“All the deistic societies insisted on pre-nuptial chastity; conversely, all the societies which insisted on pre-nuptial chastity were in the deistic condition. Is there any causal relationship between the compulsory continence and the thought, reflection and energy which produced the change from one cultural condition to another? One thing is certain: if a causal relation exists, the continence must have caused the thought, not the thought the continence. The power of thought is inherent; similarly, the power to display social energy is inherent; but neither mental nor social energy can be manifested except under certain conditions. The group within the society which suffers the greatest continence displays the greatest energy and dominates the society.”

“All human societies are in one another of four cultural conditions: zoistic, monistic, deistic, rationalistic. Of these societies, the zoistic display the least amount of mental and social energy, the rationalistic the most. Investigation shows that the societies exhibiting the least amount of energy are those where pre-nuptial continence is not imposed and where the opportunities for sexual indulgence after marriage are greatest. The cultural condition of a society rises in exact proportion as it imposes pre-nuptial and post-nuptial restraints upon sexual opportunity.”

“The energy produced by sexual continence starts as ‘expansive energy’ and results in the society becoming aggressive, conquering its less energetic neighbors, sending out colonies, developing its commerce and the like. But ‘when the rigorous tradition (of sexual restraint) is inherited by a number of generations, the energy becomes productive.’ Productive energy does not spend itself exclusively in expansion; it also goes into science, speculation, art and social reform.”

“Where productive energy persists for some time, a factor which Unwin calls ‘human entropy’ comes into play. Human entropy is the inherent tendency, manifested as soon as the suitable social conditions are created, towards increased refinement and accuracy. ‘No society can display productive social energy unless a new generation inherits a social system under which sexual opportunity is reduced to a minimum. If such a system be preserved a richer and yet richer tradition will be created, refined by human entropy’.”

“As a matter of brute historical fact, no civilized society has tolerated for very long the limitation to a minimum of its sexual opportunities. Within a few generations, the
rules imposing absolute pre-nuptial continence upon females and absolutely monogamous forms of marriage are relaxed. When this happens, the society or the class loses its energy and is replaced by another society, or another class, whose members have made themselves energetic by practicing sexual continence. ‘Sometimes’, writes Unwin, ‘a man has been heard to declare that he wishes both to enjoy the advantages of high culture and to abolish compulsory continence. The inherent nature of the human organism, however, seems to be such that these desires are incompatible, even contradictory. Any human society is free to choose, either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom; the evidence is that it cannot do both for more than one generation’.”

“Zoistic societies live in a condition of animal solidarity. In Unwin’s words, ‘we begin with a society in which all the individuals are locked together by forces we do not understand such a society displays no energy.”