If I had nothing better to offer than the status quo, I would not be writing this book. The insecure and unhealthy capitalist world as we know it—in which both the worker and the industrialist are exploited by Finance Capitalism and the governments which do its bidding—has no appeal for me. It is in urgent need of far-reaching reform. How easily these remedial measures could be implemented, once the people made up their minds to do so, will be gathered from the financial proposals briefly outlined in the last chapter. With the foregoing financial basis for the post-War era, this country would be in a strong position to build a really worth-while social order, compared with which the Socialist State or the present Finance-dominated State would be shabby, servile and totally unsatisfying. The answer to Socialism, therefore, is not Finance Capitalism.
Economic Democracy is the answer. What is Economic Democracy? Economic Democracy is the name given to the basic principles for a social order put forward by that Scottish genius, C. H. Douglas, as long ago as 1919. It is only now that the world is beginning to recognise their epoch-making virtues. Someday it will pay homage to the man who gave life to them. One thing is certain: had they been adopted, WWII would never have occurred, and the world would be enjoying the era of prosperity and progress that it is only dreaming about, and hoping for, now.
