“Socialism must and will degenerate into wild and ungovernable anarchy”
[R1325 : page 129]
VOL. XII. OCTOBER, 1891. NO. 10.
VIEW FROM THE TOWER.
At the present time, as never before in the history of the world, men are studying, if not very generally practicing, the golden rule of love. They see that if it were in general operation the whole world would be greatly blessed by it. But how would it operate? How should it operate? — that is the perplexing question. One of the most popular suggestions among the masses of the people is what is commonly termed socialism. And just here we wish to introduce [R1326 : page 129] a brief article on the subject clipped from a recent issue of a secular journal. The article is as follows: —
A QUESTION OF TO-DAY.
SOCIALISM AND PROGRESS.
“All readers and thinkers are watching with interest the struggle of the civilized world with Socialism — a product evolved from the conditions and thoughts of the masses, peculiar to the closing years of the Nineteenth Century. In different nations it assumes different names, but all its aims and objects tend to a re-organization of society and the distribution of wealth. The masses read and think and reason something like this: ‘Well, here I am, a poor man, doomed to labor the year in and out; and, do the best I can, I am only able to pay my rent, keep body and soul together, get few luxuries and much misery, and no prospect to better my condition.
“‘What matters it to me what becomes of the princes, dukes and generals who wear fine linen and fare sumptuously every day? Let revolution come; my condition can not be any worse, and might be bettered by killing off our oppressors.’ In this frame of mind he is an easy prey to the wily agitator, and thus the ball rolls [R1326 : page 130] on, gathering force as it goes, in all the European countries.
“In the United States, only the extreme agitators are prominent, and work under the name of Anarchists, but they are few in number and are not gaining much ground. In Germany the social agitators are gaining rapidly, but there the Socialists must not be confounded with the Anarchists, for the latter have all been expelled from the Socialists’ clubs. The Socialists there really represent the progressive ideas of the nation; and, with some slight modifications, their platform is almost identical with modern republicanism. They have become so powerful in that country as to force the resignation of Bismarck.
“In Russia we have the Nihilists, who represent the advanced thought of that despotic nation; in France are the Radicals; in England the Liberals; and so on, in every nation, the social leaven is at work. The toiling millions are endowed with all the natural faculties of those who ‘toil not, neither do they spin.’
“The poor man reasons that if this world was made for man to enjoy, it is self-evident that all the enjoyment was not intended for a few individuals; that if a man inherits a fortune and title, he deserves no credit for the accident of birth, and there would be just as much reason and justice in making the rich man divide with his less fortunate neighbor as to let him spend it in riotous living or hoard it up.
“The average toiler also can not see why he should be heavily taxed to support an army of cut-throats, whose sole business was to fight for the glory of a few kings and generals, posing as figure-heads. And so the peasant comes to the conclusion that the people would be all the better off if the armies were disbanded, the titled rulers abolished, and the rich made to disgorge. A settled conviction soon becomes a duty, and the agitators who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by revolution have little difficulty in wielding the toilers in battalions and leading them to vote and work for the overthrow of the government under which they chance to live; for it is a well known fact that, in every nation, this class of people saddle all their woes upon the government, no matter what its form.
“England groans under the oppression of landlords, dukes, titles, lords, etc., and the masses see no reason why they should be taxed to support a royal house which is, at best, only a figure-head; and so social democracy grows apace.
“But while the poor man always is entitled to be heard, the question arises: Suppose property were divided equally, how long would it be before those who have it now would get it back again? The extreme Socialist says, We’ll remedy that matter by making an equal division every ten years. But if you do this you destroy the spirit of competition and the desire for improvement, and with all the human aspirations put under this sort of a ban, man would relapse into a semi-savage state, and all law and order be hurled into chaos. To share equally in property unequally earned is contrary to all political economy. The best thing for a man to do is to do the best he can under the circumstances.
“To abolish law and order would put every poor man at the mercy of the desperado and the cut-throat: and, with no one to see after the welfare of society, everything would go to eternal smash.
“If the people would devote their intelligence and energy to the reforming of existing institutions and give the agitators a wide berth, much of the existing evil might be ameliorated.
“Communistic Democracies all end in social chaos, and promiscuous socialism means social anarchy.
“Germany is so situated that a strong centralized government will always be necessary for self-protection.
