Security for the Aged
Feigenbaum, William M.
By William M. Feigenbaum Security for the Aged Not Thrwmgh an Unworkable Tow send Plan That &$e& Economic Disaster, but Through Socialist ActUm Will the Aged Find Relief From Insecurity and...
...congress at Tours...
...uthstalsa waenssjd •he-living to Soviet America with the Daily Worker Ihi uBiirt hssfsnfl mouthpiece -of the government...
...The recent qui lam nious conversations on air armaments between Adolf TTittor and SiraJric Phipps, the British Ambassador, gives the luscious rasa-berry to "open convenants openly arrived at...
...1st Rand School FonmMeetmg ->—-— Y ¦ The question of the Constitution vs...
...A clean and decent ambition, and eminently practical—if the only pensioners ore to be the two Townsends...
...This meeting is the first of a series arranged by the Rand School to deal with vital current problems...
...Carsery Rhymes XJBY diddle diddle, ** Living ia a riddle...
...flto|sto*>t as look at the united front ia^ance...
...In a world full of women whose sweethearts were unable to get away from them it is hardly to be wondered at that the Brooklyn girl tried her best...
...They forget .the lessons of 1920, when the Communists succeeded in split-WMjtlm Socialist movement at the...
...In the meanwhile, the Communists win have achieved their purpose: a split in the Socialist ranks, capture of a large section of the party, demoralization of the Social Democracy and a rise in Communist prestige and power...
...And that figure would be a minimum, for vital statistics indicate that with a declining birthrate and a rapidly lowering death rate the percentage of people over 60 to the total population will continue to grow year by year, and it will not be long until the figure is twenty-five billions, twenty-eight billions, thirty billions a year GOING ON YEAR AFTER YEAR FOREVER...
...Their party memwhile that of the °—hritt'filial . .-^VTh^cohfaswx ia toe ranks of the Soctatort^Party is ¦is'limilii...
...i It is not enough to prove that Dr...
...Townsend is promising the moon, but to make the aged who have nothing to look forward to but insecurity and want realise it is something else...
...The French Socialists, whose ties with the labor movement, unlike those of the EBBah W Other countries, have never been very close, have followed toe road of Communist and pseudo-Communist illusions...
...The Workers Abroad By Order of Moscow, French Communists Demand Exclusion From Proposed Merger, of All Socialists By John Powers Who Will Not Pay Homage ? ¦*.- *° Dictatorship By John Powers The Tragic Comedy of the United Front in ' ;. France < "OUT look at the united front in France...
...Now that it became good revolutionary tactics, as per indorsement of Moscow, to enter into a people's front with the Radicals and other progressives, the Socialists decided they would enter the people's front...
...the people of these United States will be debated at the Band School Friday iiieiilas...
...In a world of uncertainty and insecurity who can blame men and women as they approach old age if they desire security and the certainty that they will not be compelled to live out the last years of their lives in poverty, want and anxiety...
...oa readers win- recall the recent article of Comrade Raphael JHtfpWsTill ill to The New Leader in which he deplored the Staliniza-1_g_*EsS...
...Moscow's aim is about to be realized...
...The answer is simple...
...But.toe Townsend Plan will not end the' evil of poveity in the midst of plenty...
...This misalliance is new bearing the inevitable bitter fruit...
...and it is as practical and workable sad effecacious as tbejnfooklyn miracle worker's promise to bring back the wandering sweetheart...
...Imagine the "old guard" of the Socialist Party corralled to a concentration camp up in Alaska without a pinochle deck...
...All sides wU ha iiopieiinlsd Charles SolooMawfll rastoBSSptipte Labor, Arthur...
...The lesson away from any raited front wtth the ChaeafSanaS^^ their realization that the read of the Communist united front is the | read to the e~to»nnlt?LS^ llAUGHTlR...
...Townsend is promising what cannot ever be delivered...
...The Brooklyn woman—who, of course, was a charlatan—could not deliver •he lost lover to her well-paying customer, nor can Dr...
...But they continued Jto take their cues from the ^BhehSsto...
...Information received from France this week discloses that the Communists, encouraged by their success in tying the French So-.¦h_oW'*ir toeir* chariot, hove finally thrown off the mask and are :_psfag a split ha the Socialist Party as the price of organic unity lWsjcea the Communist and Socialist parties...
