But years now have passed since Owen lived; the second New
Harmony has not yet been seen; the so-called rational system of
education has not yet transformed the impulses or the aims of
men; and the communist of today, with a history of two thousand
years of failure behind him, in the same pathetic confidence
still looks for the realization of his dreams to the communism of
the future.
And yet, granting that communism were practicable, granting that
Owen's hopes had some prospect of fulfillment, the doctrine still
embodies evils that must make it forever inexpedient. The
readers of Mr. Matthew Arnold's works must have noticed the
emphasis with which he dwells on the instinct of expansion as a
factor in human progress. It is the refutation alike of
communism and socialism that they thwart the instinct of
expansion; that they substitute for individual energy the energy
of the government; that they substitute for human personality the
blind, mechanical power of the State. The one system, as the
other, marks the end of individualism. The one system, as the
other, would make each man the image of his neighbor.


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