We assume today that the levelling process will continue with
increased momentum throughout the war, and that in the end we shall emerge as an almost classless State, resigned to a continuance of coupons and controls. I do not myself see how we can hope to deal with the shortage and confusion of the post- war period without drastic governmental control. Yet are we not being optimistic in taking it for granted that the electorate will also welcome a continuance of bureaucratic restrictions? Is it not more probable that the post-war years will be marked by a reaction against queues, ration-books and registrations? It will not be what my Labour friend called " you people " who will lead this reaction ; they will for the most part have the sense to realise that we cannot bring peace to the world without imposing upon ourselves a further period of self-sacrifice. It will be " other people." Among the masses there will be a revolt against personal inconvenience ; in the higher-income groups there will be a reaction against the concentration of industry and the squeezing-out of the small retailer ; and " other people " will arise, perhaps in the name of a new Liberalism, to clamour for the rewards of personal energy or skill. Is it not conceivable, for instance, that the young men of the R.A.F. will constitute when demobilised an admired and self-assertive element, possessed of keen self-confidence in their own enterprise and prowess, and regarding all civilian formulas with impatient contempt?
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