ABSTRACT
The notion that everybody ought to be happy, and equally happy with all the rest, is the fine flower of the philosophy which has been winning popularity for two hundred years. All the petty demands of natural rights, liberty, equality, etc., are only stepping-stones toward this philosophy, which is really what is wanted. All through human history some have had good fortune and some ill fortune. When people talk of "changing the system", people ought to understand that that means abolishing luck and all the ills of life. People might as well talk of abolishing storms, excessive heat and cold, tornadoes, pestilences, diseases, and other ills. Poverty belongs to the struggle for existence, and people are all born into that struggle. A redistribution of property means universal war. Property is the condition of civilization. It is just as essential to the state, to religion, and to education as it is to food and clothing.
