5.—Social Conditions and Reproductive Ability.The other side of the question is: do people multiply indefinitely, and do they wish to? In order to prove the enormous reproductive ability of man, the Malthusianslike to point to the abnormal cases of some families or peoples. But these examples do not prove anything. There are other cases where, regardless of favorable conditions of existence, complete sterility sets in, or the reproductive ability is very slight. It is surprising how quickly wealthy families often die out. Altho the conditions for an increase of the population are more favorable in the United States than in any other country, and hundreds of thousands of persons in the prime of life emigrate into the United States every year, the population doubles only once in thirty years. The claim that populations double once in twelve or twenty years is not born out by the facts anywhere.As has already been indicated by the quotations from Virchow and Marx, the population multiplies most rapidly where it ispoorest, because, as Virchow correctly says, beside drink, sexual intercourse forms their only enjoyment. When Gregory VII forced celibacy upon the clergy, the clergy of lower rank of the Diocese of Mayence,—as previously mentioned,—complained that they did not have all kinds of enjoyments like the prelates, but that theironlyjoy was woman. Lack of a variety of occupations may also account for it that the marriages of the rural clergy are usually so richly blessed with children. It cannot be disputed, furthermore, that the poorest districts in Germany, the Silesian Eulengebirge, the Lausitz, the Erzgebirge and Fichtelgebirge, the Forest of Thuringia, the Harz,etc.—districts in which the potato constitutes the chief article of food, are at the same time the most densely populated. It is furthermore certain that the sexual impulse is particularly strongly developed with persons afflicted with consumption, and such persons often beget children in a stage of physical decline in which this seems almost impossible.It is a law of nature, as expressed in the utterances of Herbert Spencer and Laing, which we have quoted, to supply in quantity what is lacking in quality. The most highly developed and strongest animals, lion, elephant, camel,etc., our domestic animals, as horse, donkey, cow bring forth but few young, while animals of a lower order multiply in inverse ratio, as all kinds of insects, most fish,etc., and also the smaller mammals, like rabbits, rats,mice,etc.Darwin has shown that certain species of animals, for instance the elephant, lose their fecundity when they are captured and tamed by man. All this proves thataltered conditions of existence and the resulting changed mode of life have a decisive influence on reproductive ability.Strange to say, the Darwinians share the fear of over-population, and our modern Malthusians lean on their authority. The Darwinians seem to be unfortunate as soon as they seek to apply their theories to man, because they employ roughly empirical methods and do not take into consideration that man, altho the most highly developed animal, is distinguished from animals by the fact that he has learned to understand the laws of nature, and may consciously and intelligently apply these laws.The theory of the struggle for existence, the doctrine that the germs of new life exist in a far greater measure than could be maintained by the existing means of subsistence, would be equally applicable to man, if human beings, instead of exerting their brain and employing technics for the conscious utilization of land and water, would graze like cattle or would yield, like monkeys, to an unbridled satisfaction of their sexual desires, thereby reverting to monkeys. Incidentally, be it noted, that beside human beings, monkeys are the only creatures with whom the sexual impulse is not limited to certain periods. This alone furnishes a striking proof of the close relationship between the two. But, altho closely related, they are not identical. They cannot be placed upon the same level or measured by the same standards.It is true that so far, owing to the conditions of property and production, the struggle for existence has prevailed, and still prevails, for individual human beings, and that many were unable to obtain the needful means of subsistence. But this was so, not because the means were wanting, but because social conditions withheld the means from them in the midst of plenty. It is a mistake to assume that because conditions have been such until now, they must always and unalterably remain so. This is the point where Darwinians make a great mistake. They study biology and anthropology, but they fail to study sociology, and thoughtlessly become the followersof bourgeois ideologists. Thus they arrive at false conclusions.The sexual impulse is perennial in man. It is his strongest impulse, and must be satisfied if his health is not to suffer. As a rule this impulse is strongest with healthy, normally developed human beings, just like a hearty appetite and good digestion are proofs of a healthy stomach and are essential to a healthy body. But satisfaction of the sexual impulse and the procreation of children are not one and the same thing. Many are the theories that have been propounded in regard to the fecundity of man. On the whole, we are still groping in the dark concerning these important questions, mainly because, for centuries, a foolish reticence has prevailed that prevented an investigation of the laws of the origin and development of man and a study of human procreation and evolution. Only gradually will our conception change on this subject, and it is highly important that they should. Some claim that higher mental development and strenuous intellectual activity, in fact all increased nervous activity, has a repressing effect on the sexual impulse and diminishes the productive ability. By others this is denied. People point to the fact that the well-to-do classes generally have fewer children, and that this cannot be ascribed to preventive measures only. It is certain that a strenuous mental activity has a repressing influence on the sexual impulse, but it cannot be claimed