The socialist approach

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

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

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