Poverty as a Cause of War

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 255, 24 July 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

Poverty as a Cause of War

4 4 nnw—nn HE only way to prevent war is to replace economic distress by H economic prosperity. If people were given employment in pro- | during wealth which would raise the standard of living of themselves and others, and so remove the suffering and anxiety which

faces so many households in many countries at the present time, there would arise a new atmosphere in which the menace of war would tend to disappear,” writes Sir John Boyd Orr, M.D., in “Eleventh Hour Questions.” “Can we produce the materials to provide sufficient of the primary necessities of life, e.g., food, clothing and housing to enable the standard of living to be raised to a level at which economic distress would disappear? The standard which all Governments should have in view is one which would enable human beings to attain their full inherited capacity for health and happiness.

“The attaining of this standard should be the end and aim of all Governments. Legislation is good to the extent that it is calculated to promote this ideal. But the raising of the standard of living would involve increased consumption of commodities. The commodities urgently needed are those required for new housing and the more ‘ expensive foodstuffs which are of special value for health.

“But there is no insuperable difficulty in providing these. The application of modern science to the reproduction of real wealth, a different thing altogether from money which is only a counter or a symbol of wealth, has

been so successful that whatever is needed can be produced in superabundance. Indeed, in the last few years economists have been troubled with the ‘glut’ of goods being produced. “From the point of view of trade, the glut is looked upon as a curse, and Governments have actually given powers to restrict production and distribution to prevent a fall in prices which would upset trade. In the present phase of European civilisation, trade is regarded as all-important. “In the last two or three generations people have become so obsessed with (he importance of trade and money-making that even some politicians have come to look upon these as ends in themselves instead of being merely the means to an end, viz., the increased distribution and consumption of the goods required by the community. From the point of view of the state as a whole, this is the only true way to regard trade. . . . “The difficulty has been increased in recent years because as industry becomes more efficient, more and more goods are produced with less and less labour, and so there has been a tendency for real wealth to increase, at the same time resulting in increased unemployment ; and so we have now the familiar picture of poverty in the midst of plenty. No wonder there is discontent amoligst the masses of people of all countries. People have begun to realise that there is no need for poverty. The goods needed to dissipate system and distress are available, but the economic system needs to be adjusted to allow the goods to be distributed.”