"Greediness considered a virtue among my species." Surely I must have
misunderstood her, thought I, once more seating myself, preparatory to
beginning my mental journey with Arletta. And I was glad to know that
she would shortly view our civilization as it existed, feeling positive
that she would then change her ideas regarding my species being lower
animals. I felt that it was my own fault because she harbored such an
opinion and that I was to blame for being such a poor representative of
my race for her to judge by.
"Now, let's be off," said she, "as I feel that my time will be short
with you and we had better make the best of it while it lasts." "Time
short with you." Those words gave me more pain than if a sword had been
thrust through my body. "By all the gods of eternity, I would not care
to live ten minutes if anything happened to that heavenly being,"
thought I, gazing at her with rapturous feelings of tenderness. "Call me
a lower animal, a hideous creature or a greedy pig, and treat me like
one if you will, but do not leave me. Stay and let me be your slave
forever." Those were my sincere thoughts. She understood them, but made
no response.
Settling back in a comfortable position with my eyes fastened upon
Arletta in loving adoration, the scene changed instantly and I found
myself once more upon the rocks in the middle of the sea. The sun was
just rising in the east and another day was begun. Then our meteoric
flight commenced, and quicker than it takes to relate I was high up
among the clouds and peering down at a familiar landscape. I recognized
the location at once as the district occupied by and surrounding Cape
Town, South Africa.
I had been there before. But how peculiar everything appeared now as I
looked down from above. I could plainly discern the harbor and great
tableland in the scene before me, although apparently shrunk in size,
but the city itself resembled a little toy village, while the largest
ships in the harbor reminded me of the tiny boats I used to construct
when a child and float about in the bath-tub. But where, oh where, was
the greatest of all exalted things--that for which the entire universe
and all that it contains therein was constructed--mighty man? He could
not be seen. In fact he was as completely invisible as the pestilential
germ on the back of a sick flea. "If I only had a microscope," thought
I, "perhaps I could see him." Then I began to descend, until finally I
discovered innumerable little creepers moving about in all directions.
They were men. At first sight they looked to be about the size of ants,
but as I got closer to the earth they increased in bulk until they
appeared to be at least three inches in height, and then their
importance became noticeable. As they moved about in great numbers and I
came into close proximity with them, I observed that the actions of some
was apparently sensible but that the doings of the most of them was
positively ridiculous. For instance, here was one set of creatures
diligently toiling to produce something and getting nothing, while here
was a set of idlers doing absolutely nothing but receiving everything.
The real producer of all the necessities and luxuries of life was
actually giving nine-tenths of the fruits of his labor to a class of
loafers and schemers who took it as a divine right, and then begrudged
him the one-tenth he received of his own production. I observed that for
every one of these producers there were ten non-producers who spent
their time and efforts devising the best ways and means to confiscate
that which had been produced. It seemed strange that the producer would
allow this state of affairs to exist; but he did, and seemed quite
elated sometimes to think that the non-producer would permit him to live
at all. I noticed that most of the non-producers were fat and bloated
from being over-fed and from guzzling prepared liquors, and that they
were clothed with the finest materials the producer could contribute,
while the producers themselves were lean and hungry looking objects, and
were dressed in rags. I had seen these same things many times before
without giving them any consideration, but now for the first time, I
felt that there was something wrong with the people of the world. It
seemed to me now that the entire system of human endeavor had been
started wrong and was running along upside down. But what was the cause
of this curious state of affairs? One word alone explained it all--
Selfishness. And then there came to me a sentence, the imprint of which
has never been effaced from my memory, viz: "Selfishness is the root of
all evil; eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth win
be heaven."
Oh, dear reader, go over those few words again, and again; ten times;
fifty times; one hundred times if necessary to thoroughly impress their
full meaning upon your intellect. Study them; practice them; teach them;
sing them to all the world. Take them for your everlasting motto and you
will have no need for all the stupid theories ever created by man.
"Eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth will be
heaven."
