y Commodity B=X Commodity A.
Now, a discussion whether there is between these two equations a
difference which it is Socially necessary to take account of, is a thing
to be put into books where it can be skipped, and not imposed in cold
blood even on intellectual enemies. Personally I do not believe there
is, for I do not think that Social phenomena can be dealt with by the
rigorous methods of mathematics. One can never be sure that the
unknown quantities are all accounted for. But whether this or similar
propositions are essential to the discussion of the theory of surplus
value or not, I do not describe them because they are of no particular
importance.
Socialism is not based upon the Marxian theory of value, but the Marxian
theory of value was evolved in an endeavor to fix a scientific basis for
a popular movement already fully under way. Socialism is not based
on reason, but emotion; not on reflection, but desire; it is not
scientific, but popular. If every Socialist on earth should concede that
the Marxian theory of surplus value had been knocked into smithereens,
it would have no more effect on the progress of Socialism than the
gentle zephyr of a June day on the hide of a rhinoceros. Socialism must
be attacked in the derived propositions about which popular discussion
centers, and the assault must be, not to prove that the doctrines are
scientifically unsound, but that they tend to the impoverishment and
debasement of the masses. These propositions are three, and I lay down
as my thesis--for I abhor defensive warfare--that
Rent is right,
Interest is right,
Profits are right,
and that they are all three ethically and economically justified, and
are in fact essential to the happiness and progress of the race, and
more especially to those who labor with their hands.
Now, first, rent: I confess that I have no patience with any one who
claims, as an inherent right, the exclusive ownership of any part of the
earth. He might as well claim ownership in a section of air. In this I
am very certain that I have the hearty concurrence of every member of
this Club. I am so sure of this, in fact, that I am going to make
that assumption, in which we all agree, the starting point of a little
dialogue, in which, after the manner of Plato, I will put Socrates at
one end of the discussion, and some of his friends, whom we will suppose
to be Phaedo, and Crito, and Simmias, and the rest at the other, and we
will let Socrates and Phaedo carry on the conversation, which might run
as follows:
SOCRATES--We are agreed, then, that no man has any right inherent in
himself to the ownership of land.
PHAEDO--Certainly, we agree to that. Such a thing is absurd, for the
earth is a gift to the human race, and not to particular men.
SOCRATES--I am glad that you think so, and am sure we shall continue to
agree. And if no one man has any right to exclusive ownership of land,
neither have any two men, since it is plain that neither could convey
to himself and another any right which he did not possess, nor could two
men together by any means get lawful title to what neither was entitled
to hold.
PHAEDO--You are doubtless right, Socrates. I do not think any man could
dispute that.
SOCRATES--And if neither one man nor two men can acquire lawful title to
land, neither for the same reason could any number, no matter how great,
acquire lawful title.
PHAEDO--That certainly follows from what we have already agreed to.
SOCRATES--And it makes no difference how small or how great a portion of
land may be. No man and no number of men can acquire lawful ownership of
it.
PHAEDO--That is also so plainly true that it seems hardly worth while
to say it. It certainly makes no difference whether the land be a square
furlong or a continent.
SOCRATES--As you say, Phaedo, that is very evident. The earth belongs to
mankind, and all men are by nature sharers in its benefits.
PHAEDO--I trust that you will understand that I agree with you in that,
and so make an end of it.
SOCRATES--It is perhaps best that we be very sure that we agree as we go
on, so that if we should at any time disagree, we do not need to go far
back to find where our difference began. The earth is the property of
men in common, and each has an undivided share in its possession.
PHAEDO--That is another thing too plain to be disputed.
SOCRATES--And when men hold property in common, each has as much right
to all parts of it as another.
PHAEDO--To be sure. I do not see why we need waste time in mentioning
things so plain and so trivial.
SOCRATES--And when men own property they may do with it as they please,
and property which men own jointly they may visit and remain upon, the
one as much as the other.
PHAEDO--Unquestionably that is so, and we should do better to go to
sleep in the shade somewhere, than to spend time in repeating things so
simple.
SOCRATES--Be patient, Phaedo, and in time we may find somewhat wherein
we do not so perfectly agree. But, whatever property men have the right
to visit and remain upon, they are always free to use in common with
their fellow owners.
PHAEDO--Certainly. Will you never, O Socrates, have done with this?
SOCRATES--And Chinamen, therefore, have full right to come and live in
California.
