There are so many reasons why I am a Socialist and why everybody should be one, that it would require a book to give them all. A few of them are:
First: Because I believe that those who do the work of the world should receive the full product of their labor, and not be forced, as under the capitalist system, to pay a tribute from their toil for the support of useless idlers.
Second: I believe that "the earth and the fullness thereof" was provided by nature for the benefit of all her children, and not as the "vested interest" of a few greedy monopolists.
Third: As history teaches us through the example of Jesus Christ and all who have rendered the greatest and noblest services to mankind, that, love of greed and personal gain is not an incentive, but a hindrance to noble deeds. I believe that Socialism, by removing this hindrance, will leave men free to follow the higher promptings of their nature, and through the noble incentives it offers, hasten the evolution of the race to a higher plane.
Whitson, John Harvey. (Novelist.)
At present I am a Progressive. But I can see that our industrial system is breaking down. As men rise in the scale of humanity they reach a point, and it is now near, when the exploitation of the weaker by the stronger can no longer be tolerated. I think present conditions clearly show that the government (the people) should own all such natural monopolies as coal, oil, minerals and the like; and that the railways, express companies, and the big machinery of transportation should also be government conducted, like the post-office. When that has been accomplished, further steps in that line can be taken, if the people deem that best. In so far, I am in favor of Socialism, and stand ready to go farther when it seems desirable and the people are ready for it. That is, have risen to it.
Beard, Daniel Carter. (Author and Artist.)
I am in favor of Socialism because I am not afraid of their ever introducing into this country the Socialism of Carl Marx, and I do believe that by their propaganda, their enthusiasm and insistency, they are forcing people to think who otherwise would drift along in the same old rut, and anything that makes the people think stands for progress, although it may not be progress along the lines advocated.