that such activity is carried on by a majority of our propertied class. Excessive physical exertion also has a repressing effect, but any kind of excessive exertion is harmful and therefore not to be desired.Others assert that the mode of life, especially the nourishment, beside certain physical conditions on the part of the woman, have a decisive influence on procreation and conception. The food, they claim, also influences procreation among animals more than any other factor. Here, indeed, the determining factor may be found. The influence of the nature of food on the organisms of certain animals, has been revealed in a surprising manner among bees. By feeding the larvae on special food, they can produce a queen at will. The bees accordingly are further advanced in their recognition of thedevelopment of sex than man. Probably they have not been preached to for thousands of years that it is “indecent” and “immoral” to concern one’s self with sexual matters.It is also known that plants grown in rich and well manured soil thrive luxuriantly, but do not yield seed. It is hardly to be doubted that, with human beings, also the nature of food influences the composition of the male sperm and the fecundity of the female egg, and so it may be that the reproductive power of a population depends largely upon its food. There are other factors besides, whose nature is but slightly known.In the future one factor will be decisive in regard to the question of population: the higher, freer position of woman. As a rule, intelligent and energetic women are not inclined to regard a number of children as a “Godsend,” and to spend the best years of their lives in a condition of pregnancy, or with babes at their breasts. Even at present, most women have an aversion against a too numerous progeny, and this aversion is likely to increase rather than decrease, regardless of the care that a Socialistic society will bestow upon pregnant women and mothers. This is the main reason why, in our opinion, the increase of population is likely to progress more slowly in Socialistic society than it does in bourgeois society.Our Malthusians assuredly have no cause to rack their brains in regard to the increase of population in the future. Until now, nations have been ruined by a diminution of their numbers, but never yet by an excess. In a society, living according to natural laws, the number of the population will ultimately be regulated without harmful abstinence, or unnatural preventive measures. Karl Marx will be vindicated on this subject also. His conception, that every economic period of development has its special law of population, will prove true under the rule of Socialism.In a book on “The Artificial Limitation of Progeny,” H. Ferdy sets forth the following opinion: “The strong opposition of Socialists to Malthusianism is a piece of roguery. The rapid increase of the population favors pauperization of the masses and fosters discontent. If theover-population could be checked, the spread of Socialism would come to an end, and the Socialist state with all its splendor would be buried forever.” Here we behold Malthusianism as a new weapon for combattingSocialism.[283]Dr.Adolf Wagner is one of those who are in fear of over-population, and, therefore, favor restriction of the freedom of marriage and freedom of settlement, especially in the case of workingmen. He bewails the fact that workingmen marry too young, as compared with the middle classes. He and others holding the same views, overlook that the male members of the middle class do not attain a position until later in life, that enables them to support a family according to their standard of life. But they seek recompense for this renunciation with prostitution. If marriage is made more difficult for the workingmen also, they will be driven upon the same devious path. But, then, do not let us complain of the results, and cry out at the “decline of ethics and morality.” Neither let us grow indignant, then, if men and women,—since the natural impulses reside, in women as in men,—if men and women satisfy their natural impulse in illegitimate relations, and if hosts of illegitimate children populate town and country. But the views of Wagner, and those who agree with him, are also averse to the interests of the bourgeoisie and to the interests of our economic development that requires a large supply of “hands” in order to possess forces that enable competition on the world market. By petty, shortsighted suggestions, born of retrogressive and philistine minds, theevils of the age cannot be cured. At the dawn of the twentieth century there is no class and no power of the state that is strong enough to retard the natural evolution of society. Every attempt is bound to fail. The current of evolution is so strong that it overcomes every obstacle. Not backward, but “forward,” is the word, and he who believes in retarding progress fools himself.In Socialistic society, when mankind will be placed upon a natural basis, and will be truly free, man will consciously guide his own development. In all preceding epochs, man acted in regard to production and distribution, and in regard to the increase of population, without any knowledge of their underlying laws; he, therefore, acted unconsciously. In the new society man will act consciously and methodically, knowing the laws of his own development.Socialism is science applied to all realms of human activity.[283]The immense ignorance of the Socialist-killer, Ferdy, is most clearly seen from the following sentences, perpetrated on page 40 of his book: “The Socialists will go further in their demands than the Neo-Malthusians. They will demand that the minimum wage be so fixed that every workingman can beget the largest possible number of children according to the social supply of food. As soon as Socialism has drawn its ultimate conclusions and private property has been abolished, even the most stupid would soon begin to question: why should I work longer and harder because my neighbor chooses to thrust a dozen new members into society?”It would be well to know the A B C of Socialism before venturing to write about it and such utter nonsense as that!
