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\' ul u nH ' I
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N f- \ \I Y OH. ",
1991
.~ ")8S U".onte. Inc .
><',\; , ooot-s
Preface s
PA IlI" UN I III H "lIt HI C A I I I'.I HO D II C lI O N
I H REF I H E HI ST O RIC Al n AT II II
lO U R I H I Il lS TO R le A I D ATA III
rtv t; T il l: PRFSFl"T DA TA
Nau .. 1 '" 1
Prefa ce
r'Or some years. being o b liged o n .x;, ·;\.\i o n 10 answe r th e (ju~l ion
" ' Vha r a rt" you wo rk ing on?" I Wd:> clllba l~ 10 h.n e 10 ~).
"A book o f poBIN:,,1 f'CDnom)." Comi!'\!. from me. wi!. n ;llt llrt" W;K
llisconcc rtl ng. ill !cm to t11QSf' who di . I nol know me well. (The:
ilUt"rtlI that is u~uall y confcrn-ll Ull Ill) books is of a lire rar) \OM
a nd thi s wor. rlolll:J l l~ 10 be expec ted- O ne Cil n110l as a maltl'"r
o(f<tct c lass them in a pn--dcfina l !,>t'fue.) I ;u n \Till llnllO)cd "hen
, recall the sU J*rfk ilil aston ish menl 111111 g reet oo m~ re pl)'; I h'll!
to explain m)'k lf; .. nd what I was abl e 10 !>a) in a r....... worrh \ \,1'
neither precise ncr i nid Iigiblc. lurle t,.l, I 1,;wI 10 arid that the boo k
I was w ritilllol (whidl ! am now pll bli~l,i llg) (lid Illl i constdcr the
fact s the Ilia) <Jua li fito<l economists <1 0. rhat I had" potru <If ,·i.·"
from which a hu man sec nfice, t he tflmr n .etinn o f a c hurch or
the gift o f a jewel we re no less intL"Tcsti ng than tilt' "" Il" uf w 11(',)1 .
In short. l had to II) in , din ro ITIolk clear the nol ion of a "b'Clleral
economy" in which the Ke.xpc ndiltlt,... (l he "eonsumptlOn"j of
,,,~,alth. rarher tNn prod uction. w""' the pr ima, ) o b jece. My rlif-
oculi) IIICrc~ ill was Hoo thr bock's ti tle. Thr An l.101f'd !lhmr:
II mi~ht be i nnifo(Lli'll' but it "~Il't il\lUrmari\t·~ fer I soouKt han:
gone fun. he r. Ibe n, "n<! .affinnctl t he rld"~ to lift t he CUDf' t hal
t his nrlc COl lis inw (Illotion. O &!rI). m r project ...as too > a<;( ;mtl
9
t Ilt"' olIl11 0 UllLt"m t' llt of J '- J' f prujtT{ i, ., lwJ~-' its bet ra yal. t\u one
c an 'N!} w ithou t being <;",,,; <:,,1 th ,t h.. i, !,f' n ing re.l d y In '"... f-
l um th ing " H e m us t ",·crL u no. ami tlldL i, "II .
ToeJ<lY the book is the re . But a book is nothi ng if iLis n o t .'i/u-
alcd. if c riticism has not d et e rm in e d the place t be t bd u ng~ to it
in the co mmo n mcae m eru o fideas , ;\gain.l find my.elff<lCcd with
rho !><Ime d iffic ulu '. lhc' book is there. hut at th e m o me nt 01 "ril-
ing in pre f.l{t~ I cannot ... n '" a~k rha r it he ~iH' n th e attention 01
'1Je<:iali st s in a ,ci" "l:e. rhi, fiT'it .. s~ay "d rh .." ..,. fmm Ollt"clc
t ilt' s"p<i ratt: rli ",:ipl i".." .. p ro b le m rhar still h1., rKl t I).... n fr., m ..'"
<IS it shou ld 1Jf'. one Ih..11 rnilY hold the kev to all the problem'
,"
aimed at the acq uisi t ion o f a k n{)\\If'(I~' ; it demaoded coldness
ar~ cak u lOilion, but the lJIoo.ICf\,O(: acqui red "'"as tha t of an error.
MI error impl it'C1 in t he coldness lha t i:. inhere nt 111 .11 u ku l.l-
ti "n. In o ther WOI...tS. Ill} worL. tended li....[ of all to 'IlCtroSit' lhe-
sum ol'bema n rcsot.llCC\. but irs 1I1l1IirJf..>!> ~owe-d me that this ;)LLU-
ffiub t io n was onl) a rlela}. a sh rink "l~ back Irom t he ;1lC\-iuLle
t"rm , " he re ttw acc urn ulared weal th ha s ' aim: onl) in the in' tant .
Wri l ing t11i s ho" L. in wh ic h I was saying tha t " " e rg) lin<t ll ) can
o nl)' be wasted, I m) sdl W ;lS lL~inJo: my e ne rg)', m) ume, worL.-
illJ.!; m y rCSC<l rc h ans we red in a funda me-nral wa} the dl"!o l r~' 10 Ml'"
10 t he a mo un t ol" we.alt h acq uired for llI;lIlkin' l. Shou ld I 5.1) Il,,,"[
under we"o(' condirions I scmcu mcs could o nl} respond to t he
tru t h of m) 1>001; anll co uld not go on "' ri li~ it ?
A book thaI 110 o ne- a"'3;ts. th at answcrs no fo rm ulated 'ltl~
li on. t hoi t t ho: a uthor wou kl nor h;rH· wri tten if he hMI 100I u"'I'II
i t ~ k s..<oon to t he le tt e r - suc h h li",..lI) thl' odd it ) that t ooa) I
" Ifer thr rradt-r. Tbts im1tes d i,trUl>t at the ' xJ ll>c[, and ,..... w hal
if it were- br u rr nCJ4 to meet an ) ex pc.'CLilt lo n Olmi to o llt-r pre-
CiM:l) w al w hic h re pels, tha t "hie h pe ople dclil>t"r..t<::I) a\IJ id ,
fo r lack of st n' ngt h:: that viok-n r rnovcrncn t , surld e n and choc k-
ing, w hielt jostlc!> th e m imI, lakinlo( aw,, ) its tranq uillit) ; " k inrl
ofbold reve rsal IMt subst itutes a r1)11J l1I i~m . in harmony wi th the
world , fo r th e ~t ~lla ti on of Isolai cd Ideas, ofs rubbom I'rob lrms
born of an all l'o iet ) th at reflJs~ to 1«. I low, withou t t urning Ill)
back o n cxpcc t"l iQHS. c"ul,1 1 h<tve harl thc ext reme freedo m 01
Ihou~ht tha t places conce pu; o n a It"\ r l w ith the \,orkl 's frced041l
of moo.emen t ? It wo uld SCI'\"C I1lJ PU'l JOOM'" 10 IICJ!.lcc[ the ro les o f
rigorou~ jn'"t"S,j ~at ; on. whic h pcoccl'd s !>Io-. I) and llIt'thod iGII II}.
But how can we ~ol n: rhe enigml, hO\.\ can we measure up 10 t ~
uni\'t:r.\C if we cOlll e nt oo rodu:!; w ith tIl(' slum ber of corl" cnc iOf\ol1
L.now ltxl~! If one ha!i the patience, a ud tbr- coura~, t o «:.rI Ill)
I>< K.k, one- " ill ..ec thou it contain) studies <:undueuxl ~Ord lllJo:
"
TI r: ACCU"5 ~O " .. APF
to the rules o f a rcas< >n lha t ..I, >t'!i 001 re l..n t, dno ~.() I U I i "n~ t" FKlii h -
ca l probl ems ..Ie riving ho rn a turli tiollal wisdo m , but om" will also
fin d in it thi s affirm atio n: II"' l lIre SLIlKll 0(1 if. ill (jm" " hu t the lill"r
i~ in space, The c o m pa ris on foll ow s hom considerations o f e lll'rg\
t'(;ono rny t har le ave n o room fo r poe tic fllnta~ y, but it requi res
thi nking on a level w ith a play o f forccs rhar ruus counrcr to o rd i-
nary calcu lations, a pb y of Ioeccs based on the law s rhar b>()\'u n
U~. III , h"rl. th e flNSp.,c ti\,e_\ w llt're suc h tru ths ,' p pea r are d-ose
in wh ich m o re genNal pr oposnjons reveal their meaning, propo-
~ i t to rrs "cc or..ling· to which it is not ocassitv but irs rotItran; "IILwn;"
that pn~nts IMnfj mot/erand rrwnhnd "ith theirJundo mrnt<!1 probkm<.
This bd~ said , I w i/] urg.. critics to b.. so n,,~wl"' l .."uti "l" . It
is an ea~\ ga me 10 raise irrefu ta l,l.. o bjKtiom 10 n ew \ i.."",. G..n-
e rally. tha t which is new is dlsconc..rt ing dril l "ot "",W\;tly "",I.. r-
stood : T he obje ctions arc dir ected a r Sim p lified aspecb that 11lt'
auth o r does no t g rant an ) m o re than a would-be con tradic tor, o r
gran t~ nnlv with in the limi ts o f a provisional s imp lificatio n. There
i, littl .. chan c e in th e pres e n t case th at th e se perempt o r, diffi-
c u lt i..,;, w l'id l st;lIld Ol lt at tl 'e first reading , have escape d my etten -
ti "n in th.. IS y..ars this wo rk h." de manded o f m e . Bur, ro b q! jn
with, I co n fin e rn~".,l f to
a (/uick (J\'f'n 'it'w, in w h ich I cannot I;'\'I;'/l
co nsider !JwaelliJll1 t l1e mu lt il tld c o f quesrjons t hat are im plieel.
In parucnlar, I have forego ne ti le id ea 01 g iving , ill a lirst \'01-
umc, a detailed analvsis ofa ll o f life's action s from th e point of
th at I introd uc e . Th is is rcg.-..ttabl.. in th at tI,.. n Olio n s of
\ ' jl'W
" pr oduct ive ex pcnd in uu" and "nonprod uctiv.....xpe nditu rc" ha,..,
a bask ,,,lue in all th e dcvc ioprncnrs o f m,. book. Hut rcal Itfc,
co m posed o f all sorts o r ex pen d itures, kn ow s n othi ng of pu rely
producrtve ex pendi tu re; in actu alil}', it kn ow s noth ing o f pu rel y
""nprndur:ti\'" "xl'.. "..Ii tuTt: d lher. H..nee a first ru d imentary e tas-
sifica t.ion wi ll l,a, .. 10 I,.. r..p la".. <1 hy a "' ''I h odi ,~~ [ <I" s" ";l't;o "
o f e,'e r) as pe<:t o f Iif... I wanlt·..I first 10 ofT..r a ~rou p "I pri\ ile gt'd
"
PR fF A CF
Iacts rha t wou ld all ow In) ' th inking to be graspe<1. But tlns th in k-
ing co uld n o t haec shalX'o itse lf if it had no t also consil lf'r e<! t h e
toraliry o f smnnoccurrences, wrungly' SU[-'lxm to be insig niflC,ull .
I im agine that it wo u ld be equally fu ti le to d raw d es t ruc tiv e
conclusio ns fro m the fact that eco no mic crises, which necessa rily
h ave in m)' work a se n~e in ",h id , tI, ey are <1 t:t.e b in · events. arc
o n l y represe nted t herein ill a su mmary, superficial fash io n. If th e
truth m ust be told , I had to c hoose r cou ld no t at t he , arne time
gin~, Illy t h ink ing a gene ra l o u t line, ",,,:1 lose m yseH in " ",a'l.e o f
interferences, "here rhe trees cons tamly prevent om: fro m seei ng
ti le fore st . I wall ted to avoi.\ roo o i n~ the work o f t he economist s,
and I c o nfi ned m ysel f to rd at ing tl 'e I'mb le m rha r is pc"..,d in e CO-
n o m ic crises to t h e general p rob le m of nature . I wanted 10 caSl a
ne w light o n it , but to sta n w ith, I d e cided ag ain st ilna lp ing t he
complexi ties o f a crisis o f over produc tion , jllst a~ I .Ie fe rre<! cal-
c ul ating in detail t he sha re of growth and the sha n: o f w.L,le t:lller-
ing in to the ma nufac une 0 1 a ha t o r a ch a ir. I preferred to gi \e,
in ge n e ral. rhc re aso ns t hM acco unt ror th e m yste ry of Keene s's
Imttl e s , t ra c:ing t h t: ex h au st ing d t:t oll rs " I' ex u be ranco' LI lt o ug[,
e at ing, d e ath 'mel se xu al reprod u ction,
I co n fine mysclf at p re se nt to t hi s su m ma r) ~' i ew, T his does
not m..... n that I a m I t:a~i ng it at t h:.t : r .u n o lll}' p" stp<J ni ng mot<:
exre mive wo rk unullater.! I am also PO~IPOllj llg. for a \hu rt ti me ,
t he ex pos it ion o f m)' an.,l ys is ofanxi et y.
AntI y....r rha r b the erne.ta l allal)'sh . Ita! alone c all adeq uarelj
cucu mscrtbe till: opposi t ion o l two political m ethod s: thaL u J leu
and tile anx io us sea rc h lor a sol u rion, com bin ing the p ursui t o f
free d o m w ith the im pe rat ives that are the most opposed to free -
d o m: an ,l t hat o f frt:t':dom ,)1' m,"<1, wh ich issu es fro m the g loba l
reso u rces 0 1 life , a fre ed o m fo r whi c h , in stantl y, ~'Cryth l ng is
resolved , CWrythinfili rich - in o ther wo rds, eVCfythi ng rha r is co m-
lIl' :nSlirale w ith tilt' u n iw r..t" I i n~ist on tilt:: Ian rhat , Lo free do m
' HE "CCU""~ I) >;H .. IlI:
.,
This mcth...d is It'giLi mah". anil scit-nu' never pnx"t'cds dif'frr-
end)- 11",,'{"\cr. n:onllmic ",dt"1'X.C docs nut bh" u·sulu ul thf-· SlIme
'lrllcr a~ ph ystcs MlKI}ing. first. a I'r..cisc phenomenon, then all
sh ld ia b le phl'nOmCN as a coo u lin"It".1 \\ hu ll' . fc"nurn io;: I,llt'" -
nQfTlt' ~ are ' 'K1t GlS~ 10 isolate . .1;..... , thr,T ~encn.1 c....,.,.dioation i ~
nut <;OtS~ In C'>tabl i~h_ So it is po'i~i Wc to raise tlu s <Jut>St ion con-
cern ing them: Sh"u!<1n'T pnxluct i\'t' act i\l l) a.' a w hu le be comi,\·
..red in 1t"1Tll!i . 1( the r...." liflC.\tiOffi if reccocs lru m in surro,mdinp
IIr bti ~"$ abou t in ns !>lIrrouuiings ? In other words. isn't then' '"
' loC...I to stud) ti lt" s)slem urhu rnan I'ruth ll:tion ,lnl! consumpliun
w it hin a m uch la'!,,""TIr.lmc" . ...l t
[n t he ..cieJ'lCC'; such problems .m.lioaril) I"', c ,ln <lC<Idclllil: c har-
ector, but L"t-T....IOIll'C ani--ie) i ~ s" lar-reach ing thllt TtU onr will
be surl'ri~1 if a f1 ~1 'Ill''''lion ~ foIlO\\ed by (It her, II"» a!J.;t raet
ones: In ove ral l ind uvtrial .... velopmeru, ,Ht" the n' nO! social ..on-
lhccs 01....1 planctJIj I\M'i? III the g l,,ool dLlivit) o f men , in shun.•
•are there not c.tw;e\ and ellt"n s that" til ~lllCJ r OIlI) I'r""i,kd
t hat tb.: nrnerol dato oj the mJf~1 ar.. srud i...l? \\il l we be able to
mal e Oll~ ln'\ the maM.."" of ~uch a .l" 'lf:crou~ a" ,i\-ity (a nd n,lf'
thaI we could not aba ndo n in all)' C~) w ithout M\ iOj:l j!rasl'.. ,1
its gmaoJl COIl5C<jUt:ncCS! Sboukl W1; no l. j!h'i'"n lhe u ,.,>tant dc vel-
opmc nf J ecoOOtnic fOTm. po'><' the fJCN"U1I'robkrru. that art"
liflkcd to the mO\'cnl<' llt o f enc rgy on the glu l... ?
These queq~ alluw 01'\1 ' ' 0 glimpse borh thc tl..or ct jcal n lO'an-
ing ancl the prat.lica1 importara.e o r lhe princip lC'i the) in trorllk"-,
"
The P'Jl'"rl) o{ OrgoniHlI,f or l.imitM 5'$",m$ a nd th l'
oem lVl'O lIh 0/ !ivins Na l u rt'
'1.iIH15 aHll~tOfllel' 10 ~t" i ng l ilt" d...... eiopmeet o f I' md IK l i\(:'
lon:n ;r; tht" iI.I"AI end o f oX- Ii- il} refuse to rcaJg0l7c l MI ('11t'~.
which comt itlllt"'i "'''al th. mU<;1 ultin lMely be spcoe la, .!IIII) ("illl-
OUI return ). a .....1 lhat a scrtcs o( profitable ope,..tiOl't'i ha' .Jll'loO-
lutcl } "'0 o l h.., ,.Ilea " u.n the sqUilntkri og 01 pfn fl ,s- Tn .lOirn>
t N t it is ......... ~sa~- to d lss ipatr A 5.. lllila nt ial port.on 0 1 Ctl.. rl<~
produced, lot" nd in l< it I,p In smoke, i~ 10 go <IIg'Ai ns l JuJgllle .lu
Iha l foml tilt' b."" 0 1a raoonal economy. " to LrJO\\ USb ' \ ht" rr
we alth has hMI t<l llt' .1"' II"Q)erl [co ffee thrm \ n into the sNI. but
1I't"<;(> ~nmh ean n,,1 r".lsonabl ) be o ffe... <1 a... exam ples to fill-
low, '1tll') arc ti le 31 k'Il" , I"llgmenl o f an irnpot.. nee, and no ' lIW
" JUI.1 fo nd in the m lilt" im.lgc a nd essence n f w".llt h. l'lI le,·t],
in", luntary dcsu'l Kti'm (,m:Il:o., th e disposal " f ",ufft:<'lIwrboa n-I)
h as ill t"\'t" ry CilSC lilt' mt'an inF 0 1 failure. it i ~ np, ' ri' ·OCI·d a~ a
m isfort UlIt': in nc w a ) ",.m n I,.. pn-senecd as dt"~lrabl t· . And ~'t' l
it is th e lypt' 01 operation withour which (here i" nIl -o lullon .
\ Vilen on.. conside rs the totolit. 0 1 prud llet h t> wcalrf on th .. sur-
face o f th.. glollt". il ts e vident 111<\1 the producrs o l t h h wealth
c <ll n be t""' l'lo~,t"<l lor produc ti ~e .,nd~ o nly i nso fa r :t~ d ... 1",1'll!
o.J~:lIn ism th.ol b econonuc manki nd u n incrc<1Se iUl elJo il'mt"nf,
T h is is nOI e n tirt l, - fl(' ilhe r 111"'''>5 nOir inrl .. fm i,c h - 1)(K~i bl ...
- - ,
A '\llrplos mOSI b- ,lh.., i p.lIl.'11 throu(:h deficil Oflt'rarions: The li' l;I[
tli!>Sip.u i on cannQI b , t lU CillT) ou t the ffiO\t'llIt'nt d u.l ,m 'llUl~
te-rre-vrrial t:rn.:~-.
n , .. COrtlT.lry u'>U<ll1 l} i1(l p"...... Ior th e rcason thar IhI' f'conom~
is l'It'..... r ,'on<idcrcd ill ~J. The human mind red uc e-s oper..
noos, in ....it'occ as in I,f.·. In :loll ....ti~- based On I) l'i....1 POltioJlnr
S)-stems (' I1¥.....i""ls or COIt·rpr-i!lO). [ conomjc act;' it), t,,_id.,ret.l
U 11 " hole, is uJIll ..in:cl in te-rms o f p....r ieolar opel1l"''''' ...ilh
lim iterl e nds. T Ill' m ind {..>cncr.tl i7t~. ~ composing t he ~rt')!ale
"
of these oper.ll iOO\. r c·o nl)m ic §(:icrl('(' m":fcl) ~i7..e!i rbc eo-
bl:cd ~i ll.r.ninn: it ~I rk;l' it!. objl"Ct to oper~tions carried OUI "ilh
a vlew to a limited e nd. that of f'<unom ic man. II does ....... uk
infO conside rat ion. pl ay o f .., nt'~g) t hai no pantcutar entl lmllu:
, I
...... ...ccu .. .. £ u ......... n ..
'.
spt~ f)l COil I,I not U ~\'eI, 'I' furtlwt (~iT h~ r ~x wnsi vel) or in 'I n} G'St'
in l ~n ~i \'<,l y ). But it wdl;hctl II ... I', ,,,~i b ili ti~~ of a hail in ,In-d-
o p me n t and ceased 10 e njoy t he opportunities of a gro" , h lha '
ncoI hing " I'IK,st><I. I t is "'J rtl~ ti rn~~ (l~ n i ~t1 that t I... in(l ll~trial p ld h-
o ra was 'I I the o rigin of dws~ recen t wars. particularly the fir!>!.
Y~ l. it ""as th is p l~ l hm~ rh,u [,()lh wa'" ~" u dc tl ; irs s ize was "h"l
ga,-~ d",m li,.. ir ..xt r"" n linarx int.. nsity. C"n'~ qlJ ~ ntl y. t h.. g.. n-
ern l p rinc i ple o fan excess o f cne~)' to be expernl~ I, cons jde red
(bCY' K"K1 rh ~ t' K>n" rrow 'Il"Jpt' "ftl,~ ~",;n,>",y) '" t he effect o f"
m O\-'.. n \('n, tI'''1 sLJ 'pa~s.." it, t rag ica lly illllm inat..,,,
o f f",:t,; ~d
mo reove r, il lake s on a ~;gn il icance tha t no one can deny. \ Ve can
~ "f' rt'ss tilt' h ll llt' Ilf a\'Ilid ing 'I wa r t hat " Irea,') t h reate n s. Bu t in
o rdoor 10 d o SO we m ust <live n the surp lus produc ti on, either into
t h<;- rational eXlem ion of a drfllc ul r industria l growth, ell' into
Ilnl'T< Kl u ctive \mrks tloat w ill , Ii,;.s i..... tc an e nergy rhar can not be
accumula ted in a ny case. This raises numerous p roblems, which
cx h'llIsnngl) com l'lex.~ One can be skep tical ofarriving easily
<I tt'
" I the pracrtcxl sol u tion, they de mand, bu t th~ interes t thq· ho ld
is u nq ue sti onab le .
I w ill Mmp ly sta te, with out wa it ing lu rt hcr, that the exte n-
sio n of econ o m ic growt h itself requires the overturning o f eco-
no mic p rinci ples - t he o ve rtur ning of th e et hics tha t grou nd~
t he m . Chimg ing fro m til(' pcrspccnvcs of re5Irict;", economy to
those o f yeolcrol economy actually accompli shes a Co pernica n trans-
formatioo: a reversa l o f thi nk ing - an" 01e thics. If a p.1rl of wealth
( ~ubi cet to a lUugh esti mate) is doomed to de struc ti o n ur 'II least
to u nproduc tive usc " ithout any poss jblc profit, i\ i' logical, even
jn£5<::fJfK' H e, to surre nder commcd iucs withou t return . l-lc oocforrh ,
lea ving aside pu re a nd ~ i m p le (Iissi pation. analogous to the con-
struc tion 0 1 t he Pyramid s, th e poss ib ilit> o f pursu ing grow th is
Its elf su bo rd ina ted to ~iv i ng: T h c industrial developme nt of th e
e n tire wo rM d e man d s o f Ame ricans tha t t he) lucitlly grasp t he
'<
eecessny. Ii,r.ln .-conomy such ~ 11,.,;1"<, 0 1 h.wing a l1Iar/<in o r
pmntles!. opc rauo....\. An immense i ,,(l u~rria.l l1<:h' urL. c;an"l11 be
managed in Ihe Q I1IC " " ) (hal o ne c hanl-,'<:\ a lire.... h CApre~
a circuit 01 ccsnuc CIIt'I}O" o n "hich it depenJ~ , which II (:a nnOI
Iimir, and " hO'i<' I,J,\\ ~ i I u nn O( igllOf'C \\ uhour l-on!I'C II IlCIX t o' .
\\0.- 10 mo'o(' "00, In lhe ,....") .. nod, in,l;W on ~'\JLlIil'lfo! (ftc rt1U""C-
mcm rhar <"xu:c:ds d ,e-Ill " j(h rbe nar1"U" miuJ o f the mec,. l,ank
" ho d,ol"l.'C!i a tlT'C'.
Laws of Ge ne ra l Economy
'7
volu me o f tho- c.all llt'"..fil.'i; t he 'la, ing ap~,m in IOC loem Ilf f;ll .
II tbe calf i.s nOl k,lI ~d the mome n t cernes w hen rhe Tnluct"(1
growth no lo ngtt con.W'll"~ all o f an increascd C1(Cf'SS; lilt' u l f
tllt'n "'ache!. wx ual m aruri l}: i h vita l fon: e. an' d e voted m.;u n l)
t o tilt' t urhuIO'nc·" o f tht bu ll in the case 01 a malt ·, 0 1 to prq!-
1loUlC} and I""
pr" d uc t l()ll o f m il l in the m o f a f..ma ll'. In a
q.nw. rl' prod uct ion .sig n ilil".'i a ~jZl' fro m ind i' i(lual glU" rh
tv Thill o f a group. If the male l.s Gl-~tl'Olrt>el, Irs iodi, iduol volume
again iocrc.:JSe'5 for a lilllC and" con"'drra M.. amou n l o f ,\,0 ,"" il;
extracted lra m il .
[fl nat ur e Ihr.... i\ ,..1l arTific ial (an efling o f th.. nl""ht,rn. nor
is the re c;utr.lt i(lIl. II " , con venie n t for rn e to choose a (Io m" ll-
t ic animal <IS an cxampl hilI rh .. moveme nts o f "nimal m au..r
are ba.sicallr rbc semc In all e.tl.t'.s. ()n the who le. the ceccse Cllt~rg)
provide s [or rllt' growth o r th e t urbule nc e of im !ivjd uills. ' rhe (.,llf
and th t' C'l\\ . th.. IJull and the Ox merely erld a nd'lt'r anc' I1IOl"e
familiar ill u.st rat iun o f thi ' gre at m ovemen t .
p hlllt.s m a n if..,.s t the same excess. b ut it i.s m uc h r nor.. pro-
nounced in rhctr C~·. T ht:} a.... not hing Lilt jZlo" t h and rcproduc -
rinn ( t hc CIll'rg) nec:.CSSMy IOr tht-ir fUlICl ill"..1 ec...h; ry is rq:liblc),
Rut thi ~ indd'inil e e xu bera ncc m ust h.. cun.. i.,..,...
1 in rd at ion 10
the concI ilions that rnake it l)()S5ible - and Ih at limit il .
Th e Li m its 0/ Grolt'th
I w; 1I speak briefl} Wuut th e ffiO.'it g~nrnl co nclit jons o f life.
d "d1i ~ n n o n e cruci,dl) iml'0rrant fac r, So lar (OfWTE!-) Is t he
loOU YCe o l li...·s cx ul..",m o C\·e!o p mc n l. The oTi~in and I"SSt"nCf"
of ocr "l:~th iIfl' gi,~n in , he ooiarioll o f the SUIl. which diSpl"l ~
f"nI"'R)' - wealth - " ithout all) m um. ·!he sun gi\"O " itho ut cw r
rece iving. " k n "ere conSdOllS of Ihis lo ng he l0.... ~lrollh)'Sics
rncasurcd I hat c...asclcss prodi~.al it}; tJ>e} sa\1 it ripe n 11M' hal"\'t"51S
and thry :lS.IOCwt t'(! ill> "l>lend or \1Irh t he 'let of sorllt'Ol M' who gi""1>
"
LA WS OF G E N E " " " . C O" OMY
without recei\'inli' It i ~ n..' ;...." ")' "I thi~ point to l1<)t.. a d"al o riliin
of mo ral ju(]g r l1l~ l1 l s . In form.. r times val"e was gin~n to un p'-o'
duct ive gJol)'. "hereas in o ur dar it is measured in terms of pro-
duction: Precede nce is given to cnergy acq uisitio n over <.'ne rgy
expenditure. Glory itsel f is j ll~tif1ef' by' rhe CO!1Se<Ju..ncex 0 1a glo-
nous deed in the sphere of utili ty. But , d orninared lh o ug h it is
by practical judg rn<.' n t and Christian m orality, the a rchaic sensi-
biljty is st il l alive: In particula r it reappears in the ro m ant ic pro-
test against th e bo urgeois wo rld; anI)' in t he classical conceptions
o f the econo my does it lose irs ri~ ht<; e nr ird r
So lar radi atio n r..sulrs in a superabu ndance of energy o n t he
, urfact' o f tilt' g lohe. Rut , first , li \'ing me ucr rc cclccs thi s energy
an d accum ulates il " it hin the li", its g i\'en b}' the space that is
availa ble to it . It then radia tes o r squa nders it. bur befo re decor-
iog an a p preciable share to t his rad iation it mak.." lIIaxirrm m use
of it to r ~rowth. Onl y t h.. impossihilit y "I' co n rinu in g gro" lh
mak"" wa}' fur squande r. He nce lhl: rl"al e,,~ s d ocs not beg in until
thl" growth of the individual or g rou p has reac hed its lim its.
