Social struggles have been taking place throughout millennia, since human beings, by resorting to wars, were able to take hold of a surplus production to satisfy the essential needs of life.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The social system grows rigid but the productive forces continue to expand, and conflict ensues between the forces of production and the social conditions of production.
In order for a society to survive, it must generate a sufficient level of physical production both to meet its current needs, and to produce a surplus for upgrading its productive powers.
The endurance of the inequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society.
The human race has had long experience and a fine tradition in surviving adversity. But we now face a task for which we have little experience, the task of surviving prosperity.
Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.
Most wars are not fought over shortages of resources such as food and water, but rather over conquest, revenge, and ideology.
In antiquity, agriculture and industry depended completely on human labor; but now, with the development of natural forces that human labor cannot match, agriculture and industry have fallen completely into the hands of the capitalists. The greater the amount of capital, the more abundant the resources that can be utilized.
Today we have access to highly advanced technologies. But our social and economic system has not kept up with our technological capabilities that could easily create a world of abundance, free of servitude and debt.
Life is made too easy. Mankind's moral fibre is giving way under the softening influence of luxury.
If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.