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008 - The Social Spirit · Labor and Freedom

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  Speaker 1: The Social Spirit by Eugene V. Debs. This LibriVox recording
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  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Appeal to reason. We need
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  Speaker 1: to grow out of the selfish, sordid, brutal spirit of individualism,
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  Speaker 1: which still lurks even in socialists, and is responsible for
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  Speaker 1: the strife and contention which prevail where there should be
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  Speaker 1: concord and goodwill. The social spirit and the social conscience
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  Speaker 1: must be developed and govern our social relations before we
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  Speaker 1: shall have any social revolution. If there are any among
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  Speaker 1: whom the social spirit should find its highest expression, and
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  Speaker 1: who should be bound fast in its comradely embrace and
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  Speaker 1: give to the world the example of its elevating and
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  Speaker 1: humanizing influence, it is the socialists. They, of all others,
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  Speaker 1: have come to realize the hardening and brutalizing effect of
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  Speaker 1: capitalist individualism in the awful struggle for existence, and it
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  Speaker 1: is to them a cause of unceasing rejoicing that they
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  Speaker 1: live at a time in the world's historic development when
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  Speaker 1: the very conditions which resulted from this age long struggle
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  Speaker 1: forbid its continuance and proclaim its approaching termination. The rule
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  Speaker 1: of individualism, which has governed society since the days of
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  Speaker 1: primitive communism, has effectually restrained the moral and spiritual development
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  Speaker 1: of the race. It has brought out the baser side
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  Speaker 1: of men's nature and set them against each other, as
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  Speaker 1: if the plan of creation had designed them to be
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  Speaker 1: mortal enemies. Typical capitalists are barren of the social spirit.
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  Speaker 1: The very nature of the catches catch can encounter in
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  Speaker 1: which they are engaged makes them weary and suspicious, if
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  Speaker 1: not downright hateful of each other. And the latent good
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  Speaker 1: that is in them dies for the want of incentive
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  Speaker 1: to express itself. The other day I saw two such
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  Speaker 1: capitalists shapes hands. It was pitiable. Their hearts had no
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  Speaker 1: part in the purely perfunctory ceremony. They happened to meet
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  Speaker 1: and could not avoid each other, and so they mechanically
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  Speaker 1: touched each other's reluctant hands, standing at right angles to
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  Speaker 1: each other for a moment, not face to face, and
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  Speaker 1: then passing on without either looking the other in the eyes.
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  Speaker 1: This cold and heartless ceremony typified the relation begotten of
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  Speaker 1: capitalist individualism, in which men's interests are competitive and antagonistic,
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  Speaker 1: and in which each instinctively looks out for himself and
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  Speaker 1: is on the alert to take every possible advantage of
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  Speaker 1: his fellow man. The result of this system is inevitably
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  Speaker 1: a race of ishmaelites. How differently, two socialist comrades shake hands.
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  Speaker 1: Their hearts are in their palms, and the joy of
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  Speaker 1: greeting is in their eyes. They have the social spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Their interests are mutual in their asset inspirations kindred. If
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  Speaker 1: one happens to be strong in the other weak, the
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  Speaker 1: stronger shares the weakness, and the weaker shares the strength
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  Speaker 1: of his comrade. The base thought of taking a mean
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  Speaker 1: advantage one of the other does not darken their minds
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  Speaker 1: or harden their hearts. They are joined together in the
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  Speaker 1: humanizing bonds of fellowship. They multiply each other, and they
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  Speaker 1: rejoice in their comradeleigh kinship. The best there is a niche,
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  Speaker 1: and not the worst, as in the contact of individualism,
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  Speaker 1: is appealed to and brought forth for the benefit of both.
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  Speaker 1: What an elevating, enlargening, and satisfying relation. And this is
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  Speaker 1: the dead level of mediocrity and servitude to which we
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  Speaker 1: are to sink when this relation becomes universal among men,
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  Speaker 1: as it will in the International Socialist Republic. So at least,
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  Speaker 1: we are told by those who in the present system
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  Speaker 1: have acquired the instincts and impact of animals of prey
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  Speaker 1: in the development of their imagined superiority by draining the
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  Speaker 1: veins and wrecking the lives of their vanquished competitors. But
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  Speaker 1: we are not impressed by the virtues of the system
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  Speaker 1: of which they stand as the shining examples. Through all
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  Speaker 1: the ages past men civilized men so called, have been
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  Speaker 1: at each other's throats and the struggle for existence and
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  Speaker 1: the spirit of individualism. This struggle has begotten. The spirit
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  Speaker 1: of hard, sordid, brutal selfishness has filled this world with
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  Speaker 1: unutterable anguish and woe. But at last, the end of
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  Speaker 1: the reign of anarchistic individualism is in sight. The social
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  Speaker 1: forces at work are undermining and destroying it, and soon
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  Speaker 1: its knell will be sounded to the infinite joy of
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  Speaker 1: an emancipated world. The largest possible expression of the social
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  Speaker 1: spirit should be fostered and encouraged in the socialist movement
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  Speaker 1: and among socialists themselves. In spite of the hindrances which
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  Speaker 1: beset us in our present environments and relations, we may
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  Speaker 1: yet cultivate this spirit assiduously to our increasing mutual good
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  Speaker 1: and to the good of our great movement, in our propaganda,
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  Speaker 1: in the discussion of our tactical and other differences, and
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  Speaker 1: in all our other activities, the larger faith that true
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  Speaker 1: comradeship and spires should prevail between us. We need to
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  Speaker 1: be more patient, more kindly, more tolerant, more sympathetic, helpful
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  Speaker 1: and encouraging to one another, and less suspicious, less envious,
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  Speaker 1: and less contentious. If we are to educate and impress
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  Speaker 1: the people by our example and by the effect of
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  Speaker 1: our teachings upon ourselves, win them to our movement, and
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  Speaker 1: realize our dream of universal freedom and social righteousness of
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  Speaker 1: the social spirit,