Th c immedia te limi tati o n. for eac h indi vidual or each group.
is g h'C/) b}' the o ther inrlh-idua]s o r e ther jl;roups. 8m the t ..rrt>s-
trial sphere [to be exact, t he bio>phert~). which corresponds to the
spaa' available co lile, Is the only real lirni l. The indMdual or group
CJl1 be reduced by a not he r Indi vidual o r anot he r g ro up, but th e
Prcuutc
A~ a m l.. lh<: 5urface o f the g lob..: is invested by life t o rbe ex tent
possible. By and Lily<:' the mrri~c1lorms 01 life adapt it to tht' a\Jil-
able reso urc es. so that sp;w t' is i ts ba.~ic limi t . C" rl:,in ,lisa/lvan -
lali"(] a r".l~. w h..,,, th" ch..rnical OI lt'rali o ns essential to IiI'" cannot
lake place, seem 10 have no n;<lll"..istence. Llut taki ng int o acco unt
'9
to ex uberance, it is no rlo ub r p"",ihk If ' me 1t fi,r g row t h , Rllt
t he problem raised precludes t h;~ , SUl'p", ing rh.. n- is no lo ngt'T
any grow th po,",iI, I... wh3 r i~ to I)t' done with I h.. "...,thing ..nt'Tgy
rh.1r l ... m" i n~? li:J \Va.,t.. it i~ o],\io,,~ly nollo """ il. And y.. t, whol t
"to ha\'t' i~ a d rain ing.a""y, a pun: and stmple loss, IYhi<h OC<un in
any cao;c: Fro m t he firs t, the excess e nergy'. it it cannot be u~e,j
fo r growth, i~ lo st . Moreover, in 110 "ay can th is i nc~' i table loss
be accounted woe ful. lt i ~ only a matter o f an acce ptable lo ss, pref-
e rab le to a nol he r that is reg'lrd ed as un ac ce pt abl e: a questio n of
<luepwbili1r, no t utility. It s consequences arc decisive, howe\er,
l'
' ..... ,, <:0:: ........ 0::0 .".",, ~
l'
L " "' S O F G ENE" " L E C O N O "',
B
sun's ene'R) thrHIII-oil l"'" <lCll., n o f d1l.oroph}lIl. bur J.'I'llm ll) 'r-g-
elation is less burdensome than ani m",l lir... ' 't'J..''lat ion q uidJ )
occu pi~ the a'etil",H .. ~pact:, An;ma b male it a 1~ ld of sl-,u~h ter
and exrend i t~ ~i11i], t i ..\ In th is y,-a) '; the}" th£JnSf:h't"'> t1t",..ln(>
rnoee slo« I). I" thi s respect, the wil d beast i~ at the :>I.mun it: Its
continual dcpredll t lons of dep ....,b ton. r .. pr-Cstnl an im m en..e
S<juanderirtg elf I.·rwrg~. W ill iam Rbok asle.:l the ri~ r: "I n \\ hal
<' i ~"'nl decpe o r sl.ics burned rh.. II..., o f lhi nt: q~ t· Whal , tru<. l
hi m in thi s \\-') ,,-as (h e cru cl P~Ilr", "t the li mits n f pn....ihi llt).
the riJ!Cr's im m t>mo<· powe r of eun~umption o rlife . In t he ~n ..ra l
eArneo.c....... ,. uf lili.:, the tib>er h a poinr 01extreme ill( aralesce-ncc,
Ancl l h ~ inc a1lCl('S(;cncc did in lac r hum lin.t in the remote 1.II' pths
c f thc ~k)', in th" S U II'~ Clln~lJfn pl i o ll .
I,ari ng !,ri ngs dc.lLh. but in an acc identa l lorlll. V/ tlll cflf1« ...-
able luxurie. , delilli, Wit Slaud and tnexorabte form, i~ ufl<Joub'cdJ.
I},e mmt wst1r. '1 he fragili l)'. the • .,mpl.,x il), of the an imal hod}'
alr..ally t'xl'ibib i l ~ lu xurio us (]ualit). but thi , fr.lgilir)' .\J1l1 lux -
Ill) (-ulmmatc in death , JIl\t aJ; in spael' t h e rru nk s ancllmmchcs
o r t he n-e e raise.' the- ~lIp.. dmp{)~...1 sta/,,>Cs o llhr lolilljtC to the
ligh r. dearh ,Ii~r rihlll cs tho; p;.-..,.;,go.: of t ht.: g<-ncrat ion~ ()\l' r ri m...
It (:o llstan tl ) lca H' ~ Ihe necessary room lo r I.... co m i~ of 1tM:
nc" born . and" .. a.... '> ronS! 10 CUBe 1M om " ,' /wut .. !>om ' <C'
,.-..uId flOC ".XI"I.
In rt'alit). " hc:n "e curse death W<" Ofll) k ;rr oun.t' ln '.l>: The
\C\cr1r}' o r our .. i ll is "hal ma"C"i us u-embl<". \\1. lill" 0I1JS('''~
"hen " e d ream 0 1 rK<lpt '~ the mocernen r of Juxut il' u' ('A ube r-
,U\I;X o r \>hich we ar<" o nl} the moer intrflSt> form. O r perhaps "e
H
H -E ,, " " U R S E D So<"''''
o f life. In a sense, in c.>t('flJion, h.~ aelivil}' o pt' ns lip a nt' ''" pos,i-
blli t}' to life. a new space (as did tree branches an, lllir,] win~,\ in
nalun:). Tl w ~P<lCt' t hai labo r anc1 technical kn o,, -ho" o pen to
th e in c re ased reproduc tion of ITlt'n is nut, in t h.. I'r" p..r M' nM',
ont' t h"t life I"" not )'1"1 popula ted. BUI human activity transform -
ing lilt' world allgrm;nl s rh.. m ass ol lh ing m'ltte r " it h supple-
men ta ry apparatuses. compoved o f an i m me nse 'I"antit)" of ine rt
m"Ucr, which consi' !erab lr lncrea ses th e resources of a...nlablc
" "" rgy. Fro ", Ih" first , Illan has ttlt' 0pt'o n ofllti li7lng parr ofthe
available e ne rgy for th e growth (n o t bio logical but t echnical) 01
his .. rwrg}' wea lth. T he techn iqu es have in short made it possible
to exte nd - 10 ,!""..,Iop - the elementar )" m ove ment of g rowtb
thai life realives w ' lh' n the limits 01 the possible. Of co urse, t his
,1t',-t'lo pHlt'nt is nt'ith..r ccnrinuo us nor boundless. Som etimes the
cessatio n 0 1 de vel o pme nt corresponds t o a ~ tagn a t i o n of tech-
niqucs: o t her t tm es, t he in,-enti"n of new rcchnlqucs leads to
a re, ul'gt'nce . 'I he growth of e nerg y reso urces can Itself se rve ""
th e basis ora re sumption of bio loglcal (d em ograp hic) gnM lh. T Ilt"
hi s t(J t~ 0 1 l-uropc HI the nin eteenth century is t he best (and be st
• know n) Illusrratton of th ese vast living proliferations 01 " hicl ,tc, r!l ·
,
•
nical equipment is the ossat ure: \ \ 'e an: aware of t he CJ>tent o f
the popnla rion ~rowth li nked at lirst 1O rh c rise 01 ind ll ~ l r},
! n actual fact the qu antttati vc rel ati o ns "fl'0pulallotl ami !.cx,l-
"'ilking - and. in gcne ral, t hl' co ndit io ns of econom ic devel o p-
men t in hiMor)' - arc subject 10 so many in terfere nces Ihat it i ~
alway s d ifHcuh to de[ermi" c their exact d tstrtbution. In any ca.....,
I cannot inc o rpo rate detailed ana lyses in to an 0' <:1',,11 survey t hat
see ms th e only way' o f olltl ining the vast m ow m cnl " hi" h ani-
HIMes the earth. BUl t he recent decline in de mographic grow t h
by itsel f reveals the co m plexity ol'l lw eff~ l~ . Tht' fa,:t is lhat l he
ll'vh -ah of d evel o pme nt that arc due to hum an activity, Ih"l ar..
mac! e po ssible or maintaine d by new tec hmques, always have a
"
d ou b le e ffec n lnirially, d leYuse a po rtion o trbe s " rpl ".~ ..nng y,
bu t then t he y produce ~ large r an<I larg ..r ~" '"p I ,,~. T hi ~ ~ urp l lJ~
,,-",'entlla l1y <onh'ilJ"tt"S to making ~~~""lh mo.... . liffin ,lt, fu r g row Lh
no long..r ,,,me.., to 11M' it lip_ Al a ce-rtai n point th e ",I"an tage
o f ..xte ns j" n is ne utralize d by the cont raly ad\-antage, that o fl ux-
ur}'; the jo rmc r remains o perati ve, b ill in a disappoi nting - uncer-
tain , o lt en powe rless - ,,-a}_ The drop in t he d e m og raph ic curves
i ~ perhaps the firs! indicator o f the chang e o f sign that has occurred:
Hen cdorth " hal ma tte rs primorilJ' is no lo nge r to <leYelo!, the !'ro-
ductivc fo rces but to spen d thei r product s ~u rn pt llous ly.
At this po in t _ im me nse MJ uande rings a~ aboue to lake place:
Alter a cen tury o f popu lat ing a nd o f indusrrt al peac e , the tem-
p orary li mi t o f d ev elopmen t be irlj! .. nco untered , til e t wo "orl,]
wars o rga nized t h e g re'lIe-x t o rg ies o f " e a ll h - arid o f h u m an
beings - th~1 hisl ory has r..co rd..d . Yet l h,~ urg ie~ coind d .. " jLh
an a l'l'rt'dah l.. rix.. in th.. g..n..ral ~ t ~n<lard o f li\ ing: T h.. ma joriI)'
o f Ih.. po p ulation I,../lt'fits fmm mort' and more ullpro<1uc ri\'e sc r-
\-je..s; "" rk is red uced anti " age s a re increased o ccrall.
Thus, ma n is o nlv a roundabou t. ~ u b., ir1i ary res ponse 10 the
pro ble m of g ro" t h. Doubtless, t h rough labor an d te chni que . he
has m ad e possible all ex te ns ion o f grow th be~~ mtl th.. " i.-C I1 lim -
its. But just as the IlCrbi n m : relati ve t o t he 1,Iant, a nd the c a rn i·
vorc -cla rfvc t o th e herbivore , is <l lu x ut}', ma n is tilt' most suued
o f a ll Ii\·ing bod ng' to consume intt'nsely. su m pt uously, the excess
e ne rgy' offererl up by the p reSM lt't o fltle to cun llag r.n io ns befit-
tilll': the solar origins o f i l~ 1I10 ve ment .
l7
a .., l<CC'JRSu) s ..... ,,~
,8
L"W S O ~ ' ' '' ' ' ' ' '' '' . " C O N OM~
an x ious ind ivid ual is not hunself srrc rche d rigll t by tilt' fe..li ng o f
sU IX'rab u nrlann-. Th is is pre cise ly w hat evinces th e iso late d , iudi-
' i d "al d IMdctt'T o f angu ish. -I hen- ,;;In Ilt, nng u ish o n ly fro'" ., pt.-t·
so nal, portkular point o f vi,,",,· that i ~ I<ld icitll) o pposed to tilt' 8ffiCral
po int o f view based o n t h. - exub...ranee o fl ivinjl; matt~ r a, a whole.
Angu isll is m..a n ing l.. ss for so m..o n" who owrflows w ith lif.. , .md
fo r ltf.. as a wh o l.. , wh ic h is an o\'t' rllow ing b} its '"u)' lldlur.. .
As fo r the p n>s,'nt h is torical situation. it is characte riz ed by
tilt' fact 111.11 jllllgm.. ms co nCt'nJ ing t h .. J,rnera! si tuation pron~d
Im m a pmt iw/l1r poin t o f , icw, A, a rule , portkull1r ..,,,i,,I"I"I(;" alwdy"
ri sks succum b ing for lac k o f reSOllTCOOS. It co ntras ts w ith EF'let<J}
e xis tenc.. who s.. reso urces arc in cxc.. ss and tor w h ich dea t h has
no meaning, Fro m th.. p<Jrlfw}<lr point o f "i.·\\", the p roble ms art'
posed m lll<: Iml illltUlicr b)' a d dki..rlol) uf resources. The} arc post:'<.!
in rh~ ]ir..., insUmce by an excess of reso urce s if om- start s fro m the
fPwm/ point 01 view, Douhdess t he p roblem o f ex treme pov{" r!}'
re mai ns in an} cas.'. Mo reover. it shou ld b oo u nderstood that EF'1-
eml crollo my m usr a lso, \\"h ene,·cr po~i ble and firs t of all, envis-
ag" th e d n ..lo p ment o r gro\\"tn, But if it cot1\i, lt,rs pOH~n) o r
g row th , it ta kes into accoun t tlu- Iimi ts t hat the OIW and tIlt' o the-r
ca n no t I~il t o c ncoun w r am i the d omi nan t (d .'C i ~ ive ) character
o r th.. pro blems th at follow frOTH th e existence o f surpluses.
Bri c fly consideri ng all examp k-, th o: pro bl..m or e xt reme lXl\" -
erty in In eli a ca nno t im m e d i:ltd y be di ssociated fro m rill' demo-
g rdp lli<: growth 01 t har <;ou n try, o r fro m th e lac k o f p ropo rtion
with it..\ industria l development. Ind ia's po sstbtltucs of ind ustri al
g row th can not t h e m se! ves b.' rltssocta red from th" excesses o f
Anwrkan n~"' Jllr<;c\. A ty pica l p rol>l..m o r fl<'ncral Cl;>?<1Om, " e"''''g''''
fro m t h is situa rlon. 0 0 lh., one h" ",J, the re app~,m; the nft,d for
a n ex ndarion; on th e other h an d , th e n.-eil for a growt h. T he pre-
sent st..t .. o f d ,to ,,"orld is .1.,1, 0 ",:1 I'Y t.l,.. un",".."n l'S..\ o r th e ( r'U:lO-
tl tative o r q uaIi11l1;' 00) pre-ssure exerted by h u man liroo. Gt'llna l
19
t:Cooom} ltugg~h. t here forc , :l~ .a C'Krt"C1 upC.'r;'lt ion. .a I r.l"ltfter o f
Am t-rica n wcaldl to India wi t hQUt n ..:ipn ><;;\li on. T his pro posal
ta k..., into acc ount ,h.,th n-a t '0 America d 'l3t ",o u M Il~ ~ll i l from
Ih., pn:....' tm· - an d liite irnb ;l l~ nr.;t·~ o f pn 'SSUf(' - e M'rled in th"
wo d,! ll) Ih., d"H·lopm''fIL~ o j H indu lit.-.
I he\C.· corn.i<kr.lIinrn. nt'C'"\.loJ.ril} fin : Gr.-t pnoti l} to thl' pml,.
k ill 01 wa r, "hit;h can be cJl:'O\rl} 1l~~oanlc•.1 onl} in the li)l.ht o f a
fu nc!;lnwntal cbllllition. l llt' ON) 'iOlution ~ In raising Ihf' ~Iobal
ltl,\!l(lanl of n, ' OK und er th.. lurr..n r moral condition!>. Ill(' onlr
ml'~ o f a bsnrbi ~ rhe Am.. ri ull surplus, I h.·rc ~ r..duc·i'l! rhe
pressure ro bel ow LIlt" d.1ngcr point.
'1 his theoretical ,:" nt.;" pt io n <li ni: r~ lilll... frlll ll th e cmplnc al
,icwlt that ha,e "'cen ll} " I'pt'a rt'tl co ncc nl lfl}; tilt' SU I~I'l t , but it
~ m o re radscal, and if is inl<:n ,., ting 10 nole th at d ll-"5o<.' 'il.....~ ha<,-e
,
•
Uul it has to I,.. ,'I(lJed at o occ rhar, I"lwn-"'r wd l....Jd ;nl·J II,.. s"lu-
• li o n s. their nnph-mcntat jon u n tlk' r(·qu irt·J sa l ~ is so J iffil:UIt
lhal f~om thO:' OU IM'I the undcn;lki ng har(lI } looL. t'ncourag irl};.
", he loo'.-erical so lution exills; inclCt:'d . Ib n<'ct:">.~i t } is tar Irom
1'SC;lping rh e nOt ice o f those on whom the decision St''''ll~ t o
dep':nd. N....H1hcl.-ss.. ,)lId ...... n mon- dearl}. "hal DeIICTOI ~r
defines hr.t is thO' (' ''plosh-c c har acu. e- o f Ih is \101'1<1. ca rr iel! ro
L1 w e xtr e m e d<::J:n<.<or c"plo-i'1;" tl'n~io" 111 th.. prl'St'nl ru ne. A
curse obviousl y weigh", on human life inso far <IS it doc , nor have
the slrc r~ th 10 control d ,'crligillo u~ movement. It m USI I,.. sea red
as a princi ple, wit hout ~s lt;\lioll . t hat the lirti ng o r weh a curse
clcpt:n<ls o n rnotn ;lI\c1~" on ilion. Bul il urtnOl: be lifted iflhe
Ill()\y lTlt'Tlr from " h ich il e m.lnate. dol.... nut apPear c l...ari} 1Il un·
'"
'{Hiu.me.... In I h i ~ regard it seems ra t he r d i""p poi nling LO have
nothing mo re to propose , as a r.. med r Il" the catastrop he Ihal
t hreatens, than rh.. " raising o fth", livin g standard.' This recourse,
as I haw said , i ~ linked to a r~fmnl to sec, in its fruth, r1w ..x igellc}'
10 " hic h the recourse is in t.. nd..tl lo respo nd.
Y.·t if o ne co nsiders at the same rime th e .\e.alness and the
virt ue o f this SO lu t iOll. Iwo things become inune..d iatel) app<1.fenl :
that il is till' o nl} one Ca l~l lJ le of rathe r wide ace ..p raoce; d Il( l that,
d ue to i l~ equivocalnatura, it provo kes and srimulares an .,flort of
luc idity 01.11 th", gn'a l",r fo r """eming to be far n-movcd Iror nsuch an
effort. In this way t he avoidance of rh .. trut h t'nsu re., in reciprocal
fashi on, a rcctJgn ilio n o f the trut h. III any cas .., Ihl' mi n c1 o f con-
tf'mporary man wo uld be rel uct ant to c m brac.. solut io ns t hai , not
bdng nl'gal ;' .., were e m phat ic and arbitrary: it (Jl'efcn t hat exern-
plary rigor o f consciousness which ..lone Inay slo\\ Iy make human
lit....ommens u rate w ith its t r ut h. T he cx posieton o f a flCtlcral
"{Q1J(.IfJ~r im pl ies lnt c rvt>nl io n i ll publ'" "fT",in;, certainlJj b u t first
of allil nd mun· pro tiJundl y, "hilt;t ai ms 01.1 is consciousness, w hat
irlooks TO from tlu- o uaset. is the 'cll-coruaoumcrs that man wou ld
r. n ~J1} ac hieve in the lucid v;si"n 01 its linked historical forms,
Th us, ffClll'r<11 emnoml lx'gins wi lh an account o f th.' lusrortcal
d at a, rd at ing t he ir In.'ani ng to th .. presem dow,
,'
P ART Two
The So c l e t j o f Co ns u m p t io n
Sa c ri fi c e s and "Van; of the Az t e c s
I t is ,'\<l id Ih.U Ix 'iore Ih" ligh t o f day existed, the g '){!- ass em-
hl....l at the place call..d "le-otihaucan ... ano.I spoke among them-
selves, ~} ilIg : " \\'1,0 \' ill rake it upon himl.t:' lf t o bring light 10
, h{· worklr On hear ing rhese wOr<b, a god c alled T<:c ud n t"C"t1
p r~s ..nt..d hirm.. lf an d rcpli..d: "I willbe the one. I will brirlJ;!
light t o the \' orld ." T he gods then spoh' "!lain and said: "\Vho
d se amo ng you?" T hey loo ked at on" ..nol hn th" Tl , wond .. r
ing w ho thi s wo uld be, and none dared accept t he chargtO: all
""..rc afraid and made excuses, One o f the ,gods who usually
wem unno ric cd did not say anyt hing hut o nly lisl..ned III wl,al
the o ther ,!lods ""..,'.>~)ing. The cth.. 1> spo ktO 10 him. !taying.
" Ld it b.. yo u, bubosJlO." AmI he glad I}' acce p!{'d. l"l'P1ying: " I
receive your order gratdully; so Ill' it ." And th.. two th at \\~r"
chose n btgJO immedi..teJ) 10 do pe n<lnce. wb ieh last ed four
days. fh .. n a fire was li t ill a hearth made in a rock. . .. T he
god named 'Icc uctzrccarl o ulv Off{'H'il costly thi ng.~ . InSl"o1tl
of b ranc hes he offered ric h le athe rs ca lled 'lurtwlll; in~t "<ltl l) f
grass b.11lS h" offe n-d go ld o nes; instead o f meguvy ~ pj l1es he
offered spin..s made with precious ~tones; and m~tead of blood-
ied spines he offered sp inl>' o f n ..I co ral. AOll rh.. copal he
offered was 01a \ eI) high qualirj. Th{' bvOO50, w],oSt.~ name was
Nanauatztn, ofTcr.. d nin e g reen water rus h("s bound in t hrees,
ins k ad of o nlina ry bran ches. lit: o ff{'l"{·lI ball~ of gras\ anti
m 01.j:!:ut'y spines bloodied " ith his o""n blood, and i n~t .. ad " f
copal h.. " fTnt~l\ tlw sca bs of his bubru.
A to wer was made lor each of t h""e t wo gods, in th.. fo rm
of a hill. O n the se hil b tht'y . li.I pt' nan{;t' fo r four nigh " .. ..
Afi..r th.. rour nights 0 / pe naocc were com pletccl. th{· braoch{'s
and all lht' ot her o b jects th e)' had used ,,{'re t hrow n down
tht'le. Th{' followi n~ night,,, little hdi,l1.' m idn ight, wh..n Ih..y
were IU do their o lfice, ' Ii-cucizrecatl was gh-ell I->i~ a.\nmmenLs.
These cons ist..d of a headdr es s of ,rLlaWfrul] feathe rs and a sleeve-
less jacke t. As for Nanauat vin, t h{· h"ho<o, they rtcd a pa pt< r
headdress, call..t1 (mj(Jt~(Jnt/;, O il his hair lInd gil"l' hi m a paper
stole and a JXlp.. r rag lor paJll5 tu "''''' '-. \V h.." mi dni ght h"d
come, all the gods gatlwred round the Il.. arth, which "<IS 1.:<lII..d
t ootc>:mlli, wh e rc the fir" had burn,·d fo r fo ur .1,,)',.
'I II") ~"par.lI..d lnro t wo lin es o n t he t wo sides of the fi re.
TI,.. t wo ,;h05en on.. s roo k th d r places near the hea rth. with
their faces to the Iir.., in the middl.. of th,· two lin.., of ~d~.
T h.. latte r wert' .all sla nding and the) spoke t" 'l.. lut'in..L.. t1,
"' ying: "c,,, " n. Tecuciztecatl . Cast yoursel f into th.. fire!" H..ar-
ing t his, he started to th row h im sdfin to t he flam..s, bUI lilt'
fire "G,!; burn ing Iligh and I'ery hot. ilnd h" slopped in lear and
drew bac k. A second time he gath e- r..d his 5t n'n~th and rumcd
to throw hi mself into th,' fire, but wh..n he got ncar he slOl'p'",I
and did not dare ~ furth, 'r; four tlrncs h, ' tried , but cou ld nul.
Now, it had I:>....n o rd.-re<l t hat no one co uld try more than four
tim..s, so wilen th.. four attelllpt' hac! been made th,· gods
addres s..d !\a"auatfi", say illg: "Go o n, Nanau atain. It is your
turn 10 rry!" As SOO n as these wonb were said . h.. sh ut his ~=
anel, t:.l ing courage, went forward and t hrew himself int o t h..
fire. 1-1.. lWJ!an a t om:e t o crackle and siule lile somet hi ng
bdng roast ed. Su-ing lhat h.. hilc! th"Jwn himself into Ih" ti re
end was burning, Tccucizrecatl also GIst himself into th" Homes
a nd burn ed. h is said that an '·ag le ",.. nr into li n" fire at th..
s,,"'{' ti me and bUIll" d. and this i ~ why th e cagle has scorched-
luu king and 1,lad.e- ned Icar he rs. An ocelot follo wed t111'r..at-
t cr bUI d iu not bum, o nly bt' ing singffi, and this i' ",hy the
ocelo t rema ins spotw ,l black and whi t ... 1
A sho n whi k lat er, ha" ing fallen On lh ..ir k.......s, the gods
saw Nanaearain, " who had beco me the Sun," rising in the East.
"H,· loo k..d "ery red, appearing to ' way from side to side . and
none of the m co uld ke..p th ei r .}<:>o On him , I,,'<:auw he blinded
the m w ith his li gh t . H .. shon.. " rig ht!) w ilh hi s ra ys Ihat
reac h e d in .,11 d irect io ns." T he moon in tu rn rose up ever the
h od /o n. Bt'CCltLW hi' had he-s itau-d, ' Iecucfvtecat l sho ne levs
bright l}'. T ht'n th" !-ouds h ad TO clie; the wi mJ, Q ut'L/.alcuatl ,
ktlled the m all: T h e wi nd t o re out tht"i r hearts and us"..d. th em
to an ima tt' fh e newborn stars.
to g ive lig ht .
"A ro u nd 1'.3st,'r tim e ," t h" y u n, lt'rtoo k the ....acrificial sla) ing
o f a you ng man of' irr e pr oa c ha ble be aut )'. He was chosen from
among the capt ives th e pre v io us year, a nd fro m t hat momen t he
I tved lilt, a great lord . " I Ie we nt t h ro ugh tht' w hole tow n \'f·ry
,, 0.:11<lr..""..<.I. wtrh n OW(" ~ in hi~ '-and and x:colllp.inierl b. eer-
tain p"'r.;on."J ili~ II.· "euld I......., gradou~l} 10 all whom he mu,
and tm,. a1l lll"" he " , b Ihe imago- o f-lt'lC<11ll ipoc.a r0,.... .. f . he
gn-al....t ~h] an<.l prostratt'd Ihe.Jl5t'h'n bt:lore him , ,,,...... i l'pi~
him " h........ e r t1wy me t hl m." l Som..-tiln("'< h{' cou ld 1>1: !lC.·.. n in
the I.. mp\.: un 101' (If rhe p) ramid of Quauduacako : "Up 1m'll.'
he would pta} I N- n Ul. · <II nigtM or in dw da)·limt'. '\ hicho."\(.,. lim...
he wio.h(·d to do lr, Aft" . p la) ing 1h.. ll u..t , h c tOO ,. ou ld '"In
i llC~ u ...-am th<.' roUI pltrtS of Ih.. .... orl d, a nd tbeu rca um hoffit' ,
10 h i, room ."" I ,..... 1)' CIIrE' ,,'a>. tal('11 10 1'11SU1.. t h.. c1q;arx:I' and
princd ) dist tnc t ion o f IIh Iil... " If, ..lUI' 10 rhe gaud t rcarme m
h e gn'" SIUIlI_ Ih l'} would lI\dl c him d rink ~ h - " Ol tt'r IU kl'l'p
!Jender,'" ..T,....lI ty doTp pn:vious to lilt' fc. t i...a] !lll"} ~an' lhi , j out h
four maidrns, wI·1I p l'cp~ r.', l and educ ated 10 1 lh i~ pUlpO''', Dur
ing those I"..nl y d..p Ill' h~cl (~' rndl inte rco ursl' with I!lC!lt· uraid-
ens. Thl' fou r girh t1l<'y !!<lW him ~ , wives and Wll0 had bee» rcd~d
" i th special C<lI'C for Ihat pU"I J<Y.. e wer e g i\"l'n »a mc s 0 f four ROll.
