The Producers News

That Happy Day

Competent statistical sharks now estimate that less than one tenth of one percent of United States population owns one half of all wealth; two percent of the population owns eighty percent of all wealth, and less than twenty percent owns practically all. Under a profit system the number of Haves constantly decrease; the Have Nots correspondingly increase.

Capitalism requires that those who have must constantly add to what they have. The business that ceases to make a profit is broke-it goes out. At any given time there is only so much national wealth. As one man accumulates more other men must have less and ever less. Wealth must eternally concentrate into fewer and fewer hands.

Aided by a machine age, which has brought great corporate development, trusts, mergers, reorganizations, pools and stock jobbing schemes that run into the billions of dollars the wealth concentration process goes forward at an ever and ever greater speed. It moves by acceleration.

If this process shall continue-and it cannot do otherwise under capitalism-we shall presently come to that happy (?) day when one man owns all. At past and present rates of concentration this will be about 1965.

Then, what then? One man owns all; one hundred twenty five or fifty million, as the case may be, of other humans own nothing. We are still operating under a profit system. Industry must stop absolutely dead. The owner cannot operate without profit and there remains no one from whom he can get said profit. But industry that pays no profit is likewise valueless. The owner of all likewise goes broke. Happy happy day when we all starve to death.