Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The German Ideology' and 'Democracy in America (abr Renshaw)'

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4 ideas

25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 1. Slavery
Slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine [Marx/Engels]
     Full Idea: Slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine.
     From: K Marx / F Engels (The German Ideology [1846], §1.B)
     A reaction: In Britain and its colonies it does appear that the rise of factories and the abolition of slavery coincided. It is hard to see why this should be a necessity, though. Did the early Christians keep slaves? Some ancient Greeks objected to slavery.
Slavery undermines the morals and energy of a society [Tocqueville]
     Full Idea: Slavery dishonours labour; it introduces idleness into society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distress.
     From: Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America (abr Renshaw) [1840], 1.01)
     A reaction: A pretty feeble reason (in the 1830s) for disliking slavery. He seems only concerned with the adverse effects on the slave-owning society, and shows no interest in the slaves themselves.
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 3. Free speech
The liberty of the press is more valuable for what it prevents than what it promotes [Tocqueville]
     Full Idea: I approve of the liberty of the press from a consideration more of the evils it prevents than of the advantages it ensures.
     From: Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America (abr Renshaw) [1840], 1.10)
     A reaction: He accepts the freedom of the press as inevitable in a democracy, but he found U.S. newspapers to be nearly as bad then as they are now.
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 4. Free market
Communism abolishes private property and dissolves the powerful world market [Marx/Engels]
     Full Idea: It is empirically established that by the overthrow of the existing state of society by the communist revolution, and the abolition of private property, which is identical with it, the power of the world market will be dissolved.
     From: K Marx / F Engels (The German Ideology [1846], §1.A)
     A reaction: They later dropped the abolition of private property as an aim. They were very early in spotting the problem of global capitalism. As long as there are scarcities of anything (e.g. Rembrandts) it is hard to imagine the disappearance of the market.