Jc;",t'~ , . . . I in- Jays before h o: was 10 ..lie rh..) g" 'I' ft- ~Ii , i l i c s
for h im. banq ue-ts hdd in c ool a nd ga} places, d l1(l llM n) chi.. f-
ta i~ and prorninenr flt'0ll l~' accom panied him. O n tlu ..ta) of th..
lc' ti,-aI "h~T1 Iw "as 10 (lit' Iht') tool h im 10 an Orol IO')'. " hieh
r'"-'r calledL bcucbcalco . gcfor.. r..olChing i I , il l a " IK (' called
T lap inlO'l ian, rbe "'om(·" see p pcd asi de ami Irh hi m . A~ hI' b"Ol
10 d,~· p i...... "h.'to;: he \\-;IS 10 be lilled. h{' mo un l..d t he' ~lqJ!o II)
hi m~"f .and on (·ar.h , lilt' " l i t - he brule one of the Iluc cs " hich
hc had pla)l"t.! during Ih.. ~ ..ar."(, "H(C w.as a"ai t~'d ill 1h4: t u p b)
tlw SOImt p- or priests " ho were to kil l him, and Ihc..c IlOI\ J:rabill-d
him and t hre\\' him u n lO Ihl' stone block, ami, hold itlJ.! him Il}
fecI. rn n<.b and hearl, Ihl"O\'·n On his ~ l , lhe- ('ri"!1 "ho had Iht'
Slvne l nilC bu ri ~ ;1 with a mi/.....'y rhru~r in the , ictim'! bt-col~t
"nd , " flff dra" illlo: il Ou l , th rust one hanfl into Ihl' op<'lli,'II. and
tore our t he healt , ", hie h hc al OnCt' OffN.. c-l lu lho- sun ....'
<.
Re spe c t wa.\ , I")\H' f " " t.I ,.. ) "illig Hl~ n\ bodj : It was carried
d ow n slowly t o th e ttr llpl t' courtya rd. Ordinar), ,ict jm~ were
th ro w n dow n the steps to tile bottom. Th e greatest violence \\.1,
habi t ual. "I he dead pcrwn was Ilayed am l d le priesrthen clo thed
him sel f in t lo is bloody skin. ,\ len were thro w n into a furnace and
pu lled o ut w it II a hoo k to be p lac ed o n the execunoner's bl ock
st ill alive . Mo re ofte n th at nOI the fl c., h consecrated bv lIlt' lmm o-
lat ion Wil~ eaten. The festivals [ollowcd one a' K}tlwr with m '1 inter-
ru pt ion and eWI)' }ear t he d iv ill!" ~t'T\ict' call ed fm coun rl.. s,
sacri fic es : Twenty t ho usand is g "cn ,IS ti lt' nu m ber. One n r tI,..
,·it:tims I nC1ma ti n~ a god, hl' c1 im l>cd to the ""l-ri flee 'UITOl lIKkd.
like a !,'OII, by all att.. mlancc that wou ld accompa n} h im in .ICillh,
tha n ,,~' others. Concerning the ~I.wn who were to d ie dUling one
o f the November fcsti,ab, we are w id tha t " t hey wenr W rh..
holl ..:;s of t!lI.. ir masters tu bid them goud-byt.... T11t~y were sirig-
ing in a ve ry loud coree, so lood tha t it seemed to split their breast .
ami upon TCdching rh.. ho use o f th ei r masters t he} dipped both
hand s in t he bow Is of paint or of ink and put t hem o n the lint els
of ,Ilt' doors and the posh 01 the houses, leaving their imprint in
colors; the sarnc they did in th.. I"'llseS of t l'e ir r.. luuc e s. Some
of the m who WC rl:' lion-Ilear te.! w"" ld cal a~ ''''' 011 , others could
not cat t hinking oft"e de at h tt. ..y so•.m wo uld ha v.. to suffer."? A
slave wh o rep rese nt ed the god dess Hlamat ccutf was dre,~ed
en tircl y in white , adorned with whi te and black featll ~'t', arKl lrer
face wa s pain rc d half black and " all' wllite. "Pre, io us I" hd"g
killed , th is woman had to dance, a n~! t he old men pld) ..d t he t unc
lor this dance, and the ,i r:lger~ sang the soup; and while SIIC danced
sloe cried, .~ rghe<:l and worried, knoWi ng that her deat h ",a.~ so d ose
at hand ."ro In the au t um n wo men we re sacrificed in a temple
ca lle d Coarlan. " S OIlR' o f them, ullo n cl im bing tilt' SH-'JlS , were
singing , others screamed, a rxl srtll ot hers r.r ied."ll
H
t im ;l' ;o ..... n. U a second self. AI tI 'e d.tnu lllal ended 11,1' f('A~t.
rhc warriur wo uld ho ld the 'icTirn\ I,e....l in hi s hand.
It the " ..rriu r I'a,! hirn,d f bccn overcome instead u f re t urn-
il ~ a ,ktu r. hi~ dciU h ,m 1'1 fi eld otbaute would l};l\'t' had. th e
!i.lme Illt:'aning as t he rirual cTi li< t' o f his p riSO<1 u : h " ,'u ltl also
haec ....Ib fi <:tllht hlln~l'}' god~.
' 1his was !kIi,lm rhe pr4)er t o I t"ZGllli puc:a fOT d lr w ltli.:r.>:
" In truth. }Ull an: fK' t " TOJJ!'. IO want t h<: 111 to ,lie in NU J.c. 1....-
l Oll did not ~nd thn n intn thi s " ....-1<1 lOt- an) n th t'r purpose Ih.ln
lU serve as food lor t he ~Un ancl lhe t'4rt h , II ilh tht'ir blood alxl
d'd r f1eslJ."ll
Saua rcd " ill , h ltJl KI and fl esh. tilt' SU Il g ilH' glo!') to till soul
in Ilis palace . T here- II.... \\<11' dt,,,,1 m ing le l] \\ itl, d,e im mol.u,xl
prison ers. I he nlealtlllg o f death In combat \\~ broughl ou t in
the -afTIf' pra) u : "Mill(" t hem bu M. and cou r.Jt:t'ous; remove all
" e~,lt'<;I; &om t1w ir hearts so d lill thoj m.J} !lot onl) receive Iwath
jO)f uJl). bot doi re II and lind c harm ;uI! S...«"1 ~ thn cill; so th,lI
tlW ) do nUl f('4TMrOl"S or swor ds but ratl ler ,-,,"sidt'r them a pleas-
,lilTThing . as il th<:}' were l1o" e.... and eMl u i ~ i le dishes ofl;lOd ."
ha~ t1..grnd..d . rend ered pro fane . Servile usc has m,,, It' a thmil (,'"
<lb jut ) ofthat "hic h. ill a d ee p seus.., i , " I tilt' ""me n al rr re as the
IU/,JCCf , is in a relat ion o f int im at e part ic ipati"n " ith t he su bjec t.
It i, no t necessary that t he sacri fic e actually " .., troy , I,.. anima l
or plan t 01 which man had to mak e a thinfllnr h is use . Thej. m ust
at le ast Iw d est royed as li ling s, that is. i/lso}or os l1Jn 11Cl l"" M om"
1/';"11" Destruction i ~ t he beet m ean, o f negating a u tilitarian re la-
ti o n between m an a nd th e an im al o r plane Bur lr ra relj gut.'; IU
th at l \ hich life de epl y is, w h ich is perceived by t] ,e " ,bjt'. 1,," I,.. i, ,!s
true t o nsclf and as the tl<mSpare nL) o ! the universe .
B UI th e recl"ctioll " f" d ,al "hit;h is" 10 th e oral't oj thmfJ5 i,
not lim ite d to ~ Ia,-ery. Slan' r)' i, al", lisl,... t. hut we ourselves arc
aware o f the aspec ts o f social We in w hich man is l d egate d to
th.. lewl o f t hmf}'. "",1 \\T s ho uld know th at th is rel egati on d id
not awa it slav..r}'. r rum the ~tart. th e int rod uction o f laVor in to
the wu rM ' ..p lace d inrim aq ', th e d e p th o f des t-c and it s free o ut-
b r....h . w it h rational pr~rcssion, wh e re ", I,at ma tt ers is I1U lun ger
the truth o f tile pre sent m o m ent. hut , rather. Ih.. , ,, bs..,, ,, ellt
res u lts o f 0perutjon<. 1 he fint labo r cs tab l is hed the " o rlt! " f things,
to w hich the profane wu rld o f th e lI'lcients 1,;.. ne", lI) co rresponds .
Once th e wo rld of t hi ng~ "as posited . m an him ,cl rbeu \m.. on..
uf t he th ings 01 th is world. ar lcasr fur t h e rime in which he
labored. It is th is d cgradaliull that 111<111 h..., d l",.\)'" rr iecl to "s<"'r"',
In hi s slTange my ths. in h is c ruel rile s. man is ;" 'mrd, of a (()5f
,"
SA"" " " ce s ""' 0 "',,"s o r 'H ' " ~T ~ CS
'"
S", C R I F ICE ," "'''' ' ' "' '''Rto O~ ' H[ "'1: T [c,"
("
The Gift of Ri valr y : "I' ot1at(:11"
"
ci"'l!l lhin~", in t hC' gameo; and. when one o lrbc e" "'mnne.....
man nr 'Hlllyn, vernu red to gl't'Ct them and l>pt'ak.l Ie'" """"I,
th.Jt pleased them, til<') "lw ld gin' IOOc:l anrl drink. oIlong will.
fabriao 1(,. wc:mng a' KI ~1 .... pil1lZ' II so meone else comprn;nl
~ d idt ,,~rc ~rttable 10 t he m, thry wou ld ghc: gi fil> t1141
weI(' In kc:epi ng wuh his meril and with t he ple.Murc ht' bed
c..auso-cl them.n
6,
T><F GIFT OF ~'VAL R~ ·prOT' ATeo .. •
'7
re ply. 'I ehc rt t im e latn, by m ",'n~ u f a ne w porlarch, more p:en-
c ro us than th " nr~t: H" JTll l~ 1 pay hack w ith int .. rt·.~t .
G ift-giv inE is n OI the on ly form " f p" t1 at eh: A rival i ~ chal-
le tlg(-'<l by a .'iOlcmn des truction o f riches . In principle. the d cct ruc-
t ion is o ffered to th e my thical a ncestors 01 the d onee ; it is litt le
different from a sacrifice. As recently OI ~ the ninetee n th cen tu ry'
IITli ngit c hieftain wou ld sometimes go before a rj '·OIl and cut the
tlm",h. o f ,I,we~ in his pr<-><;e nce. At th e protx r t ime , the d estru c -
t io n wa., r..pa i,1 by tl,.. killi ng o f a larg.. n umh" r of slaves, T he
Chukchee of th.. Siberian No rtheast ha ve relatt,,1 inst it ut ions. T hey
s lau~h l n high l} valuable d og tea ms . for it is necessary for t hem
10 sta rtle, to s uflc Ihe rival grou p. T he Indiam 01 th" Northwest
Coas t wou ld SCI fire ro their \' i l l age~ o r break th eir canoes to
pie c es. T he y ha\'e e m bl azoned cop~r bars po ssessing 01 Iic rlve
va lue (de pendi ng On how fam o us O f how u ld d ".; e"PI;>t> rs are ):
Some time!' these bars i\1"C wo rth a forlu n... They th m w tI,..m in to
th e sea o r sha tter th e m .24
68
n_ .. r. '''T cO' ~'VA' "V P CH' ATe ...
The stud y of th is strange yet farruliar ineutu tto n (01 goocJ mOln)
of our behaviors art' red ocible t o the I.' W5 o f potlat c h; rh..y I"" ,..
the sam e s ign ifica nc e a, it d oes) h<l!. a pri v i1c~('d pl ace in general
e co nomy. If t h(' r(' is w it h in ' '', ru nni n g th rou gh Ih .. spact' \w
inhab it, a mo\'ell 'en t of ..n" I"IO' t hat we ll".., bUI lhal. is not retluc-
iblc to its utility ( whic h we 0I1-e im pel led by reason to \eek ), wt'
c an d isregard it , but we can als o ad ap t our acti vi ty to its !:om-
p letion o u tside us. 'rhe soluric n o f the pro b lem t hus posed ca lls
lO r an action in t wo con trary directio ns: \\~ need o n d \t' one ham1
to go bcjond the narrow limits w it hin w hich w" o rd inarily re",a in ,
a nd o n Ihe o t her han d somehow bring our go i n~-beyond bac k
w it h in our limits. T he problem po se d is that o f th e expenditure
o f th e surp lus. \ Ve need to give away, lose or d e stro y. Il l lt the g ili-
wo u ld be se nseless (and so we wo u ld never d eci d e to g ive ) if it
did not rake on I~ m eani ng o f an acqu isition. Hen ce 8i''IIl[J mUSt
bec ome U<quirifJfj a p"'i.-er. t; ift-g iving h as th e virt ue o f a surpass-
inJ; o f the sub ject who gives, b u t in exchange lor the o bject given,
the su bjt'Cl approp ria te s the sUlpassing: He regards h iS Virtue, thai
whi ch h e had th e capacity fo r, as an asset, as a p<)wer that he n ow
p{\',ses~es. He e nriches I1hn ~d f with a conte m p t for ric he s. and
w l,at h.. l' n ,,-c s to I... mi se rly of is in fac i hi s gen emsiry.
BUI he .....ould no t be ab le by h im sc lf t o ac quire a powe r con·
sutured by a td i" q , dsh m ..nt o f flO",er: Ir he dcsrrojcd th e obje ct
in solitude, in sile nce , nO so rt o f power "Quid res ult from the act ;
there wou ld not boo an ylhi ng fo r the sub ject b ut a separati on from
I',,,\.t'f w ithou t any c"m l'..nsat;on. Bot ifhe d..stroys th e o bjec t
in from o f anorher pe rso n o r ifhe gi\'t'S it aw ay, the: o ne w ho gives
has act ually acquired , in th e or" ..r's cy~ , lhc pow cr ofgh· ing o r
d..st roy ing . H.. is no w rich for h,l\ -ing made U5C o f wCillt lo in th e
ma nn er its essence wo u ld require: H,> is rich fo r l\a\'lI1g osterua-
t i,, "~ ly c onSl 'lllcd whal is ",..alt h on ly if il is c o nsu m ed. Bu t th e
wealt h that is ac tu al ized in the po tlatc h, Hl comumpllon }OI" o,!lCr.5.
has no ' N I c" i~It'm(' exc ept i n ~()r.lr .1.\ t he o tl ..." i' d 'nnged Il)'
tl,t' consum pt ion, In n :>enM', ~l) d't'm ic consum puon ()u~hl 10 be
"" l ira')~ bu l lhc n it m",1cI no t 1)<1\ e the com pletion thai the act io"
il has on till. o lhcr c o"f.,,,, on it , Am] th i' ac t i. m tM t ,~hrough l
IU be-., on ..then i~ I'",d,o;d ) ....hat Con~ III UU'" rhe gilt·s 1XJ\\ t'r,
" h""h om acquires Iro m rh e r.")(;1 of IaUIIfl' 1he c>.cmplat} \ irtu.,
0 1 th.· l'0llaK h is ghl,;l1 in Ih is ~~ibi l i t) f( ,r man to Io(I0000p " Ilill
d ude' lrlm, (n co rnhmc ti lt' Ii Illill es" move1ne- nts o f Ihl,; un i , CTht'
wi th till' h m ir th nr be longs ttl hi m .
l'
• •
4 . 1M j iJ3lll(l5K /o "~
&1 if it is true t ba t fWltl.au::h T..main~ the opposi re of ;l r4pil1C.". o f
a p lo l,ta h lc cxc. hange or. ,l!,cn..ral l) spe",k ing. fir an appropr iat ion
o f posses sions, ;U;llliisi ti ol'l is non eehcleee its ultim at e p u rp ose.
Because tho.: lT1OI'cn ,rnl it srruc rure ,l iller; fW Ill OlUS. h apPear..
SITiI.ngc.- (0 us, and so i l i, moee Clpablr- of rcveaI;'l( wh.u usu-
all ~' escapee ou r P(:rcq 'lion . and " h", i t sho .. s rn. is o ur bd..'ir
a mb i,llUil). O ne c an dcdun' th e fo llo\\ ill( laws frn m II. O f c oorse-
man is nor ll..r.nabl c once an, l tor ail an dthese law, o p.'rat e dlf-
r..,e ml} - the ir d lecb ere ....-en nc ul..vi,a:I- .lI1 dilT~ ll[ stilb'CS
of hi st~. b u r lxIsic"l.lI) Ih n OC'I"'" C('~ 10 r{'\l'a l a d ecisive pb.)
of lor-ces.:
• a ,w'1" l1s of reMl<Im, "hkh soocuce haft w rulanrk <II ,h'lT dUJX'u>l
/II l <.TTlJjn pat,t., III (erta in 11m.:.. ronoct compku "I'flfV-
be It~ ol>i«r ('/ (J
• "!J,,t i.l nppropncr/(J in tlX' >quan&:r i.l' tk 1""n;y< it n k(, '" /lw squnn-
dr;= ( .. hdltcr on Ind"KfooJ Ct a DroopJ, ..-h.ch .u <JCquirtd ry hUn us 0
~ and .. hicJJ Mrnninc.< his r.mK:
• C('m'f'l1<'~. ronk III w:>cirf} (or ' M ra nk oj Ilr'" __M't. otoorlfJ athcn )
wn IIC QPf'''-1'InUtetf in tn.. W I .... ""'J f))
tool ar a f itld; '/ II l< uhi""ud.
"
"
one w ho wastes, -I he was te is an os te nta tious sq uilllde ling to rhis
e m l, w ith a .. i",ow to a su periori ty me r othc.... that he ett rtbures
to himselrlly this mea n s, B'II h l' misuses th e nega tion h e makes
o f th e uul it Y o f the eesonrces he wastes, brin/<: ing in to con rra dic-
t ion not o nly him selfbur ma n's c ntj rc ex jsrence. The latter thu s
c ntc rs inl o an " mbig u it ) w hnl' il re mai ns: tr p lace.-; the ,'alue,
th e p resri).,... and th e trut h o f li ft, in the negati o n of th", servile
usc of possessions, 11I ,t at the "'m" I im.. it m" kes a servih- use of
tlli s n egation. On the o ne hand, in tllc 115<:(, ,1 am i gra.~p.l hl .. t hin g
il discerns that w h ich, being n e<.:e ssar) 10 it , « 11' he 11 , ... 1 for it,
g rowt h ( o r irs sub sis tenc e ], bu t it stric t n ece ssit y ceases to h im l
it, thi~ " usefu l thin g" canno t c n t in,;l) answe r to its w ishes. Con-
""'1"entl)', it calls 1'01 t hai w h ich cannot be g~pcd , fOl the useless
..m ploy m ..nt of o neself, of o n e 's p o ss e ssions, for plu), b u t it
all!"" 'pt, g rd.\ p that w hich it w ished to be UllfJTillpobk, 10 we that
10
whose uti/i t! " it .Ieni e. !. It is nOI f'nough for OIJr left haml not to
know what the right baud g iH's: Clu msily, il mes 10 take it back.
Rank is e n! ircly l he effect 01 this crooked w ill . In a se nse, N,:k
is tJu. opposite o f"il t hi ng: \ Vhat founds it i, s<lCred , and the /<:en-
eral OJ'd crjng "I' r<ln ks isg in~n the nOlm.. o f hwrorch) . It is the srub-
bo rn d e te rm inati o n 10 tre-at as a <l ispo~ hl t' ;lOd usa ble thin9 that
w hose essence is sacred, th at wh id, i ~ . ,o m plt' t.. ly r..mon·d fro m
th e p rofan e uti litJri JIl sphere , where th e hand - Un'" rLl l'" lo", I)'
an d for serv il e e nds - ra tse -, t he ham m e r and n ails t h e ti mbe- r.
Bill am llig llif) e ncumbers th e p rofane ope ration jus t as il em p-
t ic, . It'sire 's veh e m e n c e o f it s mea n ing and e ha ngcs it int o an
al'p;l re n t c orn..d y,
T his • <lm pro m ise g iv!"l1 in our ",'t' lre heralds those link ed series
o f dcccpuons, f'X I,lo itatiol\s and mal1ia..~ rha r g iw a te m por-.,l order
10 th e ap pilTCllt u nreason o fl,islorr MOlIl is flcecssaril) in a m ir,1gt',
his ,'e ry re flect ion mys tifies him , so intc: nt is he o n graspirlj.( th e
ungrasp.tN e, on m ing traJt~P()rt~ o flust hat te<l as took Rlmk, wh ere
" L ,,"CCu ",,"CD Sh"""
loss iv ch;ln~,'t'd into .l<.'j u i.\ilion, con'''~IJ< IO(h ro the 3f. t" it) of t he
;ntelleu . " hic h rri!uu., rh.. objce::u of Ihf'll .j.!fJt 10 thlllfF. In poiru
~ f<K l . lho- c~kl .on ut podanh i~ rncOOlllOI 0..,1) tf" OLlfI;fl.
(lut "--tOl'). bUT more profoundl) in Ill.. "Vcr.u ."n\ o r . ....>Ugh r.
Gen.. raJl ). in \.l(;r Hkc or in pol la rch, in ;",;tion (in MHO!) o r
in comemplatlon (in th nu/lhl ), " I,at "" ' ee l... h ill"a»' I hi~ selll-
blanc e - ,, !.i\;h by tldlllil if.l ll "e \;;1 111101 I<T'iI~ p - IIMt "e "ainl)
callthe pot'tl')' 1M deplh ....... t he intimae.:) of IJoluion. We M C 'lL'C·
~s.ari l) d«:ci"c,1sirx c " 'e- wanl 10 t:""'P th", sha.:""',.
\\c <:uuM nf'll rca.h the- Goal objn.' uf 1.. l'l(J\' 100"... without lhe
d issolu tion 011<00\, k.I".... "hie" ;li lTl!> 10 , ...'<Iua ib "hj..... t wthe
Lond ilion f.lf ~ulxJrdill.l.l,·d ~nd m.:II1.~e<l t h ing:,. ·n1\: .. It.m ate peob-
lcm .. f k nowl e, I~... is tl1l' same ,).\ th~r 01 c·OfISUIllVli"" . No o llt;
<;.111 hot h knf\\' antI n(~ be do.:.sHo),..1; r\O one can hu .h (·ons um e
wcahl. ami increase II .
bes t 10 n:lat... rhis libe rarion to interest, bur th is liberat ion car-
l ies them fu rLlu:r. Cons.."u.. nrl )', in a sense the,. li e in any case.
As a rule the imlh idua l dc{;"rnll];lIion "f r..sou rce s is doomed to
d esrru ctton . Tbc individuals ".h o (;"rr)' n"t t " is (I..srn,,·rion do
nor Inri) possess this wealt h, ImSw Ilk. Under p rillliti,-... cOrl< liti on_s.
wealth i~ always amlogoU\ to stoc ks of munitions, ".lli.:h " l cl ..~r1y
..." p.... ss t " ~ a nn ihilati on , not rho povscssion o f wealth. fiLI I thi s
image is j" s! as accurate ifil is a m allcr of ,,:>.pre ssing th" <Xjuall)
lucli, n1u, In llh or
mnk: It i , an ""plo,]\"c c1largc. Til" man o f high
rank is orig iI1all)' <lnl}' a n e"plosivt> individual (all men a n· o . plo-
sive, but he is explosiv e i, a pri vil<:ger:1 war), Doubtless he trl ..s
to prcvcnr , o r 'It least d da) tho: exp los ion. l ' IU ~ h e lit's ro h im-
selfb) d eris i"d) lak ing hh wea lt h and h is pO\, e r fOr ~()Jne l l l i ng
that I!IC) ar.. "ot. lf he ma nabJe s 10 e n jO) them peacefull), it is at
Ihe cosr o f a m i sun(I" ~ldllJin~ o f h im sell, 01 his real nature. I lc
lies at t he sa me t ime It) ali t!'" 01" .."" 1...lor.. " h"m cm th e con
nary h e main tains the affirmation o f a lru th (his "" p l"'i\'e na ture] ,
fro m wh ic h h e t ries 10 escape, O f cOU"''', I", "'i ll I,.. .. ng"I/",1 in
th ..., .. lie<o: Rani; w ill be reduced to a comrn odirj of .... ploit"tion,
;, sh",md e;~ source of p rofits. Thi ~ pove rty rannot ill all}' ~>a) im ..t
o.r« l.h.. m ow"m ..nt 01" ex u be rance.
lndifk-een r to inrc nri on s, to reticences anr1 lics , slowly or sud -
denly, tire movement o f we"l th e xndcs and <.;Of1SumC5 the resources
of cne rgy. ·1his olien seerns st r,m~~ , hut not on l) do these resources
SU m tT; il' t hC)' cann o t ~ c omplete ly cons lImcl\ p.ndUt·livd) a
surplus usuallj- re mains, " h ich must be ;m nillilatcd . At lirst sigh t ,
potla tch appears to 1..<1")' out th is consumprion bJdl). The dc srruc-
ti o n of riches is n o t it~ r ul ,·: T he ) "r.. ord inaril y gi ven away and
the 105.~ in t he opcrat jon is rc.luccd to th:lt-of th.. g j,·"r: The aggre-
galt 01 riches is p reserved . Bur th is is on ly dfl dpp.."rdn c.. . If l'llI-
Idtch " ,r..l) re sults in acts sim ila r in C\·cr) rcspcl:J to 5dC riflc .., it
is no n.. th.. le s., the compkmr1Jw,,- 101m uj all ",u/lu/;01J who,\C ""'lin
;"B iI jn the [act thot It "jthdra'u }Wolthjram padua"." cOIl5umprion .
In g..n"F.lI, ~acr ilk .. \\ it h( l ra" ~ use ful prod ucts fm m profane cir-
cu l<ll iofl; in pTil....Iple the g ifts of pot farch libera te o bjf'clS rhar
arc useless n o m t he Hart. Th e in{' u~ t '!' of archaic luxur j is t h e
basis o f potlatch; o bviouslv, th is industry squanders re so urc es rep-
re se nte d b) the q ua nt tries of avail able human labor. Amon/<: t he
Aztecs, the)' were "cloaks petticoats, precious blouses": ()I'" "richl)"
co lou red Iearhers .•. c ut stones, sh el ls, fall' , , 11Id I p.,,"' I ,,~ ... wi lel-
animal sk ins worked and o rnamented w ith d ';sig ns ." In the Ameri-
ca n N orthwe st, ca noes and houses are destroye d, and d og s or slaves
art ~ 1;llIgl ll ercel: Th ese are USC/ill riche s. 1::~,e nr i<ll1)" the g ifho arc
o bjects 01 IUJ\ur)' ( f'h.. whn... Ih.. gi lt~ n ! food are p l..,1,gt',1 frn m
rhc start to the useless (;Om llm p lion o ff"'''-lo !.,j.
Om' m ight even sa~· thatp or tarch is d ie specific manit..~w.ti()n,
the meil n in};fu l fo rm o f luxury, Be)'o nd d ,e archaic torm v, lu xu ry
h", ac tua lly r..ta in..d t h.. fu nct ional value o f potla tc h creative of
«mI<. LUJ\ llr)" ~ t i ll ' !<:lnm in.., t he rom k "f eh.. o np w ho displays
it , and there is 110 cx a!tr.;<1 rall k that doe s not require a rlisplaj,
But th e pett )· calcul a tions o f those w ho enjoy luxury are surpassed
in t."v e ry wa)" In wealth, what shine, throug h th e defec ts exten ds
th e b rillian c.. o f t he Stm and p rovo ke s passio n. It is nOI w hat is
imag ined by t hose who have reduced it to their ptwertr; it is the
ret u rn 01 HIe 's lm mem it} to the tr u th of ex uberance. Tl li, muh
dest roys those who 1,01' 1' rakc n it to r w hilt it h not; the leas t that
on" ca n ~} is thai th e present forms of we.-. lt h ma ke a sha mbles
and a human mockery o f I.host' w ho t hink the y own it. In rhiv
r~pcct, presem ...1a) society is a llUgt: <:nuntcrf" it, wh..r.. t his tmth
of wea lth bas underhandedly sli pped into e~tremc poverlx. T h.. Ir u..
IU!l. ur} and th e tC<\1 Ilo tl a tc h o f o ur t im es falls to th e po\"e rt)' -
st ricken, tI,,,1 is, to th.. ind ivid llal w ho Ii.., ,Iown an d scoffs. A
gt'll u ine lu x ury requires rhc ( Oml' ld.. cont ..m l'T fo r ric h...\, the
somber indi llcrc ncc of the individual " ho rt·f"....'s work and mak..s
T H e G Ir, OF R ' V A L R> "O 'L A ''''''
his life on rbe aile hand a n infJ n il d ) Tlline,I splend o r, and on the
other, a silent in..~u lt 10 the laborio us Ii,: o f th.. rich . Beyond a m ili-
tary ""ploita tion, a religjoo ~ m p tificOl.Iion ,lIlel " c apitali st m i!r
ap pmpri" rion, henceforth no o ne C<\ n rediscover the rn.::ming 01
wealth the eXJllf)"i\"..n..~~ Ih'lt it heralds , unl e ss ir is in th c 5['1,,0-
. Io r o f rags and the ",,,,,/wr {_haHeng c o f indifference . One might
say, fin ally, that the Ii.. d .." lio",,, We'., exu beranc e to revo lt.
