友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!
合租小说网 返回本书目录 加入书签 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 『收藏到我的浏览器』

proposed roads to freedom(通往自由之路)-第7部分

快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完,想下次继续接着阅读,可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能!



means   of   production   into   so…   cially   exploited   and;   therefore;   common 

means      of   production;     as   well   as   the  further    expropriation      of   private 

proprietors; takes a new form。 That which is now to be expropriated is no 



                                                  22 


… Page 23…

                              PROPOSED ROADS TO FREEDOM 



longer the laborer working for himself; but the capitalist exploiting many 

laborers。      This   expropriation       is  accomplished        by    the   action    of   the 

immanent   laws   of   capitalistic   production   itself;   by   the   centralization   of 

capital。     One     capitalist   always      kills   many;     and    in   hand    with    this 

centralization;   or   this   expropriation   of   many   capitalists   by  few;   develop; 

on an ever extending scale; the co…operative form of the labor…process; the 

conscious   technical   application   of   science;   the   methodical   cultivation   of 

the soil; the transformation of the instruments of labor into instruments of 

labor only usable in common; the economizing of all means of production 

by their use as the means of production of combined; socialized labor; the 

entanglement of all peoples in the net of the world…market; and with this; 

the    international     character    of   the   capitalistic   regime。     Along    with    the 

constantly diminishing number of the magnates of capital; who usurp and 

monopolize   all   advantages   of   this   process   of   transformation;   grows   the 

mass   of   misery;   oppression;   slavery;   degradation;   exploitation;   but   with 

this; too; grows the revolt of the working… class; a class always increasing 

in numbers; and disciplined; united; organized by the very mechanism of 

the    process     of  capitalist    production      itself。  The    monopoly       of  capital 

becomes a fetter upon the mode of production; which has sprung up and 

flourished      along    with;   and    under    it。  Centralization      of  the   means     of 

production   and   socialization   of   labor   at   last   reach   a   point   where   they 

become incompatible with their capitalist integument。 This integument is 

burst    asunder。     The    knell    of   capitalist   private    property     sounds。     The 

expropriators are expropriated;'8' 

       '8' Vol。 i pp。 788; 789。 

       That is all。 Hardly another word from beginning to end is allowed to 

relieve   the   gloom;   and   in   this   relentless   pressure   upon   the   mind   of   the 

reader lies a great part of the power which this book has acquired。 

     Two     questions     are   raised   by   Marx's    work:    First;   Are   his   laws   of 

historical development true? Second; Is Socialism desirable? The second 

of   these   questions   is   quite   independent   of   the   first。   Marx   professes   to 

prove that   Socialism  must   come;   but   scarcely  concerns   himself to   argue 

that when it comes it will be a good thing。 It may be; however; that if it 

comes; it will be a good thing; even though all Marx's arguments to prove 



                                                 23 


… Page 24…

                              PROPOSED ROADS TO FREEDOM 



that it must come should be at fault。 In actual fact; time has shown many 

flaws     in   Marx's     theories。    The     development        of  the    world    has    been 

sufficiently      like   his   prophecy      to  prove    him    a   man    of   very    unusual 

penetration; but has not   been sufficiently like to   make either political   or 

economic        history     exactly    such     as   he   predicted      that   it  would      be。 

Nationalism; so far from diminishing; has increased; and has failed to be 

conquered by the cosmopolitan tendencies which Marx rightly discerned 

in   finance。 Although   big   businesses   have   grown   bigger   and   have   over   a 

great area reached the stage of monopoly; yet the number of shareholders 

in   such    enterprises     is  so   large   that   the   actual   number      of  individuals 

interested   in   the   capitalist   system   has   continually   increased。   Moreover; 

though      large   firms    have   grown     larger;   there    has   been   a   simultaneous 

increase in firms of medium size。 Meanwhile the wage…earners; who were; 

according   to   Marx;   to   have   remained   at   the   bare   level   of   subsistence   at 

which they were in the England of the first half of the nineteenth century; 

have instead profited by the general increase of wealth; though in a lesser 

degree   than   the   capitalists。   The   supposed   iron   law   of   wages   has   been 

proved   untrue;   so   far   as   labor   in   civilized   countries   is   concerned。   If   we 

wish   now   to   find   examples   of   capitalist   cruelty  analogous   to   those   with 

which Marx's book is filled; we shall have to go for most of our material 

to the Tropics;   or   at   any  rate   to   regions   where   there   are   men   of   inferior 