PHAEDO (and the rest)--We will all see them in hell first.
And I am very certain that every Socialist in California will agree both
with the premises and the conclusion.
But we might try another course of reasoning by which we may perhaps
more easily reach the predetermined conclusion, and we will let the
same parties carry on the dialogue, which is a most delightful way of
reasoning when, as in the case of Plato and myself, the same person
conducts both sides of the discussion. It might run in this way:
PHAEDO--We have come, Socrates, to discuss with you, if you will permit
us, the question of the ownership of land. Crito and Hippias and myself
and others were considering that subject the other day, and we were not
able to agree. Hippocrates, whom you know, has lately returned from
the region of Mount Olympus, and as he was hunting one day on the lower
slopes of the mountain, he came, haply, upon a beautiful vale, fertile
and well watered, wherein was no habitation or sign of man. The soft
breezes blew gently over the rich green plain whereon the red deer
grazed peacefully and turned not at his approach. And when Hippocrates
returned from his hunt he found upon inquiry that no man of the region
knew of that vale or had ever heard thereof. So, as he had marked the
entrance thereto, he returned thither with the intent to remain there
for a space. And remaining there through the warm summer he fenced in
the vale and the deer in it, and built him a house, and remained there
a full year. But certain concerns of his family at that time constrained
Hippocrates to return to Athens, and since he can no more live in his
vale he offered to sell it to Hipparchus for a talent of silver for a
place to keep summer boarders. And Hipparchus was content; but when they
repaired to the Demosion to exchange the price for the deed, Hippocrates
was unable to produce any parchment showing his title to the vale. And
when he was unable to do that, Hipparchus would not pay down his silver,
until he could make further inquiry. The next day, we all, meeting at
the house of Phidias, fell to debating whether Hippocrates owned the
land and could sell it to Hipparchus. And some said one thing and
some another, and in the end we agreed that when some of us were next
together, we would go to the house of Socrates, and if he were content,
we would discuss the matter with him. And today happening to so meet we
have come to you, Socrates, and would be glad to hear whether you think
Hippocrates owns that vale, and may sell it or no.
SOCRATES--You are very welcome, Phaedo, and your friends, and as for the
matter you name, I shall be glad to talk of it with you and see if we
can come to some understanding of it. But before we can proceed in the
discussion, it will be necessary to find some starting point upon which
we can all agree, because until we agree, at the beginning, upon some
one thing pertaining to the matter, as certain and not to be doubted,
discussion is useless, but if we can find such a thing, which none of
us doubt, we may be able to make something of the matter. I propose,
therefore, O Phaedo, that you propound someone statement which all you
who have been discussing the matter believe.
PHAEDO--Of a truth, Socrates, we discussed the matter till the sun went
down, but I do not remember any one thing to which we all agreed except
that there is such a vale at the foot of Mount Olympus, as Hippocrates
describes, and that he lived therein for a year. That we believe because
Hippocrates so told us, and all Athens knows Hippocrates for a truthful
man.
SOCRATES--That is something, for all truth is useful; but it does not
seem to me to be such a truth as will well serve for a foundation
from which we may penetrate, as one might say, the very bowels of the
subject. I pray you to propound some other.
PHAEDO--Truly, Socrates, I cannot, nor can we any of us, for upon
nothing else pertaining to the matter are we able to agree.
SOCRATES--If it please you, then, I will propound a saying and see if
you agree with me.
PHAEDO--We shall be very glad if you will.
SOCRATES--I suggest, then, that we begin by agreeing, if we are able to
do so, that the gods have given the earth to man for his use.
PHAEDO--Surely that seems to be true.
SOCRATES--I am glad that you think favorably of it, but that is not
sufficient if we are to reason upon it, because that upon which we found
our argument must be what we accept as absolute truth.
PHAEDO--I think the earth was made for mankind, but if in our
conversation something should also seem true, and yet contradictory to
that, I know not what I should think.
SOCRATES--Let us, then, think of something else: The earth is at any
rate surely for the use of some beings. The mighty Atlas would never
sustain it upon his broad shoulders if it did nobody good.
PHAEDO--That, at least, is certain, Socrates.
SOCRATES--And it must be for beings who can make use of it and enjoy it.
PHAEDO--That also is true.
SOCRATES--And beings which can use and enjoy the earth must be living
beings.
PHAEDO--Nobody will deny that.
SOCRATES--And there are no living things except the gods, mankind, the
lower animals, and plants.
