"Yes, we do," said Oqua. "All persons may accumulate property which
they create by personal labor, if they wish to burden themselves with
the care of it. But as there is an abundance in the common stores to
supply every want, there is no motive for the private ownership of
anything but personal belongings which are ordinarily of no value to
anyone else. Members of the community may have anything they need
out of the common stock and intelligent people would not encumber
themselves with the care of more than they have a use for. The greed
for the accumulation of property which I am informed is so prevalent
in the outer world, if manifested here would be taken as an evidence
of insanity and would be treated accordingly. It is very difficult for
the average Altrurian to realize that people should ever desire to
hoard up wealth which it is impossible for them to consume. But when
we scan the pages of our early history at the time when legal money
was the medium of exchange and the standard of value, the people made
a mad scramble for money, in which they disregarded every interest of
humanity."
We were now approaching a region where art and nature seemed to have
united in one mighty and persistent effort to excel each other in
the entrancing beauty and rugged grandeur that could be added to the
picture. On either side was a broad expanse of cultivated lands,
interspersed with parks, lawns and ornamented grounds, which revealed
the work of the most artistic landscape gardeners. Beneath us the
Cocytas meandered its way toward the distant ocean, between its
wooded shores, like a shining pathway of silver, while before us the
great continental divide with its towering mountain peaks piercing
the clouds, closed our view towards the west. At one moment we were
admiring the rugged grandeur of this lovely mountain chain and at
another entranced by the beauty of the highly ornamented landscape,
where art had improved upon nature. Take it all in all, the scenery
presented to our view from the cabin of our airship, sailing at a
height of several thousand feet, was sublime, beyond the power of words
to describe.
As we neared the mountains, MacNair took charge of the ship and made
a detour toward the south, which brought into view the mighty canon
through which the Cocytas reaches the plain. On either side were
mountain torrents dashing over the rocks on their way to join the
waters of the deep flowing river. Here, nature in all her majesty
revealed her titanic powers. But suddenly another scene opened upon our
vision, in which art revealed itself as master of all the forces of
nature. It was more like a city than anything we had seen since leaving
San Francisco. And yet it was very much unlike any city I have ever
seen. I was bewildered by its sudden appearance upon this wonderful
panorama of nature and art which seemed to hold us spell bound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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