The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1917-07-26
A MISLEADING BOOK


That masterpiece of misconception
of the philosophy of Socialism by
Thomas Dixon entitled, Comrades"
has such clear Interpretation Of
the social and economic conditions
under the present capitalist system
that it is no more than probable
that many have been led to think
that its Interpretation of the cure
for all evils enumerated as present
ed by Socialist today is equally
correct. This is just where the
venom of the book lies. If he
started out to tell you that the
philosophy of Socialism is rotten.
Mr.. Capitalist Minded Worker,
would not believe the story. But
he has chosen a crafty means to
gain the mind of the worker.
He tells the errors of the present
stage of development of the hu-
man race in the struggle for ex-
istence. He tells that the Socialists
wish to do away with these evils by
advancing to the next step in eco
nomic and industrial evolution. He
states that this step is to be the
social ownership and democratic
control of the socially used ma
chinery of production and distribu-
ton. He forgets to give the cor
rollary that then and not until then
will it be possible for each worker
to have the private ownership and
private control of those things that
are privately used Then he POUNDS
his story on a false foundation of
the hero worship and personal con-
troll of today. Even going to the
capitalist extreme of so great a
folly as having one member of a
Socialist colony the sole owner of
the land and capital. He is very
clever. He isolates the island where
this experiment in paternal utopian-
ism is to be conducted. But he
does not mean for you to see that
he is transpIanting the people to
an unnatural environment, to bar
racks, lot drawing, exotic life. So
cial ownership and esponsibility are
not present, neither is personal own
ership and individuality where it
does not interfere with others al
lowed. His picture has become
unsocialistic to an unacceptable
degree at the first. Then he pic
lures the members of the colony
as having mass mind of chattel
slaves who are accustomed to a
master, and not the minds of men
whose desire and struggle is to so
perform their duties to society that
neither they nor others may shrik,
that no energy shall be purposely
no oil no oil
want in proportion to what they
are willing to do for the others.
He has forgotten the first prin-
ciples of Socialism that there are
certain things to which all men are
by right entitled, one of which is
the right to starve if he is capable
and will not work, the other is the
right of all to refuse to allow any
one to have who will not do. The
key note of Socialism today is that
only the education and firing of the
mass mind to want and to with a
purpose, watching jealousy but
wisely, stunning any semblance of
hero worship and of leaders but
bringing up the mass mind and
abiding by the decision of the mass
mind, alone can the worker be freed,
the shriker be starved Now re-
member and reflect that all workers,
by brain or Drawn, rich or poor,
are today slaves, and should be
free, that strikers rich and poor do
not starve today, and should have
to or change into workers.
He took those people away from
San Francisco Socialists, and landed
them at the island scientific anarch-
lists in theory, but without mental
balance. Without balance and with
out a scientific working program
they could but become like unto all
today-nihilists and slaves.
The one whom he wants you to
think the master villain of the story
obeys strict individualism and abso-
lutely does not act according to any
teachings of national or internation-
al Socialism ever officially recog-
nized or by any academic encyclopedia
or dictionary. He gives him the
brute capitalist system of today.
Such a parody on the word Com
rade" could only grow in the brain
of the author through one of two
purposes, to grossly mislead, or to
point out the danger of following
a leader Learn lesson from the
book or it may be poison.
r. w. THOMPSON.