5.—Social Conditions and Reproductive Ability.The other side of the question is: do people multiply indefinitely, and do they wish to? In order to prove the enormous reproductive ability of man, the Malthusianslike to point to the abnormal cases of some families or peoples. But these examples do not prove anything. There are other cases where, regardless of favorable conditions of existence, complete sterility sets in, or the reproductive ability is very slight. It is surprising how quickly wealthy families often die out. Altho the conditions for an increase of the population are more favorable in the United States than in any other country, and hundreds of thousands of persons in the prime of life emigrate into the United States every year, the population doubles only once in thirty years. The claim that populations double once in twelve or twenty years is not born out by the facts anywhere.As has already been indicated by the quotations from Virchow and Marx, the population multiplies most rapidly where it ispoorest, because, as Virchow correctly says, beside drink, sexual intercourse forms their only enjoyment. When Gregory VII forced celibacy upon the clergy, the clergy of lower rank of the Diocese of Mayence,—as previously mentioned,—complained that they did not have all kinds of enjoyments like the prelates, but that theironlyjoy was woman. Lack of a variety of occupations may also account for it that the marriages of the rural clergy are usually so richly blessed with children. It cannot be disputed, furthermore, that the poorest districts in Germany, the Silesian Eulengebirge, the Lausitz, the Erzgebirge and Fichtelgebirge, the Forest of Thuringia, the Harz,etc.—districts in which the potato constitutes the chief article of food, are at the same time the most densely populated. It is furthermore certain that the sexual impulse is particularly strongly developed with persons afflicted with consumption, and such persons often beget children in a stage of physical decline in which this seems almost impossible.It is a law of nature, as expressed in the utterances of Herbert Spencer and Laing, which we have quoted, to supply in quantity what is lacking in quality. The most highly developed and strongest animals, lion, elephant, camel,etc., our domestic animals, as horse, donkey, cow bring forth but few young, while animals of a lower order multiply in inverse ratio, as all kinds of insects, most fish,etc., and also the smaller mammals, like rabbits, rats,mice,etc.Darwin has shown that certain species of animals, for instance the elephant, lose their fecundity when they are captured and tamed by man. All this proves thataltered conditions of existence and the resulting changed mode of life have a decisive influence on reproductive ability.Strange to say, the Darwinians share the fear of over-population, and our modern Malthusians lean on their authority. The Darwinians seem to be unfortunate as soon as they seek to apply their theories to man, because they employ roughly empirical methods and do not take into consideration that man, altho the most highly developed animal, is distinguished from animals by the fact that he has learned to understand the laws of nature, and may consciously and intelligently apply these laws.The theory of the struggle for existence, the doctrine that the germs of new life exist in a far greater measure than could be maintained by the existing means of subsistence, would be equally applicable to man, if human beings, instead of exerting their brain and employing technics for the conscious utilization of land and water, would graze like cattle or would yield, like monkeys, to an unbridled satisfaction of their sexual desires, thereby reverting to monkeys. Incidentally, be it noted, that beside human beings, monkeys are the only creatures with whom the sexual impulse is not limited to certain periods. This alone furnishes a striking proof of the close relationship between the two. But, altho closely related, they are not identical. They cannot be placed upon the same level or measured by the same standards.It is true that so far, owing to the conditions of property and production, the struggle for existence has prevailed, and still prevails, for individual human beings, and that many were unable to obtain the needful means of subsistence. But this was so, not because the means were wanting, but because social conditions withheld the means from them in the midst of plenty. It is a mistake to assume that because conditions have been such until now, they must always and unalterably remain so. This is the point where Darwinians make a great mistake. They study biology and anthropology, but they fail to study sociology, and thoughtlessly become the followersof bourgeois ideologists. Thus they arrive at