第 19 节
作者:一意孤行      更新:2021-10-16 18:41      字数:9322
  which will deal with marketing and the general interests of the industry as
  a whole。 ‘‘The State would own the means of production as trustee for the
  community;        the  Guilds     would    manage      them;   also   as  trustees    for  the
  community; and would pay to the State a single tax or rent。 Any Guild that
  chose   to   set   its   own   interests   above   those   of   the   community   would   be
  violating its   trust;   and   would   have   to bow  to the  judgment   of   a  tribunal
  equally representing the whole body of producers and the whole body of
  consumers。 This Joint Committee would be the ultimate sovereign body;
  the ultimate appeal court of industry。 It would fix not only Guild taxation;
  but    also    standard     prices;   and    both    taxation    and    prices    would     be
  periodically readjusted by it。'' Each Guild will be entirely free to apportion
  what it receives among its members as it chooses; its members being all
  those who work in the industry which it covers。 ‘‘The distribution of this
  collective Guild income among the members seems to be a matter for each
  Guild to decide for itself。 Whether the Guilds would; sooner or later; adopt
  the principle of equal payment for every member; is open to discussion。''
  Guild Socialism accepts from Syndicalism the view that liberty is not to be
  secured      by    making     the    State   the   employer:      ‘‘The     State   and    the
  Municipality as employers have turned out not to differ essentially from
  the private capitalist。'' Guild Socialists regard the State as consisting of the
  community in their capacity as consumers; while the Guilds will represent
  them     in  their   capacity    as   producers;     thus   Parliament      and   the   Guild
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  Congress       will   be    two    co…equal     powers     representing      consumers       and
  producers       respectively。     Above      both   will    be   the   joint   Committee       of
  Parliament   and   the   Guild   Congress   for   deciding   matters   involving   the
  interests     of   consumers      and    producers      alike。   The    view    of   the  Guild
  Socialists is that State Socialism takes account of men only as consumers;
  while     Syndicalism       takes    account     of   them    only    as   producers。      ‘‘The
  problem;'' say the Guild Socialists; ‘‘is to reconcile the two points of view。
  That is what advocates of National Guilds set out to do。 The Syndicalist
  has claimed   everything   for  the  industrial   organizations of producers;   the
  Collectivist      everything      for  the   territorial   or  political    organizations      of
  consumers。 Both are open to the same criticism; you cannot reconcile two
  points of view merely by denying one of them。'''36' But although Guild
  Socialism       represents     an  attempt     at  readjustment      between      two    equally
  legitimate points of view; its impulse and force are derived from what it
  has    taken     over   from     Syndicalism。       Like    Syndicalism;       it  desires    not
  primarily   to   make   work   better   paid;   but   to   secure   this   result   along   with
  others   by   making   it   in   itself   more   interesting   and   more   democratic   in
  organization。
  '36'   The   above   quotations   are   all   from   the   first   pamphlet   of   the
  National Guilds League; ‘‘National Guilds; an Appeal to Trade Unionists。''
  Capitalism has made of work a purely commercial activity; a soulless
  and a joyless thing。 But substitute the national service of the Guilds for the
  profiteering      of   the    few;   substitute     responsible      labor    for   a  saleable
  commodity;         substitute     self…government         and    decentralization       for   the
  bureaucracy        and   demoralizing       hugeness     of   the   modern     State   and    the
  modern joint stock company; and then it may be just once more to speak
  of   a   ‘‘joy   in   labor;''   and   once   more   to   hope   that   men   may   be   proud   of
  quality   and   not   only   of   quantity   in   their   work。   There   is   a   cant   of   the
  Middle Ages; and a cant of ‘‘joy in labor;'' but it were better; perhaps; to
  risk   that   cant   than   to   reconcile   ourselves   forever   to   the   philosophy   of
  Capitalism and   of   Collectivism;  which declares that work   is   a necessary
  evil never to be made pleasant; and that the workers' only hope is a leisure
  which       shall   be    longer;    richer;    and    well     adorned      with    municipal
  amenities。'37'
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  '37' ‘‘The Guild Idea;'' No。 2 of the Pamphlets of the National Guilds
  League; p。 17。
  Whatever may be thought of the practicability of Syndicalism; there is
  no doubt that the ideas which it has put into the world have done a great
  deal   to   revive   the   labor   movement   and   to   recall   it   to   certain   things   of
  fundamental        importance      which     it  had    been    in  danger     of   forgetting。
  Syndicalists   consider   man   as   producer   rather   than   consumer。   They   are
  more   concerned   to   procure   freedom   in   work   than   to   increase   material
  well…being。 They   have   revived   the   quest   for   liberty;   which   was   growing
  somewhat dimmed under the regime of Parliamentary Socialism; and they
  have   reminded   men   that   what   our   modern   society   needs   is   not   a   little
  tinkering here and there; nor the kind of minor readjustments to which the
  existing     holders     of   power     may    readily    consent;     but   a   fundamental
  reconstruction;       a  sweeping      away     of  all  the   sources    of   oppression;     a
  liberation     of   men's    constructive     energies;     and   a  wholly     new    way    of
  conceiving and regulating production and economic relations。 This merit
  is so great that; in view of it; all minor defects become insignificant; and
  this   merit    Syndicalism   will      continue    to  possess     even   if;  as  a  definite
  movement; it should be found to have passed away with the war。
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  PART II
  PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE
  CHAPTER IV
  WORK AND PAY
  THE   man   who   seeks   to   create   a   better   order   of   society   has   two
  resistances to contend with: one that of Nature; the other that of his fellow…
  men。   Broadly   speaking;   it   is   science   that   deals   with   the   resistance  of
  Nature;     while   politics   and   social   organization     are   the  methods     of
  overcoming the resistance of men。
  The ultimate fact in economics is that Nature only yields commodities
  as the result of labor。 The necessity of SOME labor for the satisfaction of
  our wants is not imposed by political systems or by the exploitation of the
  working     classes;   it  is  due  to  physical   laws;  which    the  reformer;   like
  everyone   else;   must   admit   and   study。   Before   any   optimistic   economic
  project can be accepted as feasible; we must examine whether the physical
  conditions of production impose an unalterable veto; or whether they are
  capable of being sufficiently  modified by  science and organization。 Two
  connected doctrines must be considered in examining this question: First;
  Malthus'     doctrine    of  population;     and   second;    the  vaguer;    but   very
  prevalent; view that any surplus above the bare necessaries of life can only
  be produced if most men work long hours at monotonous or painful tasks;
  leaving little leisure for a civilized   existence or rational enjoyment。 I   do
  not believe that either of these obstacles to optimism will survive a close
  scrutiny。    The   possibility   of  technical   improvement      in  the  methods     of
  production is;   I   believe;  so great   that;   at   any  rate   for   centuries   to   come;
  there will be no inevitable barrier to progress in the general well…being by
  the   simultaneous   increase   of   commodities   and   diminution   of   hours   of
  labor。
  This subject has been specially studied by Kropotkin; who; whatever
  may     be   thought    of  his   general   theories    of  politics;   is  remarkably
  instructive;    concrete    and   convincing     in   all  that  he   says   about   the
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