Free Development of Individuality.
1.--Freedom from Care.
Man should be given an opportunity for perfect development. That
is the purpose of human association. So he must not remain tied
down to the spot where he has been placed by the chance of birth.
One should become acquainted with the world and people not only
through books and newspapers, but also by personal observation and
practical experience. So future society must enable all to do what
many are able to do even in present-day society, though at present
the force of want usually forms the motive. ~The desire for change
in all human relations is deeply rooted in human nature.~ This is
due to the impulse of seeking perfection that is innate in every
living being. The plant that is placed in a dark room extends and
stretches, as if conscious of the ray of light that penetrates some
crevice. It is the same with man. An instinct, that is innate in
man, must find rational satisfaction. The desire for change will
not be opposed by the conditions prevailing in the new society; the
satisfaction of this desire will, on the contrary, become possible
to all. The highly developed system of communication will make it
easy, and the international relations will demand it. In the future
far more persons will travel through the world, for the most varied
purposes, than heretofore.
Society will require an ample supply of all the necessities of life
to meet all demands. Society will therefore regulate its hours of
work according to the needs. It will lengthen or shorten them, as
the demands or the season of the year make this appear desirable.
During one season it will devote more time to agriculture, and
during another it will devote more time to industry and to artistic
crafts. It will direct the labor forces as the needs may let it
appear desirable. By combining various labor forces with the most
perfect technical appliances, it will be able to carry out large
undertakings playfully, that seem practically impossible to-day.
As society provides for the young, so also will it provide for the
old, the sick and invalid. If any one has, by some misfortune,
become incapacitated for work, society will provide for him. This
will not be an act of charity, but a simple performance of duty.
The assistance will not be a morsel graciously given, but support
and care provided with every possible consideration, bestowed as
a matter of course upon him who performed his duty toward society
as long as he was able to do so. The evening of life will be made
beautiful by all that society has to offer. For every one will
hope himself to receive some day what he bestows upon other aged
persons. No old person will be harassed by the thought that others
are awaiting their death to inherit their possessions. They are also
freed from the terror of being cast aside like a squeezed lemon when
they have become old and helpless. They must neither depend on the
kindness and support of their children, nor on public charity.[264]
How unfortunate is the position of most parents who in old age must
depend upon the support of their children, is a well-known fact.
And how demoralizing to children and to relatives is the hope of
inheriting! What degrading passions are aroused and how many crimes
are caused thereby--murder, suppression, legacy-hunting, perjury
and blackmailing!
The moral and physical condition of society, the nature of its
work, homes, food, dress, its social life, all will tend to prevent
accidents, sickness and debility. Dying a natural death, the normal
decline of the vigor of life, will become the rule more and more. The
conviction that heaven is upon earth and that death means the end,
will cause people to lead a rational life. He who enjoys longest,
enjoys most. The clergy themselves, who prepare people for “the
hereafter,” know how to value a long life. Their care-free existence
enables them to attain the highest average age.
[264] “The person who has worked hard and honestly until old age,
should not depend upon the benevolence of his children or that of
bourgeois society. An independent, easy and care-free old age is the
natural reward for continuous exertions during the days of health
and strength.” v. Thuenen--The Isolated State. But how are the aged
treated in bourgeois society? Millions look forward with dread to
the time when they will be cast out into the street because they
have grown old; and our industrial system makes people age before
their time. The much boasted old age and invalid pension in the
German Empire is only a very scanty substitute; even its most ardent
supporters admit that. The assistance rendered is still much more
insufficient than the pensions allowed by the municipalities to the
majority of their pensioned officials.
2.--Changes in the Methods of Nutrition.
Food and drink are prime necessities of life. People who believe in
the so-called “natural manner of living” frequently ask why Socialists
remain indifferent to vegetarianism. Everyone lives as best he may.
