XI
THE NECESSITY FOR A MAJORITY
I have shown, and indeed the statement is self-evident, that the Revolution of 1789 would have come to nothing if it had not had the will of the immense majority of the nation back of it, and I have said that the same truth holds good in the case of the Socialist Revolution; more than all others it must be the work of an immense majority of the nation. In bringing out clearly the magnitude of the effort that must be made I hope that I am not discouraging but spurring on the energy and conscience of those to whom I speak. At all events, if the work to be accomplished is vast and entails the co-operation of innumerable wills, I shall also show that the resources and forces at our command are likewise vast, and that it only depends on us to march forward to an end both certain and victorious. But I maintain that the vehement effort of a Socialist minority will not suffice, and that we must rally round us almost the whole body of citizens. These are the reasons:
In the first place, the Socialist minority is not opposed to an inert and passive mass. In the
94