...But it is one thing to promise something to fifteen million people —or even to fifteen people—but it is another thing to deliver...
...Not Uptil Moscow changed its course and ordered the French Communists te proclaim themselves the friends and supporters of democracy sad to Support the bourgeois government of France did the Socialists, too, alter their attitude...
...And here comes the Townsend movement promising the aged that > decency, self-respect and security...
...Over Ten Million Aged There in 1930 were in this country 10,385,026 men and women over 60, and 4,645,677 more be-ween 55 and 59...
...It would be a good thing IF terrible disease could be exorcised by incantations, or by burying the bones of murderers in vacant.lots in the dead of night...
...In substance they followed the previous {SEnMhe Communists in France and of the German Communists under the Weimar Republic, with similar results: disorganization of parliamentary government and the rise of a fascist movement...
...By William M. Feigenbaum Security for the Aged Not Thrwmgh an Unworkable Tow send Plan That &$e& Economic Disaster, but Through Socialist ActUm Will the Aged Find Relief From Insecurity and Want Sew "'•ad 'tmr^^^^l reached for the moon...
...Bat such a law wffl be literally impossible of enforcement, for to moke it effective it will be necessary to raise twenty-five billion dollars a year—every year—in addition to all other government expenditures, and the 2 per cent transactions tax that Townsend proposes means that while toe capitalist system of private profits goes on, there must be a staggering and unbelievable total of ONE TRILLION TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS' WORTH OF TRANSACTIONS A YEAR...
...They consider it, first, an instrument for the promotion of national Russian interests sad the interests of the Stalin dictatorship in the Kremlin, jji4>sssae, S device to destroy the Socialist parties and trade unions hllSoifinmlti iillli hallowed Bolshevist practice begun in 1017...
...They are aware of what all this means: the enslavement of the French Socialist Party to the Stalin dictatorship in Russia...
...By selecting' one section of the po pul at i on—at this seat for special attention the whole economic structure will be thrown completely oat of balance, and it will inevitably osflsjsjq, It in hapossftte toot it -wo...
...not fall to pieces if an attempt is made to sot aside twenty-five bilhon s year e^nm^ the United States, with 4ssM*S pi sjjf whs re to de^Sp whatever ahBh-ta**and tqhjrqyhoy,^ : When there...
...It is impossible to do more than assuage the pain of disease UNLESS WE GO TO THE CAUSES AND REMOVE THE CAUSES...
...It is an open secret that secret diplomacy is again pursing ha leprous lips...
...No eaaution with-the bourgeoisie for them...
...But in spite of the Tampa terrorists, the American Liberty League, the Curse called Hearst, the Crusaders and...
...There is to be M Jossi hi the new party far Socialists who do not believe in the fldtoOhflatr of Stalhi asm are not prepared to support Soviet Russia ss)'o$p event of war hi each owner as amy be prescribed by Moscow...
...In that way alone can security be found...
...Vtj^MMsn are familiar wah this material and we need not recapitulate it npw...
...They realize that no French Socialist who has heretofore accepted the party's basic program and ideology, founded upon the principles of democratic Socialism, will long endure any such alliance as the Communists have prepared for the Socialist Party...
...It simply win not work sot...
...she hasnt even the murderer's bones to show for her $325...
...Ptojeres ! It takes but a few moments with a pencil, a sheet of paper and a few census figures to* determine the cruel falsity of the Townsend promise...
...Some tough hombres like James Canal and Algernon Lee6 consigned to Little America to cut ice cubes for Communist penthouse cocktafl parties...
...They see the Socialists being dragged more and more into the ewamp of Communist ideology and intrigue...
...Psychologically, this was 2_d_T * matter of fact, toe*roots of the situation go deeper than the dhfted front...
...When prices /wasp ever the moon The bit magnates laugh to gee ouch sport While toe get steam-heat to June...
...j.,.-tie LJEFT I J tai...
...The Labor and Socialist International turned down the ,_HMevi united front proposal, and the LF.T.U...
...Debate on foiisth^ii...
...st its congress in Copenhagen did likewise...
...the aged who face insecurity %nd want, and those mil lions who bein...
