
the stress laid upon costliness. But machinery tends to bring styles
and fabrics within the reach of all. The shopgirl is almost as well
dressed on the street as her rich customer. The man who buys ready-made
clothing is only a few weeks behind the vanguard of the fashion.
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