Page:James Ramsay MacDonald - The Socialist Movement.pdf/136

 132 he lifts his hand to strike some one else he injures himself.

This is particularly true of private property in natural monopolies, like land. The experience of every people in the world, whether it be a barbaric tribe or a civilised nation, is that, when land becomes subject to private proprietorship, poverty inevitably follows.

In consequence of this the Socialist has come to the conclusion that where industrial capital is not the subject of communal control and use, and where natural monopolies are in the possession of individuals, it is economically impossible for masses of people to acquire private property at all. The socialisation of certain forms of property is a condition necessary for the general diffusion of private property. The nationalisation of industrial capital and of the land is therefore not the first stage of the abolition of all private property, but is exactly the opposite. The result of the operations of a society which allows private property in everything, is determinedly a law of concentration and accumulation, the effect of which may be expressed in biblical language: "Unto every one that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." The idea that capitalist society is based on private property Is a mere chimera.

So too as regards liberty, A common view of Socialism is that it will crush liberty out