any moment. Under the régime of such institutions, the object of social activity is not, I repeat, the destruction but the conservation of life and property. The man seeking to supply his own wants can do so most effectively only as he supplies the wants of his fellows—that is to say, in striving for his own happiness, he must, in spite of greed or indifference, aid in their attainment to the same state of content. But the prevalence of misery about him tends to pain him as it does its victims, and only as he helps them to escape it can he do so himself. Therefore, the very necessities of existence do not simply constrain him to undertake in the myriad forms of industrial enterprise what will contribute most powerfully to his own happiness, they constrain him also to undertake in the myriad forms of charitable enterprise what will alleviate most perfectly the sufferings of those less fortunate than himself. Thus, while peace and industry compel the abandonment of every vice that leads to barbarism, they compel the observance of every virtue that leads to civilization.
What the duty of people is must now be as plain as it is simple. They should set their faces resolutely against any extension of the authority of the state. With all the strength at their command they should work to abridge as much as possible the authority with which it has already been wrongfully intrusted. Only by voluntary effort, such as is exhibited in every private industrial and charitable enterprise ever undertaken, should they attempt a solution of the problems of life. No one then will be called upon to surrender without his consent either his property or his freedom.
