THE PLANNED SOCIETY
with ideas of war. Science makes it inevitable that all
countries shall soon attain to a considerable degree of self-
sufficiency. This inevitable development should be so
directed as to serve the cause of peace. And, in effect, it
can easily be made to serve the cause of peace. The
influence of nationalistic idolatry is now so strong that
every contact between nations threatens to produce dis-
cord. Accordingly, the less we have to do with one
another, the more likely are we to keep the peace. Thanks
to certain technological discoveries, it is unnecessary hence-
forward that we should have much to do with one another.
The more rapidly and the more systematically we make
use of these discoveries, the better for all concerned.
Let us consider by way of example the problem of
food supply. Many governments, including die English,
German, Italian and Japanese, excuse their preparations for
war, their possession of colonies or their desire, if they
do not possess colonies, for new conquests, on the ground
that their territories are insufficient to supply the in-
habitants with food. At the present time this 'natural*
food shortage is intensified by an artificial shortage, due
to faulty monetary policies, which prevent certain countries
from acquiring food-stuffs from abroad. These faulty
monetary policies are the result of militarism. The govern-
ments of the countries concerned choose to spend all the
available national resources for the purchase of armaments
—on guns rather than butter. Food cannot be bought
because the country is preparing to go to war; the country
must go to war becausfe food cannot be bought. As usual,
it is a vicious circle.
Faulty monetary policy may prevent certain nations
from buying food from abroad. But even if this policy
were altered, it would still remain true that food must be
obtained from foreign sources. In relation to existing
home supplies, such countries as Great Britain, Germany
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