false conclusions.The sexual impulse is perennial in man. It is his strongest impulse, and must be satisfied if his health is not to suffer. As a rule this impulse is strongest with healthy, normally developed human beings, just like a hearty appetite and good digestion are proofs of a healthy stomach and are essential to a healthy body. But satisfaction of the sexual impulse and the procreation of children are not one and the same thing. Many are the theories that have been propounded in regard to the fecundity of man. On the whole, we are still groping in the dark concerning these important questions, mainly because, for centuries, a foolish reticence has prevailed that prevented an investigation of the laws of the origin and development of man and a study of human procreation and evolution. Only gradually will our conception change on this subject, and it is highly important that they should. Some claim that higher mental development and strenuous intellectual activity, in fact all increased nervous activity, has a repressing effect on the sexual impulse and diminishes the productive ability. By others this is denied. People point to the fact that the well-to-do classes generally have fewer children, and that this cannot be ascribed to preventive measures only. It is certain that a strenuous mental activity has a repressing influence on the sexual impulse, but it cannot be claimed that such activity is carried on by a majority of our propertied class. Excessive physical exertion also has a repressing effect, but any kind of excessive exertion is harmful and therefore not to be desired.Others assert that the mode of life, especially the nourishment, beside certain physical conditions on the part of the woman, have a decisive influence on procreation and conception. The food, they claim, also influences procreation among animals more than any other factor. Here, indeed, the determining factor may be found. The influence of the nature of food on the organisms of certain animals, has been revealed in a surprising manner among bees. By feeding the larvae on special food, they can produce a queen at will. The bees accordingly are further advanced in their recognition of thedevelopment of sex than man. Probably they have not been preached to for thousands of years that it is “indecent” and “immoral” to concern one’s self with sexual matters.It is also known that plants grown in rich and well manured soil thrive luxuriantly, but do not yield seed. It is hardly to be doubted that, with human beings, also the nature of food influences the composition of the male sperm and the fecundity of the female egg, and so it may be that the reproductive power of a population depends largely upon its food. There are other factors besides, whose nature is but slightly known.In the future one factor will be decisive in regard to the question of population: the higher, freer position of woman. As a rule, intelligent and energetic women are not inclined to regard a number of children as a “Godsend,” and to spend the best years of their lives in a condition of pregnancy, or with babes at their breasts. Even at present, most women have an aversion against a too numerous progeny, and this aversion is likely to increase rather than decrease, regardless of the care that a Socialistic society will bestow upon pregnant women and mothers. This is the main reason why, in our opinion, the increase of population is likely to progress more slowly in Socialistic society than it does in bourgeois society.Our Malthusians assuredly have no cause to rack their brains in regard to the increase of population in the future. Until now, nations have been ruined by a diminution of their numbers, but never yet by an excess. In a society, living according to natural laws, the number of the population will ultimately be regulated without harmful abstinence, or unnatural preventive measures. Karl Marx will be vindicated on this subject also. His conception, that every economic period of development has its special law of population, will prove true under the rule of Socialism.In a book on “The Artificial Limitation of Progeny,” H. Ferdy sets forth the following opinion: “The strong opposition of Socialists to Malthusianism is a piece of roguery. The rapid increase of the population favors pauperization of the masses and fosters discontent. If theover-population could be checked, the spread of Socialism would come to an end, and the Socialist state with all its splendor would be buried forever.” Here we behold Malthusianism as a new weapon for combattingSocialism.