...And to that goal there is no short eat, hat only the work of the useful workers, building their unions and their political party, working towards better and better conditions, more and more POWER until the time comes when capitalism and its brood of bastard children will no longer plague the emrth...
...They who were the stronger and the aSSjpor party found themselves in the role of affiliate of the Communist Party...
...The WeriaHat Party to all party members will avail them°* thto* ij mm., a charge of 25c will be made...
...Bat so long as the system of production for profit endures, so long as the socially necessary, teem of production, distribution and exchange ore privately owned for private exploitation, JUST SO LONG WILL IT BE IMPOSSIBLE TO DO MORE THAN MITIGATE THE EVILS OF SOCIETY THE AFFLICT THE USEFUL WORKERS...
...But in toe people's front., too, they permitted the ?omi»netote to take-tee toad...
...Toward that end those who do the world's useful work moot dedicate themselves...
...Indeed it most, and unless and until it ceases the world will continue to stagger towards disaster...
...Council of the American Liberty League, will endeavor to prove that the Constitution ahoald be left as it to...
...ftaeaati Hays will stand for liberalism, Demarest Lloyd, member of the Advisor...
...But for the Plan itself honest men and women must have an analysis AND A SUBSTITUTE...
...bat what are we to think of the miracle worker who took her money in return for a promise she was unable to deliver...
...Why, pot elsewhere...
...Z^^gBeraue the argument of Communists, left wing illusionists and amManta in their efforts to drag the Socialists into a united front Igpauitjr most insidious enemies...
...Manhattan Male Female Total Socialist__ 1,727 1,661 3,288 Communist _ 1,646 1,002 2,648 Bronx Socialist - 2.636 1,796 4,432 Communist _ 1,721 1,102 2,823 From a revolutionary standpoint the enrollment is a better indicator of party strength than .toe vote, because it becomes a sort of honor enrollment of those who have the gats and the grit pusbely to designate their party preference and allegiance...
...In France 'j~~-the Socialists and Communists have found a common meeting jsajasd...
...The Townsend forces," says, a newspaper supporting the .plan, "are serving notice that poverty in the midst of plenty mast cease...
...And that substitute is a threefold one...
...The Communists did the shouting and directing and the Socialists followed...
...Well-meaning men, as well as fools, ignoraarases\and chartatasa jhtjrc promised them the moon, with results more disastrous than the evils from which they suffered in the first place...
...They see the danger of depriving the Socialist Party' of the freedom it must have in determining policy in the event of an international crisis that may lead to war...
...How the Crisis Developed ^•^"Bnt how did toe Socialists permit themselves to get into such a Wmitfun, the readeaj may ask...
...Therefore it is illegal for quacks to advertise their "cures,'' and those who so depart from medical science and ethics are subject to severe penalties...
...Socialist leaders of the type of Blum and Lebat, representing a good majority of their party, are not very happy over toe situation...
...e ¦•* What this country needs is a Karl Marx cigar...
...For can there be any othei Hitfcssgeeaee of the Communist ultimatum...
...A cripple suffering from paralysis may eagerly embrace * prom-science knows is tj»ysa»flih^m the current stage of that science...
...Who, can blame them for wanting to hold up their aged heads in self-respect...
...jW^hot as ion lew briefly the events that led up to the present situa-MV'omt Moscow's brazen ultimatum, recalling in spirit the famous twenty-one demands of the Communist International in 1019...
...These resolutions and ¦Kppsaehes delivered at the Comintern congress by Dimitroff and JmSbjb* repotted exfcnsively ia The New Loader, revealed clearly the 'fem1 ajfrajr^jff the Communist .united front in France and elsewhere...
...Or rf there are to be one hundred, or one hundred thousand...
...Old age pensions, based on actuarial principles while capitalism endures, cannot give the aged as much as the Townsend plan promisee, but such old age pensions, based on increasingly steeply graded income taxes and other forms of levies ARE PRACTICABLE AND CAN BE PUT INTO EFFECT IF THE MASSES ARE, SO MINDED...
...a sane economic SJsHai, when a system of production for use rather than for profit is introduced by the useful members of society — WHEN WE HAVE SOCIALISM—there will be plenty, and more than plenty for all...
