SOCIALISM AND COLE) WAR
715
their theory of capitalism by demonstrating that its inherent contra–
dictions would
inevitably
lead to its breakdown?" It would 00 folly
indeed if we failed to learn from this sad example. But, as Aneurin
Bevan and John Strachey have pointed out in
two
remarkable and
sadly underestimated books,s the failure of Marx's predictions was
largely due to his rigid assumption that capitalism could not modify
itself. What he failed to recognize was not only that the entrepre–
neurs' survival instinct would stimulate them to evolve a modem,
managed capitalism, but
also
that democracy was a dynamic force
in its own right. Mr. Strachey's greatest contribution to Socialist
thinking has been
his
subtle and perceptive demonstration of the
revolutionary changes in the economy produced by the workings of
Western democracy. So far from remaining a mere superstructure,
wholly conditioned by economic forces, our democratic institutions
have revealed a potent power of social and economic change and in
so doing have resolved one of the inherent contradictions that Marx
attributed to capitalism.
On
his theory, the capitalist system
must
break down owing to an ever growing unbalance between an exag–
gerated production of capital goods and an equally exaggerated
dwindling of consumers' demand. But in fact, as a result of democ–
racy, the development has gone in exactly the opposite direction,
so that now the prevailing characteristic (which is also the greatest
weakness) of the Western economies is that they consume too much
of their resources and reserve too little for public services and capital
development. Ironically enough, the nations which do show the true
Marxist contradiction are those of the Communist bloc, where con–
sumption is nearly always starved for the sake of rapid capital de–
velopment.
The actual developments of the last hundred years, therefore,
have completely falsified Marx's central prediction. But the lesson
we should draw from his failure is that which both Mr. Bevan and
Mr. Strachey draw. Marx was not wrong to insist that Socialists
must base their policy and strategy on the best available analysis
and anticipation of how the political economy will develop. The
errors he made and which we must seek to avoid were, first his re–
fusal to admit that in social change politics may be as dynamic a
force as economics; and, secondly, his failure to forsee the strength
of
the survival instinct and the powers of adaptability which would
