Socialism as it is : $b a survey of the world-wide revolutionary movementWalling, William English
History
Socialism as it is : $b a survey of the world-wide revolutionary movement
Walling, William English
Socialism
Business is no longer "to be looked upon" as the exploitation of
society, private profits are to be "legitimatized" and private fortunes
"made honorable"--in a word, the whole business world is to be
regenerated and at the same time rehabilitated. This is to be
accomplished, as Mr. Wilson explained, in a later speech (April 13,
1911), not by excluding the large capitalists from government, but by
including the small, and this will undoubtedly be the final outcome. He
said:--
"The men who understand the life of the country are the men _who
are on the make_, and not the men who are made; because the men who
are on the make are in contact with the actual conditions of
struggle, and those are the conditions of life for the nation;
whereas, the man who has achieved, who is at the head of a great
body of capital, has passed the period of struggle. He may
sympathize with the struggling men, but he is not one of them, and
only those who struggle can comprehend what the struggle is. I
would rather take the interpretation of our national life from the
general body of the people than from those who have made
conspicuous successes of their lives."
But the "Interests" are not to be excluded from the new dispensation.
"I know a great many men," Mr. Wilson says further, "whose names
stand as synonyms of the unjust power of wealth and of corporate
privileges in this country, and I want to say to you that if I
understand the character of these men, many of them--most of
them--are just as _honest_ and just as patriotic as I claim to be.
But I do notice this difference between myself and them; I have not
happened to be immersed in the kind of business in which they have
been immersed; I have not been saturated by the prepossessions
which come upon men situated as they are, and I claim to see some
things that they do not yet see; that is the difference. _It is not
a difference of interest_; it is not a difference of capacity; it
is not a difference of patriotism. It is a difference of
perception....
"Now, these men have so buried their minds in these great
undertakings that you cannot expect them to have reasonable and
rational views about the antipodes. They are just as much chained
to a task, as if the task were little instead of big. Their view is
just as much limited as if their business were small instead of
colossal. _But they are awakening._ They are not all of them
asleep, and when they do wake, they are going to lend us the
assistance of truly statesmanlike minds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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