Vegetarianism, that is, the doctrine of an exclusive vegetable diet,
found its chief supporters among the persons who are so comfortably
situated that they are able to choose between a vegetable and an
animal diet. But the great majority of persons have no choice. They
must live according to their means, and the scantiness of their
means compels them to live on a vegetable diet almost exclusively
and often on one of the poorest quality. For the German laboring
population in Silesia, Saxony, Thuringia, etc., the potato is the
principal article of food; even bread comes only second. Meat only
rarely appears on their tables, and then it is meat of the poorest
quality. The greater part of the rural population, although they
raise cattle, also rarely eat meat; for they must sell the cattle,
and, with the money obtained, must satisfy other needs. To these
numerous people who are obliged to live as vegetarians, a solid
beefsteak or a good leg of mutton would mean a decided improvement
in their nourishment.[265] If vegetarianism opposes the ~overeating~
of an animal diet, it is right. If it combats the partaking of meat
as harmful and detrimental, mainly for sentimental reasons, it is
wrong; when it is claimed, for instance, that natural feelings forbid
to kill an animal and to partake of a “corpse.” The desire to live
in peace compels us to wage war upon and destroy a great many living
creatures, such as vermin, and, in order not to be devoured ourselves,
we must kill and exterminate wild beasts. If we could allow “the
good friends of man,” the domestic animals, to live undisturbed,
these “good friends” would multiply to such a degree that they would
“eat” us by robbing us of nourishment. The assertion that vegetable
diet creates a gentle disposition is false, too. Even in the gentle,
vegetarian Hindoos the “beast” was aroused, when the severity of the
English drove them to rebellion. The nutritive value of an article
of food cannot be estimated only by the amount of albumen that it
contains. It must be taken into consideration how large a quantity
of the albumen consumed remains undigested. Considered from this
view-point, we find, for instance, meat and rice, or potatoes, as
2.5 to 20 or 22. In other words, of 100 grammes of albumen consumed
with meat, 2.5 grammes will pass out of the system undigested. Of
100 grammes consumed with rice or potatoes, respectively, 20 and
22 grammes will pass out. The famous Russian physiologist, Pawlow,
and his scholars have shown that, with the digestion of bread, there
is much more ferment than with the digestion of meat. Pawlow has
furthermore shown that the gastric juices produced by the pancreas
glands are of two kinds. They are produced through stimulation of
the mucous membrane by the food itself, and are also produced as
“appetite juices” by stimulation of the senses. The quantity of
our appetite juice depends upon our psychic condition for the time
being; for instance, on hunger, grief, annoyance, joy, etc., and it
also depends upon the nature of the food. But the importance of the
appetite juice differs with different articles of food. Some foods,
as, for instance, bread, boiled albumen, as contained in eggs, or
pure starch, cannot be digested at all, unless the digestion is
introduced by the appetite juice, as has been directly proved by
experiments. They can only be digested when they are eaten with
an appetite, or together with other food. But meat, as Pawlow has
shown, can be partly digested without appetite juice, although, with
the aid of appetite juice, meat is digested much more rapidly (five
times as fast). “~We must therefore take factors into consideration
that depend upon the psychology of man. Here a connection has been
established between facts of the physiology of nutrition and social
conditions. The modern residents of large cities, especially the
masses of the working class, live under social conditions that are
bound to destroy their normal appetite. Work in the squalid factory,
the constant worry over their daily bread, absence of mental repose
and pleasant impressions, complete physical exhaustion, all these
are factors that are destructive of appetite.~ In this psychological
condition we are unable to furnish the appetite juice required for
the digestion of vegetable food. But in meat we possess an article of
food that--if we may thus express it--provides for its own digestion.
