The socialist approach

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

In the achievement of the socialist ends which we have adumbrated above, three broad methods of approach assert themselves and demand attention.

(i) Consumption must be regulated by legislative acts. The legislators in any given period should know what is good for the masses of the people whose accredited representatives they are. But they must be judiciously and wisely guided. Though man’s WANTS are infinite and incapable of regulation, yet his NEEDS are limited, ascertainable, and amenable to statutory regulation.

For instance, he needs food, clothmg, shelter, and avertues of knowledge, in such quality and quantity as will enable him to enjoy sound health in body and mind, and human dignity. He, however, wants alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, pornographic books and such-like poisonous materials; he wants prestigious house, furniture, and other forms of conspicuous and fashionable consumption; he wants all these things and desires them very badly to satisfy his whims, caprices, vanity, and aberrations; but God knows that he does not need them. Indeed, in order to live a full and happy life, he must eschew injurious consumption at all times, and avoid conspicuous, fashionable, and prestigious articles until the majority of the people among whom he lives can afford them.

At every stage in its development, there is a minimum standard of living which the State must guarantee to everyone of its citizens. There should also be a maximum standard which no one is allowed to exceed. The gap between permissible minimum and maximum must be so strictly regulated as to ensure the least possible friction and disaffection among the entire populace. We admit that human nature cannot be attuned to monotony. Indeed, it may be said with a good deal of justification that variety is the spice of life. But we would like to emphasise it as:

(i) a capricious and insensate craving for senseless variety does lead to enormous and unnecessary waste of resources; to disruption of productive programmes; and to eventual social disaster. It is necessary also to emphasise, under this heading, that just as the comforts and luxuries of one era may become the necessaries and comforts of the succeeding epoch, so what is a necessary to one class of citizens may be a iuxury to another. A car, for instance, is necessary to a medical practitioner who has to attend to patients in different parts of a city or town; whilst it is decidedly a luxury to the dispenser who works in his clinic.

(ii) Restitution, restoration and prohibition should be enjoined by legislative acts on all those who already own the means of production or are about to own them. In other words, all the means of production should be vested in the State, In the case of those who already own the means of production, they should be made to surrender them in retum for a/air compensation which phrase will be clearly defined in the relevant Acts by the legislature. In the case of new aspirants, all channels of acquisition of private property and the means of production must be blocked. In so far, however, as any means of production remains in private control, the State should set a statutory maximum limit to the income to which anyone of those in control shall be legally entitled. The income ceiling will vary from occupation to occupation, and must not  exceed, in real terms, the remuneration paid to anyone directly employed by the State in a comparable occupation.

(iii) From time to time, swift and positive steps should be taken by the State to forbid and stamp out any venture or undertaking which is motivated by greed, and is capable of generating hatred, bitterness, and undue and widespread dissatisfaction. There are a number of formidable objections which, we know, will be urged most vigorously against our statement of social objectives, and of the methods of approach. Some of these are traditional objections which have always been raised against socialism as such; and others are objections which will be advanced against us by socialists of the Marxist-Leninist School. We will state and dispose of these objections briefly, but as fairly as we can. Only seven of such objections appear to us to be worth examining.

ONE: It has been said that there can be no personal freedom in a socialist State. For one thing, Marx and Engels, the great progenitors of modem socialism, have ruled this out; and for another, there can be little, if any, personal freedom anyway under a system which regulates consumption, destroys individual freedom of enterprise and private property, and vests the means of production in the State. We have already, we believe, clearly distinguished our brand of socialism from the Marxian brand. But ex abundanti cautela, we would like to make a few additional remarks. We do not at all subscribe to the dictatorship of the proletariat, nor do we think that it is necessary for the latter to use the State as an instrument of arbitrary and partisan coercion against the bourgeoisie. Before the attainment of power by the proletariat, violent conflicts between it and the bourgeoisie have almost invariably arisen simply because, wherever they were well organized and entrenched the bourgeoisie (who were always in the minority) had never been known to surrender power to the proletariat (who were always in the majority) in anything like a free and fair election. The bourgeoisie were always determined to retain control of the paraphernalia of State for their own exclusive benefits by hook or by crook. There are, however, only two known modes of effecting a change or transfer of power; by peaceful means or by force.

A greedy, corrupt, and evil administration is bound to wither, sooner or later, in the face of obsessive desire and mounting clamour on the part of the masses of the people for a welfare regime which will benefit all equally. In the course of time there will be a clash of desires. and wills between the exploiters and the exploited. This clash of desires and wills will stir the universal mind into action, and a situation will then arise which will bring about the termination of or radical change in the greedy, corrupt, and evil regime. Contemporary experiences have shown however that such a termination need not be by violence involving bloodshed.

In any case once in office it is unnecessary for the proletariat to maintain themselves in power by suppressing the bourgeoisie at all let alone to the point of extermination. We appreciate the fact that the displaced bourgeoisie will strive to regain power by all means, especially by foul means. But we are of the considered opinion that, if the proletariat who are now in power are truly representative of the masses, and if the objectives being pursued by them are truly socialist and, therefore, more in harmony with the immutable law than not, then every effort on the part of the displaced capitalists to recapture power by foul means is doomed to fail and sure to rebound catastrophically on them,

and in a manner which no human being can conceive. It is lack of understanding of the universal mind, therefore, and of the never- failing efficacy of its workings when put into motion by constructive thinking that makes people fear evil-doers and devise elaborate plans for their destruction.

The Greeks of old did say that anything pushed too far tends to produce its opposite. We agree, subject to this qualification. Any evil act or measure of whatever kind which is perpetrated or seriously contemplated, is bound to produce its opposite to the same extent as the force and earnestness with which it is perpetrated or contemplated. But if the act or measure is good and beneficial both to the author and others whom it affects, then, instead of producing

its opposite, it will attract circumstances and conditions which will help its acceleration and proliferation. In evoking the aid of the universal mind, therefore, all that is important is for the persons concemed to fix their objectives, determine their contents and nature, and set about such plans as may from time to time suggest themselves for the accomplishment of the said objectives. The universal mind can be absolutely trusted to play its part: it will, by processes which no human mind can possibly conceive, fructify all good plans, and actualize evil ones for the discomfiture or ruin of their authors. Beside all that we have said, two dangers appear to beset those who live under the auspices of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

In the first place, by vesting their representatives, that is the State, with the power of suppression, partisan coercion, and extermination over the capitalists, they are themselves running the risk, which we now know from experience to be real, of this same power being used against their own numbers. In the second place, suppression; coercion except in accordance with the execution of a lawful judicial order; or extermination in any shape or form, is evil and therefore out of harmony with the immutable law. These evil deeds are bound to bring their kind on those who perpetrate them.

From all that we have said, it should be clear that there is no antithesis whatsoever between our own brand of socialism and personal freedom. But we have, like other socialists, insisted on the regulation of consumption, the abolition offreedom of individual enterprise and private property, and the State control of the means of production, and still maintain that personal freedom can in no way be imperilled by these measures. We have good reasons for our stand-point. In a family, the paterfamilias does not allow every member to consume just what he likes. He sees to it, because this is a duty which Nature herself lays on him, that each member consumes only such things as will redound to his health both in body and in mind. He strictly forbids him to consume anything that is poisonous

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…