* * *
379 Hopedale, Massachusetts, www.hope1842.com.
380 Joseph A. Geddes, The Mormons, Missouri Phase: An Unfinished Experiment, pp. 16-21; see also, Larson, Andrew Karl, I Was Called to Dixie: The Virgin River Basin: Unique Experiences on Mormon Pioneering. 1961.
381 Journal of History, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1908, Reorganized LDS Church, Lamoni Iowa.
382 The Book of John Whitmer, BYU Archives and Manuscripts, Provo, Utah, Chapter 3
383 Joseph Smith, March 25, 1839, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith: To the Church of Latter-day Saints at Quincy, Illinois, and Scattered Abroad, Letter from Liberty Jail, March 25, 1839, p. 389.
384 All quotes from Encyclical, May 15, 1891.
Chapter 60: Revolutionary: The Thinkers
Philosophers and economists matched wits with natural law and despite their best intentions, they were check-mated each time.
SOCIALIST: Robert Malthus (1766-1834)
LEGACY: Worried about unchecked population growth
STORY: Malthus was fascinated by the relationship between human population and the supply of food. According to his extensive collection of data on births, deaths, and changing ages of marriage and childbearing, he concluded that the human race was in for trouble—food production was rising steadily but populations were rising geometrically.
Malthus decided that the most logical solution to an insufficient food supply was to keep population growth on par with food production. In other words, control population growth.
He saw that humanity’s ills and flaws could serve to slow down population growth, and “check” the excessive numbers of people. Malthus listed among these natural inhibitors the positives of marrying late or not at all (fewer babies), the withholding of health care (shorter lifespan), higher food prices (malnutrition), diseases or filthy living conditions (early death), warfare (genocide), and even infanticide. Government welfare, he said, was faulty because—while it helped sustain life—it did nothing to increase the overall food supply for everybody else.385
Malthus was fascinated that against all these odds, humans still survived. He said it must be the will of God that such evils are present to keep the Creator’s creations active at solving problems.
“Evil exists in the world,” he wrote, “not to create despair, but activity. We are not patiently to submit to it, but to exert ourselves to avoid it.”386 Malthus’s ideas spawned a whole generation of socialistic perspective. For example, Darwin and his survival of the fittest; social engineers and their demands for population control; assumptions about global warming; China’s one-child policies, etc.387
Socialist: Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
LEGACY: Popularized evolution and natural selection
STORY: Darwin was an insightful scholar remembered for his keen attention to detail and his voluminous experimentation with the flora and fauna of raw nature. He wrote several books on botany, including four zoological works that were exhaustive in their depth and observation. Darwin is best remembered for his works on evolution—in particular, Origin of Species and the Descent of Man.
Evolution Not New
The idea of evolution was not invented by Darwin, but his research gave the idea some scholarly support. While science today is obliged to reject several of Darwin’s theories, he nevertheless made a great impact on the world, pitting people of faith against people of science. True to the theme of his books on evolution, Darwin wrote that his reason for giving up on Christianity was “Because I found no evidence for it.”388
Darwin and Marx Were Acquainted
The parallels between Darwin and Marx are personal. Their lives overlapped by 65 years, and two of their books, Origin of Species and Marx’s Criticism of Political Economy (the foundation work for Capital) were published the same year, 1859.
Marx Devoured Darwin’s Books: Darwin wasn’t very interested in Marx’s writings. He was the true scientist, ever buried in his research. Darwin did once acknowledge receiving one of Marx’s books and wrote in reply, “I believe that we both earnestly desire the extension of knowledge; and this, in the long-run is sure to add to the happiness of mankind.”389 Darwin’s optimism in Marx’s writings saw no fulfillment, but that personal note reflected the close sentiment the two shared via correspondence.
Marx’s Son-in-law: Edward Aveling married one of Marx’s daughters, and grew to know both Marx and Darwin on a personal basis. He believed their teachings were a confluence of innovative thinking that was both harmonious and mutually supporting. “Socialism is indeed the logical outcome of evolution,” Aveling wrote, “and its strongest scientific support is derived from the teaching of Darwin.”390
The connection between Marx and Darwin can be seen in Marx’s later writings that envisioned an evolutionary path growing out of class struggle. Marx’s philosophy declared:
Destruction: The existing society must be destroyed with the death of the “parent” (capitalism) as necessary to make way for the “offspring” (socialism).
Evolving Society: Mankind is forever evolving and so must his society.
Tradition Prevents Evolution: Abandon traditions such as religion, capitalism, the state, and the family to make room for a new society based on equality and economic justice.
