CO-OPERATIVE VENTURES 235propaganda for a proletarian revolution. But the reason for the
failures of the Weitlings in America is deeper; the swift decline
of the influence of the radical wing of the German immigrants in
the United States must be explained by more fundamental factors
than the mistakes and failures of Wilhelm Weitling's personal
leadership.
The bulk of the German immigrants to this country were pri
marily concerned with establishing a firm and secure economic
foundation for themselves and their families. In the caste society
of Europe, where a proletarian might properly feel that it was
almost a hopeless task to try to raise his status by individual effort,
it was not too difficult to interest the underprivileged and the poor
in a scheme that promised a collectivist, revolutionary upheaval.
In the United States, on the other hand, the very absence of a
caste structure made such visionary plans seem utterly impracti
cal and unnecessary. Here the most radical theorist could become
a property owner under the prevailing system of cheap land and
relatively high wages, and the most doctrinaire radical thus
quickly acquired a comfortable middle-class psychology.
Weitling's prestige in the European labor movement, and his
vigorous leadership explain the initial popularity of the Arbeiter
bund and his other proposals, especially during those first difficult
years when the newly-arrived immigrant was struggling with the
complex problems of adjusting to a new environment and learn
ing how to make a living in a new country. Weitling remained
consistent in his radical theories but his constituency changed. His
revolutionary proposals could not thrive under the altered cir
cumstances provided by the United States, where equality of op
portunity and a vigorous climate of rugged individualism pre
vailed. The sudden eclipse of Weitling's career as a radical leader
in America can be explained by several factors, but the most im
portant was the fact that his own erstwhile followers and disciples
ultimately preferred American democratic methods to an authori
tarian, revolutionary program and prospered under a system of
free enterprise.