It is sometimes said that human nature may change and that, in a new environment, men might work unselfishly for the common welfare without reference to their rate of wages or profits. True enough the motives of men may and do change somewhat; but when we trace the course of human history through twenty centuries we find that the dominant traits of mankind have altered very little in all that time. Human nature itself affords the greatest obstacle to the success of a socialist system.
Socialism and Liberty.—Liberty does not include political freedom alone. It comprises the right of the individual to choose his own career, to make his own bargains, and to become his own employer if he can. An industrial system in which all men are compelled to do as some higher authority dictates would establish the very negation of liberty. Under socialism the complete control of all economic life would be vested in some supreme authority. It matters little how that authority might be chosen; the concentration of such vast powers anywhere, in the hands of any group of men, would make individual liberty a meaningless expression. It may be replied that under our present system of private industry the worker has in fact very little liberty; that many employers are despots and that the worker is subjected to tyranny. That is to a certain extent true. But in so far as there is an undue and needless restriction under present conditions of industry the remedy is to promote the liberty of the worker through the power of his own organizations and by the laws of the land.
Socialism and Democracy.—Socialism and democracy can never be good friends. Democracy is government by the people; in other words it is government by amateurs. It is not government by a professional class. The government of the German Empire before the war was largely in the hands of a professional class, a bureaucracy it was called. Now a democratic government, being managed by the rank and file of the people, is often wasteful and clumsy in its handling of business affairs. We have had some notable examples of this in the United States; for example, the building of airplanes and ships during the war, the operation of the railroads during 1918-1920, and the construction of public buildings. A bureaucratic government, conducted by professional administrators, is much more efficient. |Socialism would professionalize the government.| It is not improbable, therefore, that socialism, by placing upon the public authorities the entire management of every form of industry, including factories and shops as well as railroads and telegraphs, would mean the breakdown of the democratic ideal and the professionalizing of government. The entire industrial system of the country could not be successfully managed by amateurs. To save it from collapse under socialism the government would have to be reorganized on bureaucratic lines.
Can Democracy Solve Its Problems?—But if not socialism, what then? Certain it is that we are facing great problems both at home and abroad today; and these problems must be solved in the interest of human happiness. We cannot close our eyes to them and trust that somehow or other they will work out their own solution. Can democracy and our present system of private industry master them? Well, democracy and our present industrial system have overcome a great many obstacles in the past and it is only by studying the past that we can make any forecast of the future. The land surveyor, when he wants to project a straight line from a given point, walks back some distance so that he may align his pickets in the ground. Let us for a moment pursue the same plan, walk back a dozen decades in American history and take a sight along the great landmarks to the present time. What have democracy and individualism contributed to the well-being and happiness of the American people?
Democracy and American progress.
What America Has Done.—In the past one hundred and twenty years the people of the United States have increased their territories ten-fold, their numbers twenty-fold, and their wealth at least a thousand-fold. They have, with one great exception, composed their internal quarrels peaceably during the whole of this long period. They have developed a government based upon the consent of the governed and have placed the capstone upon it by the grant of universal suffrage. They have kept the various branches of government within their own respective fields and have thus prevented the growth of despotic power anywhere. The people’s direct control over the policy of the government, moreover, has been greatly augmented during the past generation. It is indeed doubtful whether Washington, Hamilton, and Madison, if they were to arise from their graves, would recognize the present government of the United States as their own handiwork, so far has it moved along lines of greater democracy. In the states and the cities this steady drift to more direct popular control has been very marked. One need only mention such things as the initiative, referendum and recall, direct primaries, popular election of senators, the short ballot, the commission and city-manager forms of government, and the extension of suffrage to women—all of which are the product of the last twenty-five years—to indicate how strong has been the tide of popular control.
Most striking of all American achievements, however, has been the wide diffusion of material comforts among the masses of the people. In no other country is there anything approaching it. The standard of living among wage-earners is higher than it is anywhere else, much higher. The average American worker is better housed and better provided with food than is the typical workman in any other country. He and his children get better educational opportunities and a better chance to rise in the world. The way in which immigrants have been flocking to our shores during the past hundred years is a proof that millions of men and women have looked upon America as a land of opportunity. This is not to imply, by any means, that there are no slums in American cities, no poverty, no misery, and no industrial oppression. We have, in truth, far too much of all these things. But it is also the truth that we have relatively less of them than any of the other great industrial lands.
Not all of this progress and prosperity is due, of course, to the political and economic system which America has maintained during the past century. The rich natural resources of the country and the steady industry of its people have been fundamental factors. But no matter how vast their resources or how unremitting their industry a people cannot achieve lasting prosperity and contentment unless they possess a political system and an economic organization which is well suited to their needs.
What Democracy Has Failed to Do.—It would be idle to regard democratic government everywhere as an unqualified success. No scheme of political organization will of itself secure a government which is both efficient and popular. The active efforts of the people are required to achieve this end. Not merely the consent of the governed but the participation of the governed is essential. By reason of popular indifference the institutions of democracy in America have frequently been perverted and abused by men whom the people have placed in power. |Some examples.| What passes for public opinion is at times nothing but propaganda, organized to promote some selfish interest. Democracy has not yet succeeded, moreover, in preventing wars or inducing all nations to deal justly with one another. It has not prevented the rise of opposing classes among the people, or kept groups of individuals from setting themselves in antagonism to each other. Democracy has not reconciled labor and capital; it has not carried its principles very far into our industrial organization. These are serious failings, no doubt; but the friends of democracy can fairly say, “Would any other system have done better?” Democracy is what the people make it, and its faults point to the defects of human nature.
The Citizen’s Duty in a Democracy.—No form of government gives the citizen so much as democracy, and none makes greater demands upon him in return. We are far too much concerned about the rights of men and women; far too little concerned about their obligations to society, to the state, and to their fellow-men. Voting at elections is but a small part of the citizen’s duty. His share in the forming of a sound and enlightened public opinion constitutes an obligation upon him every day in the year. When public opinion takes an unwise course it is because the people make up their minds hastily, without careful thought, and without the guidance which should be provided by the educated men and women of the land. Every individual is a unit in the forming of public sentiment; he can be a helpful factor if he will. Education is the chief corner-stone of democratic government, and it must also be the chief prop to any plan of industrial democracy which hopes to be successful and permanent. Education makes men and women tolerant of other people’s opinions, gives them confidence in mankind, and faith in what mankind can accomplish.