The process of leading men's thought and imagination
away from the use of force will be greatly
accelerated by the abolition of the capitalist system,
provided it is not succeeded by a form of State Socialism
in which officials have enormous power. At present,
the capitalist has more control over the lives of
others than any man ought to have; his friends have
authority in the State; his economic power is the
pattern for political power. In a world where all men
and women enjoy economic freedom, there will not be
the same habit of command, nor, consequently, the
same love of despotism; a gentler type of character
than that now prevalent will gradually grow up. Men
are formed by their circumstances, not born ready-
made. The bad effect of the present economic system
on character, and the immensely better effect to be
expected from communal ownership, are among the
strongest reasons for advocating the change.
In the world as we have been imagining fit, economic
fear and most economic hope will be alike
removed out of life. No one will be haunted by the
dread of poverty or driven into ruthlessness by the
hope of wealth. There will not be the distinction of
social classes which now plays such an immense part
in life. The unsuccessful professional man will not
live in terror lest his children should sink in the scale;
the aspiring employe will not be looking forward to
the day when he can become a sweater in his turn.
Ambitious young men will have to dream other daydreams
than that of business success and wealth
wrung out of the ruin of competitors and the degradation
of labor. In such a world, most of the nightmares
that lurk in the background of men's minds
will no longer exist; on the other hand, ambition and
the desire to excel will have to take nobler forms than
those that are encouraged by a commercial society.
All those activities that really confer benefits upon
mankind will be open, not only to the fortunate few,
but to all who have sufficient ambition and native
aptitude. Science, labor-saving inventions, technical
progress of all kinds, may be confidently expected to
flourish far more than at present, since they will be
the road to honor, and honor will have to replace
money among those of the young who desire to
achieve success. Whether art will flourish in a
Socialistic community depends upon the form of Social-
ism adopted; if the State, or any public authority,
(no matter what), insists upon controlling art, and
only licensing those whom it regards as proficient, the
result will be disaster. But if there is real freedom,
allowing every man who so desires to take up an
artist's career at the cost of some sacrifice of comfort,
it is likely that the atmosphere of hope, and
the absence of economic compulsion, will lead to a
much smaller waste of talent than is involved in our
present system, and to a much less degree of crushing
of impulse in the mills of the struggle for life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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