The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-06-05
DISCONTENT.

People take a lopsided view of many things and when they see much opposition to any system or policy that they favor, they blame that upon the work of some agita- tors, leaders and the like.
 They never for one instant blame the system or the policy pursued. They persuade themselves that that would be lovingly accepted were it not for the opposition of some excit- ing the discontent of others.
 Nothing could be further from a correct view of things. The great est reason for agitation itself is not anything personal existing in the agitator, but in the exciting causes thereto to which the system agi- tated against gives rise.
 Most people were accustomed to blame the advocacy of socialism upon the propagandists of social ism. And a good many propaganda ists aided that belief by placing an almost childish faith in the virtues of propaganda work. The fact that when opposition arises 10 a system it is for a well defined cause, and that opposition will continue and continue to increase until that cause is removed, is entirely over looked.
 You may kill off every propa- gandist tomorrow engaged in ad- vocating radical ideas and the sys- tenn breeding discomfort among it's victims will continue to reproduce the opposition that has merely been temporarily destroyed.
 Thus we observe that not all the opposition in the world to labor organization and radical associa- tions upon the part of the capitalists class has been able to destroy them permanently. Here and there they have quite successfully extirpated them for the time being, but they come again. hardy perennials which no power can destroy. The reason for this is that the system itself has excited it's own destruction, and it will continue to do so until the system is finally destroyed by its victims.
 Today by the exercise of force and by the threat of armed violence and by the use of all kinds of puni- tive measures certain obnoxious po- licies may be forced upon the peo- pie. And in justification for the exertion of this tyrannical policy and this despotism, it may be claim ed that the conditions which are sought to be suppressed are due to useless agitators and to propaganda ists of discontent and disloyalty.
 But not any of these things vii! permanently be successful however for a time they may effect their ends. The system which was re- garded as obnoxious, will despite its armories excite opposition and grow between the spaces of violence with all! the richer growth. It IS a remarkable fact that there has nothing fertlized the soil of liberty 40 well as the blood of those who were martyrs for the cause, and 1t I , hafpens nine cases out of ten that the very oppressive means used to maia.ain or to foist an obnoxious system upon the people. added to the intensity with which 1t inspired opposition.
 IG the labor world propaganda twerk for the labor cause has done s55.ne good in that it helped to rivet the doctrines which had occurred to those who accepted the propaganda as feasible and reasonable and 1uai- .cious But the main educator ana the main agitator in this world IS ,the capitalist system itself: with us nersistent exploitation, it's petty " rannies, it's despotisms, it's dehanee of rights personal and political us general conception of things that the many live for the advantage or the few, and that the advantage or the few should be the object oI eA- istence for the many
 The job or the lack of the 'op has made more socialists than Karl Marx Capital which few know ana few understand and few relatively