“Civilization is at the cross-roads. The issues are now so obvious that no argument is necessary. Forces of tyranny are arrayed against those who are minded for liberty and peace. Humanity is dividing into two camps. Men are spending most of their substance on material for mutual slaughter. In such a way are the first two thousand years of the Christian era drawing to a close. The world presents a panorama in which progress and barbarism, organization and chaos, brilliance and stupidity seem inextricably mixed. What has gone wrong? Is there true cause for hope or for despair? Is it possible to read the riddle of human evolution, to discover the clue to future progress, and to find the means by which humanity can be set free from the present apparent deadlock? For civilization has reached an impasse involving other things than war, an impasse involving economics, health, morality, and self-knowledge. Is there any way of piercing the fog of surface happenings, and of understanding the true trend and significance of events? Introduction”
