The causes of our national maladies are essentially economic

IT is these blind and impersonal forces of supply and demand and of the margin that socialism seeks to humanise by controlling, regulating, and directing them for just and equitable social ends. In other words, the aims of socialism are: (i.) to harmonise the activities and interests of the producers and consumers, and establish an absolute and permanent complementariness among them; (ii.) to ensure that each of the agents of production is given equal opportunity to give of the best that it is capable of, and that it is rewarded in accordance with its contribution to the aggregate national product; (iii.) to replace the blind forces of supply and demand with a conscious and scientific referee who, among other things, will see to it that there is premium on abundance rather than on scarcity; and (iv.) to cater to the needs of those members of society who, for reasons of age or infirmity or unemployment, are unable to participate in the acts of production, and are therefore unable to fend for themselves.

The Festus Adedayo they thought they could pull down

In the light of all the foregoing considerations, we can now define SOCIALISM AS THE SCIENCE WHICH STUDIES ECONOMIC FORCES WITH A VIEW TO CONTROLLING, REGULATING, AND DIRECTING THEM FOR THE ATTAINMENT AND CONTINUOUS ENHANCEMENT OF THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING OF ALL THE CITIZENS IN A STATE, WITHOUT EXCEPTION OR DISCRIMINATION.

The following quotation from Engels is, I think apposite here. Says he in SOCIALISM, UTOPIAN AND SCIENTIFlC:

‘The forces operating in society work exactly like the forces operating in nature: blindly, violently, destructively, so long as we do not understand them and fail to take them into account. But when once we recognise them, and understand how they work, their direction and their effects, the gradual subjection of them to our will, and the use of them for the attainment of our aims, depends entirely on ourselves … As long as we obstinately refuse to understand the nature and the character of these forces, so long they remain at work in spite of us, in opposition to us, and so long they master us…

It is not difficult to see from our definition and the quotation from Engels that two approaches to the attainment of socialism are dictated:

(i.) the study of economic forces, or of what Engels terms’ the forces operating in society’; and

(ii.) the control, regulation, and direction of these forces or, as Engels put it, ‘the subjection of these forces to our will and the use of them for the attainment of our aims’.

From what we have said in the early part of this lecture, it is obvious that the supreme aim of socialism is social harmony via social justice or, to use a popular expression, ‘equality of opportunity for all’.

There is a popular misconception that socialism advocates equality among all men and women. Nothing could be further from the truth. Educated and responsible socialists will never subscribe to such arrant nonsense. The science of genetics is now conclusive on the point that, because of hereditary and environmental factors, human beings differ very widely in natural physical and mental endowments. Socialism, therefore, recognises inequality in natural physical and mental endowments as between one man and another. But socialism insists that inequality among men and women should be such as is inevitably and unavoidably imposed by genetic and environmental limitations which cannot at present be overcome. No more, no less. Consequently, socialism is strongly and implacably opposed to such inequality as arises from the provision of opportunity to some and the denial of it to others. In this connection, it is necessary to bear in mind that inequality of opportunity, in matters of employment, education, health, good food, etc., leads automatically to inequality of income which in turn, more often than not, leads to inequality of political and social status. It will, I am sure, be of interest to hear what Engels has to say in this regard in ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY:

‘The most powerful, economically dominant class … becomes also the politically dominant class, and thus acquires new means of holding down and exploiting the oppressed class.’

Hence, under socialism, every citizen, whatever his natal, tribal, ethnic, or social origin or connection, is guaranteed equal

opportunity to develop his natural physical and mental endowments.  So that whatever residual inequality there is would be purely genetic and environmental. Even here, it is well known that through education of the right type and through selective development programme, by the Government, the handicaps of environment can be overcome. Also, through education and under the guidance of experts, adverse and detrimental hereditary traits can be eliminated.

The point, I think, is worth mentioning, at this juncture, that the best and the most fruitful period for providing the citizens with equal opportunity is their formative and most educable years, from the age of 5 to 6 to 21 or thereabout. This is the time when the Government must seek persistently and conscientiously to develop

such natural physical and mental talents as each citizens has. If this is done, the instances, where children, with less natural endowments but with .easy access to education, good health, and gainful  employment, do better economically and hence also politically at socially than others with far greater natural endowments but who, for natal and other causes, have no access at all or have very constricted access to education, good health, and gainful employment, would completely disappear.