Internationalism
K.P. Alexander
[Reprinted from Land and Freedom, March-April
1930]
Internationalism THE philosophic Internationalist is seldom, if ever,
a Red, a Socialist, a Communist or a Bolshevik. He strongly believes
that true progress primarily is dependent upon the highest type of
practical ethics, and must necessarily therefore embody world-wide
economic equitableness, rather than either individual or national
selfish advantage, for every human being.
Internationalists regard real progress and peace possibilities, both
locally and internationally, as being dependent upon every man being
ultimately accorded his inherent economic opportunity to
equitably-regulated use of all the Earth, and, the equally inherent
right of each group of society to the use-value accruing from
exclusive possession of particular areas of natural opportunities.
The intelligent Internationalist, being necessarily a student of
political economy, holds that such socially- produced values as arise
in "unearned increment," rightfully belong solely to the
political subdivisions creating them. With no disturbance to land
titles, he would use present taxing powers to collect for public uses
all land rental-values, thus obviating necessity for taxing the
products of individual physical and mental labor, whose producers have
inherent right to their entire products.
The far-seeing Internationalist strongly holds that most industrial
insurrections and most war-causes proceed usually in and from nations
whose population is great and unduly dense per square mile, which
under present mal- administration of economics, intensify the seeming,
though untrue, need of greed and selfishness. Wars generally are
directed toward nations whose populations are sparse and the
consequent land-values, and therefore net living costs, are relatively
lower than their own.
Internationalism seeks establishment of equal economic opportunities,
and equitable, though by no means equal, returns for expenditures of
all productively-directed physical and mental energy; first, for one's
own country, and, secondarily, for all mankind. It envisions for the
future sound and justifiable hope for inescapable permanent and
Universal peace, which it considers hopeless except when built
primarily upon universally equitable economic rather than political
foundations.
Otherwise than as herein indicated, there appears to be no
conceivable basis for the ideal ethical Brotherhood of Man, nor for
initiating just and enduring relationships among well-disposed men and
nations, even in the remote future.
It is unthinkable that those of the present era of the sharpened
tooth and wide-spread claw instincts of man shall always feel called
upon to live interminably in terror and to terrorize. Justly based
peace-possibilities, for all men and all nations, must finally
prevail, if the trend of civilization is to continue upward.
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