There are very many workers, but they do not get much more than a third share of the wealth they produce. The landlord produces _nothing_. He takes part of the wealth for allowing the workers to use the land. The capitalist produces nothing. He takes part of the wealth for allowing the workers to use the capital. The workers produce _all_ the wealth, and are obliged to give a great deal of it to the landlords and capitalists who produce nothing. Socialists claim that the landlord is useless under _any_ form of society, that the capitalist is not needed in a properly ordered society, and that the people should become their own landlords and their own capitalists. If the people were their own landlords and capitalists, _all_ the wealth would belong to the workers by whom it is all produced. Now, a word of caution. We say that _all_ wealth is produced by labour. _What is labour?_ Labour is work. Work is said to be of two kinds: hand work and brain work. But really work is of one kind--the labour of hand and brain together; for there is hardly any head work wherein the hand has no share, and there is no hand work wherein the head has no share. The hand is really a part of the brain, and can do nothing without the brain's direction. So when we say that all wealth is produced by labour, we mean by the labour of hand and brain. I want to make this quite plain, because you will find, if you come to deal with the economists, that attempts have been made to use the word labour as meaning chiefly hand labour. When we say labour produces all wealth, we do not mean that all wealth is produced by farm labourers, mechanics, and navvies, but that it is all produced by _workers_--that is, by thinkers as well as doers; by inventors and directors as well as by the man with the hammer, the file, or the spade. CHAPTER III HOW THE FEW GET RICH AND KEEP THE MANY POOR We have already seen that most of the wealth produced by labour goes into the pockets of a few rich men: we have now to find out how it gets there. By what means do the landlords and the capitalists get the meat and leave the workers the bones? Let us deal first with the land, and next with the capital. A landlord is one who owns land. Rent is a price paid to the landlord for permission to use or occupy land. Here is a diagram of a square piece of land-- +----------+ | | | | | *L | W | | | | +----------+ Fig. 1 In the centre stands the landlord (L), outside stands a labourer (W). The landlord owns the land, the labourer owns no land. The labourer cannot get food except from the land. The landlord will not allow him to use the land unless he pays rent. The labourer has no money. How can he pay rent?