Towards democracy

394 Towards Democracy

A MicuTier THAN Mammon

T last, after centuries, when the tension and, strain of the old society can go no further, and ruin on every side seems impending, Behold! behind and beneath it all, in dim prefigurement, yet clear and not to be mistaken—the Outline and Draft of a new order.

When Machinery has made affluence possible for everybody, and yet the scramble for Wealth is keener than ever, the line between rich and poor as sharp;

When locomotion and intercommunication practically make the whole World one, and yet the Nations stand round armed tooth and claw, and glaring at each other;

When it is recognised that culture and manual labor are not only compatible but necessary in combination with each other, and yet society remains divided into brutalised workers and cultivated nincompoops ;

When men and women everywhere are hungering for community of life, to pass freely, to love and be loved ; and yet they remain frozen up, starched, starved, coffined, each in their own little cells of propriety, respectability, dirty property, and dismal poverty ;

When the cells are alive and in pain, because the body is lifeless ; :

When thousands of pulpits preach religion, and there is not a word of religion in it ;