"The history of Sageland," continued Arletta, "during one thousand years
prior to the great catastrophe was simply a record of heaven on earth,
in which the inhabitants lived for and loved one another. The abolition
of the pernicious system of individual accumulation was the direct cause
for the existence of this beautiful state of affairs. For when the
people discovered that they could no longer hoard up wealth for personal
advantage, but were required to give their best efforts toward general
production in exchange for the necessities of life, they lost all evil
desires and endeavored to secure the highest esteem of their fellow-
beings by perfecting themselves mentally, morally and physically for the
good of the community.
"The system by which the State required each individual to devote a
portion of his time toward general production, and which gave him in
return for his services a home, food, clothes, education, entertainment,
and, in fact, everything necessary to his welfare and comfort, is so
simple and easy of comprehension that any living thing above the
intellectual line of the Ape should be able to understand it.
"In the first place, the State was simply the people--all of the people--
working harmoniously together as a unit. Every child was educated from
its infancy in the economic principles of the State, and upon arriving
at maturity was given a voice in its government. There were no
privileges whatsoever granted to any particular person or persons, no
matter how superior their intelligence nor how valuable the services
they rendered to the country. As long as any one, whether strong or
weak, lived up to the laws of the State and applied himself to the best
of his ability, just so long was he allowed a voice in the government
and an equal proportion of the benefits accorded to all. Both men and
women enjoyed equal rights. Every man and woman in the country was a
public servant; they all worked for the public good. Each law adopted
was put into force through the direct vote of all the people. Municipal
and sectional laws were made uniform throughout the entire nation. The
public officials were chosen from the wisest men and women of the land.
These officials formulated the laws, but none of them became operative
until sanctioned by the people through suffrage. And no matter whether
the law was great or trivial, it was left for the people to decide
whether they would accept or reject it. The majority always settled the
question, and the law went into operation for a stated period, at the
expiration of which time the question would again be reconsidered and
voted upon if necessary. The laws were few and perfectly plain, and
could not be evaded. Nor was there any advantage to be gained by evading
them. The principle simply decreed, that all persons must devote a
certain portion of their time to advancing the conditions of the country
which gave them sustenance. The State allotted to the individual the
employment for which it was demonstrated he was best fitted. The working
hours were few, so that there was no strain upon any one, no matter what
labor he had to perform. The average length of time the individual was
compelled to work for the public was four hours daily, the balance of
the time being at his own disposal, but usually occupied as follows:
four hours study; two hours for physical exercise and recreative games;
three hours to music, painting and other intellectual amusements; three
hours for nourishment and eight hours for sleep. While it was not
compulsory to pass one's time as stated, still it was generally taught
and believed that in so doing the individual developed his greatest
qualities.
"As the State provided everything the individual needed from time of
birth until death, it gave him an opportunity to devote his time to
higher and purer thoughts and purposes than the mere animal desires for
selfish gain, and thus exterminated the cause of deception, fraud, theft
and all other crimes arising therefrom.
"According to our laws the public owned and operated everything, and
produced and distributed all of its own goods. And in doing this it set
aside all superfluous vocations that merely wasted public power and
turned these forces into other channels for the common good. For
instance: as the State owned all of the land and everything that was
produced, and simply gave to the individual that which he was capable of
consuming, there was no need for such things as taxes. And without taxes
there was no public labor wasted by tax collectors, lawyers, treasurers,
auditors, clerks, book-keepers, etc.
"Then again, the individual being able to obtain everything free of
charge, money became valueless, all the evils of the financial system
eliminated, and the preponderance of labor expended in upholding this
unnatural system was used for productive purposes, thus doing away with
such occupations as money making, money lending, banking, broking,
speculating, gambling, etc.
"Without money in existence, and labor being the only purchasing power,
and as every want was satisfied by the State in return for the
individual's services, there was nothing left to steal, and consequently
no necessity for utilizing the labor of an army of human beings as
police, detectives, judges, lawyers, juries, etc.
"And as all the public necessities were produced and distributed by the
most systematic, direct, and economic methods, straight from the store-
houses to the consumers, there was no use for merchants, traders,
jobbers, agents, salesmen, clerks, peddlers, etc.
