The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1944. Human Nature in Politics

Southland Times, Issue 25545, 13 December 1944, Page 4

The Southland Times WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1944. Human Nature in Politics

IN HIS presidential address to the annual conference of the British Labour Party, Professor H. J. Laski was reported yesterday to have said, among other things, that society “is dominated by a passion for private acquisition which is no longer compatible with the wellbeing of the community.” And he went on to say that “a socialist commonwealth is the necessary precondition of adequate health and nutrition, a national housing policy and security against the burden of old age.” It is always interesting to notice the extent to which intelligent men can be persuaded by their own logic to place their faith in political remedies for evils that are innate in human nature. Acquisitiveness cannot be eradicated by political action. Professor Laski may believe that there is less to fear from it if it can be diverted from property, and from the capital which provides the means of production. But if men are denied some advantage over their fellows in one way, they will take it another —creating new distinctions and privileges. In> Russia, for instance, it has been found that labour rewards must be given sharp variations, and that competition cannot be excluded from the social system. Men are no longer able to open factories and run them for their own profit; but if they are entrusted with responsible tasks they can expect to obtain the use of motor cars, to receive priority in housing, and to earn wages far in excess of those given to the average worker. Although there is a great deal of conscientious service, inspired by loyalty to the new State, there is also an endless search for money and privilege. The acquisitive instinct, diverted into new channels, is still urging people to obtain possessions, pleasures and advantages. Active and ambitious individuals will always find ways of rising in the world, no matter in what type of society they find themselves. Moreover, it is incorrect to say that health, housing and social security policies can be provided only in a socialist State. Germany’s housing policy was probably the finest in the world before it was interrupted and destroyed by Hitler’s aggressive politics. Britain has accepted reforms which in the past have been strongly advocated by the Labour Party; but she has not established socialism as “the necessary precondition.” Even in America, where organized Labour is only just beginning to plan its entry into national politics, there is a vigorous movement towards various forms of social security. These trends are common to all countries and all parties. They come from the moral climate of the age, and are being adopted by right-wing as well as left-wing Governments. Socialism cannot be established overnight without a revolution. In British countries, revolutions are extremely unpopular; power must be obtained at a general election. The new Government is unable to abolish the past; it is tied at a thousand points to public and private interests which exert considerable pressures in national affairs. It must therefore do exactly what its predecessor has done — advance slowly and carefully, losing support in the electorates when it seems to go too fast or too slowly, and arranging the conditions of its own ultimate defeat. The dream of perpetual power is as vain as the dream of the clean slate and the bright new beginning. And vainest of all is the belief that human nature can be changed by legislation.