La Réunion, a French Settlement in Texas — John Shaqi
La Réunion, a French Settlement in TexasHammond, William Jackson
History
La Réunion, a French Settlement in Texas
Hammond, William Jackson
French -- Texas; Réunion (Tex.)
Owen was absolutely opposed to violence of any kind and was extremely
favorable to recognition of the value of capital. He withdrew from the
labor movement after the leaders had violated his doctrine expressed in
his _Address to the Workman_, namely, that all workers must renounce
hatred and violence directed against the capitalist or ruling class.[5]
While Owen failed to establish a Utopia in Europe or America, he did
have great influence as stated by one writer:
And yet, despite his errors in judgment and the failure of many of his
plans, the great-hearted and lovable cotton manufacturer and communist
did exert a profound influence on the social thinking of the world.
His indictment of the present order of society for its waste, its
injustices, its tragedy of unemployment; his emphasis on social
happiness as the ideal of human progress; his insistence that
character was profoundly influenced by social environment; his urgent
plea that all co-operate for the common welfare in the production and
distribution of wealth, all these left their imprint on future
generations. And his life of untiring devotion and sacrifice proved
one of the great sources of inspiration to those who followed later in
the socialist, co-operative, and trade union movements, as well as
those who worked in behalf of child training, of labor legislation, of
prison reform, and of similar causes.[6]
Another class of socialists found in the United States who came from
across the Atlantic consisted of various religious groups. New Harmony
itself had been originally created and founded by the Rappists and later
purchased by Owen.
Fourier was to France what Owen was to England. There is a great
difference between the position of men like Owen and Fourier and the one
assumed by those who accepted Karl Marx, whose doctrines are best
represented by Wilhelm Weitling. The communism of the first group was
merely the communal possession of goods produced by communal effort with
no thought of class conflict or the confiscation of goods produced by
other means. This group sought to deny hostility and hatred between
classes saying that the wealthy had the same desire to create a perfect
society as did those who labored for a living. Marx held to the view
that constant conflict between classes was fundamental.
Frederick Engels in evaluating the Utopian socialist wrote:
To all these Socialism is the expression of absolute truth, reason,
and justice, and has only to be discerned to conquer all the world by
virtue of its own power.[7]
Marxian socialism, on the other hand, is in direct contrast to the
Utopian. He says:
From this time forward Socialism was no longer an accidental discovery
of this or that ingenious brain, but the necessary outcome of the
struggle between two historically developed classes—the proletariat
and the bourgeoisie.[8]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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