“With Russia on the east with her barbaric millions, and a half million soldiers who are veritable heathen, and France on the west with her desire for revenge, the Kaiser’s country must always be on the alert and ready to defend herself. France is more favorably situated, and, if the conservative element keeps the ascendency, may continue a moderate Republic. England will never be what she ought to be, until the masses own the soil. Great reforms are necessary in all the nations, and can only be brought about by reforming existing institutions, and not by adopting the views and impracticable theories of the socialistic agitators.”
Here is some sound logic, and some not so sound. The reforming of existing institutions, for instance, would be a hopeless task. The fact is, they are so imperfect that nothing but revolution will reform them. And such a revolution, we are forewarned, is coming; the signs of the times also clearly indicate its rapid approach; and the outcome of that revolution will be the utter wreck of existing institutions — civil, social and ecclesiastical.
But what of socialism? will it survive the world-wide wreck and bring men to a realization of their common brotherhood and to the actual practice of the law of love? No: socialism, however moderate its principles and course in the beginning, must and will degenerate into [R1326 : page 131] wild and ungovernable anarchy, which, as this writer claims, places every man at the mercy of the desperado and the cut-throat. The writer truly claims that, “To share equally in property unequally earned is contrary to all political economy.” Why? Because it would crush out individuality and enterprise, and rob the worthy individual of his just need of credit and remuneration, and encourage the unworthy in a shiftless and ignoble dependence. The general tendency of such a course, it is easily seen, would be toward national, as well as individual, imbecility. Any system of political economy which would subordinate the individual to community interests is imperfect and unjust; for the individual has rights, as well as the nation, and the real interests of the nation can only be properly considered as the accumulated rights and interests of every individual of the nation.
When the Kingdom of God, which is to displace all present institutions, is set up, it will have respect, not only to national or community interest, but to every legitimate individual interest as well. At first, in the great time of trouble, there will be a great and very necessary leveling process; for the pride of man must be humbled and his dependence upon God must be realized before he can be exalted to the true dignity of manhood. That the individual right of property will be respected is manifest from the promise that “they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat…and they shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” — Isa. 65:21,22.
Read it all: http://www.htdb.net/ZWT/zwt0509.htm?s=r1325#x34915
VOL. XII. OCTOBER, 1891. NO. 10.
VIEW FROM THE TOWER.
At the present time, as never before in the history of the world, men are studying, if not very generally practicing, the golden rule of love. They see that if it were in general operation the whole world would be greatly blessed by it. But how would it operate? How should it operate? — that is the perplexing question. One of the most popular suggestions among the masses of the people is what is commonly termed socialism. And just here we wish to introduce [R1326 : page 129] a brief article on the subject clipped from a recent issue of a secular journal. The article is as follows: —
A QUESTION OF TO-DAY.
SOCIALISM AND PROGRESS.
“All readers and thinkers are watching with interest the struggle of the civilized world with Socialism — a product evolved from the conditions and thoughts of the masses, peculiar to the closing years of the Nineteenth Century. In different nations it assumes different names, but all its aims and objects tend to a re-organization of society and the distribution of wealth. The masses read and think and reason something like this: ‘Well, here I am, a poor man, doomed to labor the year in and out; and, do the best I can, I am only able to pay my rent, keep body and soul together, get few luxuries and much misery, and no prospect to better my condition.
“‘What matters it to me what becomes of the princes, dukes and generals who wear fine linen and fare sumptuously every day? Let revolution come; my condition can not be any worse, and might be bettered by killing off our oppressors.’ In this frame of mind he is an easy prey to the wily agitator, and thus the ball rolls [R1326 : page 130] on, gathering force as it goes, in all the European countries.
“In the United States, only the extreme agitators are prominent, and work under the name of Anarchists, but they are few in number and are not gaining much ground. In Germany the social agitators are gaining rapidly, but there the Socialists must not be confounded with the Anarchists, for the latter have all been expelled from the Socialists’ clubs. The Socialists there really represent the progressive ideas of the nation; and, with some slight modifications, their platform is almost identical with modern republicanism. They have become so powerful in that country as to force the resignation of Bismarck.
“In Russia we have the Nihilists, who represent the advanced thought of that despotic nation; in France are the Radicals; in England the Liberals; and so on, in every nation, the social leaven is at work. The toiling millions are endowed with all the natural faculties of those who ‘toil not, neither do they spin.’
