Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo

18th February, 1939

Disciple : The maxim "from each according to his capacity and to each according to his need" seem to be basis of Socialism.

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Sri Aurobindo : Who is to decide the need? In the actual working of Socialism there is a great divergence – some tackle only key industries like Electricity and nationalize them; while others go into the minutest detail.

Disciple : Even the Communists in Russia have introduced divergence in wages – to encourage workers to do more work.

Sri Aurobindo : Yes, But that comes to the same thing – only instead of the Capitalist it is the State that pays the higher wages.

Communism one can understand; a group owning property in common and receiving its benefits according to need and satisfying the need of the group. That is as old as the world.

But State ownership is something that creates a class like the Capitalists. Besides, in countries like Germany Nazism makes the national consciousness so strong that they begin to consider the individuals like the cells of the body, bound to think and act alike. No freedom is allowed to them.

Or take the Balkans, for example. The racial and national ego in them is so rigid that they could not protect themselves by a federation against Germany.

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