Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1753

Material prepared, but not used, for a letter to Dr. E. A. Burtt, Cornell University

March 24, 1958

     I am therefore wondering if you could be more specific as to the kind of “social (and specifically economic) relation” among individuals other than and different from that established by voluntary contract you have referred to as playing a crucial role in social organization. I am of course aware that there are rela­tionships involving force (or equivalent duress), but only to a relatively small extent apart from government and, in any case, it is difficult to think of any of this as contributing to the normal functioning of a free society. There are also, on the other side, restricted personal relationships among persons in contact in small groups such as families which are reciprocal or creative but do not extend to and integrate any large general population or society. So I am wondering in what relationships other than contractual any whole population can be integrated and function as a social organization, that function being the progressive improvement in the quality and duration of its members’ lives.