首页 >出版文学> The Theory of Business>第41章
  however,toucheswiderandwidercirclesofthepopulation,andtouchestheminanincreasinglyintimateandcoercivemanner。Inthenatureofthecase,therefore,theresistanceopposedtothisculturaltrendgivenbythemachinedisciplineongroundsofreceivedconventionsweakenswiththepassageoftime。Thespreadofmaterialistic,matter-of-factpreconceptionstakesplaceatacumulativelyacceleratingrate,exceptinsofarassomeotherculturalfactor,alientothemachinediscipline,comesintoinhibititsspreadandkeepitsdisintegratinginfluencewithinbounds。
  Theperfectedsystemofbusinessprinciplesrestsonthehistoricalbasisoffreeinstitutions,andsopresumesaprotractedhistoricalgrowthoftheseinstitutions;butahighlyefficient,thoughlessperfect,businesssystemwasworkedoutinarelativelyshorttimebytheSouthandCentralEuropeanpeoplesinearlymoderntimesonthebasisofalessconsummatesystemofrights-Cf。Ehrenberg,ZeitalterderFugger;Sombart,Kapitalismus,vol。
  Cf。Keane,Man,PastandPresent,ch。XIV;W。Z。Ripley,RacesofEurope;Lapouge,L’Aryen;Montelius,LestempsprehistoriquesenBubde,etc。;AndreasHansen,MenneskesloegtensAelde。
  If,e。g。,hetakestomythmakingandpersonifiesthemachineortheprocessandimputesandbenevolencetothemechanicalapplications,afterthemannerofcurrentnurserytalesandpulpitoratory,heissuretogowrong。
  Suchexpressionsas“goodandill,““meritanddemerit,““lawandorder,“whenappliedtotechnologicalfactsortotheoutcomeofmaterialseience,areevidentlyonlymetaphoricalexpressions,borrowedfromolderusageandserviceableonlyasfiguresofspeech。
  Tarde,PsychologicEconomique,vol。I。pp。122-131,offersacharacterizationofthepsychologyofmodernwork,contrasting,amongotherthings,theworkofthemachineworkmanwiththatofthehandicraftsmaninrespectofitspsychologicalrequirementsandeffects。Itmaybetakenasatemperateformulationofthecentcommonplacesonthistopic,andseemstobefairlywideofthemark。
  Forsomethingmorethanahundredyearspastthischangeinthehabitsofthoughtoftheworkmanhasbeencommonlyspokenofasadeteriorationornumbingofhisintelligence。Butthatseemstoosweepingacharacterizationofthechangebroughtonbyhabituationtomachinework。Itissafetosaythatsuchhabituationbringsachangeintheworkman’shabitsofthought,-
  inthedirection,method,andcontentofhisthinking,-
  heighteninghisintelligenceforsomepurposesandloweringitforcertainothers。Nodoubt,onthewhole,themachine’sdisciplinelowerstheintelligenceoftheworkmanforsuchpurposesaswereratedhighasmarksofintelligencebeforethecomingofthemachine,butitappearslikewisetoheightenhisintelligenceforsuchpurposesashavebeenbroughttothefrontbythemachine。Ifheisbynaturescantilyendowedwiththeaptitudesthatwouldmakehimthinkeffectivelyintermsofthemachineprocess,ifhehasintellectualcapacityforotherthingsandnotforthis,thentheminingofthemachinemayfairlybesaidtolowerhisintelligence,sinceithidersthefulldevelopmentoftheonlycapacitiesofwhichheispossessed。Theresultingdifferenceinintellectualtrainingisadifferenceinkindanddirection,notnecessarilyindegree。Cf。Schmoller,GrundrissderVolkswirtschaftslehre,vol。I。secs。
  Hobson,EvolutionofModernCapitalism,ch。IX。secs。4and5;
  CookeTaylor,ModernFactorySystem,pp。434-435;SidneyandBeatriceWebb,IndustrialDemocrocy,e。g。pp。327etseq。;K。Th。
  Reinhold,ArbeitundWerkzeug,ch。X。particularlyp
  andch。XIparticularlypp。221-240。
  Cf。J。C。Sutherland,“TheEngineeringMind“PopularScienceMonthly,January
  Cf。“IndustrialandPecuniaryEmployments“especiallypp。
  AsG。F。Steffenhasdescribedit:“Thosewhohireouttheirlaborpowerortheircapitalortheirlandtotheentrepreneursareasarulenotabsolutelypassiveasseenfromthepointofviewofbusinessenterprise。Theyarenotsimplyinanimateimplementsinthehandsoftheentrepreneurs。Theyare,enterprisingimplements,foretagaadeverktygwhosurrendertheirundertakingfunctionsonlytotheextentdesignatedinthecontractwiththeentrepreneur。“-EkonomiskTidskrift,vol。