[283]Dr.Adolf Wagner is one of those who are in fear of over-population, and, therefore, favor restriction of the freedom of marriage and freedom of settlement, especially in the case of workingmen. He bewails the fact that workingmen marry too young, as compared with the middle classes. He and others holding the same views, overlook that the male members of the middle class do not attain a position until later in life, that enables them to support a family according to their standard of life. But they seek recompense for this renunciation with prostitution. If marriage is made more difficult for the workingmen also, they will be driven upon the same devious path. But, then, do not let us complain of the results, and cry out at the “decline of ethics and morality.” Neither let us grow indignant, then, if men and women,—since the natural impulses reside, in women as in men,—if men and women satisfy their natural impulse in illegitimate relations, and if hosts of illegitimate children populate town and country. But the views of Wagner, and those who agree with him, are also averse to the interests of the bourgeoisie and to the interests of our economic development that requires a large supply of “hands” in order to possess forces that enable competition on the world market. By petty, shortsighted suggestions, born of retrogressive and philistine minds, theevils of the age cannot be cured. At the dawn of the twentieth century there is no class and no power of the state that is strong enough to retard the natural evolution of society. Every attempt is bound to fail. The current of evolution is so strong that it overcomes every obstacle. Not backward, but “forward,” is the word, and he who believes in retarding progress fools himself.In Socialistic society, when mankind will be placed upon a natural basis, and will be truly free, man will consciously guide his own development. In all preceding epochs, man acted in regard to production and distribution, and in regard to the increase of population, without any knowledge of their underlying laws; he, therefore, acted unconsciously. In the new society man will act consciously and methodically, knowing the laws of his own development.Socialism is science applied to all realms of human activity.[283]The immense ignorance of the Socialist-killer, Ferdy, is most clearly seen from the following sentences, perpetrated on page 40 of his book: “The Socialists will go further in their demands than the Neo-Malthusians. They will demand that the minimum wage be so fixed that every workingman can beget the largest possible number of children according to the social supply of food. As soon as Socialism has drawn its ultimate conclusions and private property has been abolished, even the most stupid would soon begin to question: why should I work longer and harder because my neighbor chooses to thrust a dozen new members into society?”It would be well to know the A B C of Socialism before venturing to write about it and such utter nonsense as that!
The other side of the question is: do people multiply indefinitely, and do they wish to? In order to prove the enormous reproductive ability of man, the Malthusianslike to point to the abnormal cases of some families or peoples. But these examples do not prove anything. There are other cases where, regardless of favorable conditions of existence, complete sterility sets in, or the reproductive ability is very slight. It is surprising how quickly wealthy families often die out. Altho the conditions for an increase of the population are more favorable in the United States than in any other country, and hundreds of thousands of persons in the prime of life emigrate into the United States every year, the population doubles only once in thirty years. The claim that populations double once in twelve or twenty years is not born out by the facts anywhere.
As has already been indicated by the quotations from Virchow and Marx, the population multiplies most rapidly where it ispoorest, because, as Virchow correctly says, beside drink, sexual intercourse forms their only enjoyment. When Gregory VII forced celibacy upon the clergy, the clergy of lower rank of the Diocese of Mayence,—as previously mentioned,—complained that they did not have all kinds of enjoyments like the prelates, but that theironlyjoy was woman. Lack of a variety of occupations may also account for it that the marriages of the rural clergy are usually so richly blessed with children. It cannot be disputed, furthermore, that the poorest districts in Germany, the Silesian Eulengebirge, the Lausitz, the Erzgebirge and Fichtelgebirge, the Forest of Thuringia, the Harz,etc.—districts in which the potato constitutes the chief article of food, are at the same time the most densely populated. It is furthermore certain that the sexual impulse is particularly strongly developed with persons afflicted with consumption, and such persons often beget children in a stage of physical decline in which this seems almost impossible.
