Love, the Law of Life

No longer does benevolent Nature sustain a biological society, but this is a day when capital guarantees the wherewithal for existence. Labor, therefore, is no longer for love, but has come to be thought of merely as the motive power required to increase the returns on capital.

While Nature’s gifts were generous, these external bounties of Nature were the only capital, and there was no discontent among the ranks of the laborers. But when the capital of natural bounties began to approach exhaustion, the content of capital by degrees became human and internal. Capital came to be thought of in terms of human capacities and the products of the combination of men’s labor. Thus, labor has become the sole great foundation of modern society.

The cause of the upsetting of labor movements is to be found absolutely in the transformation of social life. As a result, even economic problems have acquired an essentially subjective character. The prices of commodities have come to be regarded as based upon the cost of labor.

But labor itself has lost its old fascination and delight. And men, in grief at this mechanization by which they are forced to spend their lives in the making of mere merchandise, are deprived of loving creation through labor.

Concomitantly with the mechanization of labor, questions of hours of work and of wages began to be noisily discussed. When labor was done for love, men |.”

did not grudge twenty-four hours a day of work, but when labor’s aim was altered to the production of merchandise, men began their attempts to evade work. Indeed, when men realize that manufactured articles in the unorganized productive society of today are made and sold, not in response to demand, but solely for speculation, they see the futility of it all, and lose their disposition to work. No human activity is so inconsistent, so thoughtless, so blind, as the present system of business. It merely aimlessly piles the goods on the counters and waits for customers. And if customers do not come to buy, the goods must be thrown away as entirely useless. To labor under such a system is the height of folly. It is sheer useless effort.

Economic movements are devices in the art of life. These devices are the designs of love. When labor for the sake of love was no longer known, labor degenerated to mere mechanical production, and the unwilling labor of today is the result. Working under a capitalistic system is the most unholy, the most disgusting thing in the world. For to men’s efforts are ascribed only the value of machine power. Mechanical power, when damaged, makes no complaint, but human beings air their discontents. Therefore, capitalists tend to discard man power and to substitute for it various types of machines. Yet, with the installation of machinery, the demand for man power has also increased. And thus massed humanity is being oppressed by machines.

To effect escape from this oppression various social movements have been organized. One of these ‘attempts has been to bring about the collapse of capitalism; another, the attempt to evade work by combination in the method of the strike.

The destruction of capitalism will not be accomplished by burning out the capitalists. Only by achieving amore nearly perfect organization of society without the guarantee of capital can a better economic system be created. Since this involves an organization of society, it is termed socialism. It is not the simpleequational, social system of capitalism—impersonal, based upon money-centered exchange value—but a solid, four-power society. Therefore, there is no possibility of organizing society except by the close cohesion of personalities. Where a simple equational society has collapsed, it is impossible for a four-powered order to appear. The development and reconstruction must proceed from first power to square, from square to cubic, in order that socialism may be perfected. Large effort and determination are demanded if the society of commodity values and simple-equational surplus value is to be developed into a purposive organization of labor.

Strikes are pathological phenomena in human society. In an ideal society they certainly would not occur. When, thanks to capitalism, the day came when the roots of love died, strikes made their appearance. From the standpoint of the true life of man, there can be no life happier than the life of labor. Quietude may be permitted only between the periods of labor. Labor should always be creative. Man’s first work was creation. But labor sickened and became corrupted, and changed into repetitive, mechanical production wherein strikes were taught. Yet I am certain that strikes and factory lockouts and class clashes will not redeem mankind, and much less will the labor production of a capitalistic system.

The real trouble is the dearth of love. Love is the only wealth. Men will spend anything in order to purchase love. Jewels, costumes, palaces replete with every artifice of beauty—all are for the sake of love. If only love be bestowed upon us, every economic problem will be solved.

Labor is love’s highest creation. Labor is the activity of expression. Love is its trade mark. Without labor the perfecting of love is impossible, and without love labor is excruciating.

The movement for socialism aims at restoring love to labor, and labor to love. Labor without love hurts

| like walking barefoot among thorns, while love without. labor is playing with the toys of the devil. -

I abominate the present world order in which labor and love are divorced. When love discarded labor, labor abandoned love. Labor became punishment and love was changed into treason. To reunite the two, men have devised all the schemes of anarchism, nihilism, terrorism, despotism, and what not—but _all have proved futile.

Labor which is not for love, labor which is spent for destruction and violence, curtails all of life. Militarism and violent anarchism, these are the greatest curtailers of life. What eventuates from all the labor of the 770,000 who manufacture wine, and of the 1,000,000 who work in the manufacture of cigarettes? In order to drag men away from love and kick them into the grave, capitalism forces such labor upon men. It is the hungry demon that devours loveless men. —

And there are those beings who evade labor and attempt to sell a false love to men—the secret prostitutes at the crossways, the barmaids, the geishas, the ladies of the idle rich class! They are worse than leeches.

