68 THE UTOPIAN COMMUNIST
sions to the state; he admitted that they were only the victims of
a bad economic system and not inherently wicked; and he pointed
to Owen, Babeuf, Cabet, Hess, and others to prove his argument
that communism could be made to appeal even to the propertied
classes.
Weitling's system clearly shows the influence of Saint-Simon,
Owen, Fourier, and others. It also invites comparisons with the
Stalinist Russia of today, although the analogies are not too clear
and should not be pushed too far. The complex system of repre
sentation in Weitling's ideal society and the organization of its
various power interests for purposes of government clearly recog
nize the decisive significance of economic and occupational group
ings and, to this extent, suggest a clear parallel with the theory
underlying the Soviet state today. Furthermore, although he was
a genuine humanitarian and a man of great compassion who
emphasized the moral worth of each individual and believed in
the redeeming power of love, Weitling was never impressed with
democratic methods and procedures. One wonders, for example,
what might have happened if his scheme for the selection of the
talented inventors and creative artists and the men of novel ideas
had actually been put into practice. Although designed to be com
pletely objective, it may be doubted whether the plan would have
produced intellectual and creative leaders willing to give free reign
to progressive ideas who were altruistic enough to step aside for
men of greater talents. One can more readily imagine the develop
ment of an inner ring who would undertake to force all intellectu
als to conform to an ironclad mold of uniformity, perhaps with
periodic purges of dissident elements. Apparently in the modern
state which professes to be modeled upon Marxian communism,
purges have occurred several times in the fields of music, literature,
art, and science.
Weitling's plans for the new society contained many elements
of authoritarianism, in spite of his professed hatred for the methods
of the dictator and his belief that dictatorship was only a tempo
rary, though perhaps unavoidable, expedient on the road to Uto-
barré
(Barré)
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