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Capitalism. Governor La Follette decided right off that "Socialism" is not a way out: "We refer to a socialist philosophy that proposes to reward work and achievement on the same basis regardless of individual contribution. Experience demonstrates the dangers of giving 'to each according to his needs' rather than to each according to his contribution. . . . There is a vast difference between a socialist theory of absolute equality and the American principle of equality of opportunity." Of fascism and communism he observed: "Both are founded not on something new, but on the ancient principle that a chosen few, whether from the top or the bottom of the economic ladder, shall make the decisions and rule by force."
Governor La Follette placed an almost unhedged bet on democratic capitalism. "Capitalism, as most of us have defined it, developed very naturally. . . . when an unexplored frontier was always beckoning. . . . The passing of the old frontier marked the end of the old capitalism. . . .
"Private capital and private business must be afforded opportunities to go to work. When people spend their own money, they are careful to get their money's worth."
Freedom & Abundance. Once private capital was flowing freely—in physically improving the railroads, for instance, suggests Governor La Follette, and in a housing boom—the simple frontier rule of work for everyone, and no work no eat, would apparently then apply. (There would be no place for mere "collectors.")
"We have spent so much time squabbling over sharing our wealth that we have lost sight of the essential fact that we can not share wealth unless we have first produced enough real wealth to share. We have tried to give the farmer high prices by restricting agricultural production. We have tried to give industry high prices by restricting the production of the factory and the shop.
"All this has been based upon a mistaken theory of overproduction. Millions of people 'ill fed, ill clothed and ill housed' —millions of people, with only the bare necessities of life, millions of people without enough clothes—so we produced less cotton and less wool; millions of people without adequate food, so we produced less wheat, less hogs, less beef, less corn— less produce of the farm; millions of people without enough shoes, clothing, paint, shingles, wire, houses—billions upon billions of man-hours of work waiting to be done and yet we decided to produce less, and to work less.
"American freedom is rooted in American abundance. . . . Let me emphasize the statement that no free nation can remain half at work and half idle. . . . The only way out is by putting and keeping all our able-bodied people at wealth-producing work. Thus, and thus alone, can we be free and prosperous."