From the July 1950 issue of the Socialist Standard
It is sometimes charged against us that we are just iconoclasts—destroyers of all that is; that we have an objection to the capitalist personally, as a human being. This is quite wrong. What we object to, and seek to destroy, is not the capitalist personally but his function, his method of existing. Perhaps a little story will illustrate our attitude even better than an explanation.
Once upon a time there was an old lady and a young one lying in bed. Suddenly the old lady sat up, reached her hand over her shoulder and began scrabbling under her nightgown. Presently she withdrew her hand triumphantly and crushed her finger and thumb together, using a most unwomanly expletive.
"Oh mother," cried the young lady, in a shocked voice, "would you destroy one of God's creatures?"
"It's not God's creature I object to," replied the old lady viciously, "but it's the way it has of getting its living."
That is our attitude to the capitalist. We object to the way he has of getting his living. We want to transform him from a flea, living upon the backs of the workers into a useful member of society playing his part along with others in a world wide society in which each contributes what he can and takes what he needs.
Gilmac
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