77
PART THRI;1"
The S o ci et y o t
M ilitar y E n te r p r is e a n d the
So ci et y of
"
o f t he MO~l> and Ih ... T uru . lo llo..... d b) Ih c d r- d lnll' u f the
Moslem p<J!,'crs in o llr t im.. ,
AlI l h i~ is deMo but (111) "upn flctaJl) 0;0_ If we II) tu .. nlt'r
into t he 'ipirit t h..l dcrcemu......1 a '~I mO\cment.nd ordered d ,,;
lin :!! of cocndess mul titudes OI'n ccmunec, Wt' do nm '!CC what
could have tout.. h t.'C1 II"> pcl"$OlUll). but 0fI1} fi ,n nal l""n i<. u lan .
w~ arrracaion lOr IIw I.l ilhflll "'" can onljsen.... L, i m<tgi n i n~
the local color of cov nnue-s, of " range c h in. ancl a " hoi...... rit"'"
o rt,ieratic altitudes ami b...st un-s. Mo hammed hin•self " 11I,,,c iiie
i!. wel l koM'''''' to uv, ~pca1.s a lilll,~ mat Jot':!> no t ...... 'C tllCd ear
and irrcpiec.. ab l.. m..... n i n~t for us t hat Bu"dha'~ or Chr;;\t'~ has. If
on l) we arc alcn , Rmlt,n.. o r Ch rist speak 10 us. btll Mo hammctl
10 "Ihel"\.
S" t n l.. i ~ thc above tI,al wl' ''''t,,·..r th .. " ndClli'lbk scxhll·lion
lI ,a t w<; f....1 tri es 10 (' ~ p .... s~ it scli in 'nml", 'w d o n't k no w w hat
to ~.ly. T I ,,~ p ri nd p k , th" n appeal' as ti,t,) :,..., lordgn 10 w ha r
affccrs u•. \ Vc can on h r.....irt m pla eirudcs.
O ne cannot d o ubt the ' ill'..cit)" o r the co m pele nl;C tlr Emile
Dermenghem " here, .I t rhc uH.... lusion of the rich '01o.1I1\C "hid.
t he Cohier< dlJ Slid hM rt'Ccnl l) devoted to Islam. I ~ Ollliiocs thc
,-aluel> Iml Isla m t:0fI1""" to us. I h i~ no use hl."lI1 i n~ ,"In)tlling
bul an irred ucible tl'"lu d l). BUI t he lac l rt ar Il,c cmph..\i~ i ~
I~ace<.' on freedom as ~<li "~1 wrvt cudc. on jlCn tlencss a~ ~",i n~1
violence, il> ,urprh ing• and illllic n h e ol tM perplcxin 0 1some-
one tryi ng 10 rOfTllub tl? a deep auracnon. \ \'ht-n l)fonl1cn~"cm
spem of fu n .lum ht- i\ l?xpre~i"l; t he .lrtr.ocli'lfl I,.. t..ch both
10 frt'e<lorn .IndIO lvlam, bU1 the <jtJOl:3riom he nfkr.. .. re- 111'1(;0<1-
,i nci n~_l "'("-.I does not loce OpprMo!iOlS." SoIl' t he Ktlr4n. O ne
grant, thl' antil h....h of t Ile i,k .. of COIl a,xl an uOJu!>t OPl'rc~.
bu t t"'i ~ is 001 .. !\1()\lrtn lra il. And one can nfll F.!.illo nou' Iht-
~nerall} dcspoI;c IIIl !U r .. u l '>OI l're iJlnq in Islam . Is ft M'ilo m nm
ba sed O<l I"('I"Qh. alxl ;l> il nOI 11M" 'MIme Ihing as un\uhmi~il""OI'S"i~
1\0\0 th e H:I} w(lul • .dam. ntcaIU !>l.lhmh,.iOl1. .'\ Modem '~'JOI~
oec who submib,.l He: whmiu. to God . 10 Ihe d iloCi plim: thlt e..:1
,I..nwxk, "hio. h is <.onsi' It..nt " ilh tha t ,1"Il\O!ondMi b) hio!i lieuten-
ants, Islam is d isci pline a_ opposed 10 , '''' .... pridolls ,·iril't). the
inclhiJ llaJh m 0 1 t he Arabs of Iho:: po I)l llI:'sl ie u-i bc-s, I\ot hi'l!: "
rnoee " o nl IOU} to Ihe id eas Iha t rhc " ril.. " n rrl /rcrd()m (·,oJ,.ps
in ou r mtndv,
A ~sa£o:: " n WO\r is no Ip~s s tr;lllge. 4 Dcrmcughe m i , el Ol lht-
less rig ht 10 lJ m k' I~()n: rhc lil:t thai for Moharr nned t hc ~rt'.' l holL'
,..,r is 110 1 tl l.. t (If th.. Mm ll-tll aga insl ,h,- infiel d bUI tI '''1 o f the>
renun ciation 1)1\(' m llst engage in OIgains t Qn(''>CIf. He is also righl
to illustra te Un: morl.. rate charac ter of Islalll b} rd e ....rJ( - .. to the-
IlIlman it} s hO"n in i l~ lir.;1 Cvoque5IS. Hut ifone s peaks "of "ar"
Clpropo! oft llC ~IO!> I ..rns in oedcr 10 praiot: l hem. it is besr nOI 10
separate this ~"lH'" fmm their principles.. In thOr ~o::~ I"''t'rl
' iol ent .:tion <lgainst inlirlel" i!O good. J rom the: fint red...l. at
Merl ina. tho.' di sdpl o; of Mohamml'tl li' OO b} pillag ing. "On llle"
ot."'(;a.sion o f .. 1\\nJem rai.I." '!MI)'S r<.lallO«: (.,audclTo:l,~DcmnmI» 11l"'I.
" [he Koran ( II. 212) IOId the 1\1ol.1.. ms 10 flght even Ihough ' M
raid was u rrh·t1 n ut in violation of th e truce of the prc -I, lam ic
sa<.re el mon ths." S
The !ladj,b (I he " rl UeIl Ir'ld it ion ~ ml .. k i nt! of C()(k 0131.... lent
lvlarn ] o rgan i/ ed the cOIl'l ue~ l , )'sl.. rn<l tira lly. It exd u.lc.' need-
lee, ex.., uions <In<l a([lS of , iol cncc. Th.. rt')!illlen imposed Oil t hOSl-'
1\t:I""te.1 peN)nS " t,,') ceme 10 terms " il h t il.. , ic[fJI had 10 be
hlllmlle". c.sp<.'Ci<l1I) if il was a (jucstioo 0 1 n""n ofSLriptlln' (UlIis-
tian'. j.-..., anrl/nrtm[rians). T hese l\CI'1: on l} ..." bj.....red ro tax -
atKlrI. l il..c" iw th.. h"d,th o rdained Ih"'l rhe cmps. tree ' . dn,1
Irriga tion workv "'m uM boo tf' ~ pee [Cd .6 But
8,
",Ij",'..n t to th.. " t ..rri to ry " I I sI ~ m :: Th.. I.. ~d ..r, of th.. a rm )
m " , l m..k.. Mlr.. that t h...... 1'... ,,,1.., I."" ,w th.. t..ad, iIlgs o f 1, I"m
"",I ll", t they nofus" t" lollo w rhem: it is then " L",,,ssal) to fight
them. Fhc hoI)' war \>.:IS permanen t, the re fore , at the borders
o f Islam. There.: was ' l O real peace poss ib le between Mosle ms
and infi.]d s. Thi~ wa\ an absol ute theoret ica l J)otiontmt could
n o t h al .] u p agains t th e fac ts, and the juridic<l1 expedient 11<\0
t o be found , rhc MIa, fo r circ um ve nting it w hi lt' conform irl!/;
t o it. Th e ,Ioctri lle l/:r~ n ted t hat t he Mos lem pr inces m il/:ht
enter into truces wit h the tntidejs, la,ti ng ten ye.1rJ at the most,
in the !""s.. o j an msu rmoumab le wea kresv " h Ill' Mos lem sta te
am I in rI,.. lan e r\ illlt're st, The) we"" free I " bre..k th..m ilt
w i II , pms ided th e y a to n ed for t ht'ir \'io la l t',1 ,-", t h. J
'<
th.. 'oil "''' .. ITeet a-, it ",{)"I, I h"H·IMd ifhe ha d clearly inten ded to
profi t fro m the occavion.
Properly speaking, these pre-Islamic Arabs ha,l nor J't:',llJ,t'I.1 Ii...
stag.. o f mili lar} " flInpri,,", an) more than rhe Aerccs had. Th ese
WilY, oflife "orrnpu nd t" the princi ple ofa "JC idy of consump-
li o n" But am o ng pe o ple of the same ,tage, the A'lte,s h~d ..,..-r
c jsed a mi lilal") hege mon). T h.. Arab" whose n d gh lJOr.; were
s..,san;, l lran a nd B)lamium. "ere forced t o Icgetate.
rain ly deserve to be ctudicd arel .'>:a m inH I more dnsdy, "-"'IJecl" l1y
, ilK .. Max \ Yel,..r "01\ Sombart have deaJl) shown the importance
of tile pi e tist wa) o f th ink ing in the o rigins and dcvclopme nr o f
capita lism : 'R T his re mark by the Fin ni sh w ri ter i, all tlll~ mor..
pert inent , illLe t he piet ism o f t he Je ws and the Proresram s was
motiva ted by intentions alien to c apitalism. It nevertheless resulted
in the birt h o f an ecollom) in w hic h t he a ccu mu lation o f l:.ll,ita l
d o minat e d ( to the derrim en r 01" consump t ion. whic h \\;l' Ih e
ru le in the Middle I\ges). 9 In an) case, Mohammed cou ld not
haec done any bcrrcr if he had s("t our (O n ansfor m til.. rf'C kl t'.ss
and wasteful agitat in n 01 1"1,.. Arab, o r hb l im e in to <III d lcc ti\t~
pr c-Islarmc t ribes, " j ill the di1l, with fait h and su bnnss tvc disci-
pline. (Ric he lie u com bat ring the rradirions o f fe ud al hon o r, rhO'
.1" 0"1, ("h me Ihis sam" d irc c lifm Iklilwr.lt.. I). ) H,· forbade bloo d
r ...(; C ONO;:U E" ..... $0<; . 1: . .. ' 0;, .....
pt:M~r. T his was I., no m eans a C;:Of"I.'> istt'tlt plan or prtlj t . U4J1
chance reali zed C'lc'1 l'0ssib ilit), Anti ('ha'KI.' ",AS \uppon 1 b) a
m inim u m of n ccl"\Sil). It is r..lall....l) t'~ ) 10 assemble people b,
inspiring them wi th a pankulu euthu...ia\ m , Ru( une mUSI &"e
"
TH~ "C C,-"SE D S .... ~E
th em someth in~ to do. ' 10 ~s'emb l .., to ..)(~ It is nP.it of ..lito .. licit
an u napplie d lu re ,,; Illis fo rc e c-an n ot follow if..', imp<:t lJs ,m el pre"
fo rward un less it is used th e mo ment it bec o m e s available. I rom
th e first, Islam was fortunate in having to set itsel f vio len t!) against
the wo rld in which it o rigina led. Mohamm ed's I ~-hi ng "1'1)()s..d
it to ti le tribe wh os,e rradirions it blasphemed. The tribe threat-
..ned t n exclude. it. wh ich \"'S eq u ivale nt to deat h. It thus had
to re -pudiate the t ribal relationshi p, iln d s inc e art existence w ith-
ou t ti es was not c onceiva ble at thc t im e , it had to e stablish a d if-
ferent t ) pC o f bond between it a nd Irv adhen-mv. T im wa s the
me an ing 01 th e I lcg ir;l, w h ic ll p ro pe- rl y be ga n the- Mos le m e-ra:
Muhamrn.., I\ flight frum Me' GI to Medina c onsec rate d the rup-
t lln' "fblood t i..r, and the establis hment of a n ew com muni r j ba sed
n n ch o \.Cn b ro the rh ood, o pen ro anyo ne who aclol't.. t1 i t., tf"ligious
forms. Ch risrianit v dates from thf" in, fh i,l u..f birr" of .. rl'1l,ct' m ing
god; Islam , fro m rbe b irth o fa ' -' )[I lm uTl it ), o f a n"'" kin,1 ofs...,t."
which ,lid n n t ha ve its basis in either bl ood ot p lace. Islam diflers
Irom Ch rist ian ity and Bu d dhi sm in th at it became, afte r the I-l'l!ira,
som c t h ing diflcre m from a te ach ing propapared in (he fram ew o rk
o f a soc iety alrea(l,. formed (a local o r blood c o mrn unirv }, IT '.I!;l~
the establis hment of a soc iet y 00l;t'(1 on the new t e~d l i llg.
Th i~ principle was in a sense perfect. Th ere was nt, mo m Il,r
ilmb igu it) o r compr omtscs "t he re ligious lead er was at the same
ti m e tile legi slator. the- jud gt, and t he m il itat) c hie f. O ne cannot
imag ine a more rigotOllsl}' u n ifleo c o r nm unl ry, Th e soc ia l bo nd
had irs o rig in in w ill alone ( b uT w ill c o tlM no t break il l, w h ic h
o ft.. r... 1 rh.. a,I",tn lagt: n ot ' m l) of e ns uring a d ee p m o ral un it y,
bu. ,,15<, o f 0 pc lling Ivlam to In definite expansion.
It was an ad m irable machine ry, Military orclet r..place d the ana,..
ch ) of ri va] dans, and in dividual teso ur< ~ , n" I, rng..r con~tl n,..d
was tcfu lJ). we nt Int o ti, e sen 'i,-.. o f t h.. arm ..,l n >o,nltlllit),. O" Ct'
the o bstacle [ t he t ribal bound ary th at IOr' ned ) stood iTll llt' \Va)
T'-'I: CO N Q UE .. .... e,; SCCI C T~ , ~a ~ "
tM} .....vud gn who u nle ashes his violence agai nst ehe ene my, it
sets i L~cl l against the rel igious \O\'ereih'll, w ho ullder~s violen ce .
Th e m il itary sove reign is n eve r k illed a ml even tends to p UI an
e nrl to ""'crif"'.,,; h.- i' th .-r.- [() .lircCl t he violence outs ide, am I
t o I'r.-st'n .- d ,,' vi\.il l lo l'('e o l thc co m mun ity fro m inte rna l con-
sUJllpt io n , fro m ru ina tion. t il: is c omm itted fro m the start to the
pa t h o f appeo pria t tnn.., n f cn 0'l ues ts, o f r-alr- ula rcd ex pc ndh ures.
wh ose pu rpost' i, growt h. 1,larn is in .l. .. " nst', in its Un il), a syn-
thesis o r r.-ligio llS "nJ "' ililal} for m~; it has curtailed sec-iflc .."
Iimiti ng rt'ligion 10 fllO",li l), a lms -gh ing and pra}c r observance ,
9'
The tr n a r m c d So ci e t y : La m a Ls m
d ei sm spread and in ti ll: co urse 01 time the inOllc rn:c of rhe- rnon-
..l>It' r!t:l> rhrea rcncd \ h.1t o f IlK> kings, In t ht' TWt'l fth ( " ,Iwry a
rdormer, Tsong· ...a-Pa, fnundeil a m o re seve re so-u. ill "hi.,,, the
monks observed striel '"" lillaC~' f he refur tTll-..-1 ~CI ofthc " Yellow
Hers" 0pp'.l't'<1 t hI;" IlXl'It'".. ..eel 01 rhe "Red Harv." A s.lintl), or even
<.Ii,·i..... d w-olCle r W.!S atu; oot"d to the " \e IlO\, I fars," \I hi. h, "'''p-
pr;:.;tring III theil SIICttSSOrS, gon-e them t ho, spiriwal l)u' .",r and rel i-
gio us !i(J\'Crcignt), 00(' of them, a J!reill l..ll\iI o f Ihe MRic.. Heap"
rnotlolSterJ neilr I h,a..... allied him"..,..l r " ilh a "iongoJ c bscf .. he
debtcrl a ~I "Rood I YI" 1.illl;.. In this \\ a~ Tibet eamf' undcr rhe
aUlt.-.ril) o f rhe " D..llo; Lama," il mongol rttlc J:i'1'n ' Xl thi~ occa-
sion to lMo fifth incatTla.t io n o r that \Upetiu ll-mn IX·l"'l~"'.
T his Dalai Lama \\" S IK,t c1eMI) 11.., mou imPlJrt ant o f t he
ineamare jo!<xls or n l,..t. T IM' :.o:rni-Iq;cndal) namli H 'S tba t dea l
.. il t. the o rigiro. i n" !Il'nSJr' J;l\C t.ighu standing 10 t he "Pan ch .. n"
of Ta"'5hi U in-po (a monaslct) "est o f l hiIS.J. ). In re..li l)- rh.. 'piri,
rual au thorir j ()f rbc DalOli l a ma gre w OUI nf h il> t .. m l>O..-.l1 am hor-
ity. "11>e f';rnd lf':n himlot·rr h,1~, in sddlnon t u ,Ill Im me nse tel igio us
THE U"' .. ..... FO SOC IE n ~ .. "" ",;'"
I' r.. ~tigt', "..c nla r c harge 01 a province; h,> has his ow n policy as
an u ll~Ilhm i,si\'e vassal. TIle <;;l"ll' i, true , to lesser dq,!:T't'CS, ofother
great lan 'a' , , ince an im portant monaster) is a lief in a harO'I )' cen -
tra lized ki ngdo m , lik e a Mate II ill ,in a stare. But the sovereignty
o f the Dala i Ldmd achieved consisrenc, ill t ha t it ceaved 10 be
hnked tu the tunct to n th a t eSlah lb hed it. In ou r ti me , Ll w ht' illl
o f gO\'em mc n t o f Tibet is '>0 liUl e th e gr;md lama of t he " Ric..
I le;, p" that t his mu naste ry, rebellio us er ti mes, cou ld c on duc t a
pro-eh inese pol ic y 'IIKI t hwarr the pro-Bri t i,h po lic y 01" Lhasa.
This in dccisi \t' c haracter of tht, IUC.lI I IIstirutions is reflec ted
in Ti be t's relations " ilh Ch ina , The authority n ftht' Dalai ~ma,
which is om bascdou any m i l i ~ry power, has ne w . ,",x..rclscd more
t han a lragi le co n tro l ove- r t ht' p ia) of forc es ro \d 'iclt it cou ld
n ot o fft'r an y real obstac le . ,\ M,vt"'eignty is precarious tI,al' d ocs
not ('o m mand bo th th e rel igi ous t'ntl lral1 me n t o f t he peo p le ,l Ot!
t he half-m t'r <:t'nary, half-e m o t io na l obedience o f an army'. Anti in
faet theoc ra uc Ti heT soo n fellunder t he d o mini on " I Ch ina. TIle
o rigin o f th is \';~,s~ lage is OOt clea r. T ile T ibe ta ns dispu te the
C hine se version; t l,.. C1,in es>:. th e Ti beta n one. Tibet "as often
subjec ted t o Ch in e st: rille even in a lll ilill ity, bU I n o t like a fief
s" hjn't" ,1 to a sueere tn (by a t rad ition al ri~ht rec~n i7eu by both
parties ): It was a mat te r offorce, and forct' IllJick ly overturned
" hat forc e llilt! established. China in tervene" in Tlbet as far back
as t he seveu rccn tb century, Il oin~ w hat it cou ld I" co n trol th e
sele c rion o f th e Dalai lalli"" , All amban , backed by a garrison.
h3<1 th e rea} secular powe r. Ct' Ilt'ra lly speaI.. ing , th e garri"' Jll seems
to h3\'~ h~t' n we ak : l l oct "as Jlol H prorcctorarc [t here " 'dS flO
co lon izat ion, d ,.. administranon Tt;mili ni,,~ e n rirclj-T ibe tan}, FllI t
China had th t' u pper h and and ow ing to iN i1g,'n ts the ,m'ereign ty
o f th e Dalai Lama w~s Hctitfo us: It m ay hav.. been d ivine, but it
was a lso powerless.
It was a ll the easier to nu llify the Dalai Lama's pow e r sinct' ..
?1
bizarre mode o t succession periodicall y abandoned lhe c o u n lr)
to regents for lo ng intervals. In the cyes o f th e libcrans the Dalai
Lama i\ ']0 rnn rtill, n r I"iIth,'r, he .li .., nnl )' in ~1'1,..~ ra ncc ami "
soo n ....inca rnate d . H~ was r~gard ~d Ii-om t h.. I.>t'gin ning as rh ..
lncaruatl on o f " m ylhir.:,,1 bd' ig. Chcn·rc ·~i . p rotector a'1(1 of goo
Hbct in the Buddh ist panth e o n. Th e ge nera l re inc a rnati on of
human beings (in o t her ani mal ur human creat ures ] afte r d eath
is the o bject o f a furularm-mu l bclscf fur l:Iu dJhi '1s . rh us on t he
dea th ol'u Dala i Lama, always attribu te d 10 th e desire to die, it is
necessary to go in searc h of a mille c h ild. in ,, 1J(Jsc body he is
soon reborn. An offici al oracle J ~ignatL'" the province and inquir-
les arc co nd ucted concern i'W: ch ild re n born w it h in a pe riod o f
time aJlTt'spo nd illg to the tleildl 0 1 th e late Dalai La ma. The dect-
siw sig n is lilt" recognition " f an ol'jt-et t hat ""5 lISt' d i"llll': pn ,-
vious incarnation: l'hc ch ild must ch o o se it fro m among o the r
similar objects. The )Ullllg Dalai Lama, discove red at the age o f
four }'CaT\, is t hL'n introduced amI enthroned, but he doc'> not cxcr-
d , .. powt't I>..("r.. !'i s n in.. t~t'nth )"'M. rhus. ta k ing acco un t o f
tin; 1irm; I<lpse fo r l-.:: i"" am"l lon, a lo-)-~ar r~g""c}' mtJ ,>1 .' eparal ~
t wo rci gm. Moreover, t h i' r"'g e n e y i' o ften p ro lon&J("'1. It '> tJ mc~s
fo r the }'o u rJg sovereign to di e yo ung. As a ma tle r 01 facr, ti le four
Da lai La mas prior to the thirte e nth d ied befo re or shorrly after
th e assum p rto n of power, a decel o prn enr ill w hich the i nl CI'{'~1S
o f lilt' Chmese "am bans" ere rhough. TO hav e h ad a pan. A reg~m
i ~ m o re man<lgcab le "Iltl. moreo,-c ,-, h a~ ~ m e tme rcst himself in
resorting to poison.
,8
d ,i l,]'s sclccrton . I his ne w J.r>II wav born in 1876 ; h.. "as Invested
"ith full p ,"','r, . rd ij!iou, and ..." " br. in 189 5. ' libel was not then
b e tt er a rmed Ihan before, b ut it was gen{'rall~ uclt'mh-lllJ~ an
n lrt'm.. d ink" lt)" o f acccw, Th e de fac to power 01the Da lai Lam"
is a lways po ssible ar the 1i ~1 casing 01 attention on tilt" part 01
III.. C h in....... hur it is t h.'n c o m pletely preca rious . T he young 5o<J\'-
Heign lean e d rl-Is qutc klj, Jnp ite the ignomnn' in \\ hid, lit' \\a.~
kf'pt hy]'h tsolanon fro m e\'el)'thing .and h is u plJn t1gj,~ 3!l an ido l.
as a m o n k los t in meditatton. He made a Hrcr nuvrake. A letter
fro m the vicc ro v o f 1",l i<\ asked fo r t he open ing 01 t he Tibetan
ma rkets to lllndus: T he Dala i l ama re ru me,1 it u no pened. The
matte r "..." ne t very ~ign ifi('<ln t in hse lf bur the British could nor
bear being n ex t to a cou n tl')' t ha t was d o \ cd to the m, tl,..., riske d
king ope ne r! tv Russia n in flu e nc e o r even, it was said, handed
m'er t o Russia b)" th e Chinese. The gO\T n 1llll' n l o f Itldi" sent a
poli t ic al m ission c harged w ith es tab lishing sat isfactory rela tions
" ill l I ha M. T it.. Tibetans upposed thf' enu}' of enYo}·s into rl le ir
te rri tory. In t h is v,ay the mi ssion bec am e mili w r)': At th.. It..ad
uf a ,I.. tac h me nr , Colone l Younghmband b ru l e the resistance and
marched on Lhasa. f he Chineve d id n o t h llllg" ; lJ,f' D..Ia i [ .. m..
ti ed, b ut not before placing th e governmenta l sea l in th e han d s
o f a m on k r("(:ogl1 i ~...<1 li, r h;~ ~ ..i nrli ne ~, "n,1 I.."rn ing, rh ,· only
co nd itio ns the Brit isll impo sc<! on le il\i ng Lhasa were the 0pel1-
ing o f t hr.... T illf't<ln t owns {O commerce, recognit ion o f t heir pro-
re ctorate over a border p rOl Ince , Sikkim• .and las t ly, no m h" r
lilrd gn pm ....r was to inte rvene in Tibet , Th is trc.J.t)' deli m;r1 a ~o ne
o f Brithh inffu ence , b ut it also implici tl y recogn inx! T ibe t's sov-
e re ign ty; it igno red th .. Chinese suzerain ty. T he Chinev.. pu t up
no tic e s in some town s ofTl bet, proda im ing the d f'po s ing o f t he
Dalai Lama, bu t the po p ulace covered t1WSl ' papo.:p; wit h ma nure.
T Ilt: Dala l Lam" stayed four )""A1rs i ll C h ina , go ing frum MonJ4olia
to Shansi, then to Pe k ing. T he rd.,lti o' ll> uf t he Ii, ing Buddha with
THE AeC URSEr, S HA RE
rhe Son o t the He a..e ns rema ined amLiglious ( th.. Ch jn..ce seemed
to forget abo ut the de thr one ment ) am ! strai ned d u ring thi ~ t im...
Ra ther ab rup tl ), th,· Dalar I a r ne wt ou t o n th e return jou r ney to
Ti bet. Bm the <lay h e an-ivcd in Lhasa he had at I,is h.... ls a Ch i-
ne se a rmy. instruct ed to k ill h is m iniste r>; and lock hi m ti l' in a
temple, He resumed the rood of ex ile, th is ti m.. I" ,,"<lrd tl ,.. ""mlJ.
In the d ead o f wiuccr, pass ing th ro ugh snowstorms Oil ho rseback ,
exhausted, lit' and h i' party reached a border post aur! requested
t h e protection o f two Bri t ish t.. l..graph ope rators w ho ", h.. had
d irected to be awakened in the nigh l. In th is way h e de m onstrated
that the m o st firm l) ..stah lisl,..d r.. ligiu lJ s puwn is .,1 th.. rn" rc:'
o f a real power based o n a rmed terc e. He could " n l) has.. him -
selfon fatib'l.lc , o r at best on the prude nce 01 t he neighlJuring conn-
trie s. Thc Brhtsh g lad l) welcomed th is flJ~i li ,,' w h" had I,....n
unable to go,·cm but wit hou t " hom a lJ thorny was usc l...ss. r"r
his pi''' the Oalai Lama , insr ructedby b in..r .. xpeneece, saw t ht-
ad 'amagc he cou ld ,I.. rive fWIlI a" a" tab'"" i,,,, h..t,,,' ..n Hrit i.,h
Indi a ami Cht ro . BUT h,' overesti mated it . The smcrd!(n author-
it y a nd mu tual antag o n is m o f ",.,ig huors a r.. us .. flll If ' a ,,,, r..',
au to nom y but the ) akm .. cannot .. nsu n· il. nit'. ""lici t"d Hrit is!'
failed to S<lt i,f)' the anxious expec rario nv 01 the exiled leader. T ln'y
n·fu, ..d tl w ir '"Pllf" I.• ilm i, ,,,hl ) lim iting tflt' m",lv..s to "" pre\\-
ing Th e ir ,k,ire to see one J ay if stro ng T ibel , released from the
Chi"t'''' )'()k... T Ilt' , i tll~tion w~, finall y " ....(>r<;CJ o nly b)' rhc inter-
nal rlifficuh ies 0 1Ch ina (t ilt' 1..11 " I th.. Lmpir.. in lq l l). -n, .. fi l)Ct
an, d rove ou t o f Lha...~ a garrb on « bose le ad ers no lung e r had iln}
aut ho rity. Th.· ..m han an ,t l i lt' ("( Jlnma nd ..r o r rh .. C h in.., .. lim ''',
surrende red. The Dnlar Lama re-enrered the- capital <1nd rettlrn",,1
to pm ...r aft ... all .. " iI.. 01'C\'en yea r. . I le managed \"('r)' ~ki llfiI Jl)
lo ' tay ill p<)w .. r <J ntil !,is dea th in 1 9 3 ~ .
\ Vhat c1 i q i ll~u " ht-..:I rht s tht rtee n rh Da lili Lama is that ha\ ing
Mltvivt'<I , h.. 3("'jllir.., 1 th.. ""pt'rkncc 01 power - tho ugh under
roo
the most ad verse condi tions, There W3~ no rradiri on that coulr
haec gu ided him. Hi ~ teache rs hi\{' gi\'t~n him a mo nk's educat ion;
10.. 1'01" learned little be)v mllhc captivat ing and pear-eful [~maic
m..J it"t io n, w hic h is struc ture d by m eticulous SpeClJI..Li'JI] am i;,
de ep IllYLh ol og )' an d meta physics. T he srudies pursued in the
Ti be tan lam ascrics ar e quit e de mandi ng and th e mo nb excel at
difficult de bate. But one would eA I~ct that ,,,ch an educatio n
would be more apt to anest hetize tha n to arouse a ' ....ling tor th ..
poltncal necesstues, especially in this part of tl] ~ "od d tha t i~
inaccessible and <lelilw mtt'I)' r-loced to the o utside. And c~pccidll)'
at a ti m e w hen the o nly fi-" ..ignn, a11" .....d into Tibe t "ere Chi-
nese having neither th e dcshc no r tn.. pu~~ ib ili l")' of in fo rm ing.
