Back in September, Iain Hunter published an excellent Free Speech Backlash piece on the Fabian Society. It begins with the origins of the Fabians, their political strategy of slow but sure and ends with a particular focus on the influential writer H. G. Wells.
The Fabian Society – Part One
The socialists who loved luxury for themselves - but not for the rest
The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation which has the aim of advancing towards ‘democratic socialism’ gradually and by stealth rather than by sudden violent revolutionary overthrow. It was founded in January 1884 and named after Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, ‘Cunctator’, the Roman general whose successful campaign against the superior army of Hannibal the Carthaginian was won by accepting only small engagements on favourable ground which he knew he could win.
Soon after its foundation the first pamphlet of the society explained the tactics:
For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did most patiently when warring against Hannibal, though many censured his delays; but when the time comes you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or your waiting will be in vain, and fruitless.
The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation which has the aim of advancing towards ‘democratic socialism’ gradually and by stealth rather than by sudden violent revolutionary overthrow. It was founded in January 1884 and named after Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, ‘Cunctator’, the Roman general whose successful campaign against the superior army of Hannibal the Carthaginian was won by accepting only small engagements on favourable ground which he knew he could win.
Soon after its foundation the first pamphlet of the society explained the tactics:
For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did most patiently when warring against Hannibal, though many censured his delays; but when the time comes you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or your waiting will be in vain, and fruitless.
Quite long but well worth reading. This for example on the odious Wells, who in my view wasn't a particularly good writer -
But Wells also had a much darker side. Here we come to H.G. the Darwinist and eugenicist. After Darwinism had destroyed the conventional theology in the minds of most British intellectuals, the question in the mind of many of them was, ‘could Darwin provide an alternative basis for morality’? Wells, along with others felt that the solution lay in eugenics. For him and many other Darwinians of his time, it was vital for the salvation of the human race. Here he ‘out-Darwined’ Darwin, and he championed eugenics for most of his adult life. It is vividly shown in his book about his hope for the future of humankind, ‘Anticipations’. This was Wells’ first non-fiction best-seller. Its effect on British intellectuals and their European counterparts was profound. This book defended an ‘extreme program of negative eugenics. In his own words, Wells advocated favouring:
“The procreation of what is fine and efficient and beautiful in humanity—beautiful and strong bodies, clear and powerful minds … and to check the procreation of base and servile types … of all that is mean and ugly and bestial in the souls, bodies, or habits of men”
“The procreation of what is fine and efficient and beautiful in humanity—beautiful and strong bodies, clear and powerful minds … and to check the procreation of base and servile types … of all that is mean and ugly and bestial in the souls, bodies, or habits of men”
5 comments:
The road to Utopia is littered with corpses, whether the journey is at run or a modest walk. But the ends do not justify the means, as the more immediate means corrupt the final ends.
And that is why the Fabians could dine well and ignore the suffering of others because the Fabian journey was blessed by the prospect of a glorious future.
That's a good article. Wells was local to where we used to live, and my wife met people whose parents had taken him as a lodger. His novel "The History of Mr. Polly" is, I think, quite profound in its way, but there's not much else of his that I rate.
They all seemed to be deeply unpleasant people in those socialist circles. Orwell is the only vaguely sympathetic character. That book of essays by Wells is full-on Nazism.
GB Shaw and RH Tawney as well. I was one, aged 20, but then started my working life and grew up (a bit).
Anon - GB Shaw is in part 2 of the article, but I haven't read that yet. At 20 I think many of us were similarly radical, then as in your case we started working life and grew up (a bit).
DJ - yes, the Fabians concocted fake virtue based on following that road to Utopia which was only ever going to be their Utopia.
Sam - from what I remember of "The History of Mr. Polly", it is more socially observant and forgiving than Wells' politics. As if he could have done better but never did.
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