"According to our laws the public owned and operated everything, and produced and distributed all of its own goods. And in doing this it set aside all superfluous vocations that merely wasted public power and turned these forces into other channels for the common good. For instance: as the State owned all of the land and everything that was produced, and simply gave to the individual that which he was capable of consuming, there was no need for such things as taxes. And without taxes there was no public labor wasted by tax collectors, lawyers, treasurers, auditors, clerks, book-keepers, etc.
"Then again, the individual being able to obtain everything free of charge, money became valueless, all the evils of the financial system eliminated, and the preponderance of labor expended in upholding this unnatural system was used for productive purposes, thus doing away with such occupations as money making, money lending, banking, broking, speculating, gambling, etc.
"Without money in existence, and labor being the only purchasing power, and as every want was satisfied by the State in return for the individual's services, there was nothing left to steal, and consequently no necessity for utilizing the labor of an army of human beings as police, detectives, judges, lawyers, juries, etc.
"And as all the public necessities were produced and distributed by the most systematic, direct, and economic methods, straight from the store- houses to the consumers, there was no use for merchants, traders, jobbers, agents, salesmen, clerks, peddlers, etc.
"As each individual was compelled to give a percentage of his time toward general production, in order to be a member, in good standing, of the community, and able to enjoy all the rights that such membership accorded, there was no chance to avoid honest work and no room for such parasites as tramps, beggars and society loafers.
"So that in abolishing the stupid system of individual accumulation and substituting nature's plan of united labor and honest distribution, all useless vocations and parasitic accessories were extirpated entirely, thus transferring that tremendous leakage of human power into honest production, the beneficial results of this change being: shorter work hours, increased education, refinement, comfort, and security for everybody, and the extermination of selfishness and crime.
"United labor merely utilized the various forces of nature, to produce and distribute all the necessities of life for the general welfare of mankind, by the most intelligent, humane, and unselfish methods."
"But," said I, as Arletta paused for a moment, "was it not a very difficult matter to make all men give their best efforts to the State when there was no incentive for personal gain other than that which everybody else received, and did not those who were capable of accomplishing more work than others, complain of the benefits given those with less ability and not so industriously inclined as themselves?"
"Those same questions were asked and answered over five thousand years ago," replied Arletta, "and were subsequently proved to be fallacies. If a man's highest aim in life is to foolishly pile up worldly products for his own piggish satisfaction, then he is really on no higher plane than the swine; for the rich accumulate wealth like the hog does filth, for what, they know not. It requires far more ability to build a strong moral character and a kindly feeling for others, than it does to accumulate a mountain of produce. The Sagemen, with their splendid intellects, would gladly have worked themselves to death for the public good had not the State restricted the working hours and required each person to give proper care and attention to himself as well as to the public.
"Immediately after discarding the old system of individual accumulation, the Sagemen passed a law that all persons refusing to do their portion of work for the public should be considered insane, and put into asylums until such time as they regained their proper senses. No work, no freedom, the statute said. But even in the beginning there was very little use for these asylums, and within two generations they became obsolete for the want of inmates. The vast majority of human beings are anxious to appear in the best possible light in the eyes of their contemporaries and are swayed either forward or backward by the sentiment of others. If public opinion says to the individual: you are held equally responsible with everybody else for the general welfare and conditions of your country, and if you show a lack of self-respect by trying to evade the small portion of work necessary to pay for your keeping, then you shall be judged mentally and morally unsound, and not fit to associate with respectable people, he will not only do all that is expected of him, but will try to out-work everybody else in order to secure the highest esteem of his fellow beings.