Problems in American Democracy Part 25

2. Brasol, _Socialism versus Civilization_, chapter ii.

3. Bullock, _Selected Readings in Economics_, pages 681-705.

4. Ely, _Outlines of Economics_, chapter x.x.xi.

5. Le Rossignol, _Orthodox Socialism_, chapters viii and ix.

6. Skelton, _Socialism, a Critical a.n.a.lysis_, chapter iii.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. What is the "American conception of equality"? (Brasol, pages 75- 76.)

2. Why is the wage system a necessary feature of modern industrial life? (Brasol, page 93.)

3. What is the importance of the spirit of enterprise in increasing national wealth? (Brasol, page 99.)

4. What effect has the development of entrepreneur ability had upon the condition of the laboring cla.s.ses? (Le Rossignol, pages 112-113.)

5. Could collective production be carried on in a democratic country?

(Bullock, pages 682-683.)

6. Could socialism increase the productivity of the nation? (Bullock, pages 685-688.)

7. What are some of the difficulties which a socialist state would encounter in distributing wealth? (Bullock, pages 688-693.)

8. What difficulties would confront a socialist state in fixing wages?

(Bullock, pages 696-705.)

9. What has been the effect of the Industrial Revolution upon the condition of the laboring cla.s.ses? (Le Rossignol, pages 107-108.)

10. Explain why Marx's prediction of an increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few has not come true. (Le Rossignol, pages 128-130.)

11. To what extent is socialism too pessimistic about the present order? (Le Rossignol, page 138.)

12. To what extent does socialism overestimate industrial evils?

(Skelton, page 53.)

13. What service has been rendered by socialism? (Ely, page 638.)

14. What, according to Skelton, is the fundamental error of socialism?

(Skelton, pages 60-61.)

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT

I

1. Make a list of a number of familiar commodities, and divide them into three cla.s.ses for the purpose of testing the error of the labor theory of value, and the truth of the scarcity-utility theory.

(Consult Section 159.)

2. Make a study of unemployment in your locality, with particular reference to unemployment due to

(a) climatic changes,

(b) changes in fashion,

(c) accidents, such as fire, flood or earthquake.

3. Interview an elderly friend or relative, with the purpose of securing a definite idea of the condition of the working cla.s.ses a half century ago. Contrast with the condition of the laborers to-day.

4. Make a list of the notable inventions of the nineteenth century. To what extent has each increased the productivity and well-being of the various occupational groups in your community?

II

5. History of socialism. (Consult an encyclopedia.)

6. Varieties of socialism. (Ely, _Outlines of Economics_, chapter x.x.x.)

7. The Iron Law of wages. (Le Rossignol, _Orthodox Socialism_, chapter iii.)

8. The socialist's att.i.tude toward industrial crises. (Le Rossignol, _Orthodox Socialism_, chapter vi.)

9. Objections to the socialist's att.i.tude toward production. (Ely, _Strength and Weakness of Socialism_, part iii, chapter vi.)

10. Objections to socialism as a scheme of distribution. (Ely, _Strength, and Weakness of Socialism_, part iii, chapter viii.)

11. Socialism and American ideals. (Myers, _Socialism and American Ideals_.)

12. Social justice without socialism. (Clark, _Social Justice without Socialism_.)

CHAPTER XVII

A DEMOCRATIC PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM

[Footnote: The t.i.tle of this chapter, as well as the material in Sections 170-175, has been adapted, by permission, from the writings and lectures of Thomas Nixon Carver, Professor of Economics in Harvard University.]

167. THERE IS NO SIMPLE REMEDY FOR THE DEFECTS OF CAPITALISM.--The economic system of a modern civilized nation is a vast and complicated affair, and its defects are both numerous and deep-lying. No one really familiar with the problem would propose so simple a remedy as socialism for so complex a disease as industrial maladjustment.

History affords many examples of schemes that were designed to eliminate poverty from the world suddenly and completely, but no such scheme has succeeded.

Let it be understood at the outset of this chapter, therefore, that really to eliminate the basic defects of our industrial system we must resort to a series of comprehensive reforms rather than to a single scheme or theory. These reforms must be so wisely planned and so carefully executed as to attack the evils of capitalism from a number of angles simultaneously. The attack must be partly by legislative, and partly by non-legislative methods.