Why I am in favor of socialism Part 2

Under Socialism, the whole moral atmosphere would be changed and the individual, and consequently, the race would be enriched in the development of qualities that make for peace, joy, love and normality, as man would merge from the influence of the present conditions into the influence of the conditions under Socialism.

=Sawyer, Roland Douglas= (Clergyman and Author, Ware, Ma.s.s.)

We of the present generation come into a world where the swamps are cleared, the forests felled, the soil ready for our seed, roads of gravel, steel, and across the trackless waters connect us; great machines of iron and steel are ready to take upon their tireless muscles the work of the world--and the human race today is rich--so rich that it can easily supply the material needs of every soul.

But still over half the race are in want, just as though we were poor.

The only thing needed is a scientific organization of industry, and Socialism is a scheme for such scientific organization. Therefore, I, as being intelligent to the present-day conditions, favor Socialism.

Of course, those who are selfishly receiving personal gains out of the present system, and those who live in the ideas of the dead, will howl for "things as they are," but more and more we must firmly (though kindly) show them the door--they don't belong with us of this day.

I might also add that it is necessary for me to advocate Socialism to square myself with my profession; I am a minister of the Gospel; as such I advocate before men that there is a loving Father in Heaven; that Jesus was the divine, ideal man; that human beings have souls that will not die with the body. I could not advocate these things without blushing if I did not at the same time condemn the existing social order--for the existing social order kills the souls in men, the ideals of Jesus cannot live in it, and should it continue we could not believe in a loving Father who rules things. For me to preach the gospel of Jesus without at the same time demanding social revolution, would be for me to confess that I was either a mental prost.i.tute or a moral pervert, and I hope I am neither.

=Sinclair, Upton.= (Author.)

I am in favor of Socialism because it is impossible for me to be happy while living under a system which deprives others of the fruits of their labor.

=Taylor, J.P.= (Manufacturer, Winston-Salem, N.C.)

I am in favor of Socialism because I think that the time has about arrived for society to take into its own hands the operation of the means of producing and distributing the wealth by which it lives and progresses.

I have become conscious that the present mode of production and distribution of wealth does not fill society's requirements; that private ownership is no longer necessary in the machinery of wealth production and distribution, either as owning or managing; that the whole machinery is operated by hired men; that these hired men can better be used to produce social wealth for use than private wealth for profit.

=Williams, S.B.= (Clergyman, Eureka Springs, Ark.)

I am in favor of Socialism because it is more than a political party.

It is a world movement having as its fundamental principles, the teachings of Jesus. It is an intensely practical interpretation of such teachings. Socialism stands for the brotherhood of the human race. It is a constructive program of economics that will result in the emanc.i.p.ation of the wage slave. Many good people misunderstand Socialism, because some of its most ardent advocates blunder in their teaching, and its growth is r.e.t.a.r.ded by the fact that skeptics and infidels become prominent in leadership and try to foster their private religious beliefs on the movement, but in time all such will find their proper level, and all true, earnest Christians will be glad to embrace the propaganda, and Socialism in its truest aspects will help to usher in the kingdom promised by our Lord.

=Broome, Isaac.= (Sculptor, Lecturer, Inventor and Author, Trenton, N.J.)

All good men--poets, artists, moralists, philosophers, scientists, economists, scholars--have in all ages proclaimed the ideal of a civilization, wherein all should help and protect each other, to develop intelligence and destroy ignorance, which is the root of all crime and misery.

Socialism has for its proper idea the fulfillment of this universal hope--by uniting the world industrially, with the object of abolishing poverty as the base of ignorance, and ignorance as the base of crime, injustice and disorganized society. This is the ideal. An ideal impossible at present with society composed of a few ignorant, predatory rich and a ma.s.s of equally ignorant, predatory poor--both destroyers of society's substance, from the scientific, economic view.

=Parsons, Eugene.= (Editor.)

I am not altogether opposed to Socialism. I am willing to see a move, yes, several moves, made in that direction. I am in favor of munic.i.p.al ownership of public utilities, such as gas, water, electric light, street railways, etc. When franchises for these utilities are sold or given away to an individual or a company, they afford opportunities for private enrichment at the expense of the people at large.

