ChapterNineTheConservationofArchaicTraitsTheinstitutionofaleisureclasshasaneffectnotonlyuponsocialstructurebutalsoupontheindividualcharacterofthemembersofsociety。Sosoonasagivenproclivityoragivenpointofviewhaswonacceptanceasanauthoritativestandardornormoflifeitwillreactuponthecharacterofthemembersofthesocietywhichhasaccepteditasanorm。Itwilltosomeextentshapetheirhabitsofthoughtandwillexerciseaselectivesurveillanceoverthedevelopmentofmen’saptitudesandinclinations。Thiseffectiswroughtpartlybyacoercive，educationaladaptationofthehabitsofallindividuals，partlybyaselectiveeliminationoftheunfitindividualsandlinesofdescent。Suchhumanmaterialasdoesnotlenditselftothemethodsoflifeimposedbytheacceptedschemesuffersmoreorlesseliminationaswellasrepression。Theprinciplesofpecuniaryemulationandofindustrialexemptionhaveinthiswaybeenerectedintocanonsoflife，andhavebecomecoercivefactorsofsomeimportanceinthesituationtowhichmenhavetoadaptthemselves。
Thesetwobroadprinciplesofconspicuouswasteandindustrialexemptionaffecttheculturaldevelopmentbothbyguidingmen’shabitsofthought，andsocontrollingthegrowthofinstitutions，andbyselectivelyconservingcertaintraitsofhumannaturethatconducetofacilityoflifeundertheleisure-classscheme，andsocontrollingtheeffectivetemperofthecommunity。Theproximatetendencyoftheinstitutionofaleisureclassinshapinghumancharacterrunsinthedirectionofspiritualsurvivalandreversion。Itseffectuponthetemperofacommunityisofthenatureofanarrestedspiritualdevelopment。
Inthelatercultureespecially，theinstitutionhas，onthewhole，aconservativetrend。Thispropositionisfamiliarenoughinsubstance，butitmaytomanyhavetheappearanceofnoveltyinitspresentapplication。Thereforeasummaryreviewofitslogicalgroundsmaynotbeuncalledfor，evenattheriskofsometediousrepetitionandformulationofcommonplaces。
Socialevolutionisaprocessofselectiveadaptationoftemperamentandhabitsofthoughtunderthestressofthecircumstancesofassociatedlife。Theadaptationofhabitsofthoughtisthegrowthofinstitutions。Butalongwiththegrowthofinstitutionshasgoneachangeofamoresubstantialcharacter。Notonlyhavethehabitsofmenchangedwiththechangingexigenciesofthesituation，butthesechangingexigencieshavealsobroughtaboutacorrelativechangeinhumannature。Thehumanmaterialofsocietyitselfvarieswiththechangingconditionsoflife。Thisvariationofhumannatureisheldbythelaterethnologiststobeaprocessofselectionbetweenseveralrelativelystableandpersistentethnictypesorethnicelements。Mentendtorevertortobreedtrue，moreorlessclosely，tooneoranotherofcertaintypesofhumannaturethathaveintheirmainfeaturesbeenfixedinapproximateconformitytoasituationinthepastwhichdifferedfromthesituationoftoday。ThereareseveraloftheserelativelystableethnictypesofmankindcomprisedinthepopulationsoftheWesternculture。Theseethnictypessurviveintheraceinheritancetoday，notasrigidandinvariablemoulds，eachofasinglepreciseandspecificpattern，butintheformofagreaterorsmallernumberofvariants。Somevariationoftheethnictypeshasresultedundertheprotractedselectiveprocesstowhichtheseveraltypesandtheirhybridshavebeensubjectedduringtheprehistoricandhistoricgrowthofculture。
Thisnecessaryvariationofthetypesthemselves，duetoaselectiveprocessofconsiderabledurationandofaconsistenttrend，hasnotbeensufficientlynoticedbythewriterswhohavediscussedethnicsurvival。Theargumentishereconcernedwithtwomaindivergentvariantsofhumannatureresultingfromthis，relativelylate，selectiveadaptationoftheethnictypescomprisedintheWesternculture；thepointofinterestbeingtheprobableeffectofthesituationoftodayinfurtheringvariationalongoneortheotherofthesetwodivergentlines。