When love and labor are at last united, men will for the first time be enabled to bring social life to its consummation. Labor alone can maintain the body ~ social. But loveless labor casts men down into the abyss of hell. Love is the eternal creator, the perennial revolutionist. And love is ever the ally of labor. Love alone gives cohesiveness to society. In: fact, what I mean by “society” is ‘‘love expressed.”’ Social economics is determined by the depth of love. Its credit system, its exchanges, its investments, its traffic, its communications, its production, its consumption— all are determined by the depth of love. Love rejuvenates society. With love, then, let us effect our | reorganization. With love let us purify. Love is the | eternal revolutionist. |

Under a variety of titles such as ‘Social Policy,’’ or ‘Social Principles,’ numberless proposals and theories relating to society have been put forth. But we have yet to hear a complete explanation of what society really is. One says, ‘“‘Society is a union formed by two or more individuals.’”’ But when we inquire why the union is necessary, no explanation is offered. ‘Combination is necessary for the purpose of material production,” says someone. Another defines society as “A new aggregation formed by the combination of the two sexes.”

However, all this still fails to explain what society actually is and what purpose it fulfils. Are factories society? Are cities, schools, banks, markets, troops of soldiers, churches? Do these constitute true society?

All these, it is true, have their purposes and organizations. Are they for this reason to be called society? And are men really satisfied with society as composed of these organizations? May we not say, in a word, that a society constituted of these groups has no ultimate aim? and further, that society is not in itself an aim?

What, then, is the nature of true society?

Just as man’s aim is to achieve the reality of freedom, that is, to become like God, so too, herein is to be found the aim of society. For society cannot exist apart from man, which means in effect that the realm of freedom, unattainable by man single-handed, may be reached through the united strength of two or more men. The three principles which determine the course of evolution, namely, variation, growth, and selection, are not after all possible of realization by a single individual. Therefore, two or more individuals combine and seek their attainment. In other words, society is the union of two or more individuals for the purpose of achieving the perfection which a single individual is powerless to secure.

In explaining the nature of society one may say, “Society is a grouping together of people of dissimilar natures.” Or, again, “Individuals of the same species combine their efforts.”’ In my view both statements are correct. Society, then, we may say, is an ageregation of individuals who supplement each other and cooperate in order to become stronger, more nearly perfect. It is the hundreds of millions of human beings who would share in striving after Godlike perfection. In other words, society is the assembling of imperfect individuals for. the. purpose. ‘of securing.something more | nearly perfect. We may say that while each person possesses the fragments of personality, society possesses | the totality of personality. Some individuals think, some sing, and some compose. A single individual who could do all three of these things would be complete, but since three individuals have as many different capacities, some social organization becomes necessary.

My argument may appear to some to be too dogmatic, but my statements are reinforced by the phenomena of sex differentiation in animal society, which is organized in a marvelously interesting manner. Many people do not comprehend the reason for sex differentiation. Darwin himself was unable to comprehend it thoroughly, but today the reason for sex selection has become clearer. The primary reason is the heightening of cell activity. The strength of single cells, which tend to become enfeebled and finally exhausted, is multiplied several hundred times by oxidation—600 times, according to Dr. Jacques Loeb.

But in addition to such physicochemical processes, there is in sex selection a mysterious force which augments the energy of the chromosomes, resulting in a higher degree of accord with the environment and an enlarged sphere of freedom. That is, sex differentiation is a secret contrivance which has been evolved both for the purpose of synthesizing experiences which have differed because of the extremely primitive biological organization of society, and also for fortifying the energy of the species.

Biological society which has made the sex differentiation creates before long, through childbirth, the parent-child relation. This relation develops into the family, then the tribe, and finally the race. Thus is developed a biological society founded upon the physical instincts.

Since in a biological society instinctive action is extremely prevalent, many of the parts of the society combine unconsciously. A society of this kind appears to be living a dream life. Hence, subconscious habits prevail. For the maintenance of the family line plunder marriage is practiced. Countless struggles occur. Through prowess in fighting, the patriarchs and men of power are given their positions. These positions become hereditary and form the foundation for the tribal mythology. This mythology controls the group, who live as it were in a dream.

In the biological society exterior, superhuman powers, rather than inner powers, are believed in. For this reason, the one in power always wears the garment of a god. The birth of a child is believed to be the direct gift of the child from the god. The first-born is dedicated to the god, and the first fruits also are offered. Religious ceremonies and government are identical in meaning. Human beings, too, are sacrificed to the god. All experiences are dreamlike. Therefore, in a biological society historical happenings are infrequent. There is neither growth or progress, but simply increase in the number of the children.

Even in this society, however, there comes a time when men’s souls awaken and the cry is raised, “On to the psychical order!”’