Otto Neurath

“ Before the first World War, one could, by many analogies, make it likely that the anticipated World War would lead the governments, by trial and error, to comprehensive planning of a 'war economy', as a presumable forerunner of world-wide planning in the future. ”

“ In a well-established democracy, men antagonistic to certain decisions of the community are mostly well known by the public, the society is adapted to them and often puts them into less important posts for some time, using them again when the situation has changed. People in such an organization are able to act much more 'in harmony with their own conscience' - their higher resistance is, as it were, paid by the muddle. ”

“ On the other hand, social engineers should not overlook that often social institutions of old tradition, praised as pillars of civil liberty, do nothing but hamper both freedom and desired changes in our social order.
Perhaps in the long run just a more-than-one-party organization with its muddle will be more efficient even in terms of technical efficiency. On an average, a more or less stable democratic organization seems to present an extremely high degree of resistance. In a one-party system, an essential part of all administrative energy is consumed by fighting against deviations. ”

“ Therefore, it seems to be in our practical interest to study as carefully as possible the problem of 'Planning for Freedom'. Social organizations which were based on the preparedness to sacrifice the happiness of human beings for whatever purpose, much more frequently seem to reduce civil liberty and the enjoyment of freedom than organizations based on the preparedness to provide immediate happiness. Merchants are sometimes better guardians of freedom than enthusiasts having the State as their highest ideal. ”

“ Many ask why should this pattern of organisation be of use for war and not for peace too? In war, social engineers estimate the efficiency of the whole organization with regard to the successes of the fighting forces, the endurance of the civilians and a final victory. In peace time, we have no common goal as clear as this. One could ask to what extent comprehensive planning would improve the standard of living, a goal of which not only the Atlantic Charter but also other declarations speak explicitly. ”

“ Only a few authors of the 19th century, such as Popper-Lynkeus, dealt seriously with the problems of a 'planned economy', but even they did not analyze the whole field of happiness, and restricted themselves to the analysis of the planning of certain principal elements of our production. The Russians, whose leaders had based their political actions on a critical analysis of capitalist society with its wars and rebellions, started their building of a new society without any comprehensive theory of planning. ”

“ The social body which takes care of the security of society will sometimes fight the 'conscientious' persons more than others who may be prepared to change their attitude for pay. Remember what a hard aggressor was a completely 'convinced' Assassin, obeying the commands of the Old Man of the Mountains.
Taking all arguments into account, we may discuss freedom as a pattern of habits and behavior, characterized by a certain multiplicity and disparity of actions, and ask how a society, a single state or a world commonwealth, may 'produce' this pattern of Freedom. ”

“ Some muddle thus seems to be unavoidable in a society of free men and within a democratic world commonwealth. People who like freedom and see these relations, will not give bad names to a muddle without analyzing whether this muddle is perhaps related to civil liberty or not; Plato disliked democracy, the kind of state in which there is the greatest variety of human nature and together with it - as he stressed - much disorder and muddle. ”

“ We stressed the point that comprehensive planning is not necessarily connected with a change in private property; if in a society based on planning, there remained 'rich' and 'poor', they would hold their position not owing to the impersonal automatism of the market, but by, as it were, public decrees. Certain tensions, related to 'economic crises' would be avoided by means of planning, but the old tension between the 'rich' and the 'poor' would remain. ”

“ Social engineers may realize that and much more, e.g., that all homely comfort relates to certain traditional customs and environments and that joy sometimes might depend solely on the fact that something should not be changed according to certain technical and architectural standards. How much 'discomfort' is liked because it is 'ours'. And yet other people like changes and adventure.
That sets a particular goal for social engineers, to find out to what extent new institutions and measures of a planning programme are, as it were, efficient in producing Happiness. ”

“ We know that in our times the former get higher wages, but that does not settle the question whether these higher wages are proportional to something that all these working hours have in common, or not. In a competitive society the difference depends essentially upon the market but in a society based on planning the difference is a conventional one; it could e.g. be decided by the community that the more pleasant the work the lower the wages should be, to equalize 'happiness conditions'. ”

“ It is not a matter of course, as many people think, that a social engineer should test the efficiency of freedom by its business efficiency; he can test, as it were, a social order and its institutions (e.g. international planning) by its ability to produce food, shelter, education, health, and - in addition to other things within a nation and within a world commonwealth - Freedom. ”

“ Let us even imagine that all states were organized on a socialist basis - then again tension would arise between the 'Have' and 'Have-not' nations in analogy to the tension between 'rich' and 'poor' in the same society. We should not leave unmentioned the point that, within a socialist society, very grave conflicts between groups may be imagined. ”

“ As 'war economy' teaches us, even a rather fragmentary planning is sufficient to overcome unemployment and the intentional destruction of goods. Many understand now that by a simple continuation of this war pattern, amenities of life, schools and hospitals, settlements and libraries could be procured; instead of producing war materials, one would improve the standard of living. ”

“ If people like to act in 'accordance with their personal conscience' on 'intra-national' and 'inter-national' matters and want to have a social organisation which allows them to do so, then they must accept as part of the bargain that magistrates and other office-holders at different places may sometimes have divergent opinions and take divergent decisions, an inequality which can hardly be totally removed as long as one likes 'his own conscience'. ”