Slmdy. bu t ste;Klily and o;agacio usly, the tlurt eeurh Dalai Lama
dlscovered lilt' m1r!d. l ie turned his yt'ars ufcxile 10 account, never
m issing an " pl'0 rl ,mity tf) ".-qlli re kno\dedge useful to the con-
d uct of the govc rnme m. Duri ng 3 'hit t o Calcutt" he became
acqua inted with lhe reso urc es of advanced ctvtltzanons. T hu e 1,.-
l:t';~, .. d to he igno rant o f the re st u f a world in which lit" ,,"ilS t o
pld)' hi, part . T hrollf!h him Tibe t beea me aware of th e ..xl<·rndl
1'1a)' u j forces, which could nOI be ignored o r de nied "ith impu-
nity. Mor e exactly, the rd igi o,, ~ <1nd d ivint' [(JfCe t ha t he conaj-
rurcd rccognit cd its hmiu, - and recogru~ed tl.al wit lll)lIt a m ilit.ll)'
fon:~ u could d o notl,ing. His po wer '''l.~ so d ..dr!) Iimile'] to
inte r na1 S<l\"en~iJl:Il[)', ro contro l over sacre d cen.'mo nin dlld sile nt
mednanons. that h.. rarln-r n.a iwl y offe red rh o British the respon-
sib ili t) lor exte rnal socc r.. ign l)" dfld d... is i ()n - m akin~ power over
Tiber's foreign rc lanons. T he)" o nly h;..j 10 conrtnue ro St3Y out
of its inl t' mal affa irs. (Bhutan acce pted dncl appro ved these con-
ditions, hilt rha r little COlllltT) of no rthern India is a stale whose
aflilir.; arc " f tiu l.. {"-"'S..,/" .. nce.] TI ll' Briti sh did no t examine the
proposal: Th"y did net want ,IfJ)' o t he r influe nce in Tibe t th..n
IIlt'ir own, but the)' w arned rigll1s limi ting those o j others, a nd
,m
not a burden of t<,sp(Jn~i h i li l y. AImcst without ilssi,tanct' a"d "ith-
o " t fo rce . the ll alai Lama th us had tu fan, ti l ,," r..,,1 " f , h e world
and til.. ta sk wa~ heavj- tor hi m to be ar.
No n ile can se ne t WO maste rs. "l i b.. t in ih li m e had chosen
t f,.. rn onks: II ' w l neglected the kin!':s. All t he prnt igc IM.:I gon..
to lam", SlJIT')IIIl,Ie, 1 by lege nds and div ine r iul dk 'fhi> 'yst{'rn
h.~c1 '''" J!L..d
in the abanrlnnm Ctll 01 militarv fOru.;. Or rJ tflt't mili-
t",) ' power had died : The fact th at a I" m" carried the pre ~lI gc of
a k ill/:( rook awa)- the latte r's " h il i1 ~' (lJ resist the I'rel;sure lru m
" ilh"ut. He had ceased tn h'l\'t' l h,' force of iltt r.lction necessarv
to assemble en ann~ IC...- t h;,\ pu rpose . Bur gi,-cn llo b stnre o f ..flairs.
the so ve reign n h" had succeeded h im had unl), Jon.. NO (J1I1\\ardly:
llc had no t in!wrilccllhal milit ary po'H' f w h ic h h., bel destroyed.
( rile world o j praye rs h ad prc. ail e d OH'r rha r of arms, b ur it had
de~tro) t'(1 without acquiri"15 lorcc. In onl.,r to cCJllq lJ er, il had been
o bliJ;!;.,d 10 ap pea l to fordgn in rcrv c nrion. And lt hacl rema ined
ar th e me rcv of (] ut.~ t de hJ I CC S , ~ i nc., it h,1(1d estr o yed rha r wllieh
resiste d w ith in.
ThO'C accide ntal rt' b.xa t i(Jn.~ (qll icU, foJlO\\l..d b} l'C-'>u mptiol\.')
of outside pressure, whic h e n ab led the thirr ccnrh I)ali I ama to
e-ndure , in the end o n ly o ffere d him p roof o f his powerlessness.
Being w hat he was, he ... ,,11) did nc r h ave t he me ans W sustain
h is statuv. Pe rhaps 11."rin)· had not be en so unk in d W rhe ninth,
tt'nth, eleventh a nd t " .. lflh Uali Lamas, killed wh .. n rh e)' came
o f age, And Ill.. dl' pa re lll luc k o f t he t hi rt~n l" \\<lS pt'rhaps h is
mi,k"Tun.. , Th.. lhine enth 3<-c t'I'I c<:I it ~n.J p" lnlt~l}' ne verthele ss;
I,.. scrll pII I(JlIS I~ acce p te d th e rc' I'CJn~ i hi li (y' o f a pu,,",r t l,at co<J1d
not be exerc ised, th at was e ssentiall y "pCII to the outside and t hat
c ould expccr no th lll15 lTo m tI,.. (Ju t,iclt' but death . So he resolved
to ren ou nce his own essc nt ial llt' ing.
. .. t .'.' .. .. ., .D "D C ' ~ ' ''' L......'''..
monks .... X, <'..... rW' M tbe hol ~· books_ Bur Fi ber 'las in "'WIlIT
th e !i.1Ime . h injl "" II... m"na~ICt ies. \ \' hu good \\"'~ it , I>l' u pl e
sai d, to flgl,t 10 ul'hv ld .. principle if flght iOR meal'll h...n(l<... in~
tl ,e prin<.' p1.. in Ii,,- li", t plac e ? An impo n MlI lamil plail'K"u it
to alil rles Bell: "It ho i ....) use in<;:rC'Il;inJ! ti ,t' a rm~ in fib...I. (Or
i r is wn nLn in °rl,. IXIUk!i' l hat Tibet wi ll be eOl"lqUC'rt"d h~ (Clr-
e igne,.. lrum ti m .. IfIl imr, h"ll~- " ill noe Stil) I... ~." r \ T Il the
co ncern rha.t t1w mOl1 l~ 1...1 JOr Jr...cping I ~ ir pos it ion, w l.ich
made them o ptx.Kt' th.. tT'I.l lllteTlilnce o f an arm) (thilt would ""n-
comba ted fo n-i E:1l in' ad.......). u ll'l,.1 the-Ill to figllt on another
Il" "c! . Ti le wlmcr o f 1 92 ~ 1 ,} 2) W~ hCd\ } " illl 1 1l['(~a I S o f rlOb
<m<1 cjvil war. One- n i}tllt , placards urgill!( l he people to killlkll
'Inc r« Upal \"riO\[~ public pi", ." in l h asa . Fe bruilr} 1'J bt,J.!,on
t h., f.,sti\al (If t he (i reill I 't,,~,f't. whic h dre" lU I h<lSiI a gatheri ng
of SO to 60 thousand monks. A llolrt o f tl,i ~ c J"(J" d wc nr th rough
ti lt' cil~ sho u ti n/.:: "Come o ur an, ' f, ~l l1 . \ V.. are 1101 " rrai d 10
g i n~ Ollr ]i, ,,s." The fCSlha lll nftJ ld ed in a n alm oo;phn L otrcnsion.
TIl<' dr m~ 's supportcre and Bellllim ,elf "u"ml,,<i fair ) -like cere-
m o ni es and mi"gled ... ilh Illl' pUl'ulltCt' in Iht SlIet'b. I"~'it:nl
inp;" be>l d fr" 1ll to the storm , 31 th e m e l"C) o f 3 11 .." C iUliOIl tha i
m igh t have r.lk("n ~ ha P<' and <H rc<.li o ll ou " Il~ f!lo m ("nr. r hcre
Iolloe ed a , a rlw r moderate purge - re mar l ab l} mOO"""l" III
(illn - ""xl tI,.. rc bellton lasrcd ill lo ng eim e . ·1,,", mi li tar: polic)
o ft h<-· Il.l b i I u n a "'" pmd c n t : It was ba.'It"d Ull ..I, "'Clll ar, com-
Ill()n , .·m... aod rhe gcncnl tili" could o lk r IK' l h ill~ hull""
o mb l" i1g a irn;t It . t be monks' ca use we ill in t ht' d .."ction of
brrra}.ll , 001 UIlI} o f·l1bc t, bu t o f mOn;l!; t ici~m i'H·If. It C.l.IlX·
up ~ai ""'t lhe Iin nl1<'S5 of an Irltemally suon~ J!O't'mlll<'nt; it " as
lost fro m t .... \ Idli. And the su rprising tl li"J: is not i t' l,n lu fC , ln.t
the f dCT rh". " III\ t IThtSS moccmcne su pported it so anll''' lly. 11,. ,
p.ar.td<»; i\ such rh,u un c i ~ compell ed 101001: f<ll" .I.... p("( reaso ns
behind il.
Th e Consumption 0/ fh e TUrDI Surplus by t h e LamDJ-
I " ill bc..1!in b~ ~n i"l! aside the superficia l exp lana non. Charles
Bdl stresses tht' Ia.; 't th.u the Buddh ist rd ,!,ioll pruh ihiu , iolt' n. t'
and condemns " .o r. B" I o rlwr rdiJ.~jons hoi\<: tbcse princil'l a..ond
one kllOl'~ "hat the comlT1&.. hn.....I ~ lira murch are wurth in priO(·
I in:.. .\ soci al behavior cannot re>< llt from a mor-al rule; il elC P'""'~\C,"S
I he srrucmre- of;l SOCiN)'. a pla~ o f man-rial JOITM tha t a nim., u',
lt , \V hat ..' id' ·nl l}' co mmended Ih i\. lllOH; rnc n t o f h" , t ili l)' wa,
not a mo ral ~cru pk. bill rat her - in ;I pon.kmU5 wJ.) - I ht· \t' 1I-
interest of Ihe m on ks. Moree' cr. lhi~ .'l e mf'nt h tar from C50 "'ping
rh .. alt.. nrton of Chule s Bell. " hn (t ll1 t ril"" ...., valuable inke'ma -
uon '--'" t h.. SUh jl·Cf. One was aware o l t h.. < "' e n l fli l'lfuai sm
bcloee h im : a ffi<lI1 k for nel) three edulr mal e... l"I'l<)naSl ..nM lhal
nu mbe n.:d 7 to 8 rbousaod ffi< .nk' ;lt an) one time . J. lo tal ..1 'SO
10 500 Ihou~ld rdi~i oU'i pc......",., c ue o f a population l.,( 4 to S
m ill ion_ But tbe """Ierial ~~nir..dOl " 01 mulla'>t icism is sp :<:ifled
b) Olarl ~ IWIl in b" cJgc lal} terms,
Au ....nli,~ 10 him . thr total revenue ohlol: XO'emmelll "rI IlaSl
in 19 17 ( the vahn- t,fbrllf'lit\ in goods a nd serv ices add ed to thaI
o f t hc· c u rrc m j } "a~ appr.... imal .. l) l720 .000 ) ea rl). o f t ha i
amoeru, t he.· bud/,.'Ct of th,,; <lml) was i ISO.COO. That or th e admin-
i ~lrMiwl was i 1OU.UUU. O J the rnll<lillOcr. a n "Ilprt'dabl l' shan'
wa.' . ..., a.,id.· b ) ,h,' Da lai Lam a for Ihl: n: lig iom c"-p.. ndlru re-, o f
the g'" ..tIml ,·nl . Hili ill ad ,li t io n 10 ' hc \{' ~()\-...mmeuta l CJOl pt' ndl..
teres, Bell csti m;lte~ IIM I the re'em,t' ~p,'n l )earl y lJ,. t he d c 'll)
(i... ~)me frOlll the prope" ) hold il'b~ uft .... munas,.. n cs. !-Jilis and
Ila) f11e nt.\> 01 rd ij..t lous sen ice<o ) ".Ili \\1'11 O\cr i1 .CKJO,OOO. I hm
In lMa] dN' Il'tOl bt4Jn Dj 1M Church "utlk! hm.., b«n miu tIS Icrgt
m<
it, vita l (u rt I....., almo st tJ " r.._,e rn~d l ) , to mo uasdc urgiln i~a f ioll_ it
canno t at rh.. Mme t ime ha' .. an a nn )_ FI*" berc no d....ubi a shar-
i n~ is possihl.... beoc ccu rd ig iOtl' .md mililar) life . Rur "hu t be
hud~taJ) ran s "'nt' up sht"" iog I ' pree ,,,d) om exclusive dedica-
l ion. The U l :;,oti" l1 olan arm) ma~ hoI,-.. I n r.llio nall ) ' .:lllcd k>T.
but it "or. lllJJ)et he1 ~ at .xl<l, w it h the I ling on "hic h lif" "a'
lo nnded: it nonetheless imrodec cd .. m aJ;li,;c illt o t he co untry,
Tt l ~J() bad., on SO "b"ute it dccts son "~II.lI, ' h.m: be en 10 ~nounce
..nescl f; it 'HMJ1d bavc I,.......n li\.,e dr()l" n , ~ In order 10 escape til..
ram. On: vull nt"Cd5 10 sa) hl,..- mil; li,:eliTlf! toos, hold in tho. bq!.in-
n il~: UlM.: . Iill needs to >!H m t he deep r..a....m that . UniT upo n it
li m e. cauS(';,! a .. hole' c oulll ry to bccom.. a mOr'lil~ t"I"y. l ha t, in
th.. mi d>! " I'.. r..al ' \I,d d, "n.lll} c au."' " this COU Illr;-, a n i11leg t-..1
p;tn oft hal wo rld, to O p l ou l or H.
its most hu mane outlet. Bu t this state itself dissolves soc i..ty lit -
tl e b) little, and returns it to disequilibrium. So me new move-
m ent t he-n a ppears a, t he on ly bearable solution. LIn d er these
cOndi t ions of I1I;l lai,... d " ,d..t y .. ngagt's a, soo n as it c an in an
u ndertak ing capa ble III inn ea><i ng its lim ..'. II is tl ,.. " r"dll)' to
recast its moralla ws; it uses the surplus for new ends, w hich ~u<J
den ly exclude the Otllt'f ou tlets. Islam condemned e\'cry form of
p rOtlig,,1 ht-ha";or, \'alo ri7ing llli li t'\lT ac uvi t y instead. At a ti m e
wh,'n i" n..igh bo rs t'njoy",] a state o f ('qllilib lilllll it commanded
a growing milit....} force th" l n(){ hi ng could resssr. l\ renewed c ri-
tique u f rhc lim n s ofluxul'} - Pro te sta nt ill' fln;l, t hen re voluriu n-
.,ry - coincided w it h a poss ib il il ) o fi nd usrna t developme nt .
im plicit in tI,.. technical advances of the new axe, T he largl'!;t sha re
o f th e surplus was reserved, in m od ern t imes. lor (a p i ta l i ~t ac,cu-
mu lat ion. Isla m rather quickly rrWI it, lim its; t he tle\'..lo prnc nr
of ind ustry is begi nning to approach the-m in ii ' turn . 1,lam "iI.~il~
re turn e e! 10 the forms 0 1 e quilib rium II/the world it ha.1 «H1-
que re d ;12 by con trast, imhl ~triill "conomy is ill\'o h'ed in a .Ii,,'r-
d ed y agitat ion: It, arl)('ar~ r-ond..mn...1to grow, ami alrcad) it lacks
the possibility o r grow ing.
The positio n o f Ti bet in tl li, sch..."O\ is i" 0\ se -nse «ppos tre 10
th ose o flsla m or the modern \\orIJ. Fr"m t im e im m e m orial the
of succ e ssive invasions hum t he i mmcn ~e plate aus of cen-
\\':1\' .. ,
tr:,1 I\, ia had swe pt to ward the regions where We was ea.~ i er, to
the cast, to th.. wes t anti to the south. Hut aficr t il<" liheenth cen-
tu ry th is overflow from the ba rba rian plat e aus ran u p again,t t he
effect i\'e re sis ta nce o r c<lnnons. ll T he urban c iviltzation o f Tt ber
already re presented in Cenrral Asra an inci pient outlet lo r tlw su r-
plus in a dil lere m di rect io n. No doubt t he horde s o f Mongol COn·
'1ucrOl's used ..ve ry pOlosi bi lity of in"a,i"n (of W'owt h in space)
availab lc tn them in th ei r t im e . Tib..l ollt- r...1 iIM' IFanot h..r "Olu
l ion , which th e Mongols rhcmsclvcs we re t<l adopt in I IJm in th ..
'"l
THE "CClJ .. ,,~ O S""",,
outlet 0)1" warfare " '1<1 llnd an()t.... r use 101 lI n:ir e n,,"}!) 01t>tfIO\\.
Monal;ti" ism i. .. mode of expenJilurt· (If I~ ...JlCCSIi 11lOIt Tibe t
undou bted I) .!Klnot ,!iJ;<,,,·.. r. bu r d se,,-ht'n' il ''.is gilf'n a place
UIorw!Nk o t her o utle ts. In Ct'n tl'i\ l A.i a l h.. extreme solutiOn c, m-
stsred in J!i..ing the monali tery aI/ t he ext t''S. 'Iocla) Oflt· needs a
cleM I\rasp 0 1 th is principle: A pupeJ!at i"n IM t onnot smnchO'l\
t .....·e lop lhc s)S1t'.1ll o'-e nr"R~ it CHns l itul('S. tha t cannOI inc rease
irs volu me (" irh t he help of ne w rec h nlq ues l)f of wars} , must
waste rull) e"penJ a l/ lh.. surphe, it is br 'IIIK! to produce . I he 11oIra-
des .. I Larneism. " hit h 1'C<k ltcd a perk.. t funn " fler t he.- 'm e n-
li on ot Iireerm s, olmwt"'""! this n«J.~,il). It is lilt" r<tdin l solunon
t ~ a COUlltry t ha t has no utht"r dl\ e rslofl "no ulti mau·l ) hnds il\t·lf
in a d O'ICd clJn l"iner. Not ",'PIl the o ut le t consist ing in the n<:...1
to drr.-n..t onad r. to ha", moulT,,) anJ " uman 1i\ C'!; available !()r
th.n purpose. Itt n>u1II 1) that is IOU poor doe<; nut reall ) It}- One
invades it witbout t Cc u p);1IJ!, it and ~~ books" that a monk ..pole
l li"U >11.<.'11 could /lor lie. <lSSUrillf;: t hat Tibe t would I ~ invedcd In llll
li me to t ime. bUI lion one \\.11.11,15(ol). T hU!i. ill the lIlid'lt of" riclltT
and w .. U-;wmcd'mrM. the p<H '" lountJ) in i ts dLl!lied container
IllU~t giu: t he p,wk n, 01 su rplu~ a '>Olu tion thai checks it) t"xplo-
si\t· violenc e w,tru,,; <In mre-mal c"{),,\l nlct i\'n M> perfec t ..... free
of con trocersion , '>0 IIl'lCondtl< i\~ 10 aocculllUlaliOll. [hal {)(IC c.m-
not en> i~ the k~ ~ro... tit ."f Iht> ")SlCIT1_ The cclib...·) ollhe
ma joril) Hr mon ks .."n :n presente d a th reat of d.-popura tio n. (l " i ~
";1\ t he confided to Bell b) Ihe conunander-in-c bic l 01'
Ct>n n'rn
t he arm ).) T hr n::,'t'.Jtu<: of Ill<: monas u" ri~ cnsu r('<! the coesump-
l ion of re-sources, s u ppo n mg a m ol'l5 o f seert le c nn )lIm e rs. T he
eq uiltb riurn wo uld \OIH >1l be j eopa rdl ~cd if th is rnass " t"re n ut
<Inprod ucl iw and child!......, . T ho;' latx >1 ofrhc rili t ) suflk .·s 10 feed
,""
H iE UN A R M E O 5 0 C ' C "' ~ LA M A 'S ""
them, and the re sou rce s are such th at th e ir number could sca rcely
1><: inc reased. The life of mo st o f the m on h is hard (pro blem'
wou ld res" lt if ther£' wcrP an aJ\'ant<ll,;e in d o ing not h ing). Bu t
rh., parasi t is m oJf lilt' lam as re solve s t he situation SoJ wc llthar the
Ii.'i ng saandardol t he Tibe tan worke r, accorcli n~ to Charles Bell,
is h igher than that o f the Hind u o r Ch inese worker, Pur rhcrmon-,
w rirc rv em 'Jjber agr«' m nuting rhe happy disposit ion of the Tibet-
ans, w ho sing wh.. n t h..) work, ar.. ";"y to gf'l alon~ will" m o r-
a lly p.. rmissivt', an, l ligh r-h.....r l.. c1 {yet lhl; Willlc.r cold is te rrible
a nd rhe houses have n<1 g las, in the windo"s and n<1 fir eplace },
Th,' pier), o f th e mo nks is anothe r mat ter. It is ofsecondary im por-
tanc e , b u t th e system would be inc c ncctvable w it ho u l it. An{!
there is n o dou b t that lamaic en lig l" ..n m e nt morally r";ll i ~_e s till'
essence o f c onsu mp ti o n, which Is 10 ope n. to g ive, to lose. and
which brus hes ca lcu lations asid e
T he Hbc ran sp tem spread to Mo ngo lia at the end o f th e six-
t c c n rh cen t ury, T he com -e rsio n 0 1 t he Mon~oIs, even m OT<' a
c hange o f economy rhan o f reli gio n, was the pe culi ar d e nou eme n t
nf rh.. histOTr uf Cenrral Asia. TIw age-old oudet of illl asi" ns bei ng
, -1 0"<'(1, th is h , t act of the elrama d e fines tbc m<:an ing of Lama ism :
TI,;S totalitarian m onast icism answe rs the ne ro £0 stop the gJ"(,wth
o f a closed ~yslem. J USI as Islam reser ved a ll t he excess ti,r war,
and t he m odern world for indu~t";,,1 <I..,'d " pm .. nt , l.am ahm pu t
e'~T)·th i ng into t h.. cone.. m pI", i, '" iii,', t h.. rr..,' I'I.!)" "I' rhc sellsi-
rive man in rll<' world.
If t he Jif'li.: relll ~takcs arc all playe d o n the same board . th e n
Lam aism is t he o p pos ite o f t he o t her- ~)"stem s : il "I"n.. ""0;, 15
a,"(n'jn ', w hich is always dir ec rc rl re wa rd acqui siti o n "ne! growth.
It ceases - tru e , if h al; n o c ho ic e ~ to s u bj ect lite to an)' o ther
t'mIs bu t li fe il~cl f: Di'cctl)" and im m e diately , lin: is it s OW " e nd .
In th e rt t cs nf T ibet the mil itary forms, e,'oking th e age of t bc
k ings, arc stil l e mbod ied In th e ligures o f th e dances, b ut as obso-
"'9
lese l< orms w hose 1. ",,; . ,f aUlho ril ) i, rhe object of a ritual rcpre-
Kllur i"." In th is "ilJ the la mas celebrate the, le W!) ...tHl O\'cr a
"url.1 "Ilt__ iolcnclr' i~. rudel) unlc~lM"tl 100' Ard lho- OI.lt"cle.
I hei r lri um ph l ' its un l.'.ashing w.thin. BUI II is 00 Ics, , i"lnu
I. ... ~1I rha r, In TilX' l , e ve n 111tJrt: '0 th an in Chlna, Ih e miluary
pllJre ssrcn is held ill n ltllempt. b en alt..r the rclon l\~ ot the th ir-
rcc ntb UaJai I am", a Ia mi l) 0 1 nobles tum plaincd ,,11...\l Il! hAd
il son rvmmi""ioocd ........1 offieet. II did no botlO<! k>r Bell tn po int
OU I tl!<lt in Fngl and no eilre" r was more rt:'\fX" . red; t1~ part;:nr.;
brggecl him IflU.... his influent .. w ith the Da lai l am a 10 \UIJP',rt
their req uest ft.... ol ..ancc l latio n. ( )r • curse, ,," hill' n lt'r"k1S>lic ism is a
pllrt" expe: nd iturt" I I I'; also 01 I't'nunCiati.c lfl ol .. ~pendi '~; in a SfT&.
u is the pcrk-t, o;ulution "bwnnl ml~ ~ complt"tr'l) tumiJ"t; 1-..w'·S
bat-k 10 the <."Iulmn . n Ul 0"" should not und...-co;timatc lhe- o;i!!.
nil,...m....' of'this h" ld so lmion; recen t h;~Wf)' II'!' Ol«"cntuoltcd ii'
l1ar,..!tlxical value . It gi,'/'" a clear illtlit:ittio n c un C" rning thc gcn-
Cra l l u nt iit io n' o r c."nomlc equ ili L. rium. It It' nl tOnI , h u m a n
~I; ,'it) "ilh II.S limits, a."-' dcscnbes - I)r)ond mi li ta!) or pro.-
.I•• "f i\~ A(tl\ il) -;a world thar is Ullo;"btJrdill.lIni ~ ;\Il) OCt C';..~it}.
no
P ART rOUR
Industrial Soc ie ty
T he Origin s of Cap i ta l is m
"<
" as not complete; moreover, it was lew the cauvc ( hall tI)(: dTeG
of the economic g i,ens. BUl. as Taw n ey rcadtlj acknow ledge"
th ese re..cr\'atiom d o 110t nccessanlj- ~o <lgaimot weber's thin king.
:\nrl o n th is po int he focuses more ctoscf, - and "nme",hat nil~"
~",d v - o n the econormc d ocr-i ncs th an o n t he basic reactions,
In any 0"" w..l>f't deccrvev t h", 0: r..,[it for having rigorom l) ana-
1)'l.",1 the C<JIlnect io n b.. t"~n a rdig io us crisi" ao<! the ..con()m i(
t urn ....·!'r t hai ga,-.. ris.. to the mod..rn \.1.flrl,1. O th .. rc, incl u, ling
Engel" look nO I" 01 I hc~." ue, Iw lo rt' him. bu t the, din not defi ne
th eir narure.> And il there wav a [,ller clarificancn - as in Taw-
" "y\ work - \"'",oc r ha d emphasized wh", \\'a~ essential, nle more
dearly art fculatc d find ing, Ih,ll Wn'" o bt" illl"d ~u lJ,nl ,wn rl) ..r..
pe rhaps of secondary Importance.
,,6
l:",',.,.,y'~ i~ all ,;xl c:: n~ i \'c anal)'~is of Christian cce momic thought
of t he Middle A~rcs. [ t ~ basic princ iple was th e su bordinat ion of
pro duc tfvc ac tivity to the laws 0 1 Chr;~ti~ n mlJr~ ri t). Sud.,ly, in
the rh o uf!ht of the Middleo Ag..s, w,,~ a body .-I,mp""';,] hkc all
livi ng nrganbms 01 Il" n h "m"l:~"n""us parts, that is, 01 a hicrar-
Lhy 01 fun ctions: T ho.: dergy, the ll1 i l i [~I)' aristocracy and labo r
fo rmed a unified bod y in w hich the component p~rh ofth.. rhi rd
term were subserv ie nt to the o the r t,,'o (as th e t ru nk "n,1 t h..
me m bers are subsercten t to til': hea d ). The prod ucers mUS I SOIl-
isfy the needs 0 1 the nobles and t he pri ests; in exchange, from
rhe Itlrtn " r lhe y would receive protection, and from the latter th e)
w" " ld rccctcc a share ill the divine life and the mo ral rule to w hich
thei r a, t iv it) had to be strictly StIbonlinaled. The Idea ola n eco-
no m ic world independ"nr of theo ~f'rv ice 01 th.. clt'rin ;111( 1 the
noble s, having its autono m y an,1 its own law, a~ d pa rt 01 natu re,
is " lien to t he th ought "I' th.. M i,I<I[.. Ag'·'. T hc:: sel ler m ust )Xlrt
with t he m n ..-handisc at the ;w.1 pmc. The just pncc is ..lell ned
by t he pus-s ib ilit y of e nsuring t he subs ist~ nce of t he providers, (In
a sense , t hi. i, Ifll' labor value of Ma rxism . and Taw ney sees Ma rx
,,~"th .. I"sl ..,f l he S cholastics."} Money that is le nt cannot be an
"7
the f.tctor.. MmuuC) + 1;1111:" II.., add itional value of tmcrc« (of..
share of t he ~b1c pw fit ). In thi~ ,,-"} nlur.al lhou{:hl b IIw oqlJl_
t i"n o f n;1 f Olr.l1 1.:1...,; the Lhurch's mtn"'t:nl ion oppuscll a Irt't'
dcn:loprneut orthc prodOCli.,: fUries. Production. accordi'\1. t o
Grislian mo n lh }. h .. sen icc " '1l~ modaltttev (obl igations.
re..Vom ihili ti.. s, pnrogath'e;) an: d "'t'nni ned b, r.hc: "ncJ, served
(b,. lhe d eriu . in sum. who 01'" tI.., j~.) of rbcsc cndsl. nOf. b,
a T\alml JJlO\'Cmcnl. This is a ratitJorlOLl a llli nlQra l - bu t sUl ic -
n lnre pl ion o f the economic order; it is "001 a di , in c, Id t'oI ORi-
cal cosrTlOb"'rry is 10 Ihe il \c:a " I ....u lul ion determined b, a pi..}
o f forces. The world of ttw Mid. lk Ages appeared in fact to be
gi'>e n 0IlC'" and for all.
