And if not, what _is_ Socialism? Socialism is an indictment of the whole system of modern civilization, a plan to overthrow it, and a scheme to set up in its place a system of society in which all means of production, distribution and exchange shall be owned collectively and operated collectively. To attain this end--to effect the overthrow of all existing institutions that the “more perfect” institutions of Socialism may take their place--Socialists preach a gospel of class consciousness, by which they hope to incite so strong a feeling of class hatred in the heart of the worker that he will rise in revolt against his employer and take from him all the means of production and distribution--by the peaceful method of the ballot, if he can do it in that way; if not, by violence and with bloodshed--the bloodshed Victor Berger threatened when he advised the worker to “be prepared to back up his ballot with his bullets.” This is what Socialists mean when they talk about _The Revolution_. This is the method by which they hope to attain their goal, the Co-operative Commonwealth, in which, if the plan of Socialism does not miscarry, there will be but one class--the working class--and all human beings will actually love one another so much that they will dwell together in peace and harmony ever after. It is a beautiful picture--this idea of the lion and the lamb lying down together. It is so enticing a promise that I might almost be willing to go through a wee bit of a revolution myself in order to attain it, if I could only believe that everything would work out in the way Socialists predict that it will. It is right here, John, that I am compelled to part company with the Socialists for good and all. I am just as thoroughly enamoured peace and harmony as Debs or Haywood or Hillquit. Not one of these gentlemen would welcome a world without social evils and social miseries more heartily than I. But, when I sit down and start to figure out the problem logically, I find that the evidence against Socialism accumulates rapidly. Between you and me, John, Socialism could not do what it promises to accomplish even if it had the chance. You don’t see why it couldn’t? Well, I’ll show you. CHAPTER III THE WORKER’S WAGE My dear Mr. Smith, If you stop at the street corner to listen to a soap-boxer, there are two things that he is pretty certain to tell you: first, that you are a “wage slave,” and, second, that you are being “robbed” every day you work. With a flood of words, carefully prepared to appeal to men in your position, and with stories that are supposed to illustrate the points he wants to make, the man on the street-corner will try to persuade you that labor is the sole factor in wealth production--that the workers produce all the wealth of the world--and that this wealth belongs rightfully to those who made it.