  Cf。,ontheotherhand,Reinhold,ArbeitundWerkzeug,ch。
  andXIV,wheredoubledealingisconfusedwithworkmanship,verymuchafterthemannerfamiliartoreadersofexpositionsofthe“wagesofsuperintendence,“butmorebroadlyandingeniouslythanusual。
  Individualexceptionsare,ofcourse,tobefoundinallclasses,butthereis,afterall,amoreorlessconsistent,prevalentclassattitude。Asiswellknown,clergymen,lawyers,soldiers,civilservants,andthelike,arepopularlyheldtobeofaconservative,ifnotreactionarytemper。Thisvulgarapprehensionmaybefaultyindetail,andespeciallyitmaybetoosweepinginitsgeneralizations;butthereare,afterall,fewpersonsnotbelongingtotheseclasseswhowillnotimmediatelyrecognizethatthisvulgarappraisementofthemrestsonsubstantialgrounds,eventhoughtheappraisementmayneedqualification。So,also,aconservativeanimusisseentopervadeallclassesmoregenerallyinearliertimesoronmorearchaiclevelsofculturethanourown。Atthesametime,inthoseearlydaysandinthemorearchaicculturalregions,thestructureofconventionallyacceptedtruthsandthebodyofaccreditedspiritualorextra-materialfactsaremorecomprehensiveandrigid,andthethinkingonalltopicsismoreconsistentlyheldtotestsofauthenticityascontrastedwithtestsofsenseperception。Onthewhole,thenumberandvarietyofthingsthatarefundamentallyandeternallytrueandgoodincreaseasonegoesoutwardfromthemodernWest-Europeanculturalcentresintotheearlierbarbarianpastorintotheremoterbarbarianpresent。
  Seeabove。
  Cf。TheoryoftheLeisureClass,especiallych。
  As,e。g。,MrW。G。S。AdamscogentlypointsoutinarecentnumberoftheJournalofPoliticalEcomnomyDecember。
  AsMr。WebbshowsIndustrialDemocracy,
  ThehistoricalexplanationofthisHouseofLordsreversaloftrade-unionpracticeisprobablytobefoundintheconservative,orratherreactionary,trendgiventoBritishsentimentbytheimperialistpolicyofthelasttwoorthreedecades,accentuatedbytheexperiencesoftheBoerWar。TheBoerWarseemstomarkaturning-pointinthegrowthofsentimentandinstitutions。Sincetheseventiestheimperialistinterest,thatistosay,thedynasticinterest,hasbeencomingintotheforegroundamongtheintereststhatengagetheattentionoftheBritishcommunity。Itseemsnowtohavedefinitivelygainedthefirstplace,andmaybeexpectedintheimmediatefuturetodominateBritishpolicybothathomeandabroad。Concomitantly,itmayberemarked,theBritishcommunityhasbeenslowingdown,ifnotlosingground,inindustrialanimus,technologicalefficiency,andscientificspirit。Cf。Hobson,Imperialism,partIIch。IandIII。
  Allthisappliestoanarchismaswellastosocialism;
  similarlytoseveralminorcategoriesofdissentients。Intheirnegativeproposalsthesocialistsandanarchistsarefairlyagreed。Itisinthemetaphysicalpostulatesoftheirprotestandintheirconstructiveaimsthattheypartcompany。Ofthetwo,thesocialistsaremorewidelyoutoftouchwiththeestablishedorder。Theyarealsomorehopelesslynegativeanddestructiveintheirideals,asseenfromthestandpointoftheestablishedorder。Thisappliestothelatersocialistsratherthantotheearlier,anditapplies,ofcourse,onlytothelower-class,“democratic“socialists,nottotheso-calledstateandChristiansocialists。
  Anarchismproceedsonnatural-rightsground,andisaccordinglyintouchwiththepostulatesoftheexistingpropertyarrangementstothatextent。Itisamoreunmitigatedworkingoutofthesamepostulates。Itisasystemof“naturalliberty“
  unqualifiedtotheextentevenofnotadmittingprescriptiveownership。Itsbasisisadivinelyinstitutedorderofnature,thekeynoteofwhichisaninalienablefreedomandequalityoftheindividual,quiteintheeighteenth-centuryspirit。ItisinthissenseanoffshootoftheRomanticschoolofthought。
  Anarchismisadejureseheme,whichtakesnoaccountofmechanicalexigenciesbutrestsitscasealtogetheronanthropomorphicpostulatesofnaturalrights。Itis,fromthenatural-rightsstandpoint,substantiallysound,thoughsenselesslyextreme。