But fo rm..1 jmlgme nh are nor the onl} OflCS. Ami II.... na ture
of rbc medieval c<:onu m) m ;ty nol l:w 1'1111)' discl osed in the " t it-
illgs of the theol ogians and j un sL'. 11 ma)' not he de fined in the
rca ] pracli<.... d tlw r. howe \~r removed the latter was Jrorn tilt' ril-l"r
of the t heor),. 1\ ..H~r illl i llo' l i ng d e m e nt may lie in the undc.... t.. Il<I-
iog rhar a society hM 0 1 weal t h. T his lJo<l t:r sta mling b diOCl'l; n l
from t he 1l00iuos . olTlIl1on l)' ex pressed by t1lUSC " ho hild il . and
do ubt less il wool[..1 be J U~1 as fm ile to loo k for it in l he o ppu:.i-
l iOJl of t he fac15 10 the II.....o r..ti .-a1 m les. It has to do \\ itll t he
str0fl; and c1~arl) OIptXlr('1lI JT1O'ICffiCIlb t bat, even unli.rmIlJared.
("ilIl dete rmine Ihe m ll iTe o f an eCOllomi<: system.
" b
rive forces. It is out t he final ru r~t' 01 an)' irnli vidlIill in 11<1111<.l 1.
lar, bur collecttvely that of rhe socie ty InOl I OIn epoch nilS chosen.
It gh-es precedence in rbc usc of the available TC<,.()UTces 10 the
expa nsio n of en terprises amI tnt' i n c rt' ~ sc of e-"pita l c<lllipmcnt;
in o ther "urds, it pn:fen an ,ncr,,,,.,,, pJwwlth t" its immediate U'>e.
But before the Refc rmauon thi s was not yet the case. " he pos-
stbllt ry o f an increase was not !<h-en . A development is induced
by an ope n; ng-up of un" " pl"itet l t"rT;tories, I» t ...-I1I1i<<l.1 , hang"s,
or 1»' th e appe;uilnce of new products from "'hidl new needs Misc.
But 01 society Gill 0I1s0 be led to consume ",II its products. llcncc
it m ust so mehow destroy the surplus resources it ha~ at its di s-
IXlsa!. Id le ness is the sim plest means lor th is p urpose. The man
ofl ds ure dcs lmrS Lhr- pm<lll<'ls nc<essa')' lo r his subsistence no
less fu lly tha n dues Flre . BUI the wo rker who labors a t the Lon-
st ruc tio n of a pyramid des troys chose produc ts just as usclc';.';l)':
h o m t he sta nd poin t of pro nt t he pyrami d is a monume nta l mis-
tak e; o ne m ight JUSI as well di g a n ennTIJIOUS hole , rhen rcHll ir
and pack the gn JU nd. \Ve obtain t he same result if we ingest a
substance. such as alcoho l. w hose consumption cloes not enable
us to wo rk m ore - o r even de prives U~, fur a ti m e, of our \tTength
to pn}(lu ce. h l!<:ncss, the pyra mi d o r alco hol haW' Ill<' adv,Ultagt'_
of rons uming w ithou t a re tu rn - wit ho ut a p<Ufit - the resoun-es
m atl hey usc: TIlf')' Simply MltisJy US; th e)' eOHc.~pu nJ lu th e UllIjfl-
mGty cJ,aia tha t we make u f II\('m . In a society whose prod uc -
nvc forces d o not incre ase -Ilr in crease li ttle - this satisfact ion,
in its collective form , d c rc rmincs the value of wea lt h, a nd t hus
th e nat ure ul t he CCOfIOmy. TI, e mOI';J.1 pri ncip les OIn<1 rulex by'
w hich prod uc tioo is cl osel y bou nd ( but at tim es in com pletely
SUpl"rnc ial ways ) m C<ln 1,,\ , than th i\ "'Io,factin n that (!t"cirl c \ the
use o f prod u<:ls (at least t he use of w h'lt rt:IT"li ns a\-a;la blt: Uey-onJ
subsistence). II was nOI the theories of the Schcolmen that defined
rhc cconomic suciety, b ut rarhee- the need ir had for th e sat tsfac-
" 9
, " E. "c cuRs eD s .. .. .. ~
of t Il<' ai ' loc , o f t hc l(<<:m1. whic h religion ( ails into pia). In rhc -
Uf)~ j"l,vlJofJ in Chrimanu ) li ber.n o the dMb of rel igio us lili:: from
lho- (Io"",in o f prooJ ucth c ani- 11) , Bu t iI the laithfi Jl 'li .lah"l; o n
is tho- ..~\\";art.l (or Ilis mt Ots . if ~ ' 6n achieve il b)' his de eds , then
he has sim ply brough. rnocc do~l) itl w the , Iornain " I religion
the l·(lIlC.lIl' nation tllilt m.. kc:s usefu l wo rk w re tc hed in his 11'cs,
He m-e t1lU SC t!«os b,' whic h a C h ristian rrlcs t il win his \.llv.ltio n
can ill turn be nms iile re d pruf.lnat ions_ bcn the me re fael of
no
d~i llg Sl h Olt ioll ~ a goal appcar) ' onll'<ll)' to t he tru t h of grace.
Gr.KC alone bringi about all acc ced " it h the di'inil)". " h.ch can..
nol be ).lJ bj c c l cl! 10 ClI.,>",,1 \Cn.... M tlutl(p c an, me gin I.... ' ui' ·ln·
it} m a kes ofi tsd f lu lhc r..i l hl,,1wu l Canno l be paid for.
'"
I I\\" ,"aim' . \U llt.. mpL..l j,"C idl c n('5s, gh-ing ttl t he poor and t lw
splomdur of l:ercmlln i.,s a....1 ch urc hes ceased tn have t he I Ciol ~t
"urth o r were clln"il lc~d a ~ign uf tho- de. ;1. Lut he r's doct rine is
tho- ut{n "'l:al lun o f a ~)"SlCnl 0 1 int cru.c C'"t......n npr.on of rcsoeeces,
An immense ann) o f secular and regu lar d erE} squalldc.....d II...
su rplu s rid ,.;s uf fmu pl:. in. itlllg th... nub les anll tho" rnerr Mnts
10 rh-al !><lll<1.ooerillg'i. This ,WIS 11'10' SC,lIldal l ha t provoked Lutt1<'r,
be n he was orll) ahl.: lO ul'post' it "illl a Ino n- r um p lcl" Ill:g a-
tiU11 of ,he "urld . In 1Tl'l l.. illg a g igan t il , Iaste ,1'10' means ul 01X'fl-
ing Ih,· gal,s o llwan:n to mallkioo. tbc Chul ch g,I\"C a pilinflll
impresstor u It had succccdc..1 less lll lOil-king earth h c'l\"cnl ~ thall
ill fllakinp; heaven banal. At lhe ..... me li me it had turned its 00, k
011 all its pos~ibililies. Bur it h'ld k<,pI. the «:UOOfn}' rdati, .. I, ~I~
bit·. It i ~ a ~i'l\ub,r lact thai the Roman Church. ill ,h.: image that
a m.. dieval ..illagc ~ Idt " hhc "OfM it (rea te ,I, Ieprc5Cnted in
a It:licilOu5 "a) t he cl l"ct of;m im m ..did lC use of " e.alth. T h i'
came about in a lOlnglc " f (orll rdJ iel ion~. but t h", Ii!\ht it . ast has
k.>und I\~ wa) 10 us: Shi lling Ihroug h d1O' wurl d uf IJUT.. uri l;I) lhat
sucr ced....l it, wh<.:rc "c:.ll th lost it. im rncOiale ' .lIIlC, it sl il l radt-
ales i n O ll r C) t'5 .
Catvtntsm
l uthe r') " 'actiorl remained st r ic ti ) ncgarh"t:. III h;" ,ie". !Y.J""',,,r
p.", erlc.~ ma n "<l!> to please GOO ;n hi, t2tlhl) a<"th "it), the latter
'n usl willbe ' Ul> j'·l l ' u mo r..1 I.m" Lueh cr IlPt.c:IoJ lhe C!mrch's
tra. Htio llal C UniC' ag.tinu usu')"anJ geocrall ) had the avuralon fur
bu siness that w,,~ illhcrclll ;\1 Ihe arc N.;c co-cepuce "f the: eccn-
om). l\llt Cal. in ;a Nnd" l.....d lh t' i1ueu ina l COlldcml1at ion of loa,~
at inte re't anti genn ;ally fl'CDglli /t' d lilt: lIlu rallrr o f e-onunerce,
"'W hat rc,,-so ll is there " h) tilt' iOl"uon", Ircm bul;ine'i) ;,hollid nt.t
he la'l!c r 111iI1l Ihu from lanilU\1ni ng ? Whence du Ihe merchant 's
prufir) come e x' Cpl trunl h is oWn diligence and ind ustT) ;>""5 "or
'"
t h i~ rea son \ \d le.. g i..es Cahini1.m.l d« i~h l' role in the It ,nn.I·
rion o f tM; c..pilalisr Spiril. hum rhe Ii,.,t it ""'" rhe rdigiufl 01
the corn mcrd Al b")l.lrgt'oi~ ie of C0<:1'1"' " and the f'octherl ands. Cal-
, in had .I se nse of t be • ont.Iil iom and Importa nce o f economic
de\-e1opmctn: he spuk dlI a lori ~t and a pl"JClicAl man. Tawllf'), ' ,I·
lowi ng \ \'c b.,r, u ntlcrx<)n..~ 1M s ign ifka.-.a: 01 h i~ rI"m~hl tor rhe
IlOtl'llcu i5 "mid 10 which it ga \'(' cXl'n:Uion . Iv. • o n l i ng ttl Ta" -
nc), Iw was III th e bo or,l(coisieuf hh Il m t " hM Marx was ro rhc
prolctarier 01o urs: lie p rovided the organi nll on and the docrrinc.e
0" a basu 1,..•..,.1, Itw d oct rine has In.: same m eamng as thar o i
I lit her. C . I. in rejects meri t and \\U,k\ ' 'I() lesshrml j (han I mllt' r
.Ioe., bU I his p rinci p les, amc ula ted a litt le diOi..'re ntl ). aIM.> hiln~
more (on~ucncCl'. In TawnC) 's , i.. w IIw <li m il> not "perwnal
s;>h-al ion, W I the f/-luri Gcation "fGu,;!, IU be !IOt~>ht, nul ~ pr;l)tt
onl)~ but t, <lellOIl - rhe loOIn, lif'ir<llmn oft he: ""rid t,. srrih: and
labor. r OT CAI \ i nbm, \\ it h all its ~podi,tti'Hl "I' J'It.-r.;oII./lI mf'ri t ,
is im e ru;el) prollCl Ni&J. Good worb are not a \\") o f anaining .... 1-
"'lion , bul tho..~ arc indi!tJCnsab!..- Zi a pmol 11l..1I .-.d.'aliu n bas been
er ramed." Dcl)li\'c d o f (he va Iue thai the Churd , llad g;''C1l the m ,
wll rks are ~inh'tl(luc~1 in a sense, bill lhc ) arc dif f erent wo rk •.
T h~ Il ~ga l i () n of p rac t Ires in vo l\·ing a nee dless expemlirur.. ' If
w~ah.l , i~ ' 11'1 less com plete than in the doctrine o f r llt!ln. in d ,m
\'alllt~ was " ithOuw n fro m co n lt:m plali,'" id lt:nt:~ , ffUm O\tCll -
tatious lu xu ry alltl from lhe form s Oi l hotril) that ma in ta ine d null-
prod uctive po,·.. rl) , aud g;'~ n 10 the . il'lues tha I haw their b.:I\i~
in u t ili(}: Toc rclonn<..-d Clllistiao ledro be hu",blt-, !>iI\'i ,\!, IL1n )·
w..rki ng (lte II((CI to bong the g:re<t lcSI 'ell) to hi s profess ion. I~ it
in com me rce, i nduSl~ o r w hatt:n:r); ..... t:\(:n had 10 hdp duni·
NIc beggi ng ••• hich w" n l ag~i m l pril'l< iples " ht,!oe no rm ..a\
ptoducli \'l' <let i\ it l . '
Cal. ini ' m in a ""'me , .....-i"d the O\-.;:ltumir~ o f values "'...... Ier!
b) Luther to iu. clu n: mc conscqucre C. Ca l. in d id not j ust repe-
" l
,. .. <;<;LflS£ C .,........
J iat.. Ih..... Ium.~ 01dj, ioe lx"ul l 10 ", hich the Chun h laid daim.
I i rn ili n~ man\ ~,bl lir, fU w.eful wuM. ,, 1,.11 II(" ofb red .... n
as .. m ean, u f g lnri l)" il1/o: <'; 0,", was the ocgeuon o f his m, n g l"')'_
T h.· rrue SMlC lil} urCa h in i", "ur!ts resided in t ho; . hand.mmelll
o f ~li l} - in l ilt- n:flunda rion o f ,,~. lift: thou f".~l ll 11.1" 0 111
I h i ~ world a hal" .,r sp lrllliur. The s;ux:tilic.ariOll of God W;l!o I nm
link-d tu tilt- .1,.".. rali7a1 ioo .,f h uman Iilic. Th i\ was a" tse \0111'-
tion because (fl(l' lilt' I Uli l i t ~ nI b"OUd "orks ........ Clu bl.ishcd. the",
le m aincd a man " lIh Ihe po....e r, u.. rather the n,-"C.:..~ity. of ac t-
ing. 10 whom It wu no t c n.,ugh ... ....) Ihar dee ds are uN,'a lllllg.
AllolChmt-n1 10 a p roft·~~ ion . to t he lalok l hat tlw w d al complex
a ,~ ign ~ t he in d i vid ua l. w as no dling " " ) no.:..... bill uruil rhe n it
had nOI u l..en o n lhe dee p <ignifk;lllce a nd , om hl, h e value that
(",.,1 , ,n h m ga \<; tt , [ho.: , Iet.i ~i un ~ to rescu.. d h in .. ~ I u l)· fro m t he
(:o lJl l'ru m ' ~"'~ in
w hi( h lilt' ChUK h bad placed it cou ld no t ha\'l'
had a m ' lr.. r;ul il'al r onceq ucncc t h an ti ll: rcle ga'i n n 0 1 JTla r,l i ml
10 glo ryless aCI" II ) .
"4
TH {. (; " ,-:; ,NS 0' '-' ... ... ,T A US' . ...... " ' ''E "ErO'''''A T IO ''
IUI,.-, that Puritans lin ked th e PTi llC ipl~ o h he lree pursuit o f profit
to the Ca lvinist tradition. It \\'a.~ o nl)' a t tl,,1t late d at e t hat the
in<lepenclcllce " f econ om ic law s W aS poxit L,<' , a nd that the abd i-
cati on o!" toc m ural so\"Crngl1t; of the re ligious wo rld in the sphere
of pro d uction carne to pass. flut ti le lat eness 01 this de velop m en t
is a fact w ho se importance ~ ho u l d not Ill' ...xal!b~ral nl. Impli cit
in t he first form ul ati on , it need..,1 to r~ ~ol \'( · a ba -,rc d ilHcu lt),.
\Vhat was c ruc ially at s take in th e Reformat ion. lrom the eco-
nom ic stand poi n t, d id not ~u nnic h depe nd o n the M.,'1 ling o f prin-
ci p les as on the x""'riflg o f Jl] i nd~ ; th\: la lln could 1101 e fTe cli vd )
be achieved except O il one Loni/ ilion, Ihal it be concealed at f,""t.
The dlange would be mea ningliJl o n ly it it wa s t he d lling ot men
uf " n a ~~a ; l a ble m or"l autho r!t)'. xpl.:,,"i ng to d own-to -earth int e r-
~~L~ 0 11 behalf o f higher \""Ilal was needed "as less to give
plft ' OC r.;.
com plete freed o m to the natu ral impulse s of the merc hants tha n
to t ie t ht'm to some d o mitMIlI mora l po "it;oll. 1\ was first a m at-
rer o f d e sr Il•.'):ing th e aUlhority that lo undcd the mediev al ceonomr
TlJi s cou ld 1101 have been done b y sta ting rhc pri nc iple 0 1" (''' pi-
" \
, ,,. " c c ......... "" . ""C
tali\( inl c re,;.t d irectl). \ Vhal OIlCOUlI t~ jor I~ laic momCnt " I,cn
the cum.cqlJcl'lI"-,> o f th e docrrmev of the Rclonnilliufl .. tTW~1
is the d ifficul t y (If o.kfo::nd ing th." tla (IJ~ o r capireltsm (1 fVK'¥J. II
" re m.oulablc d l.ll tnc \fliril mel rh.c- cUlic " f ' -il pitall~m ro."t' .lI111lO't
rever been n~ in a r u n · kmn. It eo OflJ) b) ""iI) 01 an t'M f"p--
tio n that 0IlC u n S.), as \ \ d Joe r QOC"i concerning t~ principle<.
-et funh IJl rh.. mi&.lle o f Ihr- eij!hlo::t:nth cenro l) ~ Benjamin
h a nkl;n, lhal thq e "pt"bS t~ sp iril of ca pi ral jsrn with .In almost
cbsl;icaJ pulit}. BUI in ' il lll\ them, I " ill s" o" in lact thai it " ul 'kl
ha...: 1)t'C'n im~ ibl { 10 gi'" tbem fret: rf"in without a l>rdlllbk -
w ithout fil"!il gi\ ing th..m rill: mask of all ina< n :....stbl e d O- iflll ).
r ra nld io "ri l" ~:
Re me m ber t hat lime j< mo ney. IIe t h"t can earn le n ~h ill i ngs
a day b). hi s labour, a rid ~ocs ab road, o r sit, id ll·. o n.. hal f u f
th"t dily, though Ilt' ~pt: lI'J, bill sixpcn<'"l' during hi, di ...:" io n
o r i, Ile,.,.."-,, o Uj::h t not to n;ckOl, that t h.. ooly expense: he has
rt:all } spe nt, o r r.uh e r t hro w n aw.lIy. fin: shi lli ng' b.. "~ i "cs .
Remem ber, Ih.ll rmm..) i\ 01 the prolitic. ~neralln~ nature.
Mo rltl can bq;ecl monel. and ilS "flsprlng can bLl;"t mere, and
so em. Fi \"t~ shill in"", tu r ned is \1" . I Urneo.l again II is SC'"c n and
threepcroa:, oIl'll! S<J (lO , till it becomes a hund r..d poun,h. Tht.·
fllllre t he re is uf it. thc m or.. it prodUCC'i e>-ct:\. turning. I,U Ihat
the profils ree tjuid.e r and quicker. H.. tn.lt kills a br«:<Ii' l{!'
SQ.... dcstrols all ...... r tlflSpfi' l\ t o th e t hou-..ndth gem rati ot l.
He that m urders a U ('I'\\'I. r1': slmp all that it might Iu\ c pm--
duced, .... .:n scores o f pounds.
,,'
, .. Ie O", ' G '''s O ~ C APH AL 'SU A '" ~HE Il ~ FO " " ""'O ..
III
Th e Bourg eoi s Wo rl d
. 29
a rated from ex te rnal elements , w it ho ut w h ic h it could not be
siBni{ied. Where we t h ink we have caugh t hold o f the G rail , we
have only grasped a tJunB' and what is left in o ur han ds is only a
cooking pot . _..
Man's c urre nt q uest does not d iffer from those o f Gal ab ad or
Ca lvin e it her in it~ o bject or in the di sapp oint me nt t hat comes
o nce the object is fo u nd . But t he modern wo rld goes about it in
a different vvay: lt doe s not look for anything illusory and it means
to achieve an essen tial conq uest by directl y ::-.olving the pro ble ms
th at are posed by thinBs. Perhaps it is absolutely right: Often a com-
plete sepa rat ion seems nec e cosary. If we are in ..ea rch o f an object
o f possession , the n we can only propose to lo ok for tlu·nBs, since
only thlfiEJS are within the province of activity and th e search always
c omm its us t o ac t ivity. T he Protesta nt critiq ue of t he Ro man
Church (Le ., of th e purs uit of activity ex pressed in wo rks ) was
not due to a strange scruple : and its ul ti mat e ( ind irect) conse-
q uence, w hic h co mm its mankind only to do - without any fur-
th er aim - t hat w hic h can be d one in the order oj tmnBs, is Inde ed
the only solution. Rut if man is to find himsel fi n the end , he loch
in vain w hen he fo ll ows th e pa t hs that have led h im t o ..elf-
estrangement. All he could ex pec t by tolImving them was to adapt,
for serv ice, th ose thwBs that are suc h, however, only to serve him .
It is reasonable then to think that man ca n no t rediscover his
truth w it hout solving the problem of economy; but wit h res pect
to th is necessar y cond it io n. he can say and beli eve it is sllffiaent.
he can affirm that he will be free once he has com plied with the
ex igencies given in tmnBs thar are nt~ce~ary, in th e physical arrange-
ments without which hi s n eeds cannot be sati sfied.
An o bstacle wi ll stop him, however: He will not be able to
gras p that which he is bere ft of any better than if he had taken
paths more o pen to c rit ic ism ; what he grasps will be n o di ffe r-
e n t fro m w hat was gra~pcd by those w ho prece ded hi m in hi s
' 30
T H E BOURGEO IS W OR L D
q uest: A,:,> always he w ill o nly ca tch hold of thinas an d w ill take
the shadow which they are for the prey he was hu nt ing.
I mai ntain that the argument according t o w hic h the solut ion
of t he mat erial problem is tllfjiCJem b the most adm issible one at
first. 1O But eve n if the volution of the problems of life - the key
to wh ich is a man's not becoming merely Q thion, but of bcion 10 a
sovereign manner - were the unavo idab le conseq uence of a saris-
factory response to material exige ncies, it re mains radicall y d is-
tinct from that n~~pon~e, with which it is often co nfuse d.
l-o r this reason 1 can say concerni ng Calvinism. having capi-
tal ism as a conseq uence. that it poses a fundam ental problem: How
can man find him self - or rq:pin hImseIJ - seems that the action to which
th e search commits him in one way or another is precisely what estranges
him from hims<lj!
The different sta temen ts, in mode rn ti mes, of th is di sconcert-
ing problem help to make us awa re both of w ha t is at issu e now,
in his tory, and of t he proj ected fulfi llment t hat is offered us.
were on ly thinSS: They could rightly appear wort hless t o an)'o nl'
who envivioned, bevond. in its inaccessibl e purity. th e wealth th at
he attributed to God. And yet th e med ieval representat ion o f soc i-
cr)' has the power t oday of evok ing that "l osr in ri mac y'"!
Ii" church ic; perhaps a thinf/: It is littl e d ille re nt tram a bam.
wh ich c leerlj i.. a t hing. A thJnf/ is what we know fru m \\ irh o ut ,
w hat I ~ giv en to U~ as a physical reality (\iC'rgmg on a uu liry, avail-
ab le \\ ithou t rese rve). \Ve ca nnot penetrale a !hinf/, and it has no
meaning other than its ma te rial qualities. adapted o r no t to some
u..efu l purpose, in th e producti ve se nse o f the word . But th e
ch urch ex pre'ise~ an intimate feeling and addresses it self ro int i-
mate feeling. It i~ perhaps the thln8 that a buildi ng is, b UI the thmf/
that a bam reall y is is adapted 10 th e gathering in of the c ro P\: It
comes d own to the physica l q ualities that were given to It. meas-
uring t he coste OIgainst the anticipated advantages. in orde r to sub-
ord inate it t o that usc. The ex press io n ofi n timacy in rhe chu rc h
co rres po nds rather t o the ne edle ss consumption 0 1 lab or: From
the start the purpose of the ed ifice \\ ithd raws it from publi c util-
iry, and thi s firs t movement is accentuated in a profusio n o f use-
less o rna ments. For t he co nstruct io n o f a church is not a pro fitabl e
use of t he ava ilable labo r. but rathe r Its consum pt ion. the destru c-
tinn of it~ uti lity. Intimac y is not expressed by a thin8 exce pt o n
o ne conditi on: t hat rhl s thins be essent ially the opposite o f a thin8,
th e o pposite of a produc t . o f a cOlTl modit y l2 - a consum pt ion and
a sacrifice. Since intimate feeli ng is a consu mption, it b con'iump-
ti on that ex presses ir, no t a thl118' w hich is its negation. T he ca pi-
ta livt bourgeoi sie relegated the co ns t ruc t io n o f c hu rches to a
subord inate plane. prefe rring tu co n..truct fac roncs instead . But:
the Church dominated the whole ')yste m of th e M idd le Ages. It
erected its stee ple, w herever men were grouped together for com-
mo n works: Thus it was clear and " b ible fro m afar that the basest
works had a high er p urpoS(', apa rt fro m their tangi ble intere st ;
IJ2
T HE BOUR G EO I S WO R LD
' 33
THE A C CU R S E D SHARE
'34
THE BOURG E OIS WORLD
IJ S
T l-j E . ~ "'SO:;
110
THE BOUFlGEOl5 WORL D
'l7
T HF A C CU RS ED S H A RE
Ij 8
T,.." BO URCCO'!; WO" LO
'"
WQl kt'. Thi~ nri/o!Ina l silUat i"ll lla!> .l spt"Cillc eonsc.... uc ex e: O ne
cannot CApt"< Ill ' hberate man by goi l~ to tl, e- li " ,ir of rhc posei-
bilhl e- ~ of Ih'"81 au d uonethe!..~~ leave Ircc. a, 1;"pil"l h m docs.
Ihulo/' ,d,o han : Ot! o the r lea.' nll lo r being than tile lwg.lfio n 01
" or\... " I'idl i , 1),lS(', in fll'·ur 01 mo.... d"">ltt'11 ilCfh 'il i~ . ..ssen ed
t o be t he 0 11 1~ Ollr~ c"pa ll ie o f restllrmg ma n t o him \<:lf. In a
....nse, the rem nallls . ,f kt.rn.lh m .md relill' t1n. whtch u piulhrn
" , ....looks. re p ro-em t he rm m utab le a nd euc o nsctous t!""irt' t o
nla\..e a th,,'R (li lhe worker, Cl>mparni,·d~. the- wo rker can ol1l ~'
be a 11",'1/ if ""t· hberate ou rse lves ~. d e \'llI ill/o! ou.....elves Il , an
ilCth it ) tha t le pucJ l'll es II,.. laOOI of tho.: wo rke r. 11,.. Iulfrllmcn r
of lhi ug.\ (t he co m ple te OIuell',al inn of man to prcxl' l< li nn) can
hav e a librratinj:! eflect o n l~ il li... old values. lied t o Ut)l1pro-
d uc tic c l" lo. JlC ' Klil ures. arc de nou nc ed a nd ch'>mallt kd. as th e
Roman .alucs we re cl u rin~ II'e HelOflll.lti oll . Ind eed. rhe re is 110
,I"ullf Ih.ll m..Il's re t um I" hi m14:l f im pl ies first llf all d un (he
d"'U·II Ii.,llaces o f t bc arisn x , aL~ and of n:liJl.ion be unmb Lt'11. lor
tI.C) are nut rt'all ) {hl' fac e of man. hil i hiv ap pe arance leu r III
rllil\g~ . Ma n\ return 10 hi m seJl ( .0111101 be (nnfll\t"ll w it h the e rro r
of rhese who claim to gras p inli m acy <IS o ne grd~ IJS J loaf of bread
or •• h.l m m~r.
