The socialists themselves claim that the system of private industry has broken down; that labor is being exploited to pay profits and interest; and that there is no prospect of better things unless the state goes over to socialism. The most bitter opponents of socialism dare not contend that all of its friends are crazy or even cranks. There must be, then, some basis for the socialistic movement which we see on every side. There is no denying, as we have seen in a previous chapter, that inequalities of income and wealth are glaring. Just why one man should be able to amass a fortune of a half billion dollars while millions are propertyless cannot be explained on the ground either of foresight or of thrift. Is it any wonder, then, that men of all walks of life are giving careful attention to every proposal that has for its end a more healthy condition of industrial society?