Note 257 — Chapter XXV · The Socialist System of Education.

Mr. Eugen Richter, in his “False Doctrines,” reiterates the worn-out phrase: the Socialists wish a coercive state. That there will eventually be no state ought to be clear to the readers of our book. He assumes that society would introduce a state or a social order that would be averse to its own interests. But no new social order or state differing fundamentally from the preceding one could be arbitrarily created. That would be in opposition to all the laws according to which state and society develop. Mr. Eugen Richter and those who share his views may find consolation in this: if Socialism really pursues the foolish aims that they impute to it, it will die off without any effort on their part.—Equally untenable is Richter’s remark that for a social condition like the one aimed at by Socialists, men must be angels. To begin with, there are no angels, and we do not need any. Man is influenced by circumstances, but circumstances are also influenced by man, and the latter will be the case more and more, as men become better acquainted with the nature of society, which they constitute, and apply their experiences consciously to their social organization. We do not need different human beings, but we do need more intelligent and rational human beings than the majority are to-day, and to make them more intelligent and rational, we agitate and publish books like this one.