The Russian lesson.
The great lesson of communism in Russia is that no system of economic organization can long survive unless it succeeds in producing enough to feed, clothe, and shelter the people. When the incentive of private gain is taken away, some equally strong incentive to production must be put in its place; otherwise production will decline and there will not be enough to go around. That is what happened in Russia. Neither compulsion nor appeals to the loyalty of the worker availed to keep production up. Fewer goods were produced and there was less to distribute. Equality of distribution avails nothing when there is too little to be distributed.
The International Aims of the Communists.—Communism is not merely national in its aim; it is international. Its motto is: “Workers of the World, Unite!” Its goal is the violent overturning of the existing political and economic organization in all countries so that soviet governments may be established and all private industry abolished. |Program of the Third International.| This is the program of the Third International, a body made up of communist delegates from all over the world. In order to promote this program the Russian authorities have endeavored to carry on a propaganda in all other countries, sending out literature and agents wherever possible. The communists realize, however, that the prospects for such a revolution are not good in countries like the United States, Great Britain, and France so long as the trade union movement makes progress and gains advantages for organized labor. Hence they aim to secure the destruction of unions, to promote “outlaw” strikes, and to encourage every form of industrial discontent.
Socialism and communism are widely different.
Moderate Socialism and Communism Distinguished.—Communism, as it has been exemplified in Russia during the past few years, should be distinguished from socialism as the latter term is commonly understood, although extreme forms of socialism may go substantially as far. Socialists do not propose that all except the workers shall be excluded from a share in government. They do not propose to wipe out the political rights of the individual, or to destroy trade unionism, or to provide for labor conscription. Orthodox socialism does not aim at a “dictatorship” of any kind.
Socialism defined.
State Socialism.—The program of the moderate socialists is commonly known as state socialism. Briefly stated, it proposes that all the land, the mines, the forests, the factories, the railroads, and every other instrumentality of production or distribution should be managed in the interests of the whole people. Under the system of individualism, according to the socialist argument, these things are now managed primarily in the interest of private owners. The worker creates values in far greater proportion than the wages he receives. This surplus value goes to the employer in the form of profits. The socialist would abolish profits. The entire net earnings would go to the worker. The basis of government would not, however, be revolutionized. With some changes to make democracy more effective (for example, the wider use of the initiative and referendum), state socialism would leave government about as it is. The workers, being in the majority, would control government through their numerical superiority at the polls; they would not deny the suffrage to non-socialists. State socialism proposes the doing of all this through the ballot-box, not by violence or armed revolution.
The Case for Socialism.—Many books have been written in advocacy of state socialism and many arguments advanced in its behalf. The case for socialism rests largely upon certain propositions which may be briefly stated as follows: |The present industrial injustice.| Wealth is largely the product of labor, yet labor does not get its rightful share in the product. Capital and management, on the other hand, get more than their rightful share. Hence the rich are growing richer, and the poor are growing poorer. The control of industry, and with it the well-being of many million workers, is passing steadily into the hands of a very few men. Inequalities of wealth lead to discontent; the present organization of industry results in unemployment; and men are engaged in a perpetual class war with one another. Great wastes, moreover, result from the system of competition. Several milkmen, for instance, go up and down the same street, each serving a few families. Think of what the postage rates would be if we had a similar state of affairs under free competition in furnishing postal service! Socialism, it is claimed, would unify production and distribution, thus preventing waste.
What socialism proposes as a remedy.
Now the remedy for this is to abolish private capitalism, to have the government take over the industries, divide the earnings fairly, giving every worker his rightful share, thus securing a more nearly equal distribution of wealth and happiness. By this means, also, poverty and unemployment would be abolished. If all the products of labor were given to the worker (rent, interest, and profits being abolished), there would be enough to give everybody a reasonable day’s work and a comfortable living. There would be steady employment for all. The great majority of the people are workers. Their welfare should be the first care of organized society; but their welfare can never be secured so long as practically complete power over the conditions under which the workers labor and live is exercised by the private owners of industry. Socialists also claim that a moral gain would result, inasmuch as the present class conflict would give way to a recognition of human brotherhood. Co-operation, not conflict, would be the watchword of industrial society.