If such enterprises as water or lighting, or tramways, be in the hands of the city fathers, the profits, if there be any, go into the pockets of the common people, which is better than the piling up of fortunes by the favored few, known in common parlance as "big business."

It has been proved time and again that men of business ability and initiative do have public spirit and are willing to serve the people well, to give the attention requisite for success in the management of public utilities. I have a case in mind. The light plant of Ellsworth, Iowa, is a paying proposition, although run by the town. Says the "Ellsworth News," December 5, 1912:

"Not only is it a question of being on a paying proposition, but the comfort of having good lights is worth considerable. The city fathers are to be congratulated upon the management of the light plant. Many dollars of expense would have been added to the installation of the plant had they charged anything for their services, but they had gone to a great deal of trouble and a large amount of expense that they had paid out of their own pockets, just because they were enough interested in the welfare of the town to push things along and make it a success."

There it is in a nutsh.e.l.l--unselfish service. So it is a matter that involves one of the fundamentals of human nature. However, the altruistic sentiment will develop more and more under a different system from the present, with all its inequalities in the distribution of wealth.

The question is a large one, requiring full discussion. Let the trial of munic.i.p.al ownership and management be made, I say. Time will tell how much of grafting will be done. Je ne sais quoi. I for one am willing to risk it.

Furthermore, let us go one step toward Socialism in another direction.

I refer to the nationalization of railways. I am in favor of it, and hold that all public-spirited citizens should advocate it, whether Socialists or not. It would simplify things, and put an end to the extortionate charges of the express companies, to say nothing of unfair freight rates.

=Hume, Gibson, A.M., Ph. D.= (Head of the Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Canada.)

To endorse and accept all the various conflicting and even contradictory proposals loosely and popularly called Socialism would indeed be absurd and ridiculous. Nevertheless, on the whole the term Socialism has stood for constructive rather than destructive plans.

What might be termed Christian Socialism, or perhaps still better constructive Christian Socialism, has ideals and aims that I unhesitatingly adopt as n.o.ble, just and right. When it comes to a program or plan to give practical application and realization to these ideals there is much room for debate and difference of opinion. Here, it seems to me, we face real problems.

Christian theology dealing with the relations of G.o.d and man succeeded long ago in definitely rejecting the abstract atomism of atheism, and also, though perhaps not so clearly and definitely, the pantheism which over-zealous for G.o.d forgot to leave a place for human personality.

In our time modern Christianity is concentrating its attention on the problems of the relation of man to man, of the individual to the community, and logically and consistently with its past speculations opposes the extreme individualism that issues in anarchism and atomism, and also opposes the other extreme of communism which overshadows the individual overmuch in its zeal for the collective standpoint, and the opposition in this instance is the more notable because the early Christian Church for a short time really tried the experiment of having "all things in common." While modern constructive Christian Socialism rejects the opposing panaceas of a simple character offered by the extreme individualist on the one hand and the extreme collectivist on the other, it nevertheless sees in each of these one-sided proposals and theories a certain measure of truth, and it therefore faces the much more difficult and complex problem of trying to combine and harmonize these partial truths in such a manner as to secure a proper self-respecting individualism or personal responsibility on the one hand, and an adequate collectivistic co-operation on the other.

With this double aim and purpose in mind there has arisen a beginning at least of a positive and constructive program leading toward this goal. Emerging from the mediaeval twilight where the fallacy was widespread that made religion a thing apart, modern Christian thought is suspicious of any religious creed or profession which remains a merely intellectual a.s.sent or declaration of faith, and demands that a true religion should also permeate and trans.m.u.te the life and issue in conduct touching and helping the lives and conduct of others.

The key to the Christian social position is the "Golden Rule," not as a mere sentiment of kindliness, though that is good as far as it goes, but it must be made to go further and issue in a principle of action, a principle in action controlling the practice, guiding and inspiring the actual conduct of life, both in its individual and in its social or collective aspect.

At the outset, then, it respects and preserves the individual, not by the negative and suicidal method of rejecting the claims of society, but, on the contrary, insisting that the individual can develop his moral personality only by accepting the duties of social service, which when properly understood becomes not a burden but a privilege, since in this way alone may real self-hood become realized.

