"
"A person against the government."
"A person who is on the opposite side."
"A native of an unfriendly country."
"A foreigner at war."
"A foreigner who tries to do harm to the country he is in."
"An enemy from a foreign land."
"A person against a country." etc....
Yet the word alien is an unusually exact legal term, far more exact
than words like sovereignty, independence, national honor, rights,
defense, aggression, imperialism, capitalism, socialism, about which
we so readily take sides "for" or "against."
3
The power to dissociate superficial analogies, attend to differences
and appreciate variety is lucidity of mind. It is a relative faculty.
Yet the differences in lucidity are extensive, say as between a newly
born infant and a botanist examining a flower. To the infant there is
precious little difference between his own toes, his father's watch,
the lamp on the table, the moon in the sky, and a nice bright yellow
edition of Guy de Maupassant. To many a member of the Union League
Club there is no remarkable difference between a Democrat, a
Socialist, an anarchist, and a burglar, while to a highly
sophisticated anarchist there is a whole universe of difference
between Bakunin, Tolstoi, and Kropotkin. These examples show how
difficult it might be to secure a sound public opinion about de
Maupassant among babies, or about Democrats in the Union League Club.
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