Page:Oscar Ameringer - Socialism for the Farmer (1912).djvu/11

 great and wise ones among the Slamericans. called it a panic and explained to the people that over production of food was the prime cause of starvation, while too much clothing was the cause of the nakedness in the world.

One day a crank came among these people and said, "Let us build a bridge of our own and do away with Ploot who charges us interest for money he took away from us, who makes us pay rent for land which the Creator made for all, and who demands of us profit for being in our way. With a bridge of our own we can exchange pig for garment and garment for pig instead of paying four pigs for one garment and four garments for one pig." When Ploot heard this he called the Slamericans together and spake: "Harken unto me. This man would drive capital out of the country. Do I not give you work? By allowing you to make four suits for one pig and to raise four pigs for one suit, do I not give employment to you, your wife and children? If, as this agitator saith, a pig could be swapped for a suit and a suit for a pig, then you would be out of work three-fourths of the time. Does not the holy book Say, "in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread?" Who gives you an opportunity to sweat? It's me. This man would rob you of the incentive to work. He would destroy the Gods and steal your wives. Stone him, hang him!"

And when the people heard Ploot say all this they tied a millstone around the neck of the crank and sunk him to the bottom of the river.

Brother farmer, do you recognize yourself in this picture? Maybe not, but the capitalist system works, and works you, exactly like it. Only it's more complicated. But have you ever noticed that when you haul wheat, corn or cotton to town you never say to the buyer, "I want so much." You always say, "How much will you pay?" And when you buy goods in the store, you don’t say, "I give so much," but you inquire, "How much does it cost?" You do not set the price of the things you sell, or the price of the things you buy. And since the people to whom you sell and from whom you buy are in the business for profit they pay you as little as they can and charge you as much as you can stand.

Did you ever take a drove of hogs to town and then eat store cheese and crackers for dinner because you did not feel that you could afford a pork chop in the "short order" restaurant?

Did you ever escort a carload of export steers to Chicago and then eat oxtail soup and beef tongue in the cheapest hash