PHAEDO--I agree to that.
SOCRATES--And it is plain that the gods did not build the earth for
themselves, for they do not live upon it, except on Olympus, and nowhere
does the earth produce ambrosia and nectar, which are the food of the
gods.
PHAEDO--That is true, for the gods live in the heavens and in the nether
world, and not upon the earth.
SOCRATES--And the plants do not use the earth, or enjoy it, although
they live upon it, but they are themselves used and enjoyed by man and
beasts.
PHAEDO--Certainly the earth was not made for the plants.
SOCRATES--And surely as between man and the lower animals, the earth was
intended for man.
PHAEDO--Certainly, that is what we think, but I do not know what the
lion and the horse and the ox might say, for they certainly use the
earth and enjoy it.
SOCRATES--But man is superior to the lower animals, and the superior
cannot be subordinate to the inferior.
PHAEDO--I do not know how we can tell which is superior. The primordial
cell in differentiating out of homogeneity into heterogeneity developed
different qualities in different beings, and of the organs integrated
from the heterogeneous elements each has its use and many are essential
to life. In man the brain is more powerful than in the ox, but in the ox
the stomach is more powerful than the brain, and while both stomach and
brain are necessary, yet is one with a weak brain and strong stomach
doubtless happier than one with a weak stomach and strong brain. Is it
not, then, true that the stomach is nobler than the brain, and if so,
then the pig and the lion and the goat, which have strong stomachs,
nobler than man, whose stomach could in nowise digest carrion, or
alfalfa, or tin cans, and therefore may it not be that the earth was
made for the lower animals, who can use more of its products than man?
SOCRATES--That is a deep thought, O Phaedo, which shows that you are
well up in your Spencer, although shy in your surgery, for it is true
that the stomach has been removed from a man who lived happy ever after,
while neither man nor beast ever lived a minute after his brains were
knocked out; but, is it not true that it is by the function of the brain
that man makes his powers more effective than those of animals stronger
than he, so that he is able to bear rule over all the lower animals and
either exterminate them from the earth or make them to serve him?
PHAEDO--Yes, that is true.
SOCRATES--And we cannot say that the earth was made for beasts which
themselves are made to serve the purpose of man, for as plants are
consumed by beasts, so beasts are consumed by man who acquires for his
own use and enjoyment whatever power is generated by the organs of all
other living things.
PHAEDO--That is true, and I can now see that the earth was not made by
the gods for themselves, or for plants or beasts.
SOCRATES--Therefore, it appears to me that it must have been made for
man.
PHAEDO--That is true, and I now agree that the earth was made for man.
SOCRATES--Then, since we have found a common starting point, we may go
on with our conversation. We have proved that the earth was made for
man, because man, by powers inherent in himself, can overcome all other
living things on the earth and subject them to his uses.
PHAEDO--Yes, we have proved that.
SOCRATES--And the real source of his kingship is power.
PHAEDO--That must be true.
SOCRATES--And force is power applied to some object, so that power and
force may be spoken of as the same thing.
PHAEDO--Certainly.
SOCRATES--And where power lies, there and there only is sovereignty, and
where power ends sovereignty finds its limit. So that, for example, if
the lion could subdue man and the other animals, the earth would be for
the use of the lion.
PHAEDO--That is plain.
SOCRATES--And if a company of men should find an island and go and live
upon it and be strong enough to subdue the wild animals and keep out
other men, that island would be for their use.
PHAEDO--That follows, because sovereignty goes with power exercised in
force.
SOCRATES--And so if one man should find a vacant space and take
possession, it would be his.
PHAEDO--That is true.
SOCRATES--And what belongs to man, man may dispose of as he will.
PHAEDO--All men agree to that.
SOCRATES--And, therefore, since Hippocrates has found a vacant space
on the earth and taken possession thereof, and no man disputes his
possession, it is his and he may sell it.
PHAEDO--That is certainly true, and I do not doubt that Hipparchus will
now pay down his talent of silver and take over the vale in the Olympian
forest.
SOCRATES--And if instead of finding an island the company of men had
found an entire continent it would be theirs if they were strong enough
to keep it.
PHAEDO--Surely that is so, for power is but concentrated ability to
enjoy, and where most power lies, there lies most ability to enjoy,
and therefore the highest possible aggregate of human happiness, in the
attainment of which the will of the gods shall be done.