“The poor man reasons that if this world was made for man to enjoy, it is self-evident that all the enjoyment was not intended for a few individuals; that if a man inherits a fortune and title, he deserves no credit for the accident of birth, and there would be just as much reason and justice in making the rich man divide with his less fortunate neighbor as to let him spend it in riotous living or hoard it up.
“The average toiler also can not see why he should be heavily taxed to support an army of cut-throats, whose sole business was to fight for the glory of a few kings and generals, posing as figure-heads. And so the peasant comes to the conclusion that the people would be all the better off if the armies were disbanded, the titled rulers abolished, and the rich made to disgorge. A settled conviction soon becomes a duty, and the agitators who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by revolution have little difficulty in wielding the toilers in battalions and leading them to vote and work for the overthrow of the government under which they chance to live; for it is a well known fact that, in every nation, this class of people saddle all their woes upon the government, no matter what its form.
“England groans under the oppression of landlords, dukes, titles, lords, etc., and the masses see no reason why they should be taxed to support a royal house which is, at best, only a figure-head; and so social democracy grows apace.
“But while the poor man always is entitled to be heard, the question arises: Suppose property were divided equally, how long would it be before those who have it now would get it back again? The extreme Socialist says, We’ll remedy that matter by making an equal division every ten years. But if you do this you destroy the spirit of competition and the desire for improvement, and with all the human aspirations put under this sort of a ban, man would relapse into a semi-savage state, and all law and order be hurled into chaos. To share equally in property unequally earned is contrary to all political economy. The best thing for a man to do is to do the best he can under the circumstances.
“To abolish law and order would put every poor man at the mercy of the desperado and the cut-throat: and, with no one to see after the welfare of society, everything would go to eternal smash.
“If the people would devote their intelligence and energy to the reforming of existing institutions and give the agitators a wide berth, much of the existing evil might be ameliorated.
“Communistic Democracies all end in social chaos, and promiscuous socialism means social anarchy.
“Germany is so situated that a strong centralized government will always be necessary for self-protection.
“With Russia on the east with her barbaric millions, and a half million soldiers who are veritable heathen, and France on the west with her desire for revenge, the Kaiser’s country must always be on the alert and ready to defend herself. France is more favorably situated, and, if the conservative element keeps the ascendency, may continue a moderate Republic. England will never be what she ought to be, until the masses own the soil. Great reforms are necessary in all the nations, and can only be brought about by reforming existing institutions, and not by adopting the views and impracticable theories of the socialistic agitators.”
Here is some sound logic, and some not so sound. The reforming of existing institutions, for instance, would be a hopeless task. The fact is, they are so imperfect that nothing but revolution will reform them. And such a revolution, we are forewarned, is coming; the signs of the times also clearly indicate its rapid approach; and the outcome of that revolution will be the utter wreck of existing institutions — civil, social and ecclesiastical.
But what of socialism? will it survive the world-wide wreck and bring men to a realization of their common brotherhood and to the actual practice of the law of love? No: socialism, however moderate its principles and course in the beginning, must and will degenerate into [R1326 : page 131] wild and ungovernable anarchy, which, as this writer claims, places every man at the mercy of the desperado and the cut-throat. The writer truly claims that, “To share equally in property unequally earned is contrary to all political economy.” Why? Because it would crush out individuality and enterprise, and rob the worthy individual of his just need of credit and remuneration, and encourage the unworthy in a shiftless and ignoble dependence. The general tendency of such a course, it is easily seen, would be toward national, as well as individual, imbecility. Any system of political economy which would subordinate the individual to community interests is imperfect and unjust; for the individual has rights, as well as the nation, and the real interests of the nation can only be properly considered as the accumulated rights and interests of every individual of the nation.
When the Kingdom of God, which is to displace all present institutions, is set up, it will have respect, not only to national or community interest, but to every legitimate individual interest as well. At first, in the great time of trouble, there will be a great and very necessary leveling process; for the pride of man must be humbled and his dependence upon God must be realized before he can be exalted to the true dignity of manhood. That the individual right of property will be respected is manifest from the promise that “they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat…and they shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” — Isa. 65:21,22.
Read it all: http://www.htdb.net/ZWT/zwt0509.htm?s=r1325#x34915
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