British Socialism: An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical ProposalsBarker, J. Ellis
History
British Socialism: An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals
Barker, J. Ellis
Socialism; Socialism -- Great Britain
The foregoing proves that "men can never become richer till the
produce of their labour increases. The more they produce the richer
they will be, provided there be a demand for the produce of their
labour. If a shoemaker makes four pairs of shoes in a day he will be
twice richer than he would be if he made only two pairs in a day,
provided that an increased demand is co-existing. The question,
therefore, 'How can we become richer?' is reduced to this one, 'How
can we increase the produce of labour and at the same time maintain an
equivalent demand for that produce?'"[215] The doctrines that want and
unemployment are due to over-production and to the capitalist system
are wrong.
We now come to the
DOCTRINE OF THE CLASS WAR
Having, by the fundamental doctrines enumerated in the foregoing,
proved that all misery of the working masses is caused by the
existence of a capitalist class which has enslaved the workers, the
Socialists conclude that there is a natural antagonism between capital
and labour; that social life is dominated by the Class War.
"The Socialists say that the present form of property-holding divides
society into two great classes."[216] "Capitalist society is divided
into two classes: owners of property and owners of no property."[217]
"Society is to-day divided into two classes with opposing interests,
one class owning the means of life, and the other nothing but their
power to work. Never in the history of society was the working-class
so free from all traces of property as to-day."[218] "There are in
reality but two classes, those who live by labour and those who live
upon those who labour, the two classes of exploiter and
exploited."[219] "Society has been divided mainly into two economic
classes, a relatively small class of capitalists who own tools in the
form of great machines they did not make and cannot use, and a great
body of many millions of workers who did make these tools and who do
use them, and whose very lives depend upon them, yet who do not own
them."[220]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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