Why Men Fight: A method of abolishing the international duelRussell, Bertrand
Philosophy
Why Men Fight: A method of abolishing the international duel
Russell, Bertrand
Liberty; Property; Social problems; State, The; War
In Germany the worship of money is more recent than in France, England,
and America; indeed, it hardly existed until after the Franco-Prussian
War. But it has been adopted now with the same intensity and
whole-heartedness which have always marked German beliefs. It is
characteristic that, as in France the worship of money is associated
with the family, so in Germany it is associated with the State. Liszt,
in deliberate revolt against the English economists, taught his
compatriots to think of economics in national terms, and the German
who develops a business is felt, by others as well as by himself, to
be performing a service to the State. Germans believe that England’s
greatness is due to industrialism and Empire, and that our success in
these is due to an intense nationalism. The apparent internationalism
of our Free Trade policy they regard as mere hypocrisy. They have set
themselves to imitate what they believe we really are, with only the
hypocrisy omitted. It must be admitted that their success has been
amazing. But in the process they have destroyed almost all that made
Germany of value to the world, and they have not adopted whatever of
good there may have been among us, since that was all swept aside in
the wholesale condemnation of “hypocrisy.” And in adopting our worst
faults, they have made them far worse by a system, a thoroughness, and
a unanimity of which we are happily incapable. Germany’s religion is
of great importance to the world, since Germans have a power of real
belief, and have the energy to acquire the virtues and vices which
their creed demands. For the sake of the world, as well as for the sake
of Germany, we must hope that they will soon abandon the worship of
wealth which they have unfortunately learnt from us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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