Evolution and Revolution. (1905)

From the September 1905 issue of the Socialist Standard

With the certain knowledge that his Socialism is in entire accord with the teaching of Science, the Scientific Socialist can afford to smile at the vain efforts of the “Socialism-by-the-farthing’s-worth” reformers to twist facts to suit their interests.

Not only is the conception of history of Marx and Engels in complete harmony with all social-history, but it finds numerous parallels in-natural science. Thus Professor Darwin, son of the illustrious Charles Darwin, emphasised this fact in his Presidential Address to the British Association this year. He said :—

“His point of view was illustrated by a reference to political history. The degree of persistence or permanence of a species, of a configuration of matter, or of a State depended on the perfection of its adaptation to its surrounding conditions. If they traced the history of a State they found the degree of its stability gradually changing, slowly rising to a maximum, and then slowly declining. When it fell to nothing a revolution ensued, and a new form of government was established. The physicist, like the biologist and the historian, watched the effect of slowly varying external conditions ; he saw the quality of persistence or stability gradually decaying until it vanished, when there ensued what was called in politics a revolution.

These considerations led him to doubt whether biologists had been correct in looking for continuous transformation of species. Judging by analogy, they should rather expect to find slight continuous changes occurring during a long period of time, followed by a somewhat sudden transformation into a new species, or by rapid extinction.”