Marx and Engels did not see the fact that, at this stage, “every victory so obtained is a victory for the bourgeoisie”, being in any way a problem. Those old classes were not just the enemy of the bourgeoisie, but of the workers too. So, whenever those old feudal classes sought to appeal to the workers, on the basis of an attack on the iniquities of industrial capitalism, the workers, quickly saw through them.
“In order to arouse sympathy, the aristocracy was obliged to lose sight, apparently, of its own interests, and to formulate their indictment against the bourgeoisie in the interest of the exploited working class alone. Thus, the aristocracy took their revenge by singing lampoons on their new masters and whispering in his ears sinister prophesies of coming catastrophe.”
(ibid)
A similar appeal and warning of coming catastrophe, comes from today's Malthusians, environmentalists, and catastrophists, seeking to enlist the workers in a utopian and reactionary venture to reduce or reverse industrial development.
“In this way arose feudal Socialism: half lamentation, half lampoon; half an echo of the past, half menace of the future; at times, by its bitter, witty and incisive criticism, striking the bourgeoisie to the very heart’s core; but always ludicrous in its effect, through total incapacity to comprehend the march of modern history.
The aristocracy, in order to rally the people to them, waved the proletarian alms-bag in front for a banner. But the people, so often as it joined them, saw on their hindquarters the old feudal coats of arms, and deserted with loud and irreverent laughter.”
(ibid)
The fact that the landed aristocracy was an enemy of the bourgeoisie, did not make it the friend of the workers, on the basis of “my enemy's enemy is my friend”, which is the concomitant of the concept of lesser-evilism. But, nor did the fact that the landed aristocracy was the enemy of both the workers and the bourgeoisie, make the bourgeoisie the friend of the workers. They shared a common enemy, that is all. In the words of Trotsky, and the United Front, set out earlier, it required them only to “strike together”, even as they “marched separately”.
No comments:
Post a Comment