SOCRATES--And if a company can take part of a continent, but not the
whole, whatever they are able to take is theirs.
PHAEDO--Undoubtedly.
SOCRATES--And what is theirs is not the property of others.
PHAEDO--By no means.
SOCRATES--And if it does not belong to others, others may not lawfully
use it.
PHAEDO--Surely not.
SOCRATES--And they who do own it may prevent others from entering it.
PHAEDO--Surely, for hath not the poet said:
"That they shall take who have the power, And they may keep who can."
SOCRATES--Therefore it is plain that the United States may keep Chinamen
out of America.
PHAEDO--There can be no doubt of it whatever.
SOCRATES--And Chinese may keep Americans out of China.
PHAEDO--That is another story. One must never let his logic get the
better of him.
And so we might play with these great subjects forever, with reasoning
as leaky as a sieve, but good enough to catch the careless or the
untrained.
One of the most interesting lectures which I ever listened to was
one before the Economic League of San Francisco on the "Dialectics of
Socialism." The lecturer was a very acute man, who would not for one
moment be deceived by the sophistry of my Socrates and Phaedo, but, who,
himself, made willing captives of his hearers by similar methods. I was
unable to hear all his address, but when I reluctantly left, it appeared
to me that he was expecting to prove that Socialism must be sound
philosophy because it was contradictory to all human observation,
experience, judgment and the dictates of sound common sense--and his
large audience was plainly enough with him.
The dialectics of the schoolmen or their equivalent are useless in
Social discussion. Social phenomena do not lend themselves to the
rigorous formulas of mathematics and logic, for the human intellect
is unable to discern and grasp all the factors of these problems. My
travesty of Plato was intended to illustrate the difficulty of close
reasoning on such topics.
Neither, on the other hand, are we to blindly follow the impulses of
emotion which lead us to jump at a conclusion, support it with what
reason we can, but reach it in any event. Emotion is the source of
Social power, but power unrestrained and undirected is dangerous. Energy
created by the sight of distress must be controlled by reason or it will
not relieve distress. And by reason I do not mean Social syllogisms,
of whose premises we are always uncertain, but conclusions half
unconsciously formed in the mind as the result of human experience
operating on human feeling--the practical wisdom which we call common
sense. Human conduct, individual and aggregate, must be regulated and
determined by the consensus of the judgment of the wisest made effective
through its gradual acceptance as the judgment of the majority. Private
ownership of land, with its accompanying rent, is justified, not by an
imaginary inherent right in the individual, which has no real existence
and so cannot be conveyed, but because the interests of Society require
the stimulus to effort which private ownership and private ownership
only can give. And here I shall leave this point without the further
illustration and elaboration with which I could torment you longer
than you could keep awake. And with the other two points I will confine
myself to the most condensed forms of statement.
Interest--Socialists and non-Socialists agree that what a man makes is
his. Socialists and I agree that every man is entitled to his just share
of the Social dividend. I believe, and in this I suppose the Socialists
would agree with me, that when a man gets his annual dividend he may use
it, or keep it for future use. If, while he does not use his dividend,
or the product of his labor, he permits others to use it to their
profit, it seems to me that he is entitled to some satisfaction in
compensation for his sacrifice. I believe it to the interest of Society
that he have it. By individual thrift Society accumulates, and it is
wise to encourage thrift.
If I build a mill and, falling sick, cannot use it, it is fair that
he who does use it shall pay me for my sacrifice in building it. If I
forego possible satisfactions of any kind, those whom I permit to enjoy
them should recompense me. And that is interest. Its foundation as a
right rests not only on those natural sentiments of justice with which
the normal man everywhere is endowed and behind which we cannot go, but
on the interest of Society to encourage the creation of savings funds to
be employed for the benefit of Society.
Profits--Private profit is far less a private right than a public
necessity. Its absence would involve a waste which Society could not
endure. With individual operations controlled by fallible men enormous
waste is inevitable. It is essential to Society that this waste be
minimized. No industrial or commercial enterprise can go on without
risk. Profit is the compensation for risk. One of the things which I
believe, but which cannot be proved, is that from the dawn of history
losses to individuals by which Society gained have exceeded profits to
individuals, and the excess of these losses is the Social accumulation,
increased, of course, by residues left after individuals have got what
they could. Whitney died poor, but mankind has the cotton-gin. Bell
died rich, but there is a profit to mankind in the telephone. Socialists
propose to assume risks and absorb profits. I do not believe Society
could afford this. I am profoundly convinced that under the Socialist
program the inevitable waste would be so enormously increased as to
result in disaster approaching a Social cataclysm. This is an old
argument whose validity Socialists scout. Nevertheless I believe it
sound. The number of these whose intellectual and physical strength is
sufficient for the wisest direction of great enterprises is very small.
