The Benefits of Cooperative Unity – Mary Everts Daniels, 2/2/1895

Republished from the Flaming Sword

There is much said respecting co-operative unity or communistic societies, pro and con. There are many attempt
-ing to organize under that name in different localities. Hitherto it has been a very unpopular idea, scouted at by
the masses whose interests are in the competitive field. The idol of Mammon fills the throne and so rules the uni
-versal mind that men’s hearts are hardened, and selfishness is rampant. It is like tearing out the vitals of society
to touch their pet schemes or to infringe upon their system of gaining riches. The only idea of co-operation admitted
as sensible has been for a few rich men to form combinations to sharpen the already pinched faces of the poor
on the great grindstone of monopoly. This is not the kind of co-operation of which we would speak. The numerous
co-operative societies that are attempting to organize will not succeed, for they are not established on a right
principle. They are not pivoted on one central idea, and we consider them but shadows of things to come—a
reflex of the spirit that is brooding over the people. Yet it is encouraging to see their effort, because wherever
there is found a counterfeit there must be, somewhere, the genuine principle. The basis of true communism is
brotherly love. The disciples of Jesus set a perfect example when they sold all they had and put the proceeds in
one common treasury, “and they had all things common.” What heart, conscience, and judgment together dictated,
they gave according to the gospel principle of stewardship and trust. How beautiful, yet natural, this single-hearted
love to God and man, wherein the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man are exemplified! Koreshanity
has taken up the broken threads of Christian communism, which has long lain under the chaotic mass of selfish
-ness and greed, and will proceed to finish the work, the foundation of which Jesus laid. Jesus laid the foundation
of divine communism; his disciples applied the principles, but only as the germinal beginning of what was to be
a subsequent fruition. The Messenger of the Covenant will now rebuild, upon this foundation, the temple of true
usefulness in the midst of a people bound together by the bonds of equitable interest or ownership—common
interest—with love to the neighbor and for the performance of use.

This is an organic unity founded upon the basis of labor as the only capital; the only purchasing power is the
exchange of commodities. The government of said unity is vested in one head or controlling power. The purp
-ose of said government is not so much to regulate the conduct of man, as to insure the economy of things
so as to provide for the equitable distribution of the products of nature and art, and to adjust the manufacture
of such things as are essential to the interests and happiness of said people. We are asked, “What greater
advantage has humanity in such a society than in the world as it now stands, where one is free to choose
and act for himself?” We will attempt to describe and enumerate some of the advantages of an associated
natural life. In establishing a communistic society, there must first be a common center toward which all thought
aggregates. There is no tie so strong as a religious tie; consequently this center must be one on whom the
affections and faith of the people are fixed. Such a body adhering to a central principle would constitute a
natural consolidation where the natural wants of man could be easily satisfied. Industries of various kinds are
the first thing to be considered. No medium of exchange is required; the exchange of products, value for value,
will carry out the great plan of equitable commerce. There will be no demand for wages, but an equitable
share of what labor manufactures. The great question of economy is also to be considered. Landed together
as one great family, economy can devise a thousand ways in which to add to the comfort of the many from
what would once have been thought scarce sufficient for the few. The means lavished by a fond parent on
a family of four children would give equal advantages to twenty if carefully adjusted. We cannot go into the
details of the advantages of a public dining hall, kitchen, laundry, and bakery. This subject has been ably
discussed by many, who prove that not only the quality of what we obtain is wonderfully enhanced, but the
quantity is increased by purchasing on the co-operative plan.

We can not only care for ourselves and others more perfectly and abundantly, but with better results, while var
-ious other advantages affect every particular of our natural life. The greater the number in such a body, and
the more complete and perfect in every detail the co-operative plan, the more perfectly is our life administered
to. Take for example a small town of 10,000 inhabitants living together under the competitive system. One third
of these people are rolling in wealth. Their money is uncounted; interest-bearing bonds lie idle in their coffers,
unneeded. Another one third are exerting brain and muscle to the fullest extent to make a fair pretense to
respectability, struggling “to make both ends meet,” while the remaining third are drudging at the most menial
service for a crust of bread, or else are abject paupers because they cannot find work to earn sufficient to keep
the wolf from the door. We do not call them tramps, but unfortunate fellow beings. The tramp is found among
all classes, the worst tramp of all being the profligate who spends his inheritance in the gambling hell, the opium
joint, the saloon, or the well-patronized brothel. If one should come among this people with power to subdue
all selfishness, piercing their hearts with words of truth until they exclaimed, “Men and brethren, what shall we
do?” and fear came upon every soul until the whole city was subdued and awed, then might they sell their
possessions and goods and part to all men as every man had need. What would be the result? The hitherto rich
would have every comfort, the brain and muscle of the middle class would be relaxed from the terrible strain of
intense effort, and the hearts of the poor and downtrodden would be gladdened by the luxury of fuel, food, clothing,
and a few hours’ rest from a life of unceasing drudgery. The money that has long lain idle in the coffers has been
a means to an end—a golden chain to bind man to his brother man. Such a people could but rejoice together
in the baptism of love, and they would be recognized as a nucleus of a great nation which would command
the respect of the world, and exert a powerful influence in guiding and controlling the destiny of humanity.

