Socialism: A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist PrinciplesSpargo, John
History
Socialism: A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles
Spargo, John
Socialism
"His ideal of the future state of society reminds us of the
Saint-Simonian government of scientists. The administration of affairs
of the entire globe is to be in the hands of the three greatest
authorities on 'philosophical medicine,' physics, and mechanics, who are
to be reenforced by a number of subordinate committees. His state of the
future is a highly centralized government, and is described by the
author with the customary details. Where Weitling, to some extent,
approaches the conception of modern Socialism, is in his recognition of
class distinctions between employer and employee. This distinction never
amounted to a conscious indorsement of the modern Socialist doctrine of
the 'class struggle,' but his views on the antagonism between the 'poor'
and the 'wealthy' came quite close to it. He was a firm believer in
labor organizations as a factor in developing the administrative
abilities of the working class; the creation of an independent labor
party was one of his pet schemes, and his appeals were principally
addressed to the workingmen."
Weitling visited the United States in 1846, a group of German exiles,
identified with the Free Soil movement, having invited him to become the
editor of a magazine, the _Volkstribun_, devoted to the principles of
the movement. By the time he reached America, however, the magazine had
suspended publication. He stayed little more than a year, hastening back
to the fatherland to share in the revolutionary activities of 1848. He
returned to America again in 1849, after the failure of the "glorious
revolution," and for many years thereafter was an active and tireless
propagandist. He died in Brooklyn in 1871.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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