The Road Away from Revolution

Copyright Harris & Ewing, Washington, D. C.
Woodrow Wilson 1923.
THE ROAD AWAY FROM REVOLUTION
By WOODROW WILSON
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS BOSTON
COPYRIGHT 1923 BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, INC.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The following pages are reprinted from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for August 1923
In these doubtful and anxious days, when all the world is at unrest and, look which way you will, the road ahead seems darkened by shadows which portend dangers of many kinds, it is only common prudence that we should look about us and attempt to assess the causes of distress and the most likely means of removing them.
There must be some real ground for the universal unrest and perturbation. It is not to be found in superficial politics or in mere economic blunders. It probably lies deep at the sources of the spiritual life of our time. It leads to revolution; and perhaps if we take the case of the Russian Revolution, the outstanding event of its kind in our age, we may find a good deal of instruction for our judgment of present critical situations and circumstances.
What gave rise to the Russian Revolution? The answer can only be that it was the product of a whole social system. It was not in fact a sudden thing. It had been gathering head for several generations. It was due to the systematic denial to the great body of Russians of the rights and privileges which all normal men desire and must have if they are to be contented and within reach of happiness. The lives of the great mass of the Russian people contained no opportunities, but were hemmed in by barriers against which they were constantly flinging their spirits, only to fall back bruised and dispirited. Only the powerful were suffered to secure their rights or even to gain access to the means of material success.
It is to be noted as a leading fact of our time that it was against “capitalism” that the Russian leaders directed their attack. It was capitalism that made them see red; and it is against capitalism under one name or another that the discontented classes everywhere draw their indictment.