It is a law of nature, as expressed in the utterances of Herbert Spencer and Laing, which we have quoted, to supply in quantity what is lacking in quality. The most highly developed and strongest animals, lion, elephant, camel,etc., our domestic animals, as horse, donkey, cow bring forth but few young, while animals of a lower order multiply in inverse ratio, as all kinds of insects, most fish,etc., and also the smaller mammals, like rabbits, rats,mice,etc.Darwin has shown that certain species of animals, for instance the elephant, lose their fecundity when they are captured and tamed by man. All this proves thataltered conditions of existence and the resulting changed mode of life have a decisive influence on reproductive ability.
Strange to say, the Darwinians share the fear of over-population, and our modern Malthusians lean on their authority. The Darwinians seem to be unfortunate as soon as they seek to apply their theories to man, because they employ roughly empirical methods and do not take into consideration that man, altho the most highly developed animal, is distinguished from animals by the fact that he has learned to understand the laws of nature, and may consciously and intelligently apply these laws.
The theory of the struggle for existence, the doctrine that the germs of new life exist in a far greater measure than could be maintained by the existing means of subsistence, would be equally applicable to man, if human beings, instead of exerting their brain and employing technics for the conscious utilization of land and water, would graze like cattle or would yield, like monkeys, to an unbridled satisfaction of their sexual desires, thereby reverting to monkeys. Incidentally, be it noted, that beside human beings, monkeys are the only creatures with whom the sexual impulse is not limited to certain periods. This alone furnishes a striking proof of the close relationship between the two. But, altho closely related, they are not identical. They cannot be placed upon the same level or measured by the same standards.
It is true that so far, owing to the conditions of property and production, the struggle for existence has prevailed, and still prevails, for individual human beings, and that many were unable to obtain the needful means of subsistence. But this was so, not because the means were wanting, but because social conditions withheld the means from them in the midst of plenty. It is a mistake to assume that because conditions have been such until now, they must always and unalterably remain so. This is the point where Darwinians make a great mistake. They study biology and anthropology, but they fail to study sociology, and thoughtlessly become the followersof bourgeois ideologists. Thus they arrive at false conclusions.
The sexual impulse is perennial in man. It is his strongest impulse, and must be satisfied if his health is not to suffer. As a rule this impulse is strongest with healthy, normally developed human beings, just like a hearty appetite and good digestion are proofs of a healthy stomach and are essential to a healthy body. But satisfaction of the sexual impulse and the procreation of children are not one and the same thing. Many are the theories that have been propounded in regard to the fecundity of man. On the whole, we are still groping in the dark concerning these important questions, mainly because, for centuries, a foolish reticence has prevailed that prevented an investigation of the laws of the origin and development of man and a study of human procreation and evolution. Only gradually will our conception change on this subject, and it is highly important that they should. Some claim that higher mental development and strenuous intellectual activity, in fact all increased nervous activity, has a repressing effect on the sexual impulse and diminishes the productive ability. By others this is denied. People point to the fact that the well-to-do classes generally have fewer children, and that this cannot be ascribed to preventive measures only. It is certain that a strenuous mental activity has a repressing influence on the sexual impulse, but it cannot be claimed that such activity is carried on by a majority of our propertied class. Excessive physical exertion also has a repressing effect, but any kind of excessive exertion is harmful and therefore not to be desired.
Others assert that the mode of life, especially the nourishment, beside certain physical conditions on the part of the woman, have a decisive influence on procreation and conception. The food, they claim, also influences procreation among animals more than any other factor. Here, indeed, the determining factor may be found. The influence of the nature of food on the organisms of certain animals, has been revealed in a surprising manner among bees. By feeding the larvae on special food, they can produce a queen at will. The bees accordingly are further advanced in their recognition of thedevelopment of sex than man. Probably they have not been preached to for thousands of years that it is “indecent” and “immoral” to concern one’s self with sexual matters.
It is also known that plants grown in rich and well manured soil thrive luxuriantly, but do not yield seed. It is hardly to be doubted that, with human beings, also the nature of food influences the composition of the male sperm and the fecundity of the female egg, and so it may be that the reproductive power of a population depends largely upon its food. There are other factors besides, whose nature is but slightly known.