And now I observed that great numbers of these little men were being
unloaded from the various ships in the harbor, and upon landing started
immediately in a northerly direction. I understood the reason. Gold had
been discovered in the Transvaal, and thousands upon thousands were
coming from every quarter of the globe in anticipation of getting some
of this metal. And what is there about gold that caused people to go
such vast distances and bear many hardships and even risk their lives in
desperate efforts to obtain it? Is there more real value to gold than
other metals? Not at all. There is no more intrinsic value to gold than
brass, but centuries ago, a semi-savage glutton discovered that he could
not eat all the swine he could raise nor legally steal all his
contemporaries could breed, so he originated a plan whereby he could
secure for himself what others had produced through the agency of a
financial system in which gold could be used as a medium of exchange. He
found that he could get other and less crafty savages to go and dig the
gold for him in return for swine. He also found that the breeders would
exchange swine for gold. So he started by giving the diggers one swine
for ten ounces of gold and the breeders one ounce of gold for ten swine.
This transaction he called business. This system of business has been
handed down from generation to generation until it has become a part of
man's very nature. He knows very little of anything else. Gold being the
financial medium of business he is taught to crave it in his infancy and
as he grows older gold becomes his idol--his God. In order to gain
possession of gold or its equivalent man forgets his soul and sells his
honor. He is willing to crush the weak, cheat, steal or even murder his
fellow beings to obtain it. And no matter whether he has little or much
of it he considers any person insane who dare suggest the abolition of
the financial system which permits individual accumulation and breeds
selfishness and crime.
With a change of mind, I landed thousands of miles further north into
the interior of uncivilized Africa, the home of wild beasts. Here
something occurred which caused me to think that after all, perhaps
Arletta was right in classing my species with the lower animals. Under
ordinary conditions I should not have given the incident a second
thought, but now my mind being directly connected with hers, I was, no
doubt, impressed in the same manner as she while viewing these things.
A party of English gentlemen were on a hunting expedition. They appeared
to be intelligent beings of aristocratic birth. Men whom the average
individual would take as examples to emulate. But here they were in
Africa, thousands of miles from home, with the sole purpose of killing
something for pleasure. A short distance away was a family of lions; a
male, female and several cubs. The lion and lioness lay close together,
apparently casting loving glances at one another and enjoying the antics
of the little ones who were playing together nearby. Occasionally the
little ones would run over and kiss their elders in a most affectionate
way, which seemed to greatly please the parents. Never have I seen a
family of human beings display so much real affection toward each others
as this family of lions. But alas, their happiness was at an end. Man's
appetite for killing must be appeased. One of the hunters had caught
sight of the happy little family, and slinking behind a tree before his
presence became known to the lions he signaled to his comrades, who
sneaked forward from tree to tree until they were within easy range of
their prey. Then fixing their rifles and taking deliberate aim at the
unsuspecting victims, and without giving them any chance to defend
themselves or little ones, these so-called brave and civilized hunters
pulled the triggers and the happy old lion and the lioness
simultaneously expired, pierced by a dozen bullets. And what became of
the little ones? The sight was too pitiable to describe. After the
effects of the first fright, caused by the noise of the shots, had
passed, they instinctively rushed to their parents for protection. Oh,
the anguish depicted upon the faces of these little things when they
discovered that their loving progenitors were no more. Their looks and
moans were heartrending. But there were others made happy. A sudden
shout of joyousness burst forth from the throats of a dozen civilized
men who eagerly rushed from behind their fortresses to view the work of
destruction. They had displayed fine marksmanship and were greatly
pleased. Good shooting, said one of the brave fellows. Splendid,
exclaimed another. But what shall we do with the cubs? asked the third.
Better finish them also, remarked a fourth, as I am very fond of cub
meat, and would like nothing better than a broiled steak from one of
their little carcasses. After a few minutes' parley a decision was
reached that it would be uncivilized to allow the little ones to wander
about the jungle alone for fear that they might become the prey for
other wild animals, so they killed them also; and filled their stomachs
with them. And after they were through, a flock of vultures descended
and finished the work. Men and vultures are somewhat alike in this
respect; they both eat the flesh of carcasses. But a good word can be
said for the vultures, however; they never kill.