1984

           Itwaspossible,nodoubt,toimagineasocietyinwhichWEALTH,inthesenseofpersonalpossessionsandluxuries,shouldbeevenlydistributed,whilePOWERremainedinthehandsofasmallprivilegedcaste. Butinpracticesuchasocietycouldnotlongremainstable. Forifleisureandsecuritywereenjoyedbyallalike,thegreatmassofhumanbeingswhoarenormallystupefiedbypovertywouldbecomeliterateandwouldlearntothinkforthemselves; andwhenoncetheyhaddonethis,theywouldsoonerorlaterrealizethattheprivilegedminorityhadnofunction,andtheywouldsweepitaway. Inthelongrun,ahierarchicalsocietywasonlypossibleonabasisofpovertyandignorance. Toreturntotheagriculturalpast,assomethinkersaboutthebeginningofthetwentiethcenturydreamedofdoing,wasnotapracticablesolution. Itconflictedwiththetendencytowardsmechanizationwhichhadbecomequasi-instinctivethroughoutalmostthewholeworld,andmoreover,anycountrywhichremainedindustriallybackwardwashelplessinamilitarysenseandwasboundtobedominated,directlyorindirectly,byitsmoreadvancedrivals. 

           Norwasitasatisfactorysolutiontokeepthemassesinpovertybyrestrictingtheoutputofgoods. Thishappenedtoagreatextentduringthefinalphaseofcapitalism,roughlybetween1920and1940. Theeconomyofmanycountrieswasallowedtostagnate,landwentoutofcultivation,capitalequipmentwasnotaddedto,greatblocksofthepopulationwerepreventedfromworkingandkepthalfalivebyStatecharity. Butthis,too,entailedmilitaryweakness,andsincetheprivationsitinflictedwereobviouslyunnecessary,itmadeoppositioninevitable. Theproblemwashowtokeepthewheelsofindustryturningwithoutincreasingtherealwealthoftheworld. Goodsmustbeproduced,buttheymustnotbedistributed. Andinpracticetheonlywayofachievingthiswasbycontinuouswarfare.