A large society held together by a common form of truth, by common affection for good, would not only insure
natural and spiritual blessings and wealth to the individual, but to the body, making it a source of power in the
world to proclaim the truth and to influence mankind for good. This is the way of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Koreshan
doctrines instruct us that love to God and to the neighbor is the fulfilling of the law. There is now established a
society founded upon religious convictions, with a divine center round which all hopes cluster. In this unity every
member of the body is expected to contribute to the happiness and comfort of every other member, and at the
same time receives from the body a more abundant blessing than is possible to receive away from the body.
It should be as if one current of life coursed through the whole body; hence each one coming into such a unity
would come into possession of its wisdom and its truth, its power and its wealth. When men are thus banded
together for the highest attainment possible, they assume an interrelationship, as a whole one, or greater man
—as Christ, the spirit of life, and the body of many members are one—and this greater man communicates his
highest, purest life to every individual. The words of the Lord assure us that he unites himself with mankind in
their interrelationship with each other. What a beautiful comparison we find in the statement that the love of the
neighbor is like unto the love for the Lord. While the love to the Lord is the first and greatest command, the spirit
of life, the love to the neighbor is the body in which it is clothed. The body is like unto the soul. What a vision we
have here of the greatest man whose soul the Lord is. This is but a simile of a body of believers bound together
by love and common interest, faith, and usefulness, the soul of which is the divine life. Such is the army of the
Lord. It is well known that in every army there is a general spirit that gives nerve and bravery to every soldier.
There is an esprit de corps which is a consciously recognized power belonging to bodies associated together,
which commends itself to every member. It is the head ruling a body of many members.

The proper recognition of the truth of Koreshanity in reference to co-operative unity, involving both the natural
and spiritual advancement, and our wisely directed efforts to realize them in ourselves and in the body, are
among the highest purposes of life. It is the great foundation of life involving the interest of the church and
state, which must be united in the great and central purpose and principle, in which the commercial principle
in every domain obtains. To give these truths to the world that others may understand and appreciate all the
blessings of co-operative life, is our great aim for the advancement of Koreshanity in the world. Some may
say, “It is a Utopian dream, an ideal life incompatible with the real life of man.” We describe no Utopia. Kore
-shans do not rest an imaginative brain on Bellamy’s pillow. We are giving you the possibilities of a life in
which the truth of life is manifest. A society founded on strictly religious principles, with a divine center, will
attain to all we picture. Do not fancy that there can be a grouping of sensual, selfish people that will ever
perfect a plan of righteousness without a struggle; but if actuated by right motives—love to God and the
neighbor—they will purify their lives, abrogating all evil desires, lifting up the standard of righteousness.
Under it, fighting the good fight of faith, they will gain the victory, and grow to the full stature of the MAN.
There are two methods by which this can be attained. First, by decision of purpose, then an identification
with the body, regarding all possessions—wealth, talent, goodness, or life—as belonging to the body. If
one has prominence, let him regard his position as belonging to the body and not to self, as being conferred
upon him simply for the use of the body. If one is obscure, let him consider he is no less a part of the body
with the same heart’s blood coursing through his veins; not less a possessor of commonwealth and truth,
and an heir to the kingdom. “For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body whether we be Jew or Gentile,
bond or free, and have all been made to drink unto one spirit.”

“For the body is many members. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again
the head to the feet, I have no need of thee.” When the body is complete in unity, then will the equality
of the brotherhood, which our Lord laid down as a fundamental principle in the constitution of his church,
be the controlling spirit. This equality does not imply equality of function or official place, for as there are
diverse gifts of ability and intellect, there are also diverse official positions. This will not displace a law
of arrangement or adaptation in the body.Koreshanity aims to complete a body, a community lifted up to
that high pitch of earnestness that marked the Apostolic church, where all the functions of the government
as well as teachings will be invested in those who are conscious of acting as the organs of a POWER that
is mighty to rule, and who singled them out each for a particular work. A public spirit which ever places
the interest of the body before the interest of the individual, yet preserves the liberty of each, and justice
with each other, is the strongest force of a true co-operative life.