Page:Our Social System-Andrade.djvu/5



“I have said a hundred times, and I will repeat it till I die, that our old form of society is dying.” To many, these words of Chateaubriand may sound ridiculous, and merely the pessimistic wail of a false prophet; but others, who have carefully studied the world in which they live, and taken account of the violent internal struggles which are torturing the society of the present day, will know that the statement is any but a rash one, and that there are forces now at work in our midst which, if they succeed in developing their influence much more fully, will ere long wreck our civilization as they have wrecked so many grand civilisations in the past.

What is the nature of our civilization? What is the controlling force which is guiding our destinies, and regulating our actions towards our fellowmen? What is the nature of the system; is it operating for good or evil; could it be replaced by a better, or a worse, one; are its elements preservative or self-destructive? Is our social system a success, or is it a failure? These questions are to be considered in the following pages, and considered fairly and squarely. This is recognized to be a scientific age—an age of facts: let the facts then answer.

We pride ourselves on our system, which we call “civilized,” and compare it with those primitive forms of society which we call “barbarian.” We point at our grand works of art, our wondrous discoveries in science, our massive buildings, railways, telegraphs, tunnels, bridges, shipping, mining appliances, and machinery of all kinds; and then we drop a sympathetic tear on the poor heathen who haven’t these luxuries. Oh, the glories of civilization!