Zeal for the preservation of the other person inspired the earlier attack on slavery; it now reappears in a crusade against industrial bondage. Corporations now resist control on the plea that it is an interference with personal liberty. The Christian view-point never granted to the individual a selfish liberty of defying properly const.i.tuted authority, much less such right to a corporation. It now makes it perfectly plain that the individual has duties, and to this view of the individual it would be ludicrous for the corporation to appeal in its dislike to bow to social demands.

In international relations the claim of Christianity to be under the Prince of Peace makes modern Christian Socialism demand that other nations should be treated not simply as good neighbors, but as actual brothers, since all are children of the same Father. Hence it follows that the brutality, waste and wickedness, the wholesale butchery and murder known as war, must be condemned and opposed. Furthermore, all militarism and jingoism, all journalistic or other stirring up of bad feeling, leading to strife between different races, the atavistic revival of ancient blood feuds or modern commercial intrigues to reap profit out of the piling up of armaments oppressing the common people, are all to be resisted. The specious claim that armies and navies are merely policy restraining criminals is easily seen to be erroneous, for if each army claims to be a policy restraining criminals, it must follow that each army is by the other army put among the cla.s.s of criminals. And the fallacious claim that preparation for war is a guarantee of peace, an insurance policy against war, is met by the counterclaim that the best way in times of peace to insure the continuance of peace is to extend the principles and practices that teach the value of peace, that conduce to peace, that make people desirous that peace may continue. The bellicose claim that our neighbors cannot or will not attack us if we are powerful enough in armaments to intimidate them, simply teaches other nations to pursue the same policy of attempted intimidation, which can only breed ill will and ultimately tend to provoke actual hostilities.

When disputes and misunderstandings arise, Christian Socialism favors arbitration as a peaceful way of settling differences, appealing to right and justice and intelligence, not to brute force and blind pa.s.sion. Hence the development of the principles of international law and justice, the establishing of international courts of appeal and arbitration in matters of divided jurisdiction or conflict of interests is explicitly approved. Within the State, the principles of Christian Socialism demand that each person partic.i.p.ate in governing, making government to become simply collective self-control through willing co-operation. In proper theories of government much progress has been made towards at least the partial adoption of "the rule of the people, by the people, for the people," though this maxim is disregarded for earlier tyrannical or paternal theories of government wherever women are debarred from taking their share in the duty of directing and controlling the laws governing all and affecting all, not only men but also women. The reason for still excluding children is simply due to the fact of their immaturity.

It is in the field of industry and commerce that the greatest reconstruction will need to be made, for after having struggled so long to secure the freedom of the individual when it becomes clearly recognized that the only freedom that is even partially secured is the negative one of being left alone and that positive freedom of efficient action is lacking, there is bound to be a new direction to the constant efforts of civilization to secure the good of its component members. When aggregations, companies, corporations, trusts, etc., become an "imperium in imperio," turning the powerful engine of combination into the work of consolidating selfish aggrandizement and rendering impossible the development of a normal and healthy life among the great ma.s.ses of the unorganized, the lesson taught by the power of organization is likely to be learned by the ma.s.ses, and this will point to the attempt to secure the control for the co-operative community of all those great fundamental factors that are sometimes called natural monopolies, and the old regime that allowed these to be used as toll houses on the highway of progress to levy tribute to private monopoly and leading to the formation of a cla.s.s of idle rich on the one hand and of idle poor on the other, will require most radical reconstruction in the interests of mankind.

As Christian Socialism has no simple formula to solve all the manifold and complex economic difficulties, it must go slowly, cautiously and experimentally. As it sympathizes with both the individualist and the collectivist in certain respects in each case, it may seem to favor opposing policies, but perhaps it is a case of walking forward by first moving up the left foot, then the right foot.

Where compet.i.tion is found by experience to be both feasibly and advantageous, Christian Socialism will strive to secure real compet.i.tion and so will a.s.sist in removing any device tariff or tax that favors one and penalizes the other. On the other hand, where monopolistic control is unavoidable or economically advantageous, it will strive to have such monopolistic enterprize strictly supervised and controlled by government or where it is practicable owned and operated by the community through its government, central or local.