DE VRIES* "MUTATION" 93 



There was nothing sudden about this the- 

 ory, quite the contrary. In fact the real diffi- 

 culty was to see how anything managed to 

 change at all. 



As for that part of it which spoke of the 

 survival of the fittest, what could be clearer 

 than that these self-made men were them- 

 selves the fittest. It was, of course equally 

 clear that the degraded working class, lacking 

 the cleverness to rise, was destined to be eli- 

 minated as unfit, by the laws of nature. 



For half a century this argument of slow 

 evolution has done valiant service as an anti- 

 dote for Socialism, and the present ruling class 

 would like to retain it forever. 



But no ruling class ever was or ever can 

 be wholly omnipotent. The capitalists of to- 

 day can no more hinder the process of social 

 evolution, with its resulting march of ideas, 

 than they can intercept gravitation or divert 

 the tides. They are being driven blindly to 

 their fate by social forces which are beyond 

 their command. 



They are in the midst of social powers 

 which mock their puny efforts to administer. 

 Contradictions arise which cannot continue. 

 As soon as a capitalist country is over-stocked 

 with wealth, poverty prepares to stalk abroad. 



But amid all this confusion, something 