In the future one factor will be decisive in regard to the question of population: the higher, freer position of woman. As a rule, intelligent and energetic women are not inclined to regard a number of children as a “Godsend,” and to spend the best years of their lives in a condition of pregnancy, or with babes at their breasts. Even at present, most women have an aversion against a too numerous progeny, and this aversion is likely to increase rather than decrease, regardless of the care that a Socialistic society will bestow upon pregnant women and mothers. This is the main reason why, in our opinion, the increase of population is likely to progress more slowly in Socialistic society than it does in bourgeois society.
Our Malthusians assuredly have no cause to rack their brains in regard to the increase of population in the future. Until now, nations have been ruined by a diminution of their numbers, but never yet by an excess. In a society, living according to natural laws, the number of the population will ultimately be regulated without harmful abstinence, or unnatural preventive measures. Karl Marx will be vindicated on this subject also. His conception, that every economic period of development has its special law of population, will prove true under the rule of Socialism.
In a book on “The Artificial Limitation of Progeny,” H. Ferdy sets forth the following opinion: “The strong opposition of Socialists to Malthusianism is a piece of roguery. The rapid increase of the population favors pauperization of the masses and fosters discontent. If theover-population could be checked, the spread of Socialism would come to an end, and the Socialist state with all its splendor would be buried forever.” Here we behold Malthusianism as a new weapon for combattingSocialism.[283]
Dr.Adolf Wagner is one of those who are in fear of over-population, and, therefore, favor restriction of the freedom of marriage and freedom of settlement, especially in the case of workingmen. He bewails the fact that workingmen marry too young, as compared with the middle classes. He and others holding the same views, overlook that the male members of the middle class do not attain a position until later in life, that enables them to support a family according to their standard of life. But they seek recompense for this renunciation with prostitution. If marriage is made more difficult for the workingmen also, they will be driven upon the same devious path. But, then, do not let us complain of the results, and cry out at the “decline of ethics and morality.” Neither let us grow indignant, then, if men and women,—since the natural impulses reside, in women as in men,—if men and women satisfy their natural impulse in illegitimate relations, and if hosts of illegitimate children populate town and country. But the views of Wagner, and those who agree with him, are also averse to the interests of the bourgeoisie and to the interests of our economic development that requires a large supply of “hands” in order to possess forces that enable competition on the world market. By petty, shortsighted suggestions, born of retrogressive and philistine minds, theevils of the age cannot be cured. At the dawn of the twentieth century there is no class and no power of the state that is strong enough to retard the natural evolution of society. Every attempt is bound to fail. The current of evolution is so strong that it overcomes every obstacle. Not backward, but “forward,” is the word, and he who believes in retarding progress fools himself.
In Socialistic society, when mankind will be placed upon a natural basis, and will be truly free, man will consciously guide his own development. In all preceding epochs, man acted in regard to production and distribution, and in regard to the increase of population, without any knowledge of their underlying laws; he, therefore, acted unconsciously. In the new society man will act consciously and methodically, knowing the laws of his own development.
Socialism is science applied to all realms of human activity.
[283]The immense ignorance of the Socialist-killer, Ferdy, is most clearly seen from the following sentences, perpetrated on page 40 of his book: “The Socialists will go further in their demands than the Neo-Malthusians. They will demand that the minimum wage be so fixed that every workingman can beget the largest possible number of children according to the social supply of food. As soon as Socialism has drawn its ultimate conclusions and private property has been abolished, even the most stupid would soon begin to question: why should I work longer and harder because my neighbor chooses to thrust a dozen new members into society?”It would be well to know the A B C of Socialism before venturing to write about it and such utter nonsense as that!
[283]The immense ignorance of the Socialist-killer, Ferdy, is most clearly seen from the following sentences, perpetrated on page 40 of his book: “The Socialists will go further in their demands than the Neo-Malthusians. They will demand that the minimum wage be so fixed that every workingman can beget the largest possible number of children according to the social supply of food. As soon as Socialism has drawn its ultimate conclusions and private property has been abolished, even the most stupid would soon begin to question: why should I work longer and harder because my neighbor chooses to thrust a dozen new members into society?”
It would be well to know the A B C of Socialism before venturing to write about it and such utter nonsense as that!