...For some day the disillusionment cannot help . A rfises...
...Fully aware of this situation, the Communists are now entering boldly upon the second phase of the conspiracy...
...hy greerta pro-Commuiust | sentiment both in Socialist and bourgeois circles...
...And finally: SOCIALISM, a system under which the evils that spring from economic insecurity will vanish like torn sir because economic insecurity will vanish...
...In short, we would all be having a gay-pay-oo sort of time in dear old USSBUSA...
...Unfortunately, the levers on the mechanical fcsEats are aet«*Jfced for sound...
...tflWaVfH Ulsa Kyi H If nf olfs AJFA dV ____»___a________s" ____________L_l aaaaap fc* * lichen ssnxMa...
...4^* ..j ' If votes were recorded on decibk machines instead of voting machines, William Z. Foster would be stolintoiag la the White House or convalescing in Warm Springs...
...Sympathy and Hops for the Aged For the aged and insecure there is the deepest and- profoundest sympathy...
...Townsend —rwho is an honest and sincere man—deliver security to the 10,-385,026 men and women over 60, nor can his promise to the 4,645,-677 others who will arrive at 60 within the next five years ever be made good...
...At least that is the plan...
...A young woman, seeking the return of a fickle lover, pays a Brooklyn miracle worker $325, in return for which she receives a consignment of...
...And old age pensions, workmen's compensation, unemployment insurance and other forms of social security that can be put into effect even under capitalism are worth infinitely more to the aged, the exploited and the jobless than gUttering promises that eaa in no way be converted into reality...
...They are cognizant of the fact that organic unity will mean the exit of the French Socialists from the Labor and Socialist International and their estrangement from the great Socialist parties of Europe, notably the British Labor Party...
...They perceive the peril of such estrangement not only for the French Socialist Party but for the peace of Europe...
...Firnta system of social insurance that is generous, that is not a levy upon those already victims of a cruel economic system, AND THAT IS BASED ON SOUND ECONOMIC AND ACTUARIAL PRINCIPLES...
...scions workers, the Socialist Party still leads in decimals if not in decibles and the "noise" has it— in the neck...
...The rood of the united front is proving the road of the destruction of the Socialist Party...
...There isn't that much wealth in the country...
...Second, a speeding up of the work of the labor movement, both on the economic and industrial fields, to make-the lot of the workers increasingly leas onerous, so that the benefits that accrue to the workers in the shape of batter wages and better living conditions will be reflected in a better life for the aged...
...the Townsend pension might be a fine thing, bat It is cruel and unjust to held oat- the' hope that such pensions could be paid, and these who boiM a great national movement open that hope are guilty of quackery—or worse...
...Indeed, they should not...
...and he likewise declares all he wants is to adopt a child or two to bring up...
...she lost her money and didn't get bar lover...
...Once more the French Socialist Party will be compelled to pass through a split before It can free itself from the Judos embrace of Stalin & Co...
...From such organic unity the Socialists now find it difficult if not impossible to escape...
...They are j??jTS>oee sort of its organic law, ao that there may be no escape JjfPJllh' ii¦oiig to dear: no Socialist is to be admitted into the new party who veatarcs to doubt the principle of terror and dictatorship, who dares to ciilkiie anything Stalin does and soys, and who tahn to retain some freedom of action fat any international crisis itostsmb*'artoe totalling Soviet Russia...
...Obedience to the Communist MJtostotot wfll mean inevitably'the exit, voluntary or forced, of a _Nffi"'J-|SS aecttee if not a majority of the membership from the 'IMfamH Party...
...The Lost Leader Just to egg on his ego he toft us...
...V * . - Whs* 'hose Ipfiiy.- hot asps* dtor ether than their own earnings sad j their savings when they are retired from work...
...43_Et-tJsh Socialists are to be thrown overboard by the French ^MdjiSt Party before the Communists will agree to organic unity ''A_SffSS-^toto» are many such Socialists in France, most of the French dhjptiet' Isaet I'S being members of this group, it is easy to see that .what Moscow now demands is a split in the Socialist Party before EpdS-toto be that organic unity for whidh Communists and left wing 'MflltftotS to France have argued...
...Townsend himself, a decent and well-meaning gentleman without personal ambitions, there is nothing but respect...