Some who are interested in our great industrial trusts are said to carry
heavy insurance on the life of Mr. Morgan, lest he die and leave no
successor. If the natural ability is found its possessor will probably
lack the knowledge which Mr. Morgan[4] has accumulated, and in the
light of which he directs his operations. It is essential that great
operations--and the business of the future will be conducted on a great
scale--be directed by great wisdom and power. The possessors of high
qualities we now discover by the trying-out process. They can be
discovered in no other way, and great effort can be secured only by the
hope of great reward. Until human nature changes we can expect nothing
different. Socialism implies popular selection of industrial leadership.
Wherever tried thus far in the world's history there has usually been
abject failure. The mass can choose leaders in emotion but not directors
of industry. The selection of experts by the non-expert can be wise only
by accident. If the selection is not popular, then Socialism is tyranny,
as its enemies charge. If it be popular, or in so far as it is popular,
direction is likely to fall to the great persuaders and not to the great
directors. Never did a "peoples party" yet escape the control of the
unscrupulous. No political movements result in so much political and
Social rascality as so-called popular movements originated by earnest
and honest men. I see no reason to suppose that the Socialistic
direction of industrial affairs in any city would be directed from
any other source than the back rooms of the saloons where political
movements are now shaped. If the Socialistic program were to go into
effect tomorrow morning there would be here tonight neither lecturer
nor audience. The good dinner would remain untasted in the ovens. Every
mortal soul of us would be scooting from one Social magnate to another
to assure that we were on the slate for the soft jobs and that nobody
was crowding us off. I have no faith in human nature except as it is
constantly strengthened and purified by struggle. That struggle is an
irrepressible conflict existing in all nature, and from which man cannot
escape. It is better for mankind that it go on openly and in more or
less accord with known rules of warfare than in the secret conspiring
chambers of the class which in the end controls popular movement. All
serious conflict involves evil, but it is also strengthening to the
race. I wish misery could be banished from the world, but I fear that it
cannot be so banished. I have little confidence in human ability to so
thoroughly comprehend the structure and functions of the Social body
as to correctly foretell the steps in its evolution, or prescribe
constitutional remedies which will banish Social disease. If I were a
Social reformer--and were I with my present knowledge still an ingenuous
youth in the fulness of strength with my life before me I do not know
that I would not be a Social reformer--I would profess myself a Social
agnostic, and prosecute my mission by the methods of the opportunist. I
would endeavor to direct the Social ax to the most obvious and obtrusive
roots of the Social evil, and having removed them and watched the
result, would then determine what to do next. Possibly I would endeavor
to begin with the abolition of wills and collateral inheritance, and so
limiting direct inheritance that no man able to work should escape its
necessity by reason of the labor of his forefathers. I might say that
I recognized the vested rights of the Astors to the soil on Manhattan
Island, but that I recognized no right as vested in beings yet unborn.
I might say that it was sufficient stimulation and reward for the most
eminent Social endeavor to select, within reason, the objects of public
utility to which resulting accumulations should be applied and to
superintend during one's lifetime their application to those purposes.
I might think in this way, and might not, were I an enthusiastic Social
reformer in the heyday of youth, but it appears to me now that at any
rate we shall make most progress toward ultimate universal happiness if
we recognize that out of the increasing strenuousness of our conflict
there is coming constantly increasing comfort and better division
thereof, and if we direct that portion of our energies which we devote
to the service of mankind toward such changes in the direction of
the Social impulse as can be made without impairing the force of the
evolutionary movement, rather than to those which involve the reversal
of the direction of the force with the resulting danger of explosion and
collapse.
[Footnote 4: This was written and originally printed long before the
death of Mr. Morgan, but there is a general feeling that he has left no
successor of his caliber.]
*****
Here ends The Inhumanity of Socialism, being two papers--The Case
Against Socialism and A Critique of Socialism--By Edward F. Adams.
Published by Paul Elder and Company at their Tomoye Press, in the city
of San Francisco, and seen through the press by John Swart, in the month
of June, Nineteen Hundred & Thirteen