CHAPTER V 



THE OUTLOOK FOR SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 



COMPARED with the remarkable material 

 achievements of modern times, the social 

 conditions of mankind are a cause for pro- 

 found pessimism. Though weahh and the pos- 

 sibility of producing wealth have marvelously 

 increased, yet misery and the fear of poverty 

 abound, and greed, fraud, and brute force are 

 still unchained. There is a widespread cult of 

 optimism, it is true, which bids us always look 

 on the bright side, and asserts that prosperity 

 will stay with us permanently so long as we 

 think prosperity. But second thought suffices 

 to show that the inspiration of this commercial- 

 ized optimism is the greed of speculators who 

 wish to still further inflate exploitive property 

 values. It is also evident that prosperity re- 

 quires appropriate social organization, just as 

 the utilization of steam and electricity requires 

 pistons, rods, and wire in suitable adjustment. 

 There is no more reason to think that ideals of 

 social well-being could be made to work by 



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