Pansies (Lawrence)/The Root of our Evil—

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THE ROOT OF OUR EVIL———
The root of our present evil is that we buy and sell.Ultimately, we are all busy buying and selling one another.
It began with Judas, and goes on in the wage-system.Men sell themselves for a wage, and employers look out for a bargain. ​And employers are bought by financiers, and financiers are sold to the devil.
—Get thou behind me, Satan!—That was just what Satan wanted to do,for then nobody would have their eye on him.
And Jesus never looked round.That is the great reproach we have against him.He was frightened to look roundand see Satan bargaining the world awayand men, and the bread of menbehind his backwith satanically inspired financiers.
If Jesus had kept a sharp eye on Satan,and refused to let so many things happen behind his backwe shouldn't be where we are now.
Come Satan, don't go dodging behind my back any longer.If you've got the goods, come forward boy, and let's see 'em.I'm perfectly willing to strike a decent bargain.But I'm not having any dodging going on behind my back.—
​What we want is some sort of communismnot based on wages, nor profits, nor any sort of buying and sellingbut on a religion of life.

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