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210 We think that this is a world in which we are limited by our wants, not by our powers; by our ideals, not by our antecedents.

We think that we are resisting oppression from other men, when we are railing against the hardships of life on this earth. Inasmuch as we are powerless against nature, we propose to turn and rend each other. We think that capital comes of itself, and would all be here just the same, no matter what regulations we might make about the custody, use, and enjoyment of it.

We demand a political remedy, when what we want is more productive power, which we must find in ourselves, if anywhere. We want more power over nature, but we think that steam and machinery are our enemies and the cause of all the trouble. We think that there is such a thing as liberty from the conditions of the struggle for existence, and that we can abolish monopoly, aristocracy, poverty, and other things which do not please our taste. We think that we can impair the rights of landlords, creditors, employers, and capitalists, and yet maintain all other rights intact. We think that, although A has greatly improved his position in half a lifetime, that is nothing, because B, in the same time, has become a millionaire. We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could. We think that competition produces great inequalities, but that stealing or alms-giving does not. We think that there is such a thing as "monopoly"; a simple, plain, definite, and evil thing, which everybody can understand and prescribe remedies for. We believe in the "Banquet of Life" and the "Boon of Nature,"