"As each individual was compelled to give a percentage of his time
toward general production, in order to be a member, in good standing, of
the community, and able to enjoy all the rights that such membership
accorded, there was no chance to avoid honest work and no room for such
parasites as tramps, beggars and society loafers.
"So that in abolishing the stupid system of individual accumulation and
substituting nature's plan of united labor and honest distribution, all
useless vocations and parasitic accessories were extirpated entirely,
thus transferring that tremendous leakage of human power into honest
production, the beneficial results of this change being: shorter work
hours, increased education, refinement, comfort, and security for
everybody, and the extermination of selfishness and crime.
"United labor merely utilized the various forces of nature, to produce
and distribute all the necessities of life for the general welfare of
mankind, by the most intelligent, humane, and unselfish methods."
"But," said I, as Arletta paused for a moment, "was it not a very
difficult matter to make all men give their best efforts to the State
when there was no incentive for personal gain other than that which
everybody else received, and did not those who were capable of
accomplishing more work than others, complain of the benefits given
those with less ability and not so industriously inclined as
themselves?"
"Those same questions were asked and answered over five thousand years
ago," replied Arletta, "and were subsequently proved to be fallacies. If
a man's highest aim in life is to foolishly pile up worldly products for
his own piggish satisfaction, then he is really on no higher plane than
the swine; for the rich accumulate wealth like the hog does filth, for
what, they know not. It requires far more ability to build a strong
moral character and a kindly feeling for others, than it does to
accumulate a mountain of produce. The Sagemen, with their splendid
intellects, would gladly have worked themselves to death for the public
good had not the State restricted the working hours and required each
person to give proper care and attention to himself as well as to the
public.
"Immediately after discarding the old system of individual accumulation,
the Sagemen passed a law that all persons refusing to do their portion
of work for the public should be considered insane, and put into asylums
until such time as they regained their proper senses. No work, no
freedom, the statute said. But even in the beginning there was very
little use for these asylums, and within two generations they became
obsolete for the want of inmates. The vast majority of human beings are
anxious to appear in the best possible light in the eyes of their
contemporaries and are swayed either forward or backward by the
sentiment of others. If public opinion says to the individual: you are
held equally responsible with everybody else for the general welfare and
conditions of your country, and if you show a lack of self-respect by
trying to evade the small portion of work necessary to pay for your
keeping, then you shall be judged mentally and morally unsound, and not
fit to associate with respectable people, he will not only do all that
is expected of him, but will try to out-work everybody else in order to
secure the highest esteem of his fellow beings.
"The system of individual accumulation as now practiced throughout the
entire world is a most brutal plan of existence. It is either directly
or indirectly responsible for all the crime and suffering humanity has
to contend with. It causes men to forget their souls in the desperate
struggle for a mere living. It saps the strength of the individual and
then censures him for being weak. It robs him of the fruits of his labor
and then blames him for being poor. It forces him to steal and then
punishes him for being a thief. It drives him to all sorts of crime, and
then condemns him for being a criminal. It encourages and gives
everything to the strong and discourages by taking everything from the
weak. It originated with the primitive savages, and is the most beastly
and debasing system conceivable. It keeps mankind in the very lowest
stage of intelligence, and in a condition of helplessness on one side
and slavery on the other. It has been saturated with so many idiotic
laws and so-called remedies since its inception that it now resembles a
great network of legalized corruption. Laws for this and laws for that,
and laws to offset other laws are enacted until the power of the human
race is wasted, in either making or breaking the innumerable edicts made
to uphold a weak and rotten system.
"You cannot make right by patching up wrong. A new and effective system
cannot be created by changing the features of an old and putrid one. An
entirely new foundation must be constructed in order to insure solidity
and strength. That was the reason the Sagemen uprooted entirely the
cancerous system of individual accumulation and planted in its place the
scientific and mutually beneficial plan of united labor and equal
distribution as decreed by Natural Law.
"The Apeman being the foremost of living particles on earth at the
present time, and nature being capable, willing and generous enough to
abundantly provide for all of his needs, he should immediately cast off
the yoke of greed and devote his time and best efforts to a nobler work
than the petty accumulation of plunder."