Evolving Species: Evolution laid a framework for advancing socialism. All new ideas are products of the steady evolution of human thought. This is why the past must be detached from expanding into the future, so that free evolution of thought can mature and develop with each generation. John Dewey (page 286), the “father” of education in America, was a strong proponent of Darwin’s evolutionary process and encouraged that schools exclude the teachings of parents and the Bible so young minds could evolve toward undiscovered horizons of knowledge.
SOCIALIST: Karl Marx (1818-1883)
LEGACY: Early advocate of revolutionary Communism
STORY: Marx believed that all of the world’s ills could be reduced to one common fault: private ownership of property. He surmised that because there are always those who have, and those who don’t, that all of society is, as a result, constantly in turmoil to beg, earn, or steal its way to survival.
Guard the Property: Marx believed that the rich created a culture to protect their property: the state, religion, and the family. He also lumped into this mix, as disposable appendages, all the moral restraints, restrictions, and ideas associated with religion and society. Morality, he declared, is whatever the socialists define it to be—nothing more. This idea mimics Plato, who said that only the elite could declare morality, tell lies, and keep the masses pacified. Plato said that all others in his perfect society would be forced or obligated to tell the truth.
Workers’ War: Marx predicted that one day the working class would rise up against their chains of economic restraint and forcibly take what was theirs. He promoted ideas such as labor unions, graduated income taxes, regulation, government czars, and government intervention in the marketplace to foster and prepare for this destruction of the existing condition and usher in a new utopian age of reason.
It’s in My Books: Marx’s vision for the world was put forward in two books prepared with the help of his cohort, Friedrich Engels: Communist Manifesto and Capital.
Was No Prophet: History shows Marx was wrong in his predictions of a collapsing capitalistic society and a revolution by the working class. Capitalism’s erosion has not come from its strengths or weaknesses, but rather from the corrupting influence of Marx’s socialistic ideas imposed on natural rights and freedom. Relentless chiseling away of freedoms over the last century in particular has corrupted the free market’s best operations. As the Psalmist asked, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”391
Though idealized as a great thinker and theorist, Marx’s philosophy remains confusing and flawed. Like all other shifts toward the
seven pillars of socialism, the true outcome of Marx’s intentions had to be buried in a lot of empty promises, predictions, and warnings.
Even his supporters didn’t “get it.” In 1886, an admirer of Marx, Herr Werner Sombart, admitted that Marxism was a “disordered confusion of the most conflicting conceptions. It represents an extremely heavy potpourri of contradictory doctrines.”392 And so it remains today.
SOCIALIST: John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
LEGACY: Promoted the force of government in society
STORY: Mill was a contradiction. He defended individual rights, he hated paper money that could not be traded for gold, he opposed others telling people what their personal religion or morals should be, and he favored women’s right to vote.
On the other hand, Mill called himself a socialist. He was in favor of heavy taxes on inheritances and nationalizing private land, he worried about the problems of overpopulation, and he wondered why private property was something people should completely control.
He encouraged the confiscation of the property and land of dead people who had no relatives to inherit it, and supported the redistribution of people’s money. He also didn’t like people hanging on to land that wasn’t being used. “When land is not intended to be cultivated, no good reason can in general be given for its being private property at all.”393
Like all socialists, Mill saw a wonderful potential dream for humanity—if only the people would get out of the way.
Mill was very influential in economic circles, and his ideas spread far and wide.
SOCIALIST: John Dewey (1859-1952)
LEGACY: Sometimes called the father of education in America
STORY: John Dewey had an early fascination with Darwin’s theories on evolution. He liked Darwin’s explanation that creatures could survive their changing world by adapting and evolving. He believed this principle should apply to education.
I Am That I Am: Dewey taught that the only real truth in the universe was what mankind said it was.
Don’t Learn From History: It is bad, he said, to perpetuate our own beliefs from generation to generation. Our understanding should be evolving in the same fashion as the creature evolves (that creature would be homo sapiens).
Don’t Learn From Home: Passing along values from one generation to the next doesn’t let intellectual evolution take place. He advocated that we break free from the foolish traditions of our forefathers that weigh us down with fiction and fantasy.
Nurture, Not Nature: Dewey agreed with Robert Owen that children become what their environment teaches, and said, “Any education given by a group tends to socialize its members, but the quality and value of the socialization depends upon the habits and aims of the group.”394
Replace God: What were Dewey’s “habits and aims” for the future education system in America? In short, to remove God and let “scientific truths” lead the way.A Missionary for Misinformation
In the early decades of the 1900s, Dewey spread his ideas on education and teaching in such nationally-published outlets as The New Republic and Nation magazines. He was active in political causes such as women’s suffrage (right to vote) and unionizing teachers. He was invited to speak at public and academic settings where he shared his secular and evolutionary views with America’s rising generation of educators and decision makers.