0, 0
man's in terest to [ntere~t p lll"€ and sim ple, <100 w ho see rhe human
umcerse as a sys te m of thiny5 subordinated [0 one .,,,,,tllt"T: tilt'
plow ploughs til t'Held, the ti.. lcl prod""." wh ..at, th.. wll....t f....,b
t he bla d :., m irll, ",I" , t<,,'g'" t il.. ph,.." rl li ' i ll no "'d~· (;xd u(lcs the
h ifh<>r "'pir"t io n" bIll l h n o.: <in:: d,allgo::ab lc, '-<lgllC, o pen. by c o n-
tT,,,r wit l, th" ",,: o f d,e "ld lype o ( pop ula tions , wh ich an' u su-
ally traditional and irnrmnabic. Indeed, the prolnallan, undertake
man's li beration Sl,llting from rlm'lls (to " h ie" t hey were reduc ed
.
bv a world W / lOl>C values were almovt meccessible to them). T he,.
do not involve h im in ambitious p rojec ts; t hey d o nor co nstruc t
a rich and \ ariegat ed wo rld, modell'(] o n t he anc rcnr my tl,o logi ..,
o r t he m e diccal the ologi es. I heir at ten tio n is apt to be lim ited
to ..-h"l ir thele , b u t t he~ are no t cl osely bound ~. the eleva ted
ph rases rha r e x press the ir fe eli ngs. In rhc h unlvt- ....... lil..r.. I~ no
lirm limi t o p pos ed 10 rhe gene ral li nbg.. of ,hinn< <lJ/xJrffiTj(l\inO
our onorMr. A rigoruu~l ~ prac t ic al politics, a bn' la l pu li ' il~. !'t',h'l-
inl/: it, reasons trJ Hriu r.. a lil~, i, , t ill ",h" l bo t co rr"' I" lIlds t rJ
t l'e ir pass io n, a pu li t il:\ ti M' r.., ..,lIs II,.. in tt' lltior " rJf .. , d fish
!;r<lI'p, a mi is " II rhe m o r" rlll1,[o;" . A m ili l.." , ol this pe rsuasion
i, ..",ik n:,lrK;t';{l lrJ a , l r;I;1 .\ I,lxmli llal;" n. H.. readily auc:epu being
filld ll~ rt'd uc..<I, b)· tile work of libera tio n. 10 the condit io n o f a
rhino, whi ch is the case, fOl exam ple, when di sc ip line pre<;cli bes
t wo conrrad ic ro rv slq;:ans in successio n. '1his radical areirude has
a strange' co nseq ue nce : It I/:ives 10 the bo u rge o is, to t he cx ploita-
t io n " hi dl th e workers "OI nt 10 abo ltch, II,e le t."l ing Ili llp h" !rl-
ing freedom to r m ankind, of <I\'oid ing the reducrion rJf ill,li\ ir\ll"b
. .
to thinnr. A" , I \"el, wh<l t i' Involved i, onlv ..n CJlormous e l len
"
w hose "im is sell-de r.. nnindl io n.
I" ar; t" " l f<ICt, d ,c bOllTgeois uan norrcally forgelthJI rhe free-
,10m of the ir w"rl d is t he freedom o f confiiston. I" t he el1<l th e~
a IT m e rel y hel ple ss. T he immense res ult s of wo rk ing-c lass poli -
t ics, rhc ge ne ra lized provisional servit ude rhar is its o nly sure con-
.,'
TH ~ " C C " RSE O S " A~ C
St(ruencc, lrigh t""s rlwm, but I h c~" Call only be moan the si tualio ""
T hq no lo nger bd\f' i\ wrrse of their h b lOrical m ission: the Iac t
is tha t as a re-sponse 10 tile ascendanr m ovement of rhe commu-
nisrs, tI,ey CiI.'lll"r gi\"e rise to the I..as' h" P"""
'4'
PART FIVJ::
,"
ma" ifll; tile di\tr'C'I!> ( onrple te-. 1\ IXlu ncll e.!> hope for itself, it i~ at
dlot" s.lme ti me d lenOl" lor II"O'>C \\ bo rcj eu it<; law .lJlll dn not auro-
m.Jlt icitll) conc ur irs pr ;l\e.; pi n . '-loIn. and l ugels ~),dd l U1(,d
II i I h
in 1847 ( d~ oil" Ill.: firM words (II rhe lItJmj <"SltJ): " A \ pt"Ct l'T;!>
hauming [ 1lR>pt" - lilt' 'pt'Ctt:' r o f Comm un i!im." In 1949 corn-
mu n is m c eased to be iI phantom: II i ~ .l. ~l3 t l" and an MTll~' ( I~ far
the rrxet !X"n~rflll llt1 ~7I1h ,. lillpplemented 1.,- .In ' It/;,mm:''d m('lOlt'
me nt and lTI<'Iintained in 01 rnu llC, lithic ("uhrsion b)- a rI("~.l t;()(l of
(.."'\\:~" jorm 0 1 ~ I ;nt r rf'Sl . And E.urop(: is not alene ;1I 1X.i ng
sha l.en. bu t .o\5ia as we ll ; . k\p ih" it S m ilil3 l') and ind us trial supe'
nuti ty, Amc:rica ilscll is Jo(r()\\In~ kn"". a nd the il H.II/;ltill io ll it
e" preliM'S in rhc 1101111<' n f nan,'" ;n.-Ih id uahsm poorl j conce... h
all exasperated rea r. Tori,,) rlu fear ol the U ~" R n b<-f"S.\t"\ amI di ~
heartc uv the w ho lt" nuucornm un ist world . No th ing h 1'0 0 1\'(.'(1 ,
lu re o f usclf, cndowcJ w itll an unl'''" 11mmi~i ng w ill In O'l:i1n;7(',
e"lcpl for 1111" USSH. I \~(· l1t ia fl). the re st of t he wo rld li nc ) up
~ainst th e 131u; r tllrough ine rt ia: It w ill ing l}" I"rre nder.. to t1 1('
nmtrd<!ill;(ll\S th ar u bears " ilhin it; it lives frum dol) t(l ILt). blinc-I.
ric h or poor. (kpre«cJ. 311C\ us speech 11.... become a n Impo" :,,t
p'n u-st - even 01 g ro an.
'. 8
Un ll of socit'ty and the tri u mph o f soc i ~li sm in "II < ouomes," 1 he
goal of firs t au ,i""illl/ " MX ial, '>fll in one country," and the "...t hl;
that II... Russian l"e\'(llut iun has fOI.l(l",~! YJlU:" 1918 M~ ~, ,,cl.cd
the l.ppul>i t ioo o f . t'n.Ji" c om mun ist .. I..menu . Bu t tbus Iilr on l)
tht faithful ~lI ppo tters of till' Soc ie1 Union, dete rm illt"!: l tu remain
in h.u mon~ " ilh it a nd carry out the- U'\u h lrion in Ii,<-Ir country,
1101'" been abl e 10 deri n ' h um lhe ir opi n ioll the force to tillite
t h.. \\Uni'l! rnassea. 1ltr comm unist diSl;i<!CncC has wlTtl the
su,-i li t) of the c aher ecuve ten"{"lIc it.'S within tfl.. .!e lnocr.lcics.
Fo r it is inl ormcd U) an .a\ e r<ioll. il re jection, and n m b)." re l l)-
IUh ' ho pe drising from its 0\\ n ~sol u ti on ,
J\10R:O\cr. tile r{"an io n l' ( the o pponen ts has Iwo con l ra, )
5<' 111'( es, III the fim p lace. the ram ilk .. t;ons of the p rinci ples o f
t he Sovie t Un ion h oi\'<' been limited by the g iH:1l cond iliOflS: The
d omain 01 soci alism ha s I>«>n lim ite d not [uvt to a single conn-
I ')", b ut Ul a ll und erdeveloped ind usartal COUlI l!"}', Acco rd ing t o
Marx, sociali!)l'll \\'Ou l.1 rcsu h from an c ),uemc d e \"{" I.' pmcm o f
producti\"e lOrcO'S: PreKnt~ ) i\mfTicMl societ), UKl not the Rus-
sian <;odetl' lJI 1917 . ,,"01.1111 I'll' ripe (or soc i.llhm. Furthermore.
Leni n sal' ill the Oc tober revolut ion tilt" hegm ning mcvc enerue-
diverted - II I ~ world r..\,o lut iull. Lar..r, ~ laH n. in o pposi tion \ 0
Trllts!.:)', ceased t o ma ke worl.l rC\o lul ion a pn"C-o oo il io n lOt rh...
blUiJ di~ of S<JCial il;(!1 m R us.~~ I" all) case till' S.,..ier Union camr
to accept the gamc I t ha<! m ...lru 10 a\-Qid. Rill apparcntl )'. con-
t r.ll')· to Tm tsJ-y's optimism , th Cl"t: \\~oIli 110 c ho ice in rhe m auer.
Tile c Ul1SCq lJC l\('l'S nf "J;()(;ialism in one c oun try" c~n nOi be dis-
"ll,vdcd. 10 ~)" Jln. 1lint of mal..,ial diflic ulries, wi thilul any eon-
necnon t o t h. l!>l:' a g lo bal socialism wou ld eocoun tce, the fact of
being bo.....d to one nali o n could al ter Ill.., n:\'Olutioll'l'h·i.'ig il a
compllSitc fo rm d jffic u lt tn dtt iphc, and dccch"ini! ill apl:>e.lr"'tICe.
!'lUI h e re it is til<' reactionary a spec t o f " Sfdl ini sm " that p ro-
vokcs the C'tlposit io ll. f rom another ang le, rhe- crtaic fsm 0 1 til<"
."
"anti ·Stal i "i~h .. f,n in " ,,11 thaI 01 ant ico m mun i,m ill general.
A rcschn... <;<lfl lo.:lll p l lOr ind ;.,tc luali nt erest , lor t hooght . for
pt'~nal concen tionv and ~hu has c harac l o.:ri f.t'<1 rhe Rl ,14 f'\ ,I.
reIo ol ut ion from IIJc. stan. In tI,i... r~.ud. Sla li,,'s po lit: ) hrin" nut
the traits o t Leum's, bur dOf'lo nl.. bre.l.k new i!ro ooo. ··&, I<;.I ik
f1 r mllO!;n 'J) po~a "ll)O'TUpllil,..r:.I i~m." Ita rred o t co mmunism,
so general and so SHang 11(l\,-.wl.ap. l~ iI' priffldT} ~ourc", In l hal
compfeu' nql:ation. pushed to j(... r>. tr...ne cnru.o::q lJenc~. 0 1 incti-
, it}.,;d """ if) . For tht: ,roncO! tlm un ist \\url,1 in ~.ocncr.JI. 11 >(' iooi. " I-
IJ.l..I i... tJ1f" " ltima' .. "'NI; '';l lm~ and m nh ate refe rred to thc solnud..
o f a p riva te lite. d \ ,,1 alll l bliml tt> Ihal w h ich it i' nOI (t h,,-) an:
reklTC'(l, mo t e prccbcl)'. 10 its " .. onomic i'Klt'pt"ll<l" llce). AI th e
OO'i \ 01 th e democ radc idu , [ tfu- bourgeois i,k,,) ..1 ti ,.. ;lId; I'irl-
ual , there i ~ " '>l lr... 1] ) rh-e-e-paion • •avaric e and .. llo:galiml o f ma n
a~ an clemen t " f ll"'l l") (IJI th.. universa l acti on 01 l hat "l. lch
i, ); ti le modern boU~ClIi~ "ppeat, ", rhe po ore~l r;~lI r€' or a pe r·
so n thM humanity has assu me d . bu t to this " person" mnred t o
rhe i ~ .. lati Oll
- and mc.Hocril)· - 0 1 b i~ lite, CU IllIll\l(II\m o liN'; "
dea th leap. To I"'· lo llte. t he " pt'I:IOI1" refuses to le ap. bill do..~ not
become a sti n ing hope fnr Ih"I I:":I. The r...·uluriomrics «ho con-
cur in h is al1~u i\b .an' e m barrassed b} it. Bur St3.linhlll h so radi-
QlI that ;[5 com munist OppOIlCflIS ha ve e nded up in <<<IU' r l " ilh
the buurgco is. I h i~ c ollus.lcn, whe the r co nsc ious o r n Ol, has
~Ieatl ) conmburc d ro IIlot' \\,t'a l~ and inert ia of a ll lh.,l'>I.; "he
wanted t n ".'>Capt' the t l/"'Ot o f Stalin is I com rnnmvm.
",,>'O m ";mpie Jc.clirl' sueh.n a<~. l'lflX%'i lioll or hatn-d.
the c om plexitj nfStalinhm. the ilKIec' phcr.ililc ligu rc rhet rh..
condit i()1lli o f its dC\c1ul'mcl1 l ha,·c Rh'CIl it, i~ .apt 10 prO\* thr-
mosr confused mtdl«uJlJ/ ~I iore.. \ >"'idKllIl a <Inum . o ne o f lhe
mcst serious problf'1m for Ihe $m ie l Uru.... Ind,,} i , lied totbe
narfoeal 10n11 Ih al Snt iali_m ha~ lalen there, Fu r a !I.ng l ime: a
paralld "as d ra wn bel w.... II c e- ,ta, n enema! Icatvres uf H;I k ri II:
reo
socia lh m , so-called, an d tI,OS" of Sralinist socia lism : a leader, a
single p"rty, Importanc e 01 the army. a }'ollth otga n izatinn , nega-
tion 01 individ ual thought , and repression. T he aims and rhe socio-
econo m ic seru cru rc s w e r.. ra,l iu ll)' d iJfe rent, s..lt inl-( t h e two
systems in mortal o pposi tion to eolC h othe r. but tilt" similarity o f
methods was strik ing. T he .. rnph...~ ;s t hat was plac e d o n tI,,:; form
and e ven OIl the natio nal t r..dhions focu sed atlt'll ti,," on d ,e st:
dubious comparisons . Mo reove r, rhis ki nd 01 c rit icism linked the
o p p<lSit io n com m u nists to !>ou rgcois liberali s m : A m,we me n t o f
" a nti to tali t ari a n" o p in ion has Iormed whic h t .. nds tn paral jv e
ac ti o n; its sO-id ly conservat ive effect is cert a in.
T holl ght is so d eepl y dh tm bed by thi s paradoxical s it ua tion
that it is g ive n over; spo rad ica lly. to the m ost h""-ilr<! m ls inte rp re -
tations. They arc not a lways printed. I will m ""ti",, rile foll ow-
ing nn c , "ltic h is brtlliaru it not so li d . It seems t hat Stalinism is
no t at all t he analogue o f H itlcri sm ; on the contri\ ry. it is 1I0t a
IWtional LII I rather a n imperiQI.IOCiClliun . Mor.. O\'.. r. JmpefJal is t o be
und.. ",tno d in a sense o pposi te to that of rhe im pe riahsm o f a
na t io n : The word would ....f..r to the necessit y o f a ll emp ire, t hat
is , of a ani versot da//' tI ,a t w'lUld pUI an end to th.. economic and
m ili tary anarchy o f the pr eseru ilge. /\'Q/iQII<JI Socwli!/Il WM bound
to fail. for it s very principl..s limited its scope to one I1<Itio n: Th ere
was no way to inc o rporat c t he c onq uered cOlllllri..s, no ,va}' to
joi n lh c adventi ti ous c..ll s to t h t' mother cd!. fhc Sov iet Uni o n
" n me <:Olltrary is a fia m..wor!< in ,,',idl any narlon can be inserted:
It co uldlate r inc orporat .. a Chilean Re p ubli c ill ti, .. same way as
a Uk rainian RCJlublic is alIT",l y inc orpo rate d. 1 his "-ily ofthink-
illl!: is II0t o p posed to Mi\rx ism; it is d iffere nt, huwc.:~er. in th at it
gives t he state the p r...po nclcrant a nd d e fini ti ,-.. I' la,"C rhar J lege l
gave it. Mall as d efined by t he Hegelian id ..;\ is not an indi\iduilJ,
IlIlt the st ate . T h e indi v id ual has die d in h , has be en absorb.. .!
into the h ig her rea li ty ancl into the service 01 th.. sLIte; in a wi de r
-5-
S<'"I~, Ill<' "SIJ It"'-m aO" i~ Ill<' sea " '10 "hich O"W1; Ihe nvce ot bts-
IOn.. Insu f;,.r as he partiei"...I.::. in ri ll' ~t J r O'. ITlo'm la ' t'$ lx'll, an i-
ma liry arNI indn 'dual' l) bt. 111110 hi m: He is no I""ger "'P"'"".1te Irom
u n i,·O'r-;,t1 r~a1i l~-, bc') isol.lble parI of til<' " 0 '1.1 rd u -.; to the- lo:otaI·
. Iy, bu t II... su p rem...lU tI ,ori l~ ot thc ..." rld seate can o n ly refe.
10 itself T11is ,antell' ;011, wh ich is C\u ill: tonr r.v) IU 110., popu-
lao- ....a lit ) of comrrarrnvm and fn r.. IT\O\-t"<I tr o m acl i,-,,,t cmhl~i ·
'"SOl , is an o b,- i "u ~ paraclox. but It is int""C~ling 1<,. Ihe \\ "y i'
ulldenc l'lR"!i rh.. re!n;'T meaningle-.~ and P'''TIt~ "I IIwc indi -
vid ual rcse ....·e. 0".. canno l mis._ II... occasion ro place the human
illdi,·idual in .. pn'>itiun o rh.... th.l n IIIt;n...tc ..nel .mel 10 Iibrrau~
hsrn h y ~ I,uwi nj!. hi m a less narroc, horivon . wh a, \\1' k now of
x".-iM lift· rclato. to till: limil3tiOll' {lfl t:m..-peisc ami to the muic·
I ion" o f !>t<l'W"",1 frccII(JIll. h"1 OUT llilbiu arC turned upsi de ,10\\"11
in il and in an}' ca se " ha l il l " lh in to '1"~linl1~'" 1>l!) <'' 'l<1 duo
Il./I fTOW pt; f'\pec. li\(~1; III w hich we w ill ingl)' ton ful(' Ollnches.
It 15 o f r c urse il'\e, itabh: that til" r rel>t'J'lC(, - "rI. ll lle t h re al -
of lilt' USSR cause diverse r..acl ion,._ P-!r'" Ilj"(:I;O" end h'lIred
smack of llCf!l igt"IIC C. III th is ins tanc l'. the courage 10 prt"ft:r t ill;
silence of thought. contempt 1m a failed urgani/ "til>ll "Old l\.1trcd
10.. rbe OO rtlt'1'1i pu t in t l l~' v.a} ,;I peo ple. h-ad ( l llO: to (\t"sire • hard
and I\o>ciSil e I • Uk t he (~OUI bellcvce who o1CQ']> h rh .. worst
"heOl<.I o f time. b" t "hO'>e pr,,}er la}~ s i ~-gt" 10 11I' O\,-cn. some ..."it
res ignt"d1y klr II ,.. OCtemc.101 a I~ inrr;v;t"b!:t: alt itude, but ll;,n.Un
faitl1ful to Ihe e.t""1 111.11 "ppedrt:<:1 III rhc rn 10 be compatible ....ith
a peac·., lul l', o lu liu l\ of the worlel. Q lhen find ;1 d i8it::uh 10;~
inc thi,. wor ld c( ,m p!e u:!) subj llgatc..l l hf(,u~ 1 all "'pamion of lhe
So-'iet Unio n. but the ICilSion the laUt"< nl<li Olaill'> '<Ct:'lb 10 i ml,l ~
ti lt" nrceuil) of .111 econom ic I"'nsf"mation. In ...."lit). a " vn-
Ilerflll men ia l chdO.'> co mes l..lIn Ihe acl; o n of Hc,lshCloi, m in t ilt"
"arid. an<l lrom rhe ~;';h. the rnoea l ocecxiste nc e , Ih.-ll it
enccuutered. But hi-lOry j,. pcrl lOlps tilt: only thi ng C<lp;,.hle o f r"l-
'p
SO V 'FT "OU S T " ' '' ' '7"T ' O~
'n
time ? T r.c ~lJCCCSS of wllrl..ers' da im s a ugments t h~' (031 uf pro-
duct ion and reaoccs noI onJ) the d ""r(' reserved lQr th e IUlC UI)
of the !.x):S$O>, hut thai r~ for accumo la t ion. One hou r III
labor less ami ,,,, inc re<lSO: in 11M:: cost of ho uri}' [ahor. which l he
growt h of n::5O Ul'CQ N~ made pmsib le. shu" up in the dhl ri bu-
tion o f wealth: I r Iht' "on.t'r had .... orked more a nd earned less. 3
large r quantit ) of capn..l" t profi l could ~\ t' beefl u'iiCt'llOr lhe
develop rnenr o f t he prod UCl iH: forces. Soe-Ial ...." t Uril) g tt'.l ll)
inc reases Ihis effect in I UnI . In rhi, wa}. t he worl i ll~-d~ 1I1O\'C -
m e m and Ic h ·wi ,~ po l i t iC~, w h ic h a re OIl least Iibcl';ll toward
"''\tC ..... rners, maifll) signif). in opposition to capiuli~m, a grt'olIcr
share of wealt h devot ed 10 'lIJ11 pnxloc ti \T expendi ture. True. this
alloc ll t io n d ocs not have some s hining value as ib aim: It mere!)
le nds to g i\'C ma n a !"TeMer di 'iipou.l of hi msel f, T he , Ilare allo t-
led 10 p r~nt s.lrisfact iu n b ' lIl1ll'thelcs.\ increased at the expc"!>C
of th., shan: allo tted to the coocern for an lmpro vio!" Iur ure. Th i ~
is why the lett th.'1 we arc tamlliar w it h gcncuJl )' con\ep .l !It'IlSC,
if no t o f lOO)CllCSS, 0 1 n: 1;tXoitlnll ; t ht' rig ht , a sc n!>\: o f tight nc » .
o f parsi m o ni ous calc ul a uo n. In ftwO') t he p rngrcM he parti e<;
are a nimatt'<1 by a ~neroU5 ' llO\'t:m ent and a fo nrlnbs for li- ing
\\ irho ue deJay.
h'I\-e the meaning l hal I Sl id. T he t re nch Rc' olu l illn 1"ClI;"lced in
a re " oc tion o r the: ..umpl "" ')' expenditures 0 1 the court and l he
nobles on bc~f of ind ustrial accum ulat ion. ThP revolution of
1789 remedied lhe had " lIn lllt:oiS o f l he Frct'Il. h bourg""i~ie re la-
l ive to English c.lpitalism, Jr was m uch late r, " hc'11 the Ic h nn
'<4
~ ') , " '-' '-''> T'' ' A U LA '
10n12er o pposed a sq uande ring nobi lity, hut rather iln in dus trial
bourgeols le, th at it became generou s witlm ut mdintain ing .. g reat
reserve . No w, the Gari~t H lI ,,-~ i.a ofl~I7 was no r '"Cry dilTcre nl from
the Fra-ce of ill.. A ncien Rt-gim e; it was dom inated b~ a da'i.\ th at
\\"a~ incapa ble o f acClmlllla t ing. [he ine xhaustible resourc es of a
,~,t territo ry were une xploitcd fOTwa nt of capital. I I was o nly at
th e e nd 0/ t he ntne reen rh ce nru l)' that an ind ustry of some scale
de, e: lo pe d. Mo reover, t he ind ustry that (lid d evelop was overly
de pe ndent o n fo re ign capital. " In 19.H, o nly B % of t he funds
invested in thi s imillsu y " e re R u~>i all." l And Ihi ' .l.., d"pm..m
was sO inade<luate that, in almost eve l)' bra nc h, the Russ!a n Infc -
riority ilK .."".,..cl YCMly in relaoon IO co un tries like franc e o r Ge r-
m any; " \Ve arc falling Inrrhe r an.! furthe r be hind ," wrote Len in.;
U nde r these co nd itions, the revolutionary si rugglt: ~a i nst th e
o "r.; andIandcwners - from the dr-moc ranc p.1r1y' ( K.D.) to Ih e
Bols heviks - for a ' 'IT) short time was prope lled, as in a whi rlp()f) I,
b~' the same set ofcomplex m o ve m ent s th at in I ranee occupied
the pe riod trom /7 89 umil rc c.."l1}. But i ~ economic principles
predete rmined t he direction it was to ta ke- : It could a n i)' plll an
e nd to nonproductive spending and reserve the resources fUl" equ ip-
ping th.· <'; ' llJntry. It wa.> bo und to ha ve a gO.l.1 o pposed to t ha t
aimed fo r natu rally. in the ind usrrialived stales, b~ the work ing
masses and the part ies that su pponc d the m . It was necessary to
re d uc e tho se nonproduc rtve expenditures lor the benef u " f a, CIJ-
m ula t jo n . No doubt t he reduct io n wo uld affect t he pro pertied
classes, but the share thaI wa., levied in thi s way could nu t , <>I'
nOl prim arily, he used to im prove tilt' lo t o j th e wo rker,,; it had
to he de voted above <Ill to ind ust rial eq u ipmen t.
The Fir.;1 Worl d V\-'a r showed fro m the outset. in Russ ia. that
w he n the com birsuions of indust rial forces that constitut e natio ns
increase o n all sides, no ne of t hem Gill ,tay be hind . The Second
World \ \'.l.r comple tcd tile de monstration. \V hil" th., devel0pllIent
'If
of rhe leading inrh l\trbl ullmt ri c~ "",,"' den-rmined from within,
il WdS rnainlv determined from tlw o utside in rhc ease 01 one bac k-
ward cou mI)' wharcccr one may '>IIy 01 t hc in t f'rM I nt"ces' ity for
Russi.. 10 ex ploit Illd u,trial1 ~ its resources, it needs to be added
that ill an)' case an i)' that ex ploi ta tion e nllhlf'd it to overcome till"
ordeal o llhe recem war. TIlt' Ruwia of 1917, ruled b)' mnl w ho
lived d'l} to <13)', could survive on ly o n one c onrlition: It must
,I...·dop ils potelltia!. To do so, it called on t he leaders hip 01" a
class that d espised ", t"llt'lU OU ~ S<]uanderillg. lhe cont ribution of
fO reign capitalism .1ml t he incfl>asing l<lg in RU'5i,,'s ind ustrial devel -
opmen t arc dear indications that Ill(' R usvi an bourgeoisie d id no t
ha ve th e q uan titative im portance no r t he <lsct-n<\"m character that
wou ld 1..1\"(' e nabled it I<J prevail. Whence the parado >. o f a pro-
lcta riat forced t o im pose its "ill int1c'CilJl y 011 it....lt, to renounce
lift- in order to m ake lilt- povsible. . A parsimonious bo urge ois
loregoes Iht: vamcs r luxur}. but he neve rtheless l'njoys well -being;
by contrast, tilf' worker's renunciation too k place unde r co ndi-
{iom of de ~ li l uli on ,
" No one;' wrutt" I eI'O)~ Bt-a l l l iel l , "can su lkr like 3 Russian;
no one call die like " Russian," BUI th i\ ex treme e ndurance appear>
\'CI)' rliffi.rf'n t (m m ~ c.<llcuIMion. It seems that in 110 other area
ofE uro pe was m311 so igno rant of the rati o nal virtues ofoourgcois
lite . These virt ues requi re conditions 01secumy: A r-aphalisr 'pec-
ula tion rcqurrc v 3 rigo J'Ousl} es rabhs hed o roc r, w here il is poss i-
ble to see a head of o ne, I o ug be inj.( e xposed to tilt' iucurvio ns of'
barbarians orer vast flat expanses, haun te d by rhc specter of hun-
gel' and cold,3 Russian lift' gave rise ins tead to the co nt.rary vir-
tues 01 insouciance , to ugh ness and living ill t he prcsc m , A Sevier
wo rker's ren unciation of im med iate "dvant<lgt' lo r <l Iurure gnod
detn<lnded rhar trust tw place-d in third parries. And nol on l) tll<lt:
l ie must also ) ic ld to constraint. Necessary t Horts h<lo to respond
to st ro ng and im medi3 lc incc mhc\: Originally rh esc were given
'so
.",,, .....'. ,
in the na ture o f;l danbJt: rOU'i. poor .l.oo immense I.. rod; tt1C) w,;re
10 remain cormJl(.muraIC w,th th<. t imJTK'n§il~ and lhat JX1"crt}
The m.-n " .;It lhe hc;td o f the p ro k LUiat . respoodcd ",'h-
00"1 jmanoaJ moons to lilt: necessi ty o r industrial iFing Ru,-, .., COIJ1d
11m in an) ease ha~ e the cal m and c.lk ul at ing mind thaI (l(e:.ide\
O\'l: t the capi t ~l i~t e n terpr ise. B) ' I rt ur ol tbe revolut ion the) had
'<7
TH~ "'C C u " SEO S "A ''''
,,8
th e maximum prod ucti"ity lrom each in di,i d llM, '11 Iht:' limit of
hu man powcr,. 1'10 previous fonn uf <:cu llu m}' was able TO n~~ern:
such a la rge sha re of the excess available resources fo r lilt' incre-ase
ot rhc prod ucuvc forct.'>, that i~, for the wowth of the systcm. In
c'Try social organization. a, in e~er}' Ih ' in,io: 0llla ni,m, the surpl us
is d istribute d bel " e c n II,,,, growth o f th e 'ptem and pure ex p('n -
dtrurc, of no usc e ither 1O the maintenance of Iite o r LO ,l1:rowth.
BUI the very nation that had almost pcrtshcd lro m il~ inability to
rese rve a la~>c e nou,io:h share for grow lh. b)' a sudden im·e r.;io n of
its equi libriu m retl uc e" to a minimum the share that used In he
g i\'cn over to lu x ury ,lIltl in e rti a: ' Iooay it only lives for rhc limit-
Ie" growl h o f it s p roduc tive forces.