races     to  exploit。    Again:    the   skilled    worker     of  the   present    day    is  an 

aristocrat in the world of labor。 It is a question with him whether he shall 

ally  himself   with   the   unskilled   worker   against   the   capitalist;  or   with   the 

capitalist against the unskilled worker。 Very often he is himself a capitalist 

in   a   small   way;   and   if   he   is   not   so   individually;   his   trade   union   or   his 

friendly society is pretty sure to be so。 Hence the sharpness of the class 

war   has   not   been   maintained。   There   are   gradations;   intermediate   ranks 

between rich and poor; instead of the clear…cut logical antithesis between 

the workers   who have   nothing   and   the capitalists   who have   all。  Even   in 

Germany; which became the home of orthodox Marxianism and developed 

a powerful Social…Democratic party; nominally accepting   the doctrine   of 

‘‘Das     Kapital''    as  all  but   verbally     inspired;    even    there   the   enormous 

increase      of  wealth     in  all  classes    in  the   years    preceding     the   war    led 



                                                  24 


… Page 25…

                             PROPOSED ROADS TO FREEDOM 



Socialists to revise their beliefs and to adopt an evolutionary rather than a 

revolutionary   attitude。   Bernstein;   a   German   Socialist   who   lived   long   in 

England; inaugurated the ‘‘Revisionist'' movement which at last conquered 

the bulk of the party。 His criticisms of Marxian orthodoxy are set forth in 

his ‘‘Evolutionary Socialism。'''9' Bernstein's work; as is common in Broad 

Church writers; consists largely in showing that the Founders did not hold 

their doctrines so rigidly as their followers have done。 There is much in 

the   writings    of   Marx    and   Engels    that  cannot    be   fitted  into   the  rigid 

orthodoxy       which     grew    up    among     their   disciples。    Bernstein's     main 

criticisms     of   these   disciples;    apart    from    such   as   we    have    already 

mentioned; consist in a defense of piecemeal action as against revolution。 

He protests against the attitude of undue hostility to Liberalism which is 

common among Socialists; and he blunts the edge of the Internationalism 

which undoubtedly is part of the teachings of Marx。 The workers; he says; 

have a Fatherland   as soon   as they  become citizens;  and on this basis   he 

defends that degree of nationalism which the war has since shown to be 

prevalent in the ranks of Socialists。 He even goes so far as to maintain that 

European   nations   have   a   right   to   tropical   territory  owing   to   their   higher 

civilization。     Such    doctrines    diminish    revolutionary      ardor   and   tend   to 

transform      Socialists    into   a  left  wing    of   the   Liberal    Party。   But   the 

increasing      prosperity     of   wage…earners       before    the   war    made      these 

developments inevitable。 Whether the war will have altered conditions in 

this respect; it is as yet impossible to know。 Bernstein concludes with the 

wise remark that: ‘‘We have to take working men as they are。 And they are 

neither so universally paupers as was set out in the Communist Manifesto; 

nor so free from prejudices and weaknesses as their courtiers wish to make 

us believe。'' 

       '9'   Die   Voraussetzungen       des   Sozialismus      und   die   Aufgaben      der 

Sozial…Demokratie。'' 

     In March; 1914; Bernstein delivered a lecture in Budapest in which he 

withdrew   from   several   of   the   positions   he   had   taken   up   (vide   Budapest 

‘‘Volkstimme;'' March 19; 1914)。 

       Berstein   represents   the   decay   of   Marxian   orthodoxy   from   within。 

Syndicalism       represents     an   attack   against    it  from    without;    from    the 



                                                25 


… Page 26…

                              PROPOSED ROADS TO FREEDOM 



standpoint of a doctrine which professes to be even more radical and more 

revolutionary than that of Marx and Engels。 The attitude of Syndicalists to 

Marx      may     be   seen    in   Sorel's    little  book;    ‘‘La    Decomposition         du 

Marxisme;'' and in his larger work; ‘‘Reflections on Violence;'' authorized 

translation      by   T。  E。   Hulme      (Allen    &    Unwin;     1915)。     After   quoting 

Bernstein; with approval in so far as he criticises Marx; Sorel proceeds to 

other   criticisms   of   a   different   order。   He   points   out   (what   is   true)   that 

Marx's     theoretical     economics      remain     very   near   to  Manchesterism:        the 

orthodox   political   economy   of   his   youth   was   accepted   by   him   on   many 

points   on 
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!