A considerable quantity of meat can be digested without appetite;
it also acts as a stimulant and a creator of appetite. So meat aids
the digestion of vegetables consumed at the same time, and thereby
insures a better assimilation of the consumed matter. This appears
to be the great advantage of an animal diet to modern man.”[266]
Sonderegger hits the nail on the head when he says: “There is no
order of rank among articles of food, but there is an immutable law
regarding the combination of their nutritive qualities.” It is true
that no one can live on an animal diet exclusively, while one can
live on a vegetable diet, provided that the diet can be properly
selected. On the other hand, no one would care to content himself
with one specific kind of vegetable food, no matter how nutritive it
might be. Thus, beans, peas, lentils, in one word, the leguminosæ,
are the most nutritive of all articles of food. But to live on them
exclusively--which is said to be possible--would be a torture. Karl
Marx mentions, in his first volume of “Capital,” that the mine-owners
in Chili compel their workingmen to eat beans all the year round,
because this nourishment gives them an unusual amount of strength
and enables them to carry loads as no other nourishment will. The
workingmen refuse the beans, notwithstanding their nutritive value,
but are compelled to content themselves with this diet. Under no
circumstances does the happiness and welfare of man depend upon a
definite kind of food, as the fanatics among vegetarians claim.
Climate, social conditions, custom and personal taste are the
determining factors.[267]
In the measure in which civilization advances, exclusive meat diet,
as is met with among hunting and pastoral tribes, is partly replaced
by vegetable diet. The variety of cultivated plants is a proof of
higher civilization. On a given area, moreover, much more nourishment
can be obtained by the cultivation of plants than by the breeding
of cattle. This development gradually causes the vegetable diet to
predominate. The supply of meat from distant countries, especially
South America and Australia, will be exhausted in a few decades.
On the other hand, animals are raised not only for their flesh,
but also for wool, hair, bristles, hides, milk, eggs, etc. Many
industries and a number of human needs depend upon it. Much offal
in industry and housekeeping could not be more usefully employed
than by cattle raising. In the future the ocean, too, will have to
yield to man its wealth of animal food in a larger measure. Then
it will not occur that loads of fish will be used as manure, owing
to the high cost of transportation, or canning, that prevent their
sale, as is frequently the case at present. It is quite probable
that the abolition of the extremes between city and country, when
work in closed shops will be combined with work in the open fields,
will again lead to a preponderance of the vegetable diet. Of course
the absence of stimulants in a vegetable diet can be equalized by a
proper and rational preparation of the food with the aid of spice.
But that future society should live on vegetables exclusively is
neither probable nor necessary.
[265] That this is the fact has been proven by experiments in
nutrition, recently reported by two Italian scientists. The metabolic
assimilation of a population that has long since lived on a vegetable
diet exclusively, was examined. Such an agricultural population,
living in wretched economic conditions, is met with in southern
Italy in the Abruzzi. Their nourishment consists of corn, vegetables
and olive oil. They do not partake of milk, cheese or eggs. Meat
is brought to their tables only three or four times a year. By way
of experiment meat was added to their diet. During 15 days every
person was given 100 grammes of meat and during the following 15 days
200 grammes. It was found that the process of assimilation became
much more favorable. The formerly great loss of nutritious matter
was considerably diminished. Not only was the newly added animal
albumen perfectly assimilated, but also the vegetable food that was
consumed together with the meat had been assimilated far better.
This was all the more remarkable because this particular kind of
vegetable diet, which consisted almost exclusively of corn, was hard
to digest, as it contains much cellular tissue. Dr. A. Lipschuetz,
M. D.--“A Reform in our Nutrition?”
[266] A. Lipschuetz.
[267] “The popular nutrition is almost exclusively a vegetable diet
with a slight addition of animal substances. Peasants eat generally
very little meat. No one will deny that one can live in this manner.
As a matter of fact, an exclusive vegetable diet, which can also be
given greater diversity by proper selection, is quite compatible with
good health. But far different needs are becoming manifest in every
continent. The popular simple manner of nutrition is being forsaken
for more tasty foods and combinations, and for this meat is essential,
because it can be employed in many different ways. Everywhere we
perceive this tendency. Like the old, simple customs and national
customs disappear, so also are the old forms of nutrition being set
aside. This transformation can be observed in all countries. Even
in Japan where a peculiar national diet prevailed until recently,
European fare has displaced the old regime. In the Japanese navy
the new diet was introduced because it proved to be more beneficial
to the men in service. The endeavor to establish this concentrated,
rich and tasty fare is a general one.” M. Rubner--The Question of
Public Nutrition.
3.--The Communistic Kitchen.