Frontal Assault on Religion
A pivotal document called A Humanist Manifesto was published in 1933. Many believe Dewey was one of its primary authors or editors (there were an unknown number who participated). Author or not, the Manifesto received Dewey’s blessing, along with the signatures of 33 other leading philosophers, educators, and leaders. Among its 15 conclusions are:395
No God: “Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.”
Pro-Darwinism: “Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process.”
Scientific Values Trump Religion: “Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values.”
No Religious Values in Education: “Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by custom. We assume that humanism will take the path of social and mental hygiene and discourage sentimental and unreal hopes and wishful thinking.”
Leave Traditional Values Behind: “Though we consider the religious forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest of the good life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task.”One Generation
These doctrinal declarations contained in the Humanist Manifesto were injected into America’s public school system. It took only one generation to make prayer, God, and the Bible illegal in public schools. This fulfilled an important goal for socializing America. It removed 6,000 years of recorded human history that perpetuated values that had proven themselves as the most beneficial to peaceful and prosperous human relations—and replaced them with a new religion called scientific analysis.
While science as a whole is an invaluable extension of people’s curiosity and life-enhancing inventiveness, any attempt to make of it a religious belief for its own sake is corrosive and destructive. And so the world suffers as it loses its heart and soul to a god of human invention.
SOCIALIST: Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
LEGACY: Regarded as the father of modern physics
STORY: Revered as one of the world’s greatest mathematical thinkers, Einstein was once asked for his theory on how best to run the economics of a society. He chose socialism, showing that great minds do not always ask the right questions.
“The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil,” Einstein wrote in 1949. “We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labour... I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.”396
* * *
385 Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1st ed., 1798.
386 Malthus, Ibid., XIX. 15.
387 For a summary of Malthus’s theories, see Mark Skousen, The Making of Modern Economics, pp. 67-89.
388 Edward Aveling, Charles Darwin and Karl Marx: A Comparison, 1897, p. 13.
389 Ibid., p. 11.
390 Ibid.
391 Psalm 11:3
392 Yves Guyot, Socialistic Fallacies, Book VI, Chapter 3, 1910, p. 234.
393 John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy, Book II, Chapter II, p. 29.
394 John Dewey, Democracy and Education, Chapter 7, 1916.
395 For all quotes, see A Humanist Manifesto, The New Humanist, Vol 3, pp. 1-5, 1933.
396 Albert Einstein, Why Socialism? Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1949.
Chapter 61: Revolutionary: Top Ten Books
Regardless of age, era, or continent, the idea of socialism has been perpetuated for millennia in books.
It didn’t seem to matter in what century a person lived, finding the latest writings on how to build a socialist world was not too difficult—provided that person could read, and the writings were translated into the right language. However, writers and readers weren’t necessarily looking for socialism—they were looking for fair.
BOOK: The Republic, written around 380 BC
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br /> AUTHOR: Plato (428-348 B.C.)
SYNOPSIS: The author engages various speakers to consider the definition of justice and how to create a city where all human frailties and ills are disposed of by proper management—pure socialism that influenced almost 2,500 years of dreamers and inventors seeking to control humans like bees in a beehive.
Historian Will Durant, among others, dismisses Plato’s Dialogues as “cleverly and yet poorly constructed. ...they seldom achieve unity or continuity, they often wander from subject to subject, and they are frequently cast into a clumsily indirect mode of being presented as narrative reports, by one man, or other men’s conversations.”397
BOOK: Peach Blossom Spring, a poem (A.D. 376-397)
AUTHOR: Tao Yuan Ming (A.D. 365-427)
SYNOPSIS: This essay and poem tell of a fisherman rowing upstream from his home. Suddenly, he discovers a hidden valley and people living there. They know nothing of the real world and live in a utopian state of blissful happiness—a type of ancient Shangri-la. The fisherman loses the route after he leaves, even though he placed markers to help him return at a later time.
BOOK: Al-Madina al-Fadila (The Virtuous City)
AUTHOR: Abu Nasr al-Farabi (A.D. 872-950)
SYNOPSIS: Some see this book as an Islamic version of Plato’s Republic, although Islamic philosophers will clarify that any of the perceived similarities are really superficial. Al-Farabi’s perfect city is God-centered. The role of philosopher king in Plato’s book is replaced here with a prophet-Imam.
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