MEN, MACHINES AND CREATION

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 30, 25 July 1923, Page 5

MEN, MACHINES AND CREATION

Intellect-Organised.for Death I see a-vision, brother, I see a dreadful valley, ebon-dark, ironclamped by heaven-high walls. At the end of the valley great flames curl and hiss and leer Into the night. The valley floor seems to run right into thgm and to topple sheer- into an awful abyss. Along the valley, going towards the flames, white-faced, young, innocent, with khaki-clothes on men are hastening. Some are talking of a great future, of comradeship, of peace and beauty on earth; some are cynical, some despairing; and some dream of more fortunate d-.vys of yore. These, brothers, are the man {jytio fought in the Great War!

And who drives them along this dreadful rond? 'Tis old men; .ye.-i! 'tis- mitred Churchmen, Captains of Industry, Bankers, International Fijannciers. Scientific Inventors, and others —all loud in cry like hellhounds, crying, "On to Victory! on to Death! Your King and Country need you!". On the rout fares, on on, till one by one the soldiers are driven into tha dread abyss. Death burns them as the candle flame docs the moth. Then —oh, strange to see! — the old men, the Governors, the FatPursed, these drop a pious tear or two; raise monuments (similar to any yibige war memorial) on the brink of the abyss; and turn and toddle off home, to collect the property of the 'dead, divide and quarrel over th<» jspoils, and placidly prepare for the liext war, for the Valley of Death. That is an allegory of recent happenings.

To speak in rdainer language, 'J am convinced that (as far as .conscious will does sway human life) the* war

.was engineered and sprung upon the peoples because the men and institutions in power trembled before the growth of Socialistic constructive opinion, and wanted to nip that spirit of Freedom in the bud. A good batn-mer-and-tongs show always "fascinates the all-too-blind people; besides, it give? a set-back to genuine liberally constructive elements in society tor maybe a generation; and more besides. It gives to its wagers an opportunity fo- gathering loot. War is a ■despe.rat.ciy fine thing for those WhiteliaiU'tes and Red-Tab Generals who conduct it like a game of chess. For the Manufacturer .war spells moneygrabbing. To the keen eye of Vision, however, the occurrence of war means that the human race is cutting .Up its food ia unequal bits and Is fighting to the death for the largest bits.

Let us get down to the roots of

thiags. Something is hideously wrong with a society that cannot even r-r----gan- its materia', wealth to its best

and most just advantage in peac? time, far less refrain from prostituting its brains and blood to the ser-

.Vice of Death when waging, or worktag towards, war. The wrons consists in the fact that the Intellect is employed in the service of Death. That means-society does not know how to use its machines, its sciences, 'and its products of industry. Its parasU'c Capitalists exploit that tgfcoranee with an- equal ignorance a- rto" what, beyond ?old and power, 1 they themselves want. The ultimate result is a rush to decadence and war. It maybe, some people opine, that the human race will never solve its problem of the struggle between Knowledge, Justice. and Power. The Open Sesame that the Christian Mystics found —the union of Intellect anf; Love, a marriage of the Promethean and Christian spirits—is still an untested belief, a dream. Ultima v-Iy we must achieve a harmony *•£•! v/(-en Intellect, Matter, and the .Creative Spirit; but until then we Snust live on the planet Earth and f-tn/t to make it :>. pleasant place, at} least pleasant for our bodies. Our | reikis may always be tortured by! thought, but surety we can achieve ncL-ciaate housing and food -and eilucatloa for all. W<- cannot achieve the Socialist idea; by evading the problems of European Industrialism. We live in ' an a;e of wires and dynamos. I\aU;;v rends low to us: we are her King! We must accept and develop to the advantage of all the products of Science and Industry. It 13 no lUse turning in our practical moments towards Asia, that great Mother of Life, and longing for her primitive peace and stability. We may gain spiritual benefit from the ox-waggon and the lotus; but our practical advantage comes from our knowledge of and ability to use machinery and Ideas. In our land the creel and the spade imist go, and the aeroplane and tractor plough take their place.

and employ them to- the best advantage of our fetlowmen. Samuel Butler, in. "Erewhon," and Karel Cap-ek, in "R.U.R.," WayjQ set /the problem plainly before us. Butler presented the solution of aseetism, a" resolute scrapping. of the tools of our civilisation. Such a resolution will not do for us. Capek presents the solution of biological love. That solution will only do in part. '

The true, solution is to permeate our political and economic worlds with the spirit of creation. The spirit of the artist must enter into the veins of the Trade Unionist and the Statesman. That done, we should no longer find the best mathematical brains in the land set to work at building ■ battlesaips and bombing aeroplanes. We should find them instead solving problems of currency, food-supply, housing, etc., on Socialistic lines; or else employed solely at pure scientific research. We should then find the Trade Unionist, * the Guildsman, and the M.P. conscious of being members of corporate creative organisations, all working harmoniously towards the building up of a healthy and beautiful society, national and international. Let us take off the blinkers of selfishness and greed and get. a world view. Perhaps more than anything- els? just now. the Labour Parties need reminding of their spiritual and practical ideals. It is the true idea that is destined to be supreme. Maybe, in this ali-too-hasty causeri-e, I have shed a little light in obscure places. —by "Jason." in "Forward.