In the matter of nutrition ~quality~ is far more important than
quantity. Much food is not beneficial if the food is not good.
But quality may be greatly improved by the manner in which food
is prepared. ~The preparation of food should be conducted as
scientifically as any other human activity~, in order to be as
advantageous as possible. ~This requires knowledge and proper
equipment.~ That our women who are chiefly engaged in the preparation
of food do not possess this knowledge and cannot possess it, requires
no further proof. The equipment of the large kitchen has already
attained a degree of perfection that the best equipped domestic kitchen
cannot come up to. The kitchen equipped with electricity for lighting
and heating is the ideal one. No more smoke, heat, or disagreeable
odors! The kitchen resembles a workshop furnished with all kinds of
technical and mechanical appliances that quickly perform the hardest
and most disagreeable tasks. Here we see potato and fruit-paring
machines, apparatus for removing kernels, meat-choppers, mills for
grinding coffee and spice, ice-choppers, corkscrews, bread-cutters,
and a hundred other machines and appliances, all run by electricity,
that enable a comparatively small number of persons, without excessive
labor, to prepare a meal for hundreds of guests. The same is true
of the equipments for house-cleaning and for washing the dishes.
To millions of women the private kitchen is an institution that is
extravagant in its methods, entailing endless drudgery and waste of
time, robbing them of their health and good spirits, and an object
of daily worry, especially when the means are scanty, as is the
case with most families. The abolition of the private kitchen will
come as a liberation to countless women. The private kitchen is as
antiquated an institution as the workshop of the small mechanic. Both
represent a useless and needless waste of time labor and material.
The nutritive value of food is heightened by its easier assimilation;
this is a decisive factor.[268] Only the new society will be able to
provide a rational nutrition for all. Cato sets forth with especial
praise that in ancient Rome, up to the sixteenth century of the city
(200 B. C.), there were men versed in the art of healing, but that
they found little occasion to practice their art. The Romans led such
simple and temperate lives that sickness was rare among them, and
most people died from old age. Only when extravagance and idleness,
in short, a dissolute life, set in, on the one hand, and poverty and
excessive work on the other, matters were completely changed. In the
future, extravagance, idleness and dissoluteness will be impossible,
but misery, want and privation will be impossible likewise. There
is an abundance for all. Heinrich Heine has sung ere now:
Sufficient grain is grown on earth
With bread all beings to provide,
Roses and myrtles, beauty, mirth,
And sugar-peas are there beside.
Yes, sugar-peas for every one!
When want no longer harrows,
Then heaven gladly shall we leave
To angels and to sparrows.[269]
“He who eats little lives well” (that is, long), said the Italian
Cornaro, in the sixteenth century, as quoted by Niemeyer. Finally,
chemistry, too, will be active in the future to produce new and
improved articles of food. To-day this science is frequently abused to
adulterate food; but it is clear that a chemically prepared article
of food that has all the qualities of a natural product, serves the
same purpose. The manner in which food is obtained is a matter of
secondary importance, provided that it answers all requirements.
[268] The power of assimilation of food by each individual is the
standard. Niemeyer: Hygiene.
[269] Heinrich Heine: Germany. A Winter’s Tale.
4.--Transformation of Domestic Life.
As the kitchen, so our entire domestic life will be revolutionized,
and countless tasks that must be performed to-day will become
superfluous. As the central kitchen will do away with the private
kitchen, so central heating and electric lighting plants will do
away with all the trouble connected with stoves and lamps. Warm and
cold water supply will enable all to enjoy daily baths. Central
laundries and drying-rooms will assume the washing and drying of
clothes; central cleaning establishments, the cleaning of carpets
and clothes. In Chicago carpet-cleaning machines were exhibited
that cleaned carpets in an incredibly short time, calling forth the
wonder and admiration of the ladies who visited the exposition. The
electric door opens at a slight pressure of the finger and shuts off
itself. Electric contrivances carry letters and newspapers to every
floor of the houses, and electric elevators save one the trouble of
climbing stairs. The interior furnishing of the houses, the coverings
of walls, floors, furniture, etc., will be so arranged as to make
house-cleaning easy and to avoid the gathering of dust and germs.
