The herald., 1895-03-25
COMPETITION IS IMMORAL
Democracy in Industry Is Defined a.
Socialism
He Declares That Socialism VIII Be the
neans Of Restoring the Faith Of
Our FOrcfathers

The late Emile de Laveleye (wh0se
death was great personal loss to me) in
his last work thus warned u.s. $40 issue
from primitive simplicity and suddenly
become enormously rich threatens i'm
morality and run--this we now witness in
the United States. If | affirm that we
are the most immoral of nations you may
object, but you cannot II | say that we
are the most fnaterialistic and indivdu-
alstic. Lately my friend Professor
Platter of Zurich wrote me: "Edu-
Gated Europeans look on American
life and manners as positively odious.' y
There are two terrible indict-
ments against our present social con-
ditions. First, they forbid MS to lead a
moral life. they compel us on pain of
starvation to compete with fellowmen.
and Herbert Spencer has told us that
competitive business is necessarily i'm
moral; they make our wage earIers depend
for their daily bread on the favor. often
on the whim OF their einployers-and thus
make MS unfree; they make our employers
care for profits exclusively, and look
on the working classes as mere instru-
ments to their greed. Secondly, our social
conditions tempt us all INTO criminal
ways, tempt us all to gambling-aye,
poor women are sorely tempted to dis
honor themselves.
AS consequence the word moral has
DeCOIllt tUt lOOscSb dfli NdSucob Noid
our language--in many places in our
country morality means simply abstn-
ence from liquors and tobacco Ethics
is the science OF morals, and morals is
right conduct and that presupposes an
Interpretation of life to which to conform
our conduct.
Therein lies our fundamental trouble
We have lost the faith of our forefathers,
and | affirm that Socialism will restore
that faith--and by Socialism | mean
Democracy in industry, the abolition OF
our irresponsible autocrats. But observe,
| don't mean faith in dogmas, but in
humanity and its destiny. This, | say,
was the real underlying meaning OF all
robust faiths OF the past; convic-
ton of human solidarity, or ''brother-
hood as we say, using weaker word.
This conviction, or sense. we have en-
tirely lost; we believe with Herbert
Spencer that we are autonomous in
dividuals, that men have come into
this world. each for the sake Of himself
and that humanity, instead OF being an
organism, as 1T Is. is rather heap ol con-
scious grains OF sand.
Now 1t is the transcendent merit OF
Socialism in all it's forms that it will re-
We this sense of social solidarity as a
act. and this will have tremendous in
tiuence on morals. How can we have cor
rect moral notions when we either attach
false one as that we are only grains oi
sand. whose business with each other is
merely that of getting along together as
well as we can? Hence our practical ethics
is either lubrcanr-a kind OF grease-to
ease the friction OF the social machinery
but without one element OF law. or 1t IS
pure pharisaism teaching 'onr better cit
izensb how TO be better than, and hold
aloof from, their fellows
But with the SOcialistic Interpretation
OF life and humanity as an organism
whose destiny we have come into
this world to advance, we shall have a
higher ethics that shall be truly a law.
Human solidarity does not mean sell
sacrifice. 1T simply means that to pursne
our happiness directly is not the path OF
blessedness, but that the prescribed way
to accomplish our own eternal and tenn
poral welfare lies through the collective
well being. True morality thus is ex-
clusively social morality, but personal
duties will be inculcated rs the servants
of. and means to. this social morality.
Now we can see how these sOciaistC
ethics will moralize egOism and rational
ize altruism. 1t will be done by consider
ing, on the one hand. self and Oh the
other hand all our fellows as splendid
tools and responsible agents to mold hn-
manitys destiny-which is our own des-
tiny. Such view will stimulate noble am
bition-not the miserable sort to seek to
become rich, but ambition in the service
of society, of the ideal. Then it will seem
rational. not to compete, but to cooper
ate, with our neighbors, and it seems that
our working classes will BY the close OF
the present century be so imbued with
this higher ethics that they will look
upon a workman who refuses to enter the
union of his trade as positively immoral
and the "scab" is immoral. Then we
shall find it rational to reverence our true
superior, not a mere moneybag; then we
shall come to deprecate personal author
ity and dependence on Misunderstanding
is, abolish this immoral and manhood.
come to refuse menlal services from fell
lowmen for money. Domestic service,
another immoral institution. will go by
the board; there will here and there prob
ably be places were such servants will be
found, but they will stay from love OF and
regard foI their mistresses, and they will,
of course, be admitted as members OF
the family. Scayengering will lose its
present degrading character, when the
poorest among us must no longer do that
kind of work or starye. Men will be
tempted the right. and no longer the
wrong, way and hence they will gradual
ly all become painstaking, honest and
compliant-it is simply human nature.
And this socialism is surely coming; ii
Our country will be either the first to
realize it. or be far in the rear. In that
case our blessed country may become Il
second Rome in its malodorous decay.
The worst danger is that this movement
may here become class movement, as it
unfortunately already is in Europe. If it
be brought in under the auspices of the
highest Intelligence, it will be an unmixed
blessing. That is why | have founded a
Fabian Society in San Francisco, and pro
pose to found another here. For l am
confident that merely dozen men and
women of the right kind here, in San
Francisco and Sacramento can successful
ly start the movement, since all that is
needed is to study socialism profoundly.
SO as to be able to tell our fellowmen what
the goal is and the way to it, and the first
step to it is state productive work to the
unemployed.
The worst feature here is our cowardice.
Our educated classes are far more coward
ly than they are in Europe. But we hard
ly can imagine the power there is in the
union of dozen men and women, knit to-
gether by love for the same progressive
social ideal-but it must be progressive,
not reactionary-especa il with the
new century there is really due wave OF