There is
no quarrel with German Kultur itself; merely a feeling that it has its
drawbacks, that it is, on the whole, as unlovely as it is impressive,
that there is quite enough of it in the world already, and that its
broad extension would be disastrous.
Meanwhile the nations of culture have much to learn from Germany's
Kultur. Flexibility may mean weakness. The United States, for example,
could well have a standing army and an army reserve commensurate with
its history and prospects without incurring any danger of militarism.
There is, finally, some disadvantage in being merely a culture nation,
for such a nation can add a large measure of Kultur without belying
itself. On the contrary, so highly developed a Kultur nation as the
German Empire puts itself in a position where it is almost impossible to
acquire any considerable degree of culture. Culture is the enemy of such
a state--it must remain in the Spartan or Macedonian stage. Rome began
to decline as soon as Hellenistic culture got the ascendency over the
old Latin Kultur. Kultur, in short, galvanizes; culture liberates. A
survey of modern Germany hardly warrants a desire for her world
dominion.
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