IV

POLITICS

3°3

burglar or acquiring skill in forgery and em-bezzlement. Even the most admirable aspectsof the love of money in our existing society,such as thrift and saving, and the attainment offinancial security and independence for one’sself and one’s family, whilst not deemed morallywrong, will be rendered so difficult and im-practicable as to be not worth while. Every oneshould work for the community—the new creedruns—and, if he does his duty, the communitywill uphold him.

This system does not mean a complete level-ling down of incomes—at least at the presentstage. A clever and successful person in SovietRussia has a bigger income and a better timethan other people. The commissar with £$ aweek (plus sundry free services, a motor-car, aflat, a box at the ballet, etc., etc.) lives wellenough, but not in the least like a rich man inLondon . The successful professor or civil ser-vant with £6 or £7 a week (minus sundry im-positions) has, perhaps, a real income threetimes those of the proletarian workers and sixtimes those of the poorer peasants. Somepeasants are three or four times richer thanothers. A man who is out of work receivespart pay, not full pay. But no one can affordon these incomes, with high Russian prices andstiff progressive taxes, to save anything worthsaving; it is hard enough to live day by day.The progressive taxation and the mode of assess-ing rents and other charges are such that it isactually disadvantageous to have an acknow-