...The spirt they have sought to bring about in IJtotejfccilHst Party appears inevitable...
...Bat they cannot turn back...
...The resolutions adopted at toe seventh congress of the Comintern confirmed folly the wisdom and justification of the attitude of the L.S.I and I.F.T.U...
...Townsend himself declares that he has no political ambitions, that his sole ambition is to secure the- pension for himself and his wife, and to employ their $400 a month in a quiet and decent old age...
...French Socialiat Party to the united front with the Com-"njn|s»Ma».~'¦' Hie pointed oat toot whaeoas, at the beginning, the French SoelSsS* fteVy effected the demand of the Communists that the So-uaDsta refraini from all estttetom of Soviet Russia and insisted on re-taimBjg freedom of opinion on any aspect of the Russian situation, they have gradually forgotten this principle under pressure of the united ^HbRbsS process of the united front the Socialists found themselves AaW-Smd more the prisoners of the Stalin atmosphere with which ¦flfctftComraunista knew how to permeate the relations between the two jM_MeaV...
...The left Socialists are squirming'under the Communist opportunism and the right Socialists know that whenever it suits the Communists they will again turn the wheel sharply to the left, forfeited by the ascendancy of Stalinite and pro-Stolinite sentiment dominating in increasing measure 'the structure and atmosphere of the united front The masses have been taught to believe that since toe united front is such a great success there is really no reason for any delay in proceeding to the organic unity of the Socialist and Communist parties...
...Those fifteen million men and women have votes, and politicians are breaking their necks to garner that vote...
...The subject will be "The Supreme Court and Social laibav tion...
...Despite the ballyhooing and bellyaching about the decadence of the Socialist Party, the latest enrollment figures issued by the Board of Elections for Manhattan and the Bronx still indicate that the "moribund" Socialist Party has a larger enrollment than the "dynamic" Communist Party...
...the Communists, they still count noses and not noises on election day...
...Tickets can he purchased in advance at the Rand School office, 7 E. 15th St...
...4^, .Ethan the Communists pat over their coup and lured the French doilaTIili into a united front, the great Socialist parties of other JmsMss sad the International Federation of Trade Unions remained wMpasaed...
...and impossible promises of sure cures is rightly considered the crudest of deceptions, and hence a crime...
...The tail began to wag the dog...
...i.,..,., * Danger Facing Socialist* On orders from Moscow She French Communists have confronted ,eow|h*tSnaaes;WBtk-an ultimatum demanding the exclusion from the HppSSi nested party of sH Socialists who do not pay absolute -JpOaaanee to the Csaamaniat dictatorship ia Russia...
...Bat the aged mast not he left to safer...
...The thing works with logical precision...
...When it comes to counting courageous, flags sen...
...BELSKY...
...They know that it is difficult if not impossible for the Socialists to withdraw from such organic unity, that they must drain to the bottom the cup of hemlock prepared by Moscow for the French Socialist Party...
...But it is designed to give the sosstonn to all 10,383,026 men and women ever 60, and that will cost (or would cost ia IMS) $24,924,062,400 in a single year...
...Dippy tomaey After reading some of the diplomatic drivel, you eel certain that it was dictated by Grade Allen in one of her dizziest moments...
...I So fsr the contributions to the Now York City nisi W rososojl hove '^IJ^'^^jJjjj^ astic response...
...It is easy enough to prove that Dr...
...It is a success...
...The French Socialists are paying toe price for conduct j_____H|k^efistie of ear own left wingers in this country—the policy df^pmpeting in demagogy with the Communists and permitting them to determine the course of Socialist policy, to say what was revoluThe Embrace of Judas flftWMto t*»e, SoeiaBsto of Other countries, Scandinavia for example, ;jMM*beldtyjOfim s program of cooperation with' all democratic and jstoaresswe elements against fascism and reaction, of building a peo-t^Bg^jiMfJm pgqsei lathm of democracy and the promotion of a eajgatructive social and economic program to oops with the depression, the French Socialists held aloof from any such policy...
...They are pressing for organic unity and are making their own terms...
...Is it any wonder the movement is growing like wildfire, and that old party politicians are scurrying to get aboard the band wagon...
