Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II WHAT IS WEALTH ? WHERE DOES IT COME FROM ? WHO CREATES IT? Those who have read anything about political economy or Socialism must often have found such thoughts as these rise up in their minds— How is it some are rich and others poor ? How is it some who are able and willing to work can get no work to do ? How is it that some who work very hard are so poorly paid ? How is it that others who do not work at all have more money than they need ? Why is one man born to pay rent and another to spend it ? Let us first face the question of why there is so much poverty. This question has been answered in many strange ways. It has been said that poverty is due to drink. But that is not true, for we find many sober people poor, and we find awful poverty in countries where drunkenness is almost unknown. Drink does not cause the poverty of the sober Hindoos. Drink does not cause the poverty of our English women workers. It has been said that poverty is due to " over-production," and it has been said that it is due to " under-consumption." Let us see what these phrases mean. First, over-production. Poverty is due to over-production —of whatl Of wealth. So we are to believe that the people are poor because they make too much wealth, that they are hungry because they produce too much food, naked because they make too many clothes, cold because they get too much coal, homeless because they build too many houses I Next, under-consumption. We are told that poverty is due to under-consumption—under-consumption ofwftaf? Of wealth. The people are poor because they do not destroy enough wealth. The way for them to grow rich is by consuming riches. They are to make their cake larger by eating it. Alas ! the trouble is that they can get no cake to eat; they ca... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.