Here we see that reason already taught the first men that personal property must take place among men, and this first of all because without personal property, no peace and unity among men can be maintained. The Communist Fourier, of course, said that in his [page 43] Communist Republic everyone should be given what he needed, and everyone should be able to work for which he had predominantly inclination and gifts. But one must remember that the pleasures are different. Some wines are good and are less good. Much smaller and less noble fruits grow. Who would now say: “I want to have the lesser wine?” Who would say: “I want to ride the lesser horse?” Who would say: “I want to do the hardest work?” Who —: “I want to do the least honorable work?” No, everyone would want the best and everyone would want the lightest and most honorable work, and so peace would soon be at an end. Therefore, as necessary as it is that there should be unity and peace among men, so necessary is personal property.
But there is also this: Personal property is further demanded by reason, because in every human being by nature a certain love of freedom and independence lives. Without a certain amount of freedom and independence, a person cannot be happy here. But if a person has no personal property, his freedom is lost. There it is prescribed for him by others what he should work at, how he should live, what he should eat and drink, where he should live, where he should be employed. Indeed, in such a society, where I do not have complete freedom for my self-determination, I would not like to stay. I would just as gladly live under Russian whips, just as gladly under Chinese police, just as gladly under Turkish slavery. Because I would be aware that I am forced to do so [1947-59] against my will, and I am supposed to do all this myself voluntarily? Never, no, never. Hence, when Cain, after he had committed the murder, became a bit too hot in society, he left, moved to another country and built himself and his family a city called Enoch. [Gen. 4:17]
A recent writer describes very vividly the miserable state in which a Communist would find himself in a Communist state. He says: “La loi” (i.e. the law, the commandment) “plans and tells to the 50 million Icarians all their actions. La loi fixes the whole working time at so and so many hours and minutes; la loi orders when and how long all Communist men and women have to go to the toilet; la loi introduces a ‘new vegetable’ in all Icarian households; la loi provides ‘cold cuisine’ for the Icarian country outing; la loi orders, similar to Babeuf's Communist state, that literature not officially approved of is burned as ‘bad press’”, and so on. etc. *)
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*) “Communism” by W. Schulz in vol. 2. of the supplements to Rotteck and Welcker's Staats-Lexikon. Altona 1846. p. 67. [1856 edition, vol. 3, p. 612]
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That's no exaggeration. Of course it is certain that the [page 44] Communists do not imagine the reality of the state which they have in mind. They will say: “None of this is true, it doesn't even occur to us to want to establish such a state. We are free people, we will make sure that we do not sacrifice our freedom in such a Communist state.” But they may say what they want, and may squirm as they please: he who accepts the principle must also accept the consequence, and that is that man loses his personal freedom; for this, as I have said, is based above all on the fact that I myself have property and can choose the work I do, the profession I want to be in, according to my pleasure. I must have the freedom to leave it too; I must have the freedom to do what I want with what I have. All this is denied me the moment I enter a Communist community. For as soon as I am allowed to do so, the principle on which Communism was built is abolished.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - Continued in Part 13: - - - - - - - - - - - -
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