UTOPIAS

Several weeks ago the Nation began running a series of articles called "If I Were Dictator," in which various contributors outlined the course they would pusue, were the country placed entirely in their hands. Blandly ignoring the human equation, they graphically describe the birth of various abortive Utopias, most of which are by the Russian Revolution out of the American Constitution. They modestly admit that the child may not be perfect, but nevertheless compare it to the existing regime with a complacent smile.

The best that can be said for such articles is that they are a harmless amusement. Just how they are going to contribute to the relief of the world's condition remains obscure. The tendency to indulge in paper remedies for the present unsatisfactory social system is natural, but concentrated attack on specific defects is considerably more effective. General panaceas, however authoritative, can have little or no effect on the actual course of events. Glowing with the idealistic glory of the editor's contribution, the series has come to an end. The depression, meanwhile, has not.