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ESSAYS IN PERSUASION

PART

or excited or edified. That which is commonto the atmosphere, the mentality, the view oflife of—well, I will not mention names—pro-motes neither my self-interest nor the publicgood. It leads nowhere; it satisfies no ideal;it conforms to no intellectual standard; it isnot even safe, or calculated to preserve fromspoilers that degree of civilisation which wehave already attained.

Ought I, then, to join the Labour Party ?Superficially that is more attractive. Butlooked at closer, there are great difficulties.To begin with, it is a class party, and the classis not my class. If I am going to pursue sec-tional interests at all, I shall pursue my own.When it comes to the class struggle as such,my local and personal patriotisms, like those ofevery one else, except certain unpleasant zealousones, are attached to my own surroundings. Ican be influenced by what seems to me to beJustice and good sense; but the Class war willfind me on the side of the educated bourgeoisie.

But, above all, I do not believe that the intel-lectual elements in the Labour Party will everexercise adequate control; too much will alwaysbe decided by those who do not know at allwhat they are talking about; and if—which isnot unlikely—the control of the party is seizedby an autocratic inner ring, this control will beexercised in the interests of the extreme LeftWing—the section of the Labour Party whichI shall designate the Party of Catastrophe.

On the negative test, I incline to believe that