Publisher's Synopsis
"There is nothing better calculated to put upon a class a worthy and deeply moral stamp, than the consciousness that it is destined to become the ruling one, that it is called upon to raise the underlying principle of its own rank to the dignity of the principle of the age, to make the idea that animates it the leading idea of the whole of society, and to remodel the latter in its own image." -Ferdinand Lassalle. * * * * *From the Introductory Note.The translation of nearly all the Socialist classics into the English language has placed Socialist argument upon a sound economic basis in America. While these theoretical contributions of the thinkers in Europe are valuable to the American Movement, capitalist development in this country and the social and political phenomena inseparably connected therewith, have peculiarly fitted the American Socialist militant for the practical consideration of questions arising from them. Just now, when Aesop's fable of the philosopher who fell into the well is being illustrated by many of the mental giants in theoretical lore who are leading the working class movement in Europe into the pitfalls of petty bourgeois Socialism or into the mire of official inactivity, American Socialists can repay their debt of gratitude to the European philosophers by pointing out the dangers that lie in the path along which Socialism must labor. Fact, in America, has taken the place of theory. The tragedy of Capitalism is no longer produced on the stage, but is enacted in everyday life. Idealism has given way to realism. And the "American invasion" will soon force similar conditions in Europe. Daniel DeLeon's former addresses on Socialism have appeared in popular leaflet form, and have had a widespread circulation. "What Means This Strike?" "Reform or Revolution?" "Socialism versus Anarchism," and the "DeLeon - Harriman Debate" exhausted several editions. This is the first time a more pretentious style of publication has been adopted.
