It is his alone. It is not transferable—not negotiable. He alone earned it; he alone is entitled to it.

One restriction, however, follows him here in the Capi- tals. He may not engage in traffic in Necessaries of Life—for they are handled by the Commons alone. In the Capitals his trade is limited to the production and sale of Luxuries and Surpluses—i. e., to staple and manufactured goods over and above what are needed by the Commons in their task of providing basic livelihoods for the people. These may be exported for profit or sold to the Luxury trade at home.

Thus the National Livelihood Plan is a project whereby collectivism would be applied to the production of Neces- saries, while individualism would be reserved for the pro- duction and sale of Luxuries and Surpluses for profit. Thus a wide field would be reserved (wider than the reader may at first be disposed to believe) for the exercise of in- dividual initiative and for the accumulation of private wealth. At the same time the basic livelihoods in prime Necessaries of the people would always be assured to them.

This arrangement would give a subsistence basis to econ- omic society which nothing could impair or imperil. The Plan provides economic safety while at the same time re- taining a huge measure of economic liberty. The problem has been how to attain safety without losing freedom. A solution would appear to lie in the comparatively simple compromise between socialism and individualism by ap- plying the one to Necessaries and the other to Luxuries.

Such a compromise would demand, in effect, the inven- tion of new economic machinery for carrying on our affairs. To attempt the creation of such a machine is no more fantastic than were the labors of those who invented the automobile or the electric lamp, or the radio, or the telephone.

Invention has no other purpose save to satisfy manifest needs—but human needs are not confined to machines alone. We need a social and economic machine fitted to serve our requirements and to take us where we want to go.

Editorial Jul34 4

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