BOLSHEVIK THEORY
i
ization and disorganization make success almost im-
possible, and where men are in a mood of fierce despair
very inimical to industrial construction. If Socialism is
to have a fair chance, it must be inaugurated in a
prosperous country. But a prosperous country will not
be readily moved by the arguments of hatred and
universal upheaval which are employed by the Third
International, It is necessary, in appealing to a pros-
perous country, to lay stress on hope rather than
despair, and to show how the transition can be effected,
without a calamitous loss of prosperity. All this requires
less violence and subversiveness, more patience and
constructive propaganda, less appeal to the armed
might of a determined minority.
The attitude of uncompromising heroism is attrac-
tive, and appeals especially to the dramatic instinct.
I But the purpose of the serious revolutionary is not
'^personal heroism, nor martyrdom, but the creation of
:a happier world. Those who have the happiness of the
world at heart will shrink from attitudes and the
facile hysteria of "no parley with the enemy." They
will not embark upon enterprises, however arduous
and austere, which are likely to involve the martyrdom
of their country and the discrediting of their ideals. It
is by slower and less showy methods that the new
world must be built: by industrial efforts after self-
government, by proletarian training in technique and
business administration, by careful study of the inter-
national situation, by a prolonged and devoted propa-
ganda of ideas rather than tactics, especially among
the wage-earners of the United States. It is not true
that no gradual approaches to Socialism are possible:
self-government in industry is an important instance
to the contrary. It is not true that any isolated
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