In The End, The Tragedy Of Harold

After The War People Said, 'if You Can Plan For War, Why Can't You Plan For Peace?' When I Was 17, I Had A Letter From The Government Saying, 'dear Mr. Benn, Will You Turn Up When You're 17 1/2? We'll Give You Free Food, Free Clothes, Free Training, Free Accommodation, And Two Shillings, Ten Pence A Day To Just Kill Germans.' People Said, Well, If You Can Have Full Employment To Kill People, Why In God's Name Couldn't You Have Full Employment And Good Schools, Good Hospitals, Good Houses?

It Is Wholly Wrong To Blame Marx For What Was Done In His Name, As It Is To Blame Jesus For What Was Done In His

People Would Do Well To Ask Themselves How Many Of Their Ambitions And Aspirations Derive From The Type Of Economic System They Inhabit And The Insecurity And Exhaustion It Creates, And Question The Sense And Purpose Of A Society Where Control Of A Large Portion Of Life Is Abdicated Under Contract In The Labour Market, And Where Immense Creativity And Potential Is Stifled By The Need To Do Difficult And Repetitive Tasks In Order To Earn A Wage.

When Somebody Comes Up With A Progressive Idea, To Begin With, You're Mad, Bonkers. Then If You Go On, You're Dangerous. Then There's A Pause. Then You Can't Find Anyone Who Can Say They Thought Of It In The First Place. That's How Progress Is Made. This Is Why I Do Believe In The Vote. In The End, All These People Who've Been Tempted To The Right Realise The Warning Lights In Their Constituency Are Brighter Than The Bright Lights From No. 10 Offering Them Things.

I Think If You Do Have Democracy It Would Transform The World Because If The Millions Of People Who Die Live On A Dollar A Day, Had The Vote, They Would Redistribute The Wealth Of The World, And The People At The Top Are Not Prepared To See That Happen.