The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-23

lie only mOrDlQ dlScOntent Will
breed in a mind made FESTIVE by unat-
tainable aspirations. Circuses and
bread and ragtime and dime novels
these be the pabuIum of the nihlite.
Culture for the cultured. A dumb show
for the people Oscar Wilde, that great
sentimental boy, expressed the aristo-
cratic view Of culture when he said to
his friend Frank Harris: "The poor
are poor creatures, and must be hew-
ers of wood and drawers of water.
They are really the dung hill out Of
which men of genius and artists grow
4 like flowers. Their function is to give
birth to genius and nourish it. They
have no other raison d'etre. Were
men as intelligent as bees, all gifted
individuals would be supported by the
community, as the bees support their
queen. We should be the first charge
on the State, just as Socrates declared
that he ought to be kept in the Pry-
tanoeum at the public expense.
Don't talk to me, Frank, about the
hardships of the poor. The hard
ships Of the poor are necessities, but
talk to me of the hardships of men of
genius, and I could weep tears of
blood. was never so affected by any
book in my life as was by the sordid
misery of Balzac's poet, Eugene de
Rubempre"
This mischievous theory Of culture is
strongly entrenched as a living faith
amongst the leisure class Faith in
the masses is a lyrical line of lauda-
ton from humanitarian poets. The
mighty of mankind know not faith in
the masses. Distrust, suspicion, con-
tempt, yes, Faith-never. Faith, like
respect, is genuine bond only
amongst equals. Equals are persons
who strive for common ends-and
share common experiences while striv-
ing. All rules, golden or leaden, op-
crate best where respect fiourishes.
Respect flourishes where power is
equitably and equally apportioned.
Faith and respect and power are a
triple alliance tenable and durable
only amongst economic or intellectual
equals. Power is the breath of life:
bad breath when monopolized, a
sweet, when socialized. Increase the
aggressive power of the masses and
as If by magic you behold a "pro
tanto" increase in the respect ac-
corded them by "superiors." 1t is
amazing how instinctively we respect
persons of power. And yet not so
amazing, either. We respect power,
because, fattering its possessors
brings us privileges and security; an
tagonizing its holders brings us hard
ship and insecurity. The most diff
cult problem of our social democracy
is to socialize the pnEer of men and
the men of power. The sweet uses
and abuses of power must be cur
tailed.
In 1906 an essay entitled Education
and the Socialist Movement" was
written by distinguished" American
economist to prove the necessity and
moral discipline Of cleavage in society
1t is the feeblest essay ever penned by
an intelligent apologist for the status
quo. Conscious thruout that his We
toes on socialist hopes were arbitrary
and biased, Professor John. Bates
Clark desperately concluded his pero-
ration with this exciting outlook for
the laboring class: Like the village
blacksmith, he may look the whole
world in the face with independence,
but with no latent enmity. Manly
self-assertion there may be with no
sense Of injury. The weII-paId iaborer
may stand before the rich without
envy, as the rich will stand before
him without pity or condescension. I.
1t will always be better to
have something than to have nothing;
but it may at some time, be better to
have relatively little than to have In
ordinately much and the worker may
be able to come nearer and nearer to