Essays in Idleness

Socialism has always made its deep appeal to the shallow — to malice and envy, and to the pigeon-brained, assembling to leave their malodorous droppings on the city streets. That Socialism has not practically succeeded, ever — even once — out of many thousand attempts, might be seen as a failure of Democracy. For election results depend upon the voting of the general public, and these masses are, as one should probably have guessed by now, quite incredibly stupid. They exhibit retardation in both its moral and intellectual forms. That is why they swing Left-socialist, or perhaps more misfortunately Right-socialist sometimes, and we are warned that they will do so at the congressional midterms, next month in the United States.

Blaming politicians is like blaming crime on the criminals. What can one expect from them?

I, however, will not be concerned with this, any more than I am concerned with the question of intelligent life on Mars. For I am as confident that there is none as I am confident that none will be found in electorates.