The Soul of Man Under Socialism | Page 2

thousand men out of work, tramping about the streets in a
state of disgusting misery, or whining to their neighbours for alms, or
crowding round the doors of loathsome shelters to try and secure a
hunch of bread and a night's unclean lodging. Each member of the
society will share in the general prosperity and happiness of the society,
and if a frost comes no one will practically be anything the worse.
Upon the other hand, Socialism itself will be of value simply because it
will lead to Individualism.
Socialism, Communism, or whatever one chooses to call it, by

converting private property into public wealth, and substituting
co-operation for competition, will restore society to its proper condition
of a thoroughly healthy organism, and insure the material well-being of
each member of the community. It will, in fact, give Life its proper
basis and its proper environment. But for the full development of Life
to its highest mode of perfection, something more is needed. What is
needed is Individualism. If the Socialism is Authoritarian; if there are
Governments armed with economic power as they are now with
political power; if, in a word, we are to have Industrial Tyrannies, then
the last state of man will be worse than the first. At present, in
consequence of the existence of private property, a great many people
are enabled to develop a certain very limited amount of Individualism.
They are either under no necessity to work for their living, or are
enabled to choose the sphere of activity that is really congenial to them,
and gives them pleasure. These are the poets, the philosophers, the men
of science, the men of culture--in a word, the real men, the men who
have realised themselves, and in whom all Humanity gains a partial
realisation. Upon the other hand, there are a great many people who,
having no private property of their own, and being always on the brink
of sheer starvation, are compelled to do the work of beasts of burden, to
do work that is quite uncongenial to them, and to which they are forced
by the peremptory, unreasonable, degrading Tyranny of want. These
are the poor, and amongst them there is no grace of manner, or charm
of speech, or civilisation, or culture, or refinement in pleasures, or joy
of life. From their collective force Humanity gains much in material
prosperity. But it is only the material result that it gains, and the man
who is poor is in himself absolutely of no importance. He is merely the
infinitesimal atom of a force that, so far from regarding him, crushes
him: indeed, prefers him crushed, as in that case he is far more
obedient.
Of course, it might be said that the Individualism generated under
conditions of private property is not always, or even as a rule, of a fine
or wonderful type, and that the poor, if they have not culture and charm,
have still many virtues. Both these statements would be quite true. The
possession of private property is very often extremely demoralising,
and that is, of course, one of the reasons why Socialism wants to get rid
of the institution. In fact, property is really a nuisance. Some years ago

people went about the country saying that property has duties. They
said it so often and so tediously that, at last, the Church has begun to
say it. One hears it now from every pulpit. It is perfectly true. Property
not merely has duties, but has so many duties that its possession to any
large extent is a bore. It involves endless claims upon one, endless
attention to business, endless bother. If property had simply pleasures,
we could stand it; but its duties make it unbearable. In the interest of
the rich we must get rid of it. The virtues of the poor may be readily
admitted, and are much to be regretted. We are often told that the poor
are grateful for charity. Some of them are, no doubt, but the best
amongst the poor are never grateful. They are ungrateful, discontented,
disobedient, and rebellious. They are quite right to be so. Charity they
feel to be a ridiculously inadequate mode of partial restitution, or a
sentimental dole, usually accompanied by some impertinent attempt on
the part of the sentimentalist to tyrannise over their private lives. Why
should they be grateful for the crumbs that fall from the rich man's
table? They should be seated at the board, and are beginning to know it.
As for being discontented, a man who would not be discontented with
such surroundings and such a low mode of life would be a perfect brute.
Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has