A Few Words About the Devil, and Other Biographical Sketches and EssaysBradlaugh, Charles
Religion
A Few Words About the Devil, and Other Biographical Sketches and Essays
Bradlaugh, Charles
Free thought
"The great object of statesmanship should be to raise the habitual
standard of comfort among the working classes, and to bring them into
such a position as shows them most clearly that their welfare depends
upon themselves. For this purpose he advises that there should be,
first, an extended scheme of national emigration, so as to produce a
striking and sudden improvement in the condition of the laborers left
at home, and raise their standard of comfort; also that the population
truths should be disseminated as widely as possible, so that a powerful
public feeling should be awakened among the working classes against
undue procreation on the part of any individual among them--a feeling
which could not fail greatly to influence individual conduct; and also
that we should use every endeavor to get rid of the present system of
labor--namely, that of employers, and employed, and adopt to a great
extent that of independent or associated industry. His reason for this
is, that a hired laborer, who has no personal interest in the work he
is engaged in, is generally reckless and without foresight, living
from hand to mouth, and exerting little control over his powers of
procreation; whereas the laborer who has a personal stake in his work,
and the feeling of independence and self-reliance which the possession
of property gives, as, for instance, the peasant proprietor, or member
of a copartnership, has far stronger motives for self-restraint, and can
see much more clearly the evil effects of having a large family."
The end in view in all this is the attainment of a greater amount of
happiness for humankind. The rendering life more worth the living, by
distributing more equally than at present its love, its beauties, and
its charms. In one of his most recent publications, Mr. John Stuart Mill
observes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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