Garbage and all kinds of offal will be carried out of the houses by
waste-pipes like the water that has been used. In the United States,
and in some European cities, for instance, in Zurich, Berlin and
its suburbs, London, Vienna, Munich, we already find wonderfully
equipped houses, in which well-to-do families--others could not
meet the expense--reside and enjoy a great many of the advantages
described above.[270]
Here again we have an illustration of how bourgeois society paves
the way for the revolutionizing of domestic life, though only for
its chosen few. But when domestic life will be generally transformed
in the manner we have pointed out, then the domestic servant, this
“slave to all whims of the mistress,” will disappear. But the “lady of
the house” will disappear also. “Without servants, no civilization,”
Mr. v. Treitschke exclaims, horror-stricken, with an amusing pathos.
He can picture society without servants as little as Aristotle could
picture it without slaves. It comes as a surprise to us, though, that
Mr. v. Treitschke regards our servants as the “standard-bearers of
our civilization.” Treitschke, like Eugen Richter, is also worried
over the shining of shoes and the cleaning of clothes, which people
cannot possibly attend to themselves. As a matter of fact, nine-tenths
of the people do polish their own shoes and clean their own clothes
to-day, or women do it for their husbands, or daughters or sons do
it for the family, and we could answer that what has been done so
far by the nine-tenths might as well be done by the remaining tenth,
also. There might be still another way. Why should not, in future,
young persons, regardless of sex, be called upon to perform such
and similar necessary tasks? Work is no disgrace, not even when it
consists of shining shoes. That has been experienced by many an
officer of noble birth who had to make his escape to the United States
on account of debts, and there became a porter or a boot-black. In
one of his pamphlets, Mr. Eugen Richter even has the shoe-polishing
problem cause the downfall of the “Socialist chancellor” and the
disruption of the “Socialist state.” For the “Socialist chancellor”
refuses to polish his own shoes, and that is his great misfortune. Our
opponents have enjoyed this description hugely and have thereby only
proved that their demands on a criticism of Socialism are exceedingly
modest. Mr. Eugen Richter lived to experience the great grief that
a member of his own party, in Nuremberg, invented ~a shoe-polishing
machine~, shortly after the publication of his pamphlet, and that, at
the World’s Fair, at Chicago, an ~electric shoe-polishing machine~
was exhibited that performed the task to perfection. So Richter’s
and Treitschke’s main argument against Socialistic society has been
shattered by an invention made within bourgeois society itself.
The revolutionary transformation that is changing all human relations
completely, especially the position of women, is being consummated
under our very eyes. It is only a question of time when society
will take up this transformation on a large scale, will hasten and
generalize the process, and will thereby enable all to participate
in its countless and multiform advantages.
[270] Among 2521 dwellings erected in Wilmersdorf during 1908, the
following number were equipped with:
Central heating 1001 or 39.71 per cent.
Hot water supply 1373 “ 54.46 “ “
Electric light 1288 “ 51.09 “ “
Baths 2063 “ 81.83 “ “
Elevators 699 “ 27.73 “ “
Vacuum cleaners 304 “ 12.06 “ “
All of them were supplied with gas.
In and near Berlin there also are a number of houses furnished with
a central kitchen. In this common kitchen the food for all the
residents of the house is prepared. Thus bourgeois society contains
all the germs of future transformation. “The garden city of the
future will not only contain the town hall, the central gas, electric
lighting and heating plant, the schools and libraries, but a central
kitchen also. It is not impossible that the underground passages,
containing the electric cables and heating-pipes, will be expanded,
and that through them small automatic wagons will carry the food
directly into the residences upon an order by telephone, similar to
the underground, electric mail-carriers that have been planned, for
transporting the mail from one post-office to another in the large
cities. That is much simpler and can be attained much more easily
than the solution of the problem of aerial navigation that still
seemed utterly utopian a short while ago.” E. Lilienthal--The Reform
of Domestic Work, “Documents of Progress,” 1909.