sters of the lives of others, but that is not true. Greed is
certainly a powerful incentive to some kinds of progress, but the
history of the world shows that there are other and nobler incentives.
The hope of getting somebody else's property is a powerful incentive
to the burglar and has led to the invention of all kinds of tools and
ingenious methods, but we do not hesitate to take away that incentive
to that kind of "progress." The hope of getting power to exploit the
people acts as a powerful incentive to great corporations to devise
schemes to defeat the laws of the nation, to corrupt legislators and
judges, and otherwise assail the liberties of the people. That, also,
is "progress" of a kind, but we do not hesitate to try to take away
that incentive.

Even to-day, Jonathan, Greed is not the most powerful incentive in the
world. The greatest statesmanship in the world is not inspired by
greed, but by love of country, the desire for the approbation and
confidence of others, and numerous other motives. Greed never inspired
a great teacher, a great artist, a great scientist, a great inventor,
a great soldier, a great writer, a great poet, a great physician, a
great scholar or a great statesman. Love of country, love of fame,
love of beauty, love of doing, love of humanity--all these have meant
infinitely more than greed in the progress of the world.

(8) Finally, Jonathan, I want to consider your objection that
Socialism is impossible until human nature is changed. It is an old
objection which crops up in every discussion of Socialism. People talk
about "human nature" as though it were something fixed and definite;
as if there were certain quantities of various qualities and instincts
in every human being, and that these never changed from age to age.
The primitive savage in many lands went out to seek a wife armed with
a club. He hunted the woman of his choice as he would hunt a beast,
capturing and clubbing her into submission. _That_ was human nature,
Jonathan. The modern man in civilized countries, when he goes seeking
a wife, hunts the woman of his choice with flattery, bon-bons,
flowers, opera tickets and honeyed words. Instead of a brute clubbing
a woman almost to death, we see the pleading lover, cautiously and
earnestly wooing his bride. And that, too, is human nature. The
African savages suffering from the dread "Sleeping Sickness" and the
poor Indian ryots suffering from Bubonic Plague see their fellows
d