[1201] New Age, November 1907, p. 23.
[1202] Clerk, January 1908.
CHAPTER XXXVI[ToC]
IS SOCIALISM POSSIBLE?—A GLANCE INTO THE SOCIALIST STATE OF THE FUTURE
The realisation of Socialism, the creation of a Socialistic commonwealth in which private property does not exist, seems impossible. Socialists entirely leave out of their calculations two elementary factors:
Nature, and Human Nature
A State devoid of private property is an unthinkable proposition. Private property is not a fortuitous creation, but a natural growth. It is founded not merely upon law, but upon immemorial custom which owes its rise to a fundamental human instinct, an instinct which has been a characteristic of the human race in all countries, and which is as old as humanity itself. The instinct of acquisition, of accumulation, and of property is common to all men from Central Africa to the poles. It is equally strongly developed in the most civilised nations and among savages.