The Soul of Man Under Socialism
by Oscar Wilde · first published 1891
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"The Soul of Man Under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde in which he expounds a libertarian socialist worldview and a critique of chary. The writing of "The Soul of Man" followed Wilde's conversion to anarchist philosophy, following his reading of the works of Peter Kropotkin. In "The Soul of Man" Wilde argues that, under capitalism, "the majority of people spoil their lives by an unhealthy and exaggerated altruism—are forced, indeed, so to spoil them": instead of realising their true talents, they waste their time solving the social problems caused by capitalism, without takin
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…unfortunately not uncommon) example, instead of getting all red in the face hearing about Socialism coming to the USA from Fox news, our dear average USA 'consumer' could have read Das Kapital, and The Soul of Man Under Socialism, and The Road to Wigan Pier, and Capitalism and Freedom, and On Liberty, and... etc etc. You get the point. So yeah, I'm really onboard with the thesis of Amusing Ourselves To Death. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_consumption
on “Television viewing and cognitive decline in older age” ↗…lover is a possessor, a husband is a proprietor. https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/proudho... And to learn about why property is against individualism, I recommend Oscar Wilde's The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Bookchin's concerns: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-... Even the Stirnerian egoists take issue with private property: http://www.spunk.org/texts/intro/faq/sp001547/secF4.html
on “About This Googler's Manifesto” ↗…most that they can to the overall goals of humanity and capitalism acts as a vehicle for that. For the point of view that it's not a very good vehicle at all, it's worth reading Oscar Widle's essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism, which is free to read online (of course!) Here's a quick excerpt: Now and then, in the course of the century, a great man of science, like Darwin; a great poet, like Keats; a fine critical spirit,…
This was a nice article, especially since I'm a fan of his The Soul of Man Under Socialism, which I'm ashamed to say is the only work I've read by him. In particular, he stands in an odd relation to the other socialist thinkers of his era; Marx known as a thoroughly rational type who went to…
on “Oscar Wilde’s Radical Wit” ↗…property ownership isn't much better than the tyranny of the state granting various benefits to property owners. Proudhon in What is Property goes into this and Oscar Wilde talks about it in his essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism. Why is the crony vs 'not crony' distinction useful, and in what ways would a 'pure' capitalist society alleviate the problems caused by crony capitalism, including but not limited to the difficulty…
on “SoftBank Takes $4B Stake in Nvidia” ↗…completely the wrong answer. The correct answer is to use automation to reduce labour hours and make way for the enrichment of the individual, as poet and author Oscar Wilde wrote about in his book The Soul of Man Under Socialism and indeed so did Russian anarchist philosopher Kropotkin since the 19th century. That said, I am not optimistic - overproduction will continue and the crisis cycle repeats until it is no longer sustainable,…
on “Globalisation: the rise and fall of an idea that swept the world” ↗because the kind of work we want the machines to do is degrading and monotonous oscar wilde's the soul of man under socialism probably better describes the idea.
on “ML training compute has been doubling every 6 months since 2010” ↗Interesting, does this essay convey to you that the manual labourer is doomed and Russell's being a pessimist? I got quite the contrary from it (advocating some sort of socialist state), on par with wilde's [the soul of man under socialism](http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/wilde-oscar/soul-m...) Or are you referring to other writings by Russell? I have to confess that besides this essay and "proposed roads to freedom" I've read…
on “How Google's Marissa Mayer Prevents Burnout” ↗The Soul of Man Under Socialism (the source of the quote, if anyone's curious) gave me the distinct impression that Wilde enjoyed bugging the shit out of people. Who would have guessed?
on “Children of the Yuan Percent: Everyone Hates China's Rich Kids” ↗…Communists agree, and this is why democratic Socialistts such as Oscar Wilde praised the fact that Communism nurtures individualism, especially for those in the arts and sciences. He wrote about this in The Soul of Man Under Socialism: "What is needed is Individualism. If the Socialism is Authoritarian; if there are Governments armed with economic power as they are now with political power; if, in a word, we are to have Industrial…
on “Why Science is Better with Communism? The Case of Sci-Hub (2016) [video]” ↗> Utopia is a state of unhindered, continual learning at your own chosen pace. This is similar to an argument Oscar Wilde made in The Soul of Man under Socialism, although he frames it, as you might expect, around art and the artist. I find it a little surprising that Wilde does not come up in Orwell's essay. A pretty good summary of Wilde's case here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_Man_under_Socialis...
on “Why Socialists Don't Believe in Fun (1943)” ↗…and contemplation become almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends. > OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
on “The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870–2015 [pdf]” ↗…all about things that would rapidly and significantly ameliorate a host of social problems. What do I really want to be part of providing them? A better world. Oscar Wilde wrote the following in The Soul of Man Under Socialism: > "“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out,…
on “Rich Kid, Poor Kid: For 30 Years, Baltimore Study Tracked Who Gets Ahead” ↗…technology happened when capitalism wasn't about, and indeed the scientists and inventors worked only because they were not oppressed by the rule of wage labour. Oscar Wilde talks about this in his book The Soul of Man Under Socialism. Those great inventors of the past usually did not work for profit at all, they worked out of the flame lit by curiosity, only resorting to the force of work when they had no money - again as a result…
on “Apple has damaged the perceived value of software” ↗…Wilde challenged and denigrated morality (middle-class morality was the pejorative term both he and Shaw liked to use). He was actually an extremely moralistic writer and philosopher. See for example the Soul of Man under Socialism: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1017/1017-h/1017-h.htm So much moralizing is reflexive, simplistic, and just plain cheesy that I think it fair to say that it is antithetical to art. And in science,…
on “Oscar Wilde’s Radical Wit” ↗