...While in Scandinavia, for ei iiiiJH fto:lh|hEito'igt-i.....il and retained the initiative, have profited^_fca*gty from the ftoetolist people's'" front policy and.have smashed both theto?gtaY«md~~*~M France eJLthe benefit of this policy has gone to the Communists...
...altogether 15,030,703 men and women receptive to the idea of old age security...
...jf hummL into MBmt ¦ ' If a violin too piece of wood with a shape Eke Mae Wast, then a wind instrument is a brass tube with Father Cnoghlhi at one end...
...For Dr...
...Meanwhile the profit system, with its colossal profits for a few, and its wastes gees en un. checked, diverting -a ho (re por - ! tion of the nation's wealth to S small class to be employed la luxurious living...
...That is all—that, and the explanation that the money will somehow be provided by a two per cent "transactions'' tax...
...The split of 1920 is about to be repeated...
...f';Jhs» too- that: the Communist ultimatum provides that these -floMaaea be tech-ted in the constitution of the new party...
...Who con blame them for .he ambition to have comfort, food, shelter and warmth without'being compelled to depend upon charity or the aid of their children...
...bow quacks to pracice their quackery...
...They listened mra|a etona voice of tiw Communists and permitted their own left saiajprity^tO terrorise the party leadership and the party as a ?hS Into a misalliance with the Communists...
...Ife overwhelming majority of the workers affiliated with the eatassmtioBal Socialist and labor movement, conscious of the true ehar-jjaSsT' and purposes of the Communists and their united front jjtanOto^or, wffl have nothing to do with the united' front...
...It is recognized with pity that such cripples have claims upon our profoundest sympathies, but to elevate their hopes with quackery...
...But we know it cannot be done...
...Hence the brazen ultimatum demanding toe exclusion from the new united party of all Socialists who do" not accept without reservation the methods and policies of the Kremlin dictatorship or fail to' approve in advance the policy to be prescribed by the Communists in the event of Soviet Russia's embroilment in war...
...All of which is as we predicted when the great news of the united front in France was broadcast to the wol-ffr^r': * * These to one uasiUie fsatare to the sitoashay aowatei...
...What have they to hope for other than the support of their children, or tins bitterness of public or private charity ? \/'' A Glittering Promise Townsend promises them $200 a month on the eoh^cse^j^ nhot th^moeto and wflSshi the Untied States...
...as J?etta?opteky demonstrate* ia the first of a series of articles in this j?mSnef The New Leader, and continued without change to this day...
...and merely to mention that figure to enough to indicate the tragic absurdity of the plan...
...Hep* for the Aged ¦ There is hope for the aged bat it is not in the Townsend plan: If the Townsend people continue to pile up millions of signatures to their petitions, continue their "pressure politics" and secure pledges of support from enough Congressmen and Presidential aspirants (as they bare already seduced Senator Borah by the glittering promise of the votes they think they control) it is by no means impossible that they will be able to exert a decisive influence in Congress and hold up legislation until or unless they get a Townsend bill through...
...Caught ;n the Commu jHH^toap, toe nature and causes of which we will explain presently St^shetolist Party finds itself in a position where it is virtually com-fppqV-'te'oh the Communist bidding...
...o. . -. e * It seems that every trade poet, naval pact, air poet, and pax pact is packed with dynamite...
...But this will not remain unbalanced by a similar, if dot greater rise in the power and prestige of French faseism...
...Similarly with those who face a dreary and insecure old age...
...Just so his diest could fill np his —BEN...
...In-increasing measure the Socialists have played a subordi-tfli faet^ia toe-partnership...
...powdered hair, blood and the bones of a murderer, together with instructions to bury then hi a vacant lot in the dead of night Ton can't blame the girl for wanting her sweetheart .hack, bat alas...
...The results of twelve months of this policy are now making themselves-felt...
...Norman Thomas and the militants would be exiled to Luna Park and a few shipped to Fleisch-ackers Zoo in San Francisco...
...Then the problem of old age will solve itself as will the problems of economic insecurity, of illness, of the welfare of children, of war, and all other problems that afflict and bedevil the human race...
...The aim of the Communists is JjjtSf: tot be achieved...
Vol. 19 • January 1936 • No. 1
