members of such a society will, therefore, be up physically but down
morally. Those who defend the Capitalistic system argue that a
Communistic society cannot but deprive man of the chief incentive
to work. Man finds work irksome and, left to himself, he would
rather play than work, He works because he wants more comforts
and luxuries, or more wealth and power. In an egalitarian society in
which the individual gets only what he needs, whether he works or
not, production will necessarily fall and less and less will be available
for distribution. Despite equitable distribution of wealth such a
society will collapse sooner or later. In a Capitalistic society, on the
other hand, there is full scope for private enterprise and individual
initiative. Everyone works because he knows that he will enjoy the
fruits of his labour. National wealth increases and the people are
hardworking and prosperous. This is, generally, what the
protagonists of Capitalistic system say.
Capitalism, however, fails to look at the other side of the picture.
While making the rich richer, it has often driven the poor to the
verge of starvation. The "prophets" of this system declared this in
unequivocal words. Defoe* argued, in his pamphlet entitled Giving
Alms no Charity and Employing the Poor A Grievance to the Nation, that:
If the poor were relieved they would remain idle, or alternatively that,
if they set to work in public institutions, the private manufacturer was
equally deprived of his source of labour, the conclusion – expressed in
modern terms – being that they should be thrown on the labour
market and allowed to starve if they failed to find a place there.(1)
Mandeville pointed the conclusion in his Fable of the Bees that:
The poor have nothing to stir them up to be serviceable but their wants,
which it is prudence to relieve but folly to cure. To make society happy it
is necessary that great numbers should be wretched as well as poor.(2)
In more clear terms, Joseph Townsend declared in his Dissertation
on the Poor Laws that:
Hunger will tame the fiercest animals, it will teach decency and civility,
obedience and subjugation, to the most perverse. In general, it is only
hunger which can spur and goad them (the poor) on to labour.(3)
This philosophy has brought unspeakable suffering and misery to
the masses. It provides moral sanction for the ruthless exploitation
of the subjugated and weaker nations. In desperation, the workers
and the weaker people rose in revolt. The struggle took a heavy toll
- (Editor)
Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731) English author and writer of astonishing
versatility published more than 250 works.
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 197