PHILOSOPHERS HAVE ONLY INTERPRETED THE WORLD IN DIFFERENT WAYS, WHAT MATTERS IS TO TRANSFORM IT. ———————————– MY CONSCIENCE IS MY RELATIONSHIP WITH WHAT SURROUNDS ME. ———————————– IN MODERN AGRICULTURE, AS IN URBAN INDUSTRY, INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND HIGHER LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY CAN BE BOUGHT AT THE COST OF DESTROYING AND DRYING UP THE LABOUR FORCE. MOREOVER, EVERY PROGRESS OF CAPITALIST AGRICULTURE IS A PROGRESS NOT ONLY IN THE ART OF EXPLOITING THE WORKER, BUT ALSO IN THE ART OF STRIPPING THE SOIL; EVERY PROGRESS IN THE ART OF INCREASING ITS FERTILITY FOR A TIME, A PROGRESS IN RUINING ITS SUSTAINABLE SOURCES OF FERTILITY. ———————————– IF SHE SAW IN EACH MOVEMENT OF SOCIETY’S LIFE A THREAT TO CALM, HOW COULD SHE MAINTAIN AT THE TOP OF SOCIETY THE REGIME OF UNREST, HER OWN REGIME, THE PARLIAMENTARY REGIME, THAT REGIME, WHICH, ACCORDING TO ONE OF HER SPEAKERS, LIVES ONLY IN AND THROUGH STRUGGLE? ———————————– IN THIS SOCIETY THOSE WHO WORK DO NOT WIN AND THOSE WHO WIN DO NOT WORK. (P.95 – GF FLAMMARION) ———————————– THE ROLE OF THE BOURGEOISIE IN HISTORY HAS BEEN REVOLUTIONARY IN THE FIRST PLACE. ———————————– WHEREVER THE BOURGEOISIE SEIZED POWER, IT DESTROYED ALL THE FEUDAL, PATRIARCHAL AND IDYLLIC CONDITIONS OF SOCIAL EXISTENCE. SHE MERCILESSLY BROKE THE COMPLEX AND VARIED FEUDAL BONDS THAT BOUND EACH MAN TO THE MEN WHOM BIRTH PLACED ABOVE HIM, AND SHE DID NOT WANT THERE TO REMAIN BETWEEN MEN ANY OTHER BOND THAN THE NAKED INTEREST, WHERE FEELING HAS NO PART, AND ONLY THE STRICT REQUIREMENTS OF CASH PAYMENT. THE SACRED SHIVERS OF PIOUS ARDOUR, CHIVALROUS IMPULSES, BOURGEOIS SENSIBILITY, SHE DROWNED THEM IN THE ICY FLOW OF CALCULATING SELFISHNESS. IT HAS CONVERTED THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON INTO VALUES OF EXCHANGE AND, INSTEAD OF ALL THE LIBERTIES ARDENTLY PURSUED AND DEARLY CONQUERED, IT HAS ESTABLISHED, ALL BY ITSELF, THE SOULLESS FREEDOM OF COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS. IN A WORD, INSTEAD OF EXPLOITATION DISGUISED UNDER AN ILLUSORY COSTUME OF RELIGION AND POLITICS, IT HAS REPLACED BLATANT, INDECENT, DIRECT AND BRUTAL EXPLOITATION. ———————————– THE BOURGEOISIE HAS STRIPPED ALL THE JOBS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY THAT UNTIL THEN HAD BEEN RESPECTED AND CONTEMPLATED WITH PIOUS VENERATION. FROM THE DOCTOR, THE LAWYER, THE PRIEST, THE POET, THE SCIENTIST, SHE MADE EMPLOYEES FOR HER WAGES. ———————————– THE BOURGEOISIE HAS TORN AWAY THE VEIL OF EMOTION AND SENTIMENTALITY THAT THE FAMILY PRIDED ITSELF ON, AND THE FAMILY BOND HAS BEEN REDUCED TO A MATTER OF MONEY. (…) THE NEED TO OPEN UP EVER-WIDER MARKETS FOR ITS PRODUCTS PROMPTED THE BOURGEOISIE TO RUN WILD ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT MUST INFILTRATE EVERYWHERE, SETTLE EVERYWHERE, HANG EVERYWHERE THE NETWORK OF ITS EXCHANGES. (…) IT FORCES ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD TO ADOPT, UNDER PENALTY OF PERISHING, ITS OWN WAY OF PRODUCING; IT FORCES THEM TO INTRODUCE INTO THEMSELVES WHAT IS CALLED CIVILIZATION, THAT IS, TO BECOME BOURGEOIS THEMSELVES. IN A WORD, IT SHAPES A WORLD IN ITS OWN IMAGE. (N°6 & 8-9) ———————————– THE VALUE QUANTITY THUS EXPRESSES A PRODUCTION RELATIONSHIP, THE INTIMATE LINK THAT EXISTS BETWEEN AN OBJECT AND THE PORTION OF SOCIAL WORK THAT IS NEEDED TO GIVE IT BIRTH. ———————————– WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE NEW ERA FROM THE OLD ONE IS THAT THE WHIP BEGINS TO THINK IT IS AWESOME. ———————————– IN THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, ANY DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE ON THE PART OF THE WORKERS REMAINED PARALYSED AS LONG AS SLAVERY DEFILED PART OF THE REPUBLIC’S SOIL. WORK UNDER WHITE SKIN CANNOT BE EMANCIPATED WHERE WORK UNDER BLACK SKIN IS STIGMATIZED AND WITHERED. BUT THE DEATH OF SLAVERY IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT FORTH NEW LIFE. THE FIRST FRUIT OF THE WAR WAS THE AGITATION OF THE EIGHT HOURS, WHICH RAN, WITH THE LOCOMOTIVE’S SEVEN LEAGUE BOOTS, FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, FROM NEW ENGLAND TO CALIFORNIA. THE GENERAL WORKERS’ CONGRESS IN BALTIMORE (AUGUST 16, 1866) MADE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: THE FIRST AND GREATEST NEED OF THE PRESENT, TO FREE THE WORK OF THIS COUNTRY FROM CAPITALIST SLAVERY, IS THE ENACTMENT OF A LAW ACCORDING TO WHICH THE WORKING DAY MUST CONSIST OF EIGHT HOURS IN ALL THE STATES OF THE AMERICAN UNION. WE ARE DETERMINED TO USE ALL OUR STRENGTH UNTIL THIS GLORIOUS RESULT IS ACHIEVED.”