Instances of this kind are sufficiently frequent. The
constituency of the leisure class is kept up by a continual
selective process, whereby the individuals and lines of descent
that are eminently fitted for an aggressive pecuniary competition
are withdraw from the lower classes. In order to reach the upper
levels the aspirant must have, not only a fair average complement
of the pecuniary aptitudes, but he must have these gifts in such
an eminent degree as to overcome very material difficulties that
stand in the way of his ascent. Barring accidents, the nouveaux
arriv?s are a picked body.
This process of selective admission has, of course, always been
going on; ever since the fashion of pecuniary emulation set in --
which is much the same as saying, ever since the
institution of a leisure class was first installed. But the
precise ground of selection has not always been the same, and the
selective process has therefore not always given the same
results. In the early barbarian, or predatory stage proper, the
test of fitness was prowess, in the naive sense of the word. To
gain entrance to the class, the candidate had to be gifted with
clannishness, massiveness, ferocity, unscrupulousness, and
tenacity of purpose.
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