“ This lack may be explained by the fact that scientific analysis concentrates more on testing results which may be counted by 'money reckoning' or at least by household bookkeeping than in describing food and shelter together with friendship and freedom as items of 'happiness conditions'. I see no reason why we should make any distinction between the different kinds of pleasure and pain, they all go to form man's whole happiness. ”

“ Some people think that we should be in a position to compare the different possible changes of our life in such a future society, based on planning, with, as it were, a comprehensive standard, composed of the standards which may be elaborated by the experts in the single fields. ”

“ We know from the Middle Ages how 'overlapping' authorities can work. There could be international organizations, which would be responsible for the administration of the main natural resources, e.g. an organization dealing with iron, others with coffee, rubber or foodstuffs which could act as members of an international planning board - such organizations could be in action before a world commonwealth would be organized. Irrespective of the organization of production and distribution in single countries, such international centers presumably would fundamentally reduce many tensions. ”

“ In these states there will perhaps be a great number of people who, in harmony with their tradition, are interested in a post-war world commonwealth, in which war would be avoided as during the two centuries of the pax Romana. Wishful thinking is no argument, but sometimes a scientific stimulus.
Nations who had gained a certain freedom for themselves often became the oppressors of others, and their governments had no great objections to alliances with governments which suppressed many of their citizens and were far from being democratic. ”

“ I suggest we start from scratch in discussing international relations, and do so on the 'societal' pattern of mankind without using the traditional split into 'international law', 'international politics', 'world trade', 'history', etc. Let us regard - thus continuing the Utilitarian approach-the whole fabric of international human relation as producing human happiness and unhappiness. ”

“ There are many local authorities (one of our loyalties belongs to them) who may not be very efficient, from the business point of view, but perhaps they do something by their very existence for the preservation of civil liberty, stubbornly fighting against central forces which invariably have a certain tendency to reduce freedom for it is much simpler to rule by command than by compromise and agreement. ”

“ We know that the fragmentary character of war planning in the western countries, with all the concern for post-war competition, has not up to the present fully utilized all reservoirs of society - here is not the place to discuss this highly-complicated problem. ”

“ Just when the colonial territories are getting more freedom, an international control, e.g., of rubber production, seems hardly to be avoidable, if any reconstruction of international relations is seriously intended. Should, e.g., the Malays get 'common ownership' of the rubber plantations? It would mean that they could receive rent for permitting other people to work in the plantations for international purposes. They would hardly be distinguishable from private shareholders, who own rubber plantations and get their rent. ”

“ Personal independence and rigid order, voluntary cooperation and superimposed regulations, democracy and one-party system must not only be regarded as 'measures' in accordance with which the standard of living may rise or fall, but also as elements of this standard of living, perhaps competing with technical efficiency. ”

“ How to compute these and other items of 'happiness conditions' would be the subject of discussions and finally of decisions based on common sense and influenced by the scientists' information.
That is one of the reasons why planning in a democracy will presumably be based on far reaching but simple information and education. That fits well into the whole pattern of democracy, in which each group has to expect opposition and discussion and therefore needs a certain amount of data for arguing. ”

“ In what is called the 'technocratic' movement and in similar movements there often exists a tendency, as it were, scientifically to find the one best solution with its 'optimum happiness', with its 'optimum population', with its 'optimum health', with its 'optimum working week', with its 'optimum productivity' or something else of this kind. From this argument sometimes arises the tendency to ask for a particular authority which should be exercised by technicians and other experts in selecting 'big plans'. ”

“ What can be done by social engineers? They are in a position to draw a picture of the various features of both factories. The one factory may present a long row of steel, a long row of accidents, dark grey might represent much bullying, and so on; the second 'silhouette' might perhaps be composed of a shorter row of steel, a shorter row of accidents and a lighter grey may indicate less bullying. In a similar way we may depict 'happiness conditions' of various professions including food, shelter, working hours, accidents, bullying, civil liberty, and many more. ”

“ Others who are not in despair but only discontented are not much interested in the simple doctrine that the amputation of a leg in any case removes all discomfort from a painful corn. They would incline to compare 'happiness conditions' when the situation changes without civil war and 'happiness conditions' when the situation changes with civil war. Social engineering takes the 'happiness conditions' of all transition periods into account. It is difficult to transfer despair into a country where such despair plays no great role, in spite of strong and manifold tensions. ”

“ The Nazi organization has features similar to those of the war organization of the Western democracies, but the ruling party has used the opportunity to build up a 'pyramidal' structure of authorities, destroying all self-government, all trade unions, suppressing lodges and other citizens' organizations; this leads to an 'orchestration' as we see in democratic countries. Production is not based on profit but on decisions made by authorities. Shareholders and other owners of factories and banks receive their revenue. ”

“ There are people who try to create a 'Socialist Europe' as a peaceful member of the ' societas societatum' . Others imagine many states such as existed before the second World War, counter-balancing Italy and Germany or the parts of Germany which will perhaps form separate states. These and other possibilities might be fruitfully discussed, but we could as social engineers also think of new types of patterns just as technical engineers discuss machines which do not exist up to the present. ”