Single Idea 22969

[catalogued under 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism]

Full Idea

The man who possesses no other property than his labour power must, in all conditions of society and culture, be the slave of other men who have made themselves the owners of the material conditions of labour. He can only work with their permission.

Gist of Idea

People who only have their labour power are the slaves of those permitting them to work

Source

Karl Marx (Critique of the Gotha Program [1875], I)

Book Reference

Marx,Karl: 'Selected Writings', ed/tr. Simon,Lawrence H. [Hackett 1994], p.316


A Reaction

In a world of vast multinationals, the person giving the permission to work is nearly always dependent on some higher level permission. In any sort of society people can only work with the consensus of other people.