Chapter 11 - Page 2

struggle.

And to bring this to pass, nothing new need be brought before
men's minds. Only let the mist, which veils from men's eyes the
true meaning of certain acts of violence, pass away, and the
Christian public opinion which is springing up would overpower the
extinct public opinion which permitted and justified acts of
violence. People need only come to be as much ashamed to do deeds
of violence, to assist in them or to profit by them, as they now
are of being, or being reputed a swindler, a thief, a coward, or a
beggar. And already this change is beginning to take place. We
do not notice it just as we do not notice the movement of the
earth, because we are moved together with everything around us.

It is true that the organization of society remains in its
principal features just as much an organization based on violence
as it was one thousand years ago, and even in some respects,
especially in the preparation for war and in war itself, it
appears still more brutal. But the rising Christian ideal, which
must at a certain stage of development replace the heathen ideal
of life, already makes its influence felt. A dead tree stands
apparently as firmly as ever--it may even seem firmer because it
is harder--but it is rotten at the core, and soon must fall. It
is just so with the present order of society, based on force. The
external aspect is unchanged. There is the same division of
oppressors and oppressed, but their view of the significance and
dignity of their respective positions is no longer what it once
was.

The oppressors, that is, those who take part in government, and
those who profit by oppression, that is, the rich, no longer
imagine, as they once did, that they are the elect of the world,
and that they constitute the ideal of human happiness and
greatness, to attain which was once the highest aim of the
oppressed.

Very often now it is not the oppressed who strive to attain the
position of the oppressors, and try to imitate them, but on the
contrary the oppressors who voluntarily abandon the advantages of
their position, prefer the condition of the oppressed, and try to
resemble them in the simplicity of their life.

Not to speak of the duties and occupations now openly despised,
such as that of spy, agent of secret police, moneylender, and
publican, there are a great number of professions formerly
regarded as honorable, such as those of police officials,
courtiers, judges, and administrative functionaries, clergymen,
military officers, speculators, and bankers, which are no longer
considered desirable positions by everyone, and are even despised
by a special circle of the most respected people. There are
already men who voluntarily abandon these