If Marcy’s faith, like so many, in the inevitability of Socialism was shattered by the collapse of the International, her ardor for its promise and determination to see its coming did not diminish an iota.

‘All Roads Lead to Socialism’ by John A. Randolph (Mary E. Marcy) from International Socialist Review. Vol. 12 No. 1. July, 1911.

SOCIALISM is a form of industrial society soon to be realized. When it prevails the workers themselves, through their industrial government, will own the land, raw materials, machinery and means of transportation. Through this industrial government they will make the laws for the operation of these industries. Thus the workers will have under their complete control the conditions of their labor. All of the product will go to the workers.

ALL THE ROADS OF CIVILIZATION LEAD TO SOCIALISM.

The invention of machines and the applications of science to industry are rapidly making Socialism necessary to the very life of the worker. The only solution to the problem of unemployment is less hours of work, more leisure and a greater income to each individual worker. The only solution of the problem of poverty is for the workers to take back the wealth produced by them and thus furnish themselves with food, clothing and shelter. The more machines which are put to work, and the larger and more complicated they become, the nearer we get to Socialism.

These conditions, of course, are forcing the working class to understand Socialism and fight for it. But the harder we study and the harder we fight the sooner we will get it. We can even imagine a working class so broken by poverty, so sunken in ignorance, so cowardly from weakness of body, mind and spirit, that it would never make the fight necessary to defeat the capitalists and their parasitic supporters. These latter are the only natural enemies of Socialism. They will fight against it to the bitter end.

BUT THE WORKERS ARE BECOMING AROUSED. THEY ARE LEARNING. THEY ARE FIGHTING. THEY ARE ORGANIZING INTO THE SOCIALIST PARTY AND INTO INDUSTRIAL UNIONS.

This line of march is the great highway to Socialism. But many byways lead into this main road. The manual workers are not the only ones to fight the enemies of the working class and of progress.

The scholar, burning the midnight oil, gets deep into the study of the history and government of society. He examines causes. Taking nothing for granted he lets the facts alone speak and tell their story. He finds that all governments have been the governments of ruling classes. One form of government follows another as the interests and the powers of different groups of masters have permitted them to enslave their fellow men. He finds that the government and laws of today were born yesterday and will die tomorrow. What is coming in their place, he asks? The answer, he finds, is “Socialism.” Through the byway of pure science, of an honest search for the truth, the scholar joins the march on the great highway to Socialism.

The charity worker goes among the very poor to clothe the naked, feed the hungry and repair the injuries of ignorance and disease. She labors long and well and brings some degree of comfort to many. But when she aids one, ten more stand with outstretched arms. She reforms the thief and murderer only to find that when he wishes to earn an honest living he cannot find employment. She cures the sick child and sees it sent to the factory, where it displaces its parents. All honest charity workers who have the intelligence to understand the life about them, become Socialists after a few months or at most a few years of experience. Along the byway of charity and kindly deeds they come to march as soldiers against the enemies of civilization.

The member of the old-fashioned labor union goes on strike with his union for better conditions of labor and higher wages. He and his fellows are fighting a great trust. A few hundred have gone on strike; many thousands continue to work for the trust. The strike is lost. “Let us have one union,” says the union man. The cry is taken up by others. Soon some bold member of the union calls out, “ONE UNION AND LET THE UNION OWN THE MACHINES.” Now if we have one union and the union owns and governs the machines we shall have Socialism. So the old fashioned union men, long misled and many times defeated, break their way at last to higher, clearer ground and join the hosts of Socialism.

The physician goes his daily rounds and finds every class of humanity afflicted by disease. The children of the poor die by thousands. The children of the rich are over-indulged. There are diseases which result from poverty and diseases which result from luxury. There are diseases caused by idleness and diseases caused by overwork. Hundreds of thousands a year suffer from accidents in industries, from unnecessary fires, unnecessary turmoil. He finds the whole race ill and hunts for the cause. The causes are profit seeking and profit taking, overwork and unemployment, starvation and gluttony. The physician is young, active minded and honest. He resolves that henceforth, while doing what he can for the afflicted individual, he will do more for afflicted society and thus for himself. So he takes his place in the ranks of the working class.

The wife in her home finds that it is far from being a heaven. She is entirely dependent upon another for support. The whole of life for herself and her children is made dependent upon another. Much of her labor, the making of cloth and of clothing, the preparation of food, these have been taken to the factory. If she follow this labor to the factory, in order to perform her portion of the useful service of the world, she will not be able to maintain the home. She finds herself, anxious and willing to be strong and independent minded through labor and service, forced to live upon what she discovers to be the charity of another. As a mother she fears for the future of her children. If doomed to labor in poverty for others they will suffer all the ills of slavery. If riches and mastership be their portion, their lives are only too likely to be blighted by idleness, profligacy and by poverty of the mind. The wife of the husband of every class, the mother of the children of every class–these, when they come to understand the world in which they live, gather from the dishonored and broken homes of the present to march with the workers toward Socialism.

The patriot, his country’s fame besmirched and its government degraded, hastens along the way that leads to the newer and better government of the world. The philosopher, the poet, the artist–these have learned that the pursuit of knowledge and the arts is rendered impossible by a social system given over to knavery and intrigue, to dirt and vulgarity.

Lastly comes one stunted in mind and body, hobbling on a crutch, his face disfigured by fire and wounds, his lips muttering idly against life in general. His heart is sorrowful or perchance now quite unmoved through long suffering. Yet it is animated by one mighty hope which has taken possession of what remains of this long-deluded creature. It is the average worker. He, having little faith, remained long without the ranks. His byway has been rough and narrow but it led unswervingly to the main highway. His toiling comrades long ago understood and started in the right direction. This straggling wight waited until the hard conditions of life no longer permitted him to rest. He has been driven by whips to join the column.

ALL THE ROADS LEAD TO SOCIALISM.

The International Socialist Review (ISR) was published monthly in Chicago from 1900 until 1918 by Charles H. Kerr and critically loyal to the Socialist Party of America. It is one of the essential publications in U.S. left history. During the editorship of A.M. Simons it was largely theoretical and moderate. In 1908, Charles H. Kerr took over as editor with strong influence from Mary E Marcy. The magazine became the foremost proponent of the SP’s left wing growing to tens of thousands of subscribers. It remained revolutionary in outlook and anti-militarist during World War One. It liberally used photographs and images, with news, theory, arts and organizing in its pages. It articles, reports and essays are an invaluable record of the U.S. class struggle and the development of Marxism in the decades before the Soviet experience. It was closed down in government repression in 1918.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/isr/v12n01-jul-1911-ISR-H-GR-ocr.pdf