THE FUTURE OF SOCIALISM
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sentiments of the business community-the longing for quiet, the
hatred of violence, the terror of social upheaval. Churchill's instincts
were those of an imperial aristocracy, bold, vigorous, somewhat con–
temptuous of trade,
with
power founded, not on finance, but on
land, tradition, and sense of nationality. "There is something to be
said for government by a great aristocracy which has furnished leaders
to the nation in peace and war for generations," Theodore Roosevelt
once observed; "even a democrat like myself must admit this. But
there is absolutely nothing to be said for government by a plutocracy,
for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted
with the 'money touch,' but with ideals which in their essence are
merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers."
The bourgeoisie consequently has always had to turn for pro–
tection to some nonbourgeois group. Without such protection, as
Schumpeter puts it, it is "unable not only to lead its nation but even
to take care of its particular class interest. Which amounts to saying
that it needs a master." In England the business classes have had the
aristocracy, and now the Socialists, to protect them. In America when
the chips were down the businessmen have always been bailed out by
the radical democracy, often under aristocratic leadership-the
Jef–
fersons, Jacksons, Lincoins, Wilsons, Roosevelts.
This normal political incompetence of the capitalists has recently
been exaggerated by a gradual disappearance of the capitalist ener–
gies themselves: it is this combination which justifies the term death–
wish. Not only does the bourgeoisie lack the skill to protect itself; it
is increasingly lacking in the will to protect itself. The capitalist
system, in effect, has killed its own interest in survival. The rise of
big business, the development of mass production and mass organ–
ization, have slowly taken the guts out of the idea of property. The
spread of rationalism has set in motion a skepticism which holds
no social authority sacred. Capitalism at once has strengthened the
economic centralization and loosened the moral bonds of society. The
result is a profound instability which invites collectivism as a means of
restoring social discipline. As Schumpeter puts it, capitalism "social–
izes the bourgeois mind." Eventually the roots of capitalist motiva–
tion will wither away.
Even in America, the capitalist fatherland, the death-wish of
the business community appears to go beyond the normal limits of
political incompetence and geographical security. After the First
World War Trotsky predicted that American capitalism would now
make its stunning debut on the world stage. Instead, American capi-
