CiVILIZATION—WARD AND DIETZGEN 181 



natural strata of society. This, it is said, is 

 the natural state and is as it should be. It is 

 moreover affirmed that being natural there is 

 no possibility of altering it. 



"Of course all this falls to the ground on 

 the least analysis. For example, starting 

 from the standpoint of achievement, it would 

 naturally be held that there would be great 

 injustice in robbing those who by their super- 

 ior wisdom had achieved the great results 

 upon which civilization rests and distributing 

 the natural rewards among inferior persons 

 who had achieved nothing. All would assent 

 to this. And yet this is in fact practically what 

 has been done. The whole history of the world 

 shows that those who have achieved have 

 received no reward. The rewards for their 

 achievement have fallen to persons who have 

 achieved nothing. They have simply for the 

 most part profited by some accident of posi- 

 tion in a complex, badly organized society, 

 whereby they have been permitted to claim 

 and appropriate the fruits of the achievements 

 of others. But no one would insist that these 

 fruits should all go to those who had made 

 them possible. The fruits of achievement are 

 incalculable in amount and endure forever. 

 Their authors are few in number and soon 

 pass away. They would be the last to claim 