  Whatmaybecalledthenormalsocialism,socialismofthelater,moredangerous,andmoreperplexing,kind,doesnotbuildonthereceivedmetaphysicalbasisofthe“naturalorder。“Itdemandsareconstructionofthesocialfabric,butitdoesnotknowonwhatlinesthereconstructionistobecarriedout。Thenaturalrightsoftheindividualarenotacceptedasthestandardexceptbycertainlargebodiesofneophytes,especiallyruralAmerican,whoarecarryingundersocialistmottoestheburdenofanimositiesandpreconceptionsthatoncemadepopulism,butnothingdefiniteisputintheplaceofthisoutwornstandard。
  Thesocialistsoftheline,insofarasthereisanyconsensusamongthem,professthatthemechanicalexigenciesoftheindustrialsystemmustdecidewhatthesocialstructureistobe,butbeyondthisvaguegeneralitytheyhavelittletooffer。Andthismechanicalstandardizationcanmanifestlyaffordnobasisforlegislationoncivilrights。Indeed,itisdifficulttoseehowanysehemeofcivilrights,muchorlittle,canfindaplaceinasociallsticreorganization。
  19。The“scientificsocialism“ofMarxandEngelsaspromulgatedduringthethirdquarterofthenineteenthcenturywasnotofthisnegativecharacter。ItwasaproductofHegelianismblendedwiththeconceptionsofnaturalrights,itschiefcountbeingthe“claimtothefullproductoflabor。“ThissocialismnevermadeseriousinroadsamongtheworkingclassesoutsideofGermany-
  thehomeofHegelianism。EveninthatcountrythemostvigorousgrowthofsocialisticsentimentcameafterHegelianismhadbeguntoyieldtoDarwinianmethodsofthought,andthislatergrowthhasbeenprogressivelylessMarxianandlesspositive。Marxismisnowlittlemorethanaproformaconfessionoffaith。Avowedsocialismispracticallytakingonthecharacterdescribedabove,exceptsofarasithasgrownopportunistandhassoughtaffiliationwiththeliberaldemocraticmovementandthereformers。
  Wheremembersofthewell-to-doclassesavowsocialisticsentimentsandidealsitcommonlyturnsouttobeamerelyhumanitarianaspirationforamore“equitable“redistributionofwealth,areadjustmentofthesehemeofownershipwithsomeimprovedsafeguardingofthe“reasonable“propertyclaimsofallmembersofthecommunity。What“socialist“reformcommonlymeanstothiscontingentofwell-to-doirregularsissomesehemeofequalrightsofownershipforall。Whereastosocialistsofthelineequalrightsofownershipisasidleapropositionasanequalrightofcitizenstoselltheirvotes。Insteadofareformofownershipthesocialistscontemplatethetracelessdisappearanceofownership。
  Unlessitbeinthelatestextremesofconservatism,suchasisshownintherecentofdynasticpoliticsinGermany,TorypolicyinEngland,andpredatorypoliticalidealsinAmerica。
  22。SocialisticnotionsareapprentlymakingsomeinroadsamongtheruralpopulationoftheAmericanprairieregion,whereamechanicallyorganizedandstandardizedmethodoffarmingprevails,withalargeuseofmechanicalappliances。
  SostrikinghasbeenthefailureoftheGermansocialists,forinstance,intheirattemptsupontheintegrityofthefarmingcommunity,thattheyhavelatterlychangedtheirtactics,andinsteadofattemptingtoconvertthepeasantstoafullsocialisticprogramme,theyhaveturnedtomeasuresofcompromise,inwhichthecharacteristicandrevolutionaryfeaturesofthesocialisticprogrammearesoftenedbeyondrecognition,ifnotsuppressed。Thehabitsoflife,andthereforethehabitsofthought,ofthepeasantfarmersmoveontheancientleveisofhandicraft,pecuniarymanagement,personalconsequence,andpreseriptivecustom。
  Ifthisaccountoftheclasslimitationofthesocialistbiasisaccepted,ithasanimmediatebearinguponaquestionwhichislatterlyengagingtheattentionoftheadvocatesofsocialism。
  Thequestionisastothepartplayedbypropertylessofficeemployeesandbythebusinessmenwhomthemodernconsolidationsofbusinessreducetothepositionofsalariedmanagersandsuperintendents。Withafaithpromptedbytheirownhopesratherthanbyobservedfactsorbythelogicofevents,thespokesmenforsocialismarestronglyinclinedtoclaimthis“businessproletariat“asacontingentwhichthecourseofeconomicdevelopmentisboundtothrowintothesocialistcamp。Thefactsdonotinanyappreciabledegreecountenancesuchanexpectation。