Internationalism

K.P. Alexander

[Reprinted from Land and Freedom, March-April 1930]

Internationalism THE philosophic Internationalist is seldom, if ever, a Red, a Socialist, a Communist or a Bolshevik. He strongly believes that true progress primarily is dependent upon the highest type of practical ethics, and must necessarily therefore embody world-wide economic equitableness, rather than either individual or national selfish advantage, for every human being.

Internationalists regard real progress and peace possibilities, both locally and internationally, as being dependent upon every man being ultimately accorded his inherent economic opportunity to equitably-regulated use of all the Earth, and, the equally inherent right of each group of society to the use-value accruing from exclusive possession of particular areas of natural opportunities.

The intelligent Internationalist, being necessarily a student of political economy, holds that such socially- produced values as arise in "unearned increment," rightfully belong solely to the political subdivisions creating them. With no disturbance to land titles, he would use present taxing powers to collect for public uses all land rental-values, thus obviating necessity for taxing the products of individual physical and mental labor, whose producers have inherent right to their entire products.

The far-seeing Internationalist strongly holds that most industrial insurrections and most war-causes proceed usually in and from nations whose population is great and unduly dense per square mile, which under present mal- administration of economics, intensify the seeming, though untrue, need of greed and selfishness. Wars generally are directed toward nations whose populations are sparse and the consequent land-values, and therefore net living costs, are relatively lower than their own.

Internationalism seeks establishment of equal economic opportunities, and equitable, though by no means equal, returns for expenditures of all productively-directed physical and mental energy; first, for one's own country, and, secondarily, for all mankind. It envisions for the future sound and justifiable hope for inescapable permanent and Universal peace, which it considers hopeless except when built primarily upon universally equitable economic rather than political foundations.

Otherwise than as herein indicated, there appears to be no conceivable basis for the ideal ethical Brotherhood of Man, nor for initiating just and enduring relationships among well-disposed men and nations, even in the remote future.

It is unthinkable that those of the present era of the sharpened tooth and wide-spread claw instincts of man shall always feel called upon to live interminably in terror and to terrorize. Justly based peace-possibilities, for all men and all nations, must finally prevail, if the trend of civilization is to continue upward.