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| Title | Revolutionary essays |
| Series Title | International socialist library, 15 |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | British Socialist Party |
| Place of Creation (TGN) |
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| Date | 1920 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Extent | 46 pages; 18 cm. |
| Original Item Location | HX256.K84 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8304436~S11 |
| Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | This item is in the public domain and may be used freely. |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 16 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_1028723_015.jpg |
| Transcript | his shop. And when the barricades had been destroyed, when the workmen had been defeated, when the shopkeepers, drunk with victory, turned back to their shops, they found their entry barred by the saviours of property, the official agents of financial capital, who met them with stern demands : 'The bills have become overdue ! Pay up, gentlemen ! Pay for your premises, pay for your goods.' The poor little shop was ruined, the poor shopkeeper was undone !" The lower middle-class is not fit to wield power, and a long government by it is unthinkable. This, first and foremost, for economic reasons: the small shopkeeper is the debtor of the great capitalist, and must remain in dependence on him as long as there exists the system of credit—which cannot be destroyed while the domination of private property continues. The Imperialist era of capitalist production has fully justified this view of Marx's. If the democratisation of capital by means of joint stock companies—the wild dream of the distorters of Marxism—were an economic possibility, even then the majority of the lower middle-class shareholders would be powerless to govern society. The roots of the dilemma created by Imperialism are to be found in the economic relations on which Imperialism is based. There are only two classes capable of governing : the class of great capitalists, and the proletariat. Every compromise with the upper bourgeoisie is treachery to the proletarian revolution. Every compromise with the lower middle-class after the victory of the revolution would mean the restoration of the supremacy of the upper bourgeoisie—the restoration of capitalist rule. The experience of the revolution of 1848 completely confirmed Marx in his conviction that the revolution can blazon on its banner these watchwords only : the complete overthrow of all sections of the capitalist class, and the dictatorship of the proletariat. II. Within the framework of capitalist society, the lower middle-class is immortal. Not only do small traders and small producers, worshippers of the principle of private pro- ('4) .:■'-■ |