est
species conceivable on earth. Princes and paupers meet on this plane,
and no other men are on it all. On the other hand, a man whose labor
and self-denial may be diverted from his maintenance to that of some
other man is not a free man, and approaches more or less toward the
position of a slave. Therefore we shall find that, in all the notions
which we are to discuss, this elementary contradiction, that there are
classes and that there are not classes, will produce repeated confusion
and absurdity. We shall find that, in our efforts to eliminate the old
vices of class government, we are impeded and defeated by new products
of the worst class theory. We shall find that all the schemes for
producing equality and obliterating the organization of society produce
a new differentiation based on the worst possible distinction--the
right to claim and the duty to give one man's effort for another man's
satisfaction. We shall find that every effort to realize equality
necessitates a sacrifice of liberty.

It is very popular to pose as a "friend of humanity," or a "friend of
the working classes." The character, however, is quite exotic in the
United States. It is borrowed from England, where some men, otherwise
of small account, have assumed it with great success and advantage.
Anything which has a charitable sound and a kind-hearted tone generally
passes without investigation, because it is disagreeable to assail it.
Sermons, essays, and orations assume a conventional standpoint with
regard to the poor, the weak, etc.; and it is allowed to pass as an
unquestioned doctrine in regard to social classes that "the rich" ought
to "care for the poor"; that Churches especially ought to collect
capital from the rich and spend it for the poor; that parishes ought to
be clusters of institutions by means of which one social class should
perform its duties to another; and that clergymen, economists, and
social philosophers have a technical and professional duty to devise
schemes for "helping the poor." The preaching in England used all to be
done to the poor--that they ought to be contented with their lot and
respectful to their betters. Now, the greatest part of the preaching in
America consists in injunctions to those who have taken care of
themselves to perform their assumed duty to take care of others.
Whatever may be one's private sentiments, the fear of appearing cold
and hard-hearted causes these conventional theories of social dut