SOCIALISM IN THOUGHT AND ACTION CHAPTER I THE SOCIALIST INDICTMENT: I. ECONOMIC AND HUMAN WASTES The Motive of Socialist Activity. The belief that socialism is destined to constitute the next step in industrial evolution has sustained the modern socialist in his struggle against present conditions. The passionate devotion of millions of men and women to the socialist cause, however, can be accounted for primarily by the profound conviction that socialism would eradicate the burning evils of modern civilization and usher in an era of equality of opportunity and of genuine brotherhood. No group of social thinkers has done more telling work than have the socialists in analyzing and exposing present-day evils. Character of Socialist Indictment. The indictment of the socialists has differed widely from that of numerous other critics. Socialists have never sought to call again into being "the good old days of the past." To the extent that they have consistently followed their philosophy, they have refused to attribute fundamental social ills to the activities of "malefactors of great wealth" or to" the innate wickedness of human nature." SOCIALISM IN THOUGHT AND ACTION CHAPTER I THE SOCIALIST INDICTMENT: I. ECONOMIC AND HUMAN WASTES The Motive of Socialist Activity. The belief that socialism is destined to constitute the next step in industrial evolution has sustained the modern socialist in his struggle against present conditions. The passionate devotion of millions of men and women to the socialist cause, however, can be accounted for primarily by the profound conviction that socialism would eradicate the burning evils of modern civilization and usher in an era of equality of opportunity and of genuine brotherhood. No group of social thinkers has done more telling work than have the socialists in analyzing and exposing present-day evils. Character of Socialist Indictment. The indictment of the socialists has differed widely from that of numerous other critics. Socialists have never sought to call again into being "the good old days of the past." To the extent that they have consistently followed their philosophy, they have refused to attribute fundamental social ills to the activities of "malefactors of great wealth" or to " the innate wickedness of human nature." Diversion of Industry to Luxuries.—A large amount of labor also goes into the production of expensive luxuries and personal services which afford comparatively little additional happiness to their recipients, while diverting the energies of thousands from the production of the necessities of life for the many. Witness, for instance, the vast army of menial servants, lackeys, chauffeurs, caterers, governesses, private tutors, grooms, makers of expensive dresses, furniture and houses, and shopkeepers who cater solely to the peculiar tastes of the rich. The outlay of energy and money for lavish fêtes with their expensive menus, singers and vaudeville performers, their dazzling electrical decorations and expensive cotillion favors; the outlay for luxurious winter homes on Fifth Avenue and at Palm Beach, and for summer homes in Newport and the Adirondacks, for yachts and autos and studs of horses, and for an endless variety of other luxuries, constitutes an enormous social waste in productive effort. with graphite, the selling of Brazilian peaberry for Mocha coffee. (See Ghent, Mass and Class, pp. 180-192, Rauschenbusch, Christianity and the Social Crisis, p. 269.) In more recent years, after the passage of Pure Food laws, Alfred M. McCann of the New York Globe estimated that probably 3,000,000 people were made ill in this country every year with adulterated foods. Gaston G. Netter, President of the International Pure Food Association, stated that 40 per cent. of the food entering New York should be thrown away. "The people here in New York City are being hourly poisoned by food labeled as absolutely pure." (See Harris, Coöperation The Hope of the Consumer, p. 24 et seq.) 7 Cleveland Moffitt's estimate in 1905 (Success Magazine, Feb. 1905), of the yearly expenditure of one of New York's multimillionaires, is of interest: Running expenses of house in Newport and New York with wages and salaries to, say 25 people, with food, wines, etc., but no entertaining Yearly estimate .$ 30,000 Wastes in Manufacturing. Even when labor is expended in producing actual necessities of life, many wastes are in evidence that could be eliminated under a Cooperative system. This is indicated in the manufacturing industries. In 1914, according to the Bureau of Census, there were in the United States 275,791 manufacturing concerns including 59,317 establishments connected with food and kindred products; 42,036 dealing in lumber and its remanufacture; 22,995 in the textile industry and 17, 719 in the iron and steel industry. Each one of these plants demands separate buildings, space, machinery and other equipment and a separate labor force. Each requires the keeping of separate accounts and the dispatch Expenses of entertaining, brilliant balls, dinners, fêtes, flowers, etc.. Steam Yacht Expenses of stable and stud farm with wages of, say, 30 men Yearly estimate .$ 50,000 50,000 40,000 Grounds, greenhouses, gardens with wages of, say, 20 men... Expenses of two other places, say at Palm Beach and in the Adirondacks 20,000 20,000 ..... Clothes for husband and wife, daughters and youngest children 20,000 Pocket money for husband and wife, daughters and younger children .. 50,000 Automobiles 10,000 Traveling expenses with private cars, special suites on steamers, at hotels, etc.... 10,000 Total .$300,000 "Three hundred thousand dollars a year, without counting gifts and charities, doctors and trained nurses, new horses and automobiles, new furniture and jewelry, pet dogs with fur-trimmed coats, talking dolls with lace dresses at one hundred dollars each, and numberless other things, not to omit various follies, possibly gambling with thousands of dollars risked by the ladies at 'bridge' and tens of thousands by the men at faro, roulette and baccarat." |