Red Flag
21 June 1919
What we want
A lot of make-believe capitalist sympathy has been slobbered over the working class recently as a result of the revelations of some of the horrors of working class existence. That the capitalist may make a genuine effort to improve these conditions is quite possible. But even if they do improve the workers conditions; if they stable them in palaces and harness them in "Workmen's Charters;" if Lord Leverem finds that he can exhaust his men in six hours and does it, and Mr. Ford discovers anew that high wages, as the Dutch say of paint, cost nothing - what then?
Such things, realized far beyond the realms of possibility, would leave us unmoved. We are out for a LIFE for the workers. The world is beautiful, life is glorious. Even work is a joy if man may, as Morris said, "rejoice in the work of his hand." Evolution has given us the possibility of producing by work, as distinct from toil, wealth in such abundance that the amenities of civilization shall be the portion of all, without stint.
A place in the sun, a draught of sweet air of the meadow, the tranquility of the country sunset, relieved of the shadow of our slavery - are they not worth fighting for? Are the workers forever to be content with the mentality that can raise a singer to fame and fortune on such a song as "Champagne Charlie?" The earth sings a song after rain, but how many of us have heard it? The World with all its beauty is for the Workers, if they will but take it.
Wilfred Gribble