This is a short excerpt from an anonymous 1897 article/book entitled "The Revolutionary Tendencies of the Age."
Whatever else may be said of this earth, she is generous in her resources, and responsive to the needs of those who live thereon. She has immeasurable wealth which she yields liberally to man's labor. For untold past centuries she has sent forth fruit for the nourishment of her children, and seems disposed to do so for untold centuries to come. She is certainly an earth of plenty; nay, we have known periods when man, pressing his suit for her favors, received more than he could well dispose of. Nor has the race been negligent in utilizing the materials which nature seemed to hold in reserve for their benefit. In every quarter of the globe is found evidence of the stupendous work accomplished by man — not only to sustain life; not only to secure the useful, but the beautiful. In this task his genius has contrived to lend assistance to his hand; it has helped increase a thousandfold the power of production, and as a result we see an increase of a thousand-fold in the wealth of the world.
But notwithstanding the bounteousness of nature and the never-slacking labor of man; notwithstanding the almost fairy-like assistance which newly-discovered forces and appliances lend to human efforts; notwithstanding the facility with which new riches are produced, and their almost incredible growth during the past century, the majority of the people are still poor, and many of these are in actual want. And this is due, to a very considerable extent, to the gross inequality in the division of wealth. The latter is absorbed by the few, hence it cannot be applied as a means to improve the condition of the many. Whatever increase there is in productive power; whatever increase there is in riches; whatever advantage is drawn from the sciences, the arts — from progress in any form — the minority derive the main benefit thereof.
Labor-saving machinery, which implies that humanity, as a whole, will have to labor less, should, one might think, be welcome to all humanity. As a matter of fact, it is really welcome to very few; and these few, odd as it may appear, are not workers; therefore the laborsaving machine does not reduce their work. But it is welcome to them because it increases their revenue; because they can secure from one machine results it once required many hands to secure.
Multitudes of men look upon many modern inventions as their worst enemies, for they deprive them of the opportunity to labor, and by labor alone can they live. Thus, that which should cause the whole of mankind to rejoice, causes large numbers to despond; that which should be hailed by them as a blessing, is considered as a curse!
So long as laws fail to prohibit the unreasonable and unjust inequality in the division of the goods of this earth, they constitute a cause which must have the inevitable effect of attracting riches toward the rich, and repelling them from the poor. This, under existing economic conditions, is as certain to occur as, under existing physical conditions, certain bodies are attracted to others, while others are repelled. Material progress might advance by leaps and by bounds, and wealth accumulate to a fabulous degree; the sands of our shores might be turned to grains of gold; the mountains might be transformed into solid masses of iridium; but while the laws stand as they now stand, progress and wealth will continue to follow the fixed channel traced for them, and increase the beauty, luxuriance, and delights of the oasis of the favored band, while leaving the arid plains, whereon the multitudes dwell, as desolate and unattractive as formerly. For this is the natural result of prevailing laws, and, these laws enforced, their effect cannot be avoided.
Thus, while men are associated in a social body, and are ruled by laws theoretically for the benefit of all, the fact is that the majority of men, thus associated, are the recipients of the fewest benefits. Society, instead of being based, as is often claimed, on the principle that its working should redound to the advantage of the greatest possible number, and that the interests of a portion thereof should not be paramount to the interests of the whole, is based, practically, on the principle that its working should redound to the advantage of the smallest number, and that the interests of the whole are insignificant as compared with those of a portion thereof. The entire spirit of society — its customs, laws, government — is tainted with this purpose. The proof of this lies in the fact that the majority of the members of the social body are kept in a state of constant activity, so as to sustain the minority in a state of constant leisure; they are kept in a state bordering on misery and want, so as to sustain the few in a state of luxury and abundance.
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