Some are full of intelligence, others have an ordinary amount of it, and
others again are devoid of intellect. In these three classes of men there
is order but not equality. How could it be possible that wisdom and
stupidity should be equal? Humanity, like a great army, requires a
general, captains, under-officers in their degree, and soldiers, each with
their own appointed duties. Degrees are absolutely necessary to ensure an
orderly organization. An army could not be composed of generals alone, or
of captains only, or of nothing but soldiers without one in authority. The
certain result of such a plan would be that disorder and demoralization
would overtake the whole army.
King Lycurgus, the philosopher, made a great plan to equalize the subjects
of Sparta; with self-sacrifice and wisdom was the experiment begun. Then
the king called the people of his kingdom, and made them swear a great
oath to maintain the same order of government if he should leave the
country, also that nothing should make them alter it until his return.
Having secured this oath, he left his kingdom of Sparta and never
returned. Lycurgus abandoned the situation, renouncing his high position,
thinking to achieve the permanent good of his country by the equalization
of the property and of the conditions of life in his kingdom. All the
self-sacrifice of the king was in vain. The great experiment failed. After
a time all was destroyed; his carefully thought-out constitution came to
an end.
The futility of attempting such a scheme was shown and the impossibility
of attaining equal conditions of existence was proclaimed in the ancient
kingdom of Sparta. In our day any such attempt would be equally doomed to
failure.
Certainly, some being enormously rich and others lamentably poor, an
organization is necessary to control and improve this state of affairs. It
is important to limit riches, as it is also of importance to limit
poverty. Either extreme is not good. To be seated in the mean(13) is most
desirable. If it be right for a capitalist to possess a large fortune, it
is equally just that his workman should have a sufficient means of
existence.
A financier with colossal wealth should not exist whilst near him is a
poor man in dire necessity. When we see poverty allowed to reach a
condition of starvation it is a sure sign that somewhere we shall find
tyranny. Men must bestir themselves in this matter, and no longer delay in
altering conditions which bring the misery of grinding poverty to a very
large number of the people. The rich must give of their abundance, they
must soften their hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence,
taking thought for those sad ones who are suffering from lack of the very
necessities of life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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