We kn ow t hat a lte r ha'ing lcfi Ru S>. ia wherc he was an c ng i-
necr a nd a parl)' member, Vietor Kra,'che"k" publis hed in t he
Un ite d States "sensat ional" memoirs in which he veheme nrly
denoun ces th e re g im e . 6 whatever the value of' Kra ccbcnkots
dLracb, rhis descriprion of Russian ind ust ria l activit \. oflf..." a haunt-
ing "isioll of a wo rl,1 absorbed in a g igan t ic project. The au t hor
disputes lhe value of til.. m ean, employed. There i' n o dou bt rhat
they were vcr)' ha rsh: Aro un d 1937, th e repression was r uthless,
the d eportation frcquem; lh.. res ults announced were someumcs
on l~· a fac;ade fo r propagan da pUlpose.,; ,1 portio n of the wasted
labo r wa s d ue to disorder: an d t he con trol of a pol ice that s.a"
o;.abot.Jgt: and oppossuon everywhere tended to ~rnor.ll i~e th e lead -
..Nhil' and hinder produc tion. Th C~I' lailings are wel l known [tom
othe r source, [ there was even a subseq ue nt rcedcncy 10,Ic Ho unc e
the purpe.• o f t har peri od ax Ilt'ing too se'e re): \-Vc are- only lIn in-
fonned o f their irnportencc ..,,<It he r(" h no sufliciently re liable
testimony tll,1L g h"CS predsc dcr.. il,. Hut Kravc h cnk o's accusauons
cannot be c ited agai nsllhe , uh' la n<: e of h i, eesnmony.
An im mense machinerv ,~a, iI.'......·", b l..tl ill whi<h indilidua l " ill
was minimi zed w ith a .. iew 1O th e grea tCl;l outpl Jl. l\ o roOlll was
'"
le ft lOr .. hims). T~ ,,'Or\.(>r In this machin~ F) n-ocrc ed a labor
pa.'6--book a nd Irom d""l momCIlI o nward ho.: could not meM' from
one luwn or £K:t or) Iv 'Lnolhcr. A worker 10 rninUf~ laic could
be sen tenced t n iorcf'd labor. An mdusrrial m anl,>cr. o r milia!)
leader, could be loC nt .. llOOUI 'lrJ,!umcnt to 'iOme IOrs.ll rn place
in Sjberia. 11K- >e!) example o f Kr;t>chcnko """ 'als the C\'ieT'Itt
of a world in wh>ch t~ Ofll) pussibili!) i~ 10ibur. th e const ruc-
lion o f a gigamk illd u~t l) for Ihe benefit of a flll un~ linle. In suc h
a world , passion . be il ha p p, or 00, is onl}' a brif'l c p i'>()(jt· . le a>·
ing fe.> traces in mt'1l'IOl). l'olil ic.ll despair and IIII' '1ccess il} of
silL'Tlt"c com plere thl'" piclun:: In the end. all of one's w.lkinl'! hours
are dedicated to the fc>-cr o f work.
O n C H'T) etde , amlcl t he g rincl ing 0 1 tee t h lin e! the ltOIlgS, rh..·
h'-.lv}' , il..,><: e- or the I"" ise 0 1 the speeches. the po\l::n) "ncl llw
cx ahat ion, day aftcr elil) ;\0 e normous labor fo tCl'. " hi, h lh e t:/a r'
le ti- powerless, convt " !CI S rh e edifice on whic h t he 11Mbk wealth
accu mulates .1 11,1 mu lt ip lie,.
,6,
The Weakness of the Cri ticism AnoillSt the
THlJon of Soviet Industriolizotion
In the pt'-<lc,.eti m e worM to w hich th e !'rcnch are accusromed, one
"0 lon gt'r im agi"c~ th"t nut' I!)' (';\11 ~t'e", lJ ll.wo id ablc. Bu t thh
world of ea"" has it, limits. RC)'0I1J ii, si1Uatiom ..rise in w h ic h,
wro ngly or rightl y, ects o f crucltv, harming indh iduals, seem n eg-
lig ib le in , jcw o f th e m isfort unes Ih c)' arc meant 10 acotd. If one
considers in isolation th e a,hanlage th at a ma nufacture of rrac-
tors has over rha r o f sim p le imp leme n ts. it is dif]] c LJh to unde r-
~tand the e xecu tio ns and deportations " hose victims arc estimated
b) so me 10 be in t he mi Jlio m . Bu t o n e irnrn cdiarc interest can
be the co m ll,,'1' "f an'>thcr " ho<.e vital character ca nnot b.: denied.
Today it is ea~y' 10 sec rh..1 til<' Sovie ts organ ilillg p reK.!ud ion wt'rt
re plying in adva nce to a questi on o fl ifc and d eath .
I do nor mean to jusrify, but to u nderM ann; given t hat pur-
pose. lt seems supe rficial to me 10 dwel l o n horror. It is lO as}" to
affirm - for Ihe sim p le reason th at tilt, rcpn>s'io n was re rrfble :111(1
rhat (jlle h ates terror - t hai gell tlene11 WOLJ ld have sue:etxelf'el le r-
ter. Kravc henko argues rhi-, in "- hap h azard fash ion. He aho says ,
wi th o ul d ,le com id.-rat ion , rhar th (' !l-atll-...,hip wou ld have pre-
pared more dll.·t:ti u;l)' lilT war using rmm : hum aile methods. w hat
Stalin o b tained from the workers and peas-ll ns went again,r many
particular inte re sts a nd e \'tn. in a gen eral way, aga ins t t he ir nmc -
diate i n t tre~t o f eac h person. If Ill) me<l n ing is clear, one will n o r
lm ag ine thai a una nimous population yielded w it hou t resrsrance
to suc h a ha rsh renuncia tj cn. Kravchcnko c ouk] on ly u ph olel hi s
cri ti cism s b y d e m o nst rating the fail ure o f fnd usntallza uon more
c onc retel y'. I Ie c onfinf's htm celf to st ate men ts concerning the dis-
<>reler allel Ih.. ,,:Ire lesslll"s.~ . -n, .. proof o f the futil ity' o f rh e indus-
tria l ach ic"el1lClll' wou ld fo lio " tro m th .. hum iliari ng d e feats o f
1~1 1 and 1') 4 2. And )el th e Red Arm}' c rus hed th e WCrm adn . 1"0
doubr w it h th e aid 01 le nd-l e ase. But h e letv th iS ~ urprising sen-
,"
- -- - - - - - - - - -
renee slip o ut: "The Sralinl/:r;ul triumph was c!illd'eu befor e 111<'
g rea t now o f lend-lease go l statt e d; but American and AJl ieti help
belongs immediarelj the reati e r ill t he est im ate ."] Thus, in Ih..
decisive baltic of lilt· war it was R ussian ;,rm s, it was tile result
o f l h t' ind ust rial effort, th aI came ; IlI O p lay. ""Iorem er. te stifying
in \ Va,bi llgttlfl befo re the c o ngressional commruee c harge d w ith
in vestig at ing ;lIlri· Am erican acci vitiu s Krac c hen ko m akes t his
no less s urprising st ate ment: " I t h as to be und e rsto od," h e says,
"tha t all the ta lk ,Iboll' t h e irn possilnlitv of Ilian u fK l u r i njo!; th e
dLOITIIc bomb ill the USSR becaus e of the lag in technical devol-
th e p""ibili ti,'s " f"""" ,,,li, m in o nc eOlJnt r)·... lt on l~ remdi " s li,r
o ne to defend ,IIC Ilrcalcr eflecriveuess of" I c\~ callous Stalinism,
fo re se eing t he eflecr o f it s ac ti on.., a nd depen d ing on volu ntary
c onsent ror the o n it y n e ed e d to o peT<l tc a socia l mach ine! Fhe
tlllt lt is t l1,,' wc n"bel aJl:ainst an Inhuman ha rthiess. And \'>c wo uld
rMh..r .u.. th'lIl e" tdb[ i~h d r....g ll ()f t e rror; bu t a sing k ma n c an
, Ii<:, ,"KI illl immense popu lat ion is Iaccd w irh no o rbcr possib ilitJ
th an life . Ttl c Russian wurld hat! to make lJ P lor t tlt'.. b;,d ,mm l","s"
o f czarist society a",1t his "a, """,ril}' so pain fu l, il <l"milllflftl
Il ...
iln c OOT! so g rc.u, rhat Liw IMn l w"'y - in c\'cr)' sense the most
c o s t ly wa} - be c am e its u n l} sol u t ion. If we h ave t he c hoice
between rhat w hic h appeals 10 us and th at w hic h inc reases our
re so urces, it is alwil)'5 h ard to g l\'C up our desire in exc hange fo r
lilturt' benelitv. II rna) be cas}' il \'C arc in good condition: Ratio-
nal in rc tcs r o perates w itho ut hindranc e . Dot i f we are e xha usted ,
SO~ liT OUS T ~' " 'TA'
,~,
b le to o ffe r " m o ral" criticis ms aga ins t t h.. facts, strt'ssing that
w h ich, in reali ty, d epa rts from th e " id eal" 01 s"<'.ll i,m thM th ..
Sovie t Llnicn on ce a ffirmed, Iro m the no tio n 01 indi , id u.ll inter-
cats and ind i vid ual tl",ug!' I. T !wst' con<1irio ns, however, arc th.."e
of t he U ~SR - n o t tho se o f th e c ut ir.. m, rI<' - <l m l o ne wo u ld
a lso 1"1""'" to cover o ne's eyes in o rde r no t lO sec the conseq uences
ofa rea! <'pposit ion betwe en the doctrine and method s 01 th e Sovi-
Cb (t ied to circum st an ces pec ul iar to R ussia) and the econo m ic
proble ms o f o ther co um ne.....
In a fu ndamental ", ay, t he cu rre n t spt..", 01 th.. U SS R , hei ng
geared 1O Ilrod uci nJl: t he means o f p rodu c tion, ru ns counter to
t he wor kers' move-m eurs 0/ o tlle r cou n t ries , ti le effect of w hich
te n ds t o re d uce lilt' pro<'uct ion o f (·ap ita l e quiprnen t , inc reasing
th at of o bje c ts o f consumption. Rut . 'It least on rhe w hole. th e se
wo rke rs ' m oveme nt s arc respo nd ing to the economic necf'ss it)
th at cond irions th e m ju st as the Sov ie t app,lI'atus is n"po m l,ng
1O its own. T he "meld econom ic sit uat ion is in fact do m tnarcd
by the developmen t o f American ind ustr)" that is, by an ab unda nce
o f t he means o f produc tio n am i o f th e nWan, for im ....' asillg the m .
Th.. U n ired Sta te s even has. in theo ry, th e capacity to even tua lly
p lac e the iml " stri.._, of it, allie s in c onditio ns ap proxima rinp irs
own. T h us in t he 01<1 in<' ust riill n arions (i n spite 0 1 curren t con-
[rilt;· aspects ), lilt: eco nomic problem is he c o m illJl: a problem no t
o f cutlers {alreadv to a lilrge ex te n t q uest io ns o f nu th-ts have n o
po ssibl e an w,·er ), b ut o f consum pt ion o f profits witho ut compen-
sanon. It is dou b tful rhar rhe jurid iClI b.lsis of production can be
m aauaincd . [n any CiISC , the prescll1 worl d call, for r:lpid c hanges
on all sides. Never before WiIS th e canh a" im" t..d b~ 'lIl}tlting like
tl lis mll i r i pl i ci ~' of virtigmous move ments. U f ecorse. ne it her did
the ""ri ~ o l1 .,, 'e r ap p"ar to threaten such Jl:reat a nd sudden c atas-
u o ph c s. Should it be S<l i<J? l f rile)' come to p.1SS, onlv th e m eth-
ods o f t he U SSR would - in a wo ndrous sile nce of the indiv idual
."
H H " C C U f1 S E O S H ~ " ~
,68
Tb e Marsh all Pla n
The Threat of Wa r
Apa rt frofll the coeurnuni sr eOll'rpri~ and decrrin.. . the human
m md ac<;.. plS urK:cn-aint ) and i ~ sat i~ l1ed wil h shortsighted ne5S.
Uu tsi, l.. th e Soviet \\o d d . tll ere is no thing , h"l has the value 01
an ascendant movement, no t hing advances wlth an~' , i"..eu. Tln'Il'
p',- N Sts ill powerless c1is.sonance o f m oa ns, o f I h ill~ allT3fl, hearel.
01 bold le( lillMII', t o resol u te inc o m pn::he ns. c> n. '- 'his disor der j"
more f<J\'orable no douht 10 the I>," h ()f an .."tha ltlc ~Jo(;or>scioUJ
tlt't< lhan is its 0 ppo"il ... Mid o ne mig/II ......n ....~ lha' w ithou l this
l)tJwe rlessncs.~ - and wnhou r 11ll' (f' nsioo lha t IS m ain t;line d b )
cornmunisrn 'v ;Iggressi, cucss - consciousness wo u l, l nOI be tree ,
wo uld nor Ilt' Ok'Il.
In Inl lh, l he si luati on is painfUl and c e u din l) 0 1 a nal ure 10
b l ing indi.'- iduals OUI of tllcir apart1}' A "schism." a com plete rift ,
lliv icl~ not jw.t minds, bu t the nund in {:enf':fa l. for bet wee n rhe
parties in (IU..Slion C\ c')'rhing is originall) in common . T he- d i' i-
sio n and I he hat red art" nonet heless o.:ornpr.. t c arn l " ltat the, IK)r-
1('1ll1. it appears. is war: an Incxpiabk- war. ine-luctably rh.. cruelest
.10l1 most co stl) in h i s\( ~ .
f\-\orC()\"t"r. reflectio n .at , h.. threshold 01 war i\ .su hjcci to singu-
lar cOfl(litlOfl\.; In deed. hl",..,..,r one ~ il. one cannot imag-
,..,
lne - assu m ing it takes place - pUr.iui ng it beyond a ,-onflagp l;Ofl.
W hill ",,,,,1, 1 be the rneaning , in the C\'"n r o f a Ru ssian , i,,-
texy, o f" \Vorl,] generally ruill"d, where the l ln it.-.:I States, lar from
as,o;ist ing Ollw r coun mcs , ,,0,,1l1 he m o re comp le relc d n""l aH~,1
than Ge rman) to(I.lyt I he USSI{ WO Il I.-l then also Ill' ravaged, ami
Ill.. ''''\<l rx i ~ ", ' hat wou ld ht· c St:lhli' he d in t he wo d d wou ld be ar
no rescrnblam-e TO the o ne d emanded by th,· d e velc pmenr 01 pro -
,l"clive to rces. Wha t wou ld be 1.1 ,.. mU lling of a dest ruction o f
capitalism th ai ",0111,1 be at th ., '<arne ti me the <I...st r uction o f capt-
raltsm's ac h it'"t' men ts' {lb~i tJ lJ_, I}· it wo u ld be the crudes t posvi-
h i.. d en ial o ll\1.lrl<\ l u c lIJ it )'. T h e h u m ani l )' rha r wou ld ha ve
,1,,-'lJ'O)'cd the work o f the iJKhJsmal revolution \\uu l,l be t he poor.
e st ol"all time; ,Ioe memo ry o f tl,.. rec em weal rh wo u ld finish the
job 01" lllilkillJ;: that humani rc unbe .•arabl e. I e n!n dell n ed sO<:l;,I-
ism as " UIt' '()\ ' l 'I S, plus elec-t rilicarton," As a " "m e r o f/ac t, social-
"
"
ism docs n<>l iust require tlo" po we r cf rhe pto()pl~, but wealth <I.'
well. And uo re aso nabl e perso n l:iln imagi ll ~ it base d on a wo rld
in wh ic h sh an rj tow ns '~o lJ hJ rake th e p lato.. " f t he c ivi li,.a tio n
symbolized by t il(' na me s oI" N.." York and L" ...Ion. Thilt civtli-
n t ,o n is perh ap s d..t csub lc ; it some timcv seems to be only il b,u l
dream; and the re i , I lU qu estio n rha r it J;:c n..r"tt;:s the boredom
amI irrttarion thar la' -ol;\ , lid.. re wa r d ca ras tropbc, Bu t no ont'
ca n re asonabl y c cus idcr so mtol hilljl; lh"t on ly bas the au r,n;rion
o f un reaso n in its lavor.
O f course, o ne sti ll has til<" " p tio n of imaJ;:illiI1J1: " viLtor) 01
rhe Un ite d SWt." m cr Russia tha t wo uld 110 t d evastate rhc world
"" com pletely. Rllt tIl<' "sc h ism" c-ould not h., reduc ed for t1w
f.K t t hat tilt' \-iClo ry was ,~o n lit littl e cost To tin> vic to r, Ap par-
f'Tlt ly wo rld d o min ion would the n belong 10 Ihe single ho l,ler o f
th e decisiv e ,,,,allo n s, but ill thr 1<"')" I1K'1 fhl: vxttm belolly ' - to the
CACC IJtioffl:r . TI, j ~ t:'ccutio ncr'~ bu rde n IS 'if , un.. n" i~ h lc. t he awa re -
nt:ss t hat such a b lood y so lutio n wo u ld certainl -, poi son sccial Hje
'7 0
T ( .. ... ~ !i~ .. . ..
illC so su u'lf!. there tht'A' ,lotos nor Ui\ l, o n the Arnc'ric;an ..KIe, ,In}
:!>U~lan tia l o pinion in f,l' or o f wa r in rh l" near fut ure . Hence it h
d t'...... , r at least probable, that rime bon Ihe side of Russia.
'I' ,il of yooJ fut urw. It " iIIl,'h"t' u p o n!) ill the h.JPfry C\'etll of £k:.ltll.
In 1M .JJl uatiM (lJ a l:lOIUlr u:ham. \. I..,t ~r''''Tln ~ from k lH" i"B
,.." to be irw,'ita b/r 'I 1#W i lk" I/",t untkr ,hr p~mt ,ortdJIKHlS "'Iw
rc/lfJO'1l.I; " to a/rtf CkrUU " ;fL~ phraY, mIl/ill "wTl/m~ il t, OlM 171M/IS."
Tlw conflict Ih ~l is t>ngal,,'C'd in I hc' eronorruc ~p '1t' rt' ll P PClS<'~
lllt-' world ofi ntllJH'i,LI development - o f na~n: "1 accuurularionc-
10 that o f de-el opc-<I inclustry.
In a fimdamenral sense , Ir i1> !rom I'W side o f exubeeam pro-
ducrion that I hC" c!augcr c l "<I f comes: Ir e "p'''lal itln I ~ d ifficult.
olld if ' 10 mhu OCJfkt i1 <pm. o n ly " a r Cil 11 be the chent of a p i...
I h" ric inclu stl'). me Am c n Cil n econo my is in r<o<:l the I;rc;31 t
expio§.i", TJIii'\$ l hr "0f'1d has ...-er ll"lOl'n. 'Irue, ih explo~i>-e pro·
!>lITe is not favored as II " as in r..-rman), bot h extcrnolll) ~ l he
'7'
t hc prod ucrtv e lorc:t"~. III re t urn . the idea 111"1 11\.011 CIl<) nnous
machitlCT), Iln \ t"1l Il) an /on"iltlbk m oo.-cmcnl o f gl1M"lh. h . ialdf"-
b.ilinccd ;md ""tiornl - ,ml" in. alllhc ~I"!i of 1~11t\a!;nos.
lbe !act lhal ;t ""<1'!1 <I i~ in rwc wOrM won is nol e.pt.-c:: i4lJ}
....3SSuring. In Ml) case il is pai nlill lo ..eo:: a d)1umk '>OCict} J;i.'CIl
,,,...- unrt'St"n'CC'll~ and "ll ~tlotlg"r'IIl~>C plans to the fllO\"emem
that pr,,,.,I, it . ll l~ painful to 1t.1lO\' that it i~ la'1,>t'I} unacqm inted
" ith d ie: la...~ o f its ,1C\'t'lop mCtll and Iha t II proc.l ucf"'li ... It hou t
~i nJ: th.. coeecqveeccs o f th e pmduetio n. n ,is ,:,c,:unnrnr "";1';
apablc of Iwu " 01....; a\.\Um il¥ in moccmcm 01 gTO\\ th cllnri"u.....
" hat sudden ~I)rll Illigh l wal e it cdpablc o f fW"l:c ? ' 1huw " I,,)
keep it ru oning al e lI,1.i...·I) Cllll\'irn:ed uf Iw ring no OI I\('r purp.lM'.
Rut should the) no t be asked " I..-th..r ti ll) ' arc nOI utICo rnc.:i ousl )
pU I>uing the o ppoehc o f w h;jl Ih..ir c o nsciousne ss ac1mils? ' I he
A"'e ria\ns arc used 10 5C el llg " 11,p ts s lm -r ...a rs, and l:l\pericnct,
has show n them rhe- oI,h anl age " f " .til ing.
K ' tl' is pcastrnlsric .. ..} of loo king at tI 'ing», h'Ml:\"cr, it is nee..
CS5ill) I. , " PI" )'," a clear vic.. , based on t h.. idea III a vavr pro jcc t
whose r..aJil'. ,l iIJll has bq~ulI" While it is t rue- d ldl it is IlMII ro
itTlill:ine the llnned '\la lt'~ l>n.l!ipc ri ng lOr lo ng " 11 hou r Iht" ai<l o f
a hecat om b of rid ....... in ,1..-lQnn of airpl..nc..., IJOm l~ OInd <lll,.. r
milil Ol. <) cc/uipmctll. on.- t:,ln conceive of an cqu i••ale nt ht'C".Illlmh
d ...w oeed to nonlet hal "orl~. In other words , if "M is 'lC<-~')
to rhe American cconom). it .kln. •• ,1 10110\\' t hill "ar I\;&S I Q held
to t1~ t.,.l,tional lorm. h"'k:nI . ON: e ....,,;I} imagit"le'\, oomil'lf( Iroeu
ac r~ til.. A, lanlie, a resolute movement ....rw.in/l; to 10110\\ the
routi ne: A c<mflici i... not ~es..u.ri l} rnilitar); 0 ..... can ..n' lsage a
vest economic <-' omI'Clil ion. \\ hjch, fo r the eompt' l illlr with the
in itiall\"C, "-olll,1 1:0:,;1 ~ rJ lkcs comparable: to those of ";\1', and
w hk h, from ;II 1JlX1b>t'1 of t he: 'Ym.' scale: .II.'> war budb't'h, ...." dd
i nvolve e cpcrxlitu rcs thai '.ould not be coeupensatcel by "11) h" p"
of c.lpilalisr profi t . W hat I ha. c said <-"()flCem ing the inert ia of t he
'7'
w csiern worM requires atleast rhis nne qualificariom There d o<'s
no t ex ist in th at wo rld either iI politi G,1 current (in th e ~CnM' o f
propaganda) o r an irucllecrua l movement that reacts, bu t th ere
is a specific d c tc muna non that is rQ;ponding to rhc So.' id pres-
su re. T Il<.: Marshall Pla n i, an isolated -reac tion, to be sure; it is
the on ly undcrtaki ng rhat re sults fro m a ,)" te mati. vie w 0 p po'-
ing the Kremlin's will to world dom inatio n, Thc MarshallPlan
succeeds in giving a deal' focus to [he cu rre nt c onflict - It is not
essentially the st n lgg le o f t wo military powe rs 1'01' hegemo ny; it
i, the struggle o f t wo economic met hod " The Marsh all Plan o fICr..
an org<lni7<llion of s urplus a)';a i"'t the accumulation o f rhc Sta lin
plans. This docs not nec essarily impl y armed struggle, whu-h can-
not le'lll to a rCOII decision. 'fthe opposed toroes OI re .Iiffc rcn t in
natu re e conomicall y, the)' TIlllM enter Into co tTI l'...titi on o n the
plane o f economic o rg<l ni7<l t ion , This is w hOlt rhc Marshall Pl an
ar r-omnlishcs, it would seem , as the West 's onl y rcacuon to the
move ment o f the Soviets in th e world.
Th e l'H un lw ll PIon
O ne of the most o riginal f-re nch ...conomisrs, Fran c oi s P..n oux,
sees the Marsball Plan as a histori, 'al e ve n t o f e xce ptional im por-
rance.t! In his j udg m e n t , the Mar,ha ll Plan "begins rhc g rea tcst
economic c.\peri me nt on an intemalio nal scale that h..., ever been
attemptoo" [p. 82), Ami its . unscquc nces, " u n tl'e g loba l scale,"
are "bound to g" tilt bc}'o nd th e boldest ami mo ' t pl'Omising srruc-
tu ral reforms a,!.o t'a IC,J by t he vari ous wor"e ~' parties o n t he
nationa l le\~I" ( p. 84 ), Moreover, it wou ld const itu te a ve rita ble
n;vo lut ion, imlc.,d, "(h e revo lution Ihat l1lall e ~ in thi s season o f
History' (p..l 8). In tact. "the revol u tionary rransjormation" it ini-
tiatee ("hanges " th e cus to m ary ~..lations betwee n nartons" (p. '84 ).
r or "there is more nwo h, t ionary spili l in averring rl,.. s t ~les
of nat io ns t han in p reparing tor th orn in th e name o f class st rug-
'71
J!.lc" (p. 34). Th us, hom tI,c dOl) t1.,. r General t-brshi ll\ under-
wking " wou ld be (TQWneo.l "id, it beginning o fsuccess, it would
eclipse, in its b. ncfi,"", th e most t hol'Ol.lJ!~i ng ..ndlcasr " nsue ·
Ct:S~fu.l o fthe ~u l revolut ions" [p, ] 8 ).
T hts opi nion i~ based OIl ~poc ifK" con.Yde roui ~ Fbe t-4nlW1
Plan I~ in t .. ,. lal lo rt'rncd) the ~1aJJl."e of p;t) mcn b ,k:fi. II ",f the
European nal,t.Hl!l y is·~ ·, i~ the Uni tal Stares. A~ .. maller o f (.let ,
It., deficit is o ld. "The Clt p0I\.'lIion surplus chuact cli,~ tiM: imet-
crone beha>ior o f th e befance 0 1 payments of t he Llnited Sla tes,
From 1919 to 19 ] 5 il rn.e 10 .I to ta! o f Ihirt ) billion fou r hun..-
d red and firt) m illion J"l1 al'S " . h (po 215 ). BUI for Ihe mCJ\1 part
it was o ffset b,' gold p;t)ln cnt.., • •m ..l the- remainder Wil~ cove red b).
a ptU"" n credtr, ~ 10 ~hc: cajculablc im"re~t. Thc.o;c resources
are no 1000ge r available. Luro pe's povnty has given a ' I'r) urj:tCnt
c h arac ter to l h(~ nl'I'(I lor Am e rica n prod ucts. and lilt' lanl'r\
importation nccc-, ....il ~ leads 10 an increased delich. hut there
is 110 m..ans of COmpenVlUng fo r it. Not un l)' j.(nM a nd credh, lout
l:urop<:i1n hold ing' in the l lnil e.l States hace J i,,-, i l~'It:fl. Tnuetsm
is just beginni ng to ,'c,-i,'I:, anil th.. p', rtial des'rlI(.-ti<.!u o f !ll(: r uro-
pe.an merchant fleer has ' <..'ll It ~I in incn:ast.-d spcncli'{\ in ..Iollar~,
Furthe r, the disappe arance of an intense trade " irh ~oc h areas as
Sou theast A~ia, \\hc l';C. shi pm (:nl~ tu the United Sta h's wt>f'C size-
abl e, deprives Europe Clf ooc o f the meil"" It IlaO "I miligating
its excess of i\ mc;riull impons . A,. a rt::'iult , the logiC o f n jlnmcr-
c iai <l<-"ti"il)', " hic h subonl i ~lC!> dd i,cl) to the prnllt 01 the kJP-
plier. "oultlll3\~ mack ir impossible lor a millCtl r lImpc to rerum
to a "iable 110lit ICai en lflOnl).
Rut w ha t wOIIlc.l lkl' C be"11 tI..' ~n<oc o f 50 lire,lt .. o.l i~qlliti b
rium ill tM ) 's "orM? -nl(' Unitc,l Slal t'S was con frOOIC..l " ith
this problem . It w ..., ncr~..,· ei tl,cr 10 adbcre blin.n, 10 11ll! prin-
ciple o r profit , bur bc"r ti ,t" . o nscq uences o f 311 inIOh:r.. hlt" siru-
anon (il Is eas) to imag"lc ti lt" fare of Ame ricil awml on i•.g li...
'74
rest of th e v.orld to barred ] o r 10 gi\<e up the iulc on ,,1,i. I, d ,c
cap ilalist "orlJ is besed. II " ' " ntteo;sal) 10 .klinT g<JOO.h. "idl'
OU f pill mcnl: It was nc<e~~ (0 8"'" O" tl, till.." pro<lun r,f labor.
>rJ,e Molrshall Plan is t1,(; solUlion 10 the problt:m. It ;s rI,(,
on l~' way to transl;'r t o Europe t he products whhout whic h the
world's jevcr would rise.
F~ols l'nrou... tm)" hi: riglll to SII"t:S'o ii' im porla nc c _ In ll ~
full scrse o f the word. It is pert~ not .. rnnhmcr ,. But 10 ""') rhar
the rt:\"O IUlio nar") sillnifkanc'e 01 the f\'Olr..I,alt Plan IS .Ioubt rul
would in all}' case be an imprec ise remark . OnC can more , impl)
ask whctJ'lCr it has Ihe rcclmtcal m<·~n irJg. anJ tI ,e fur-reachhlB.
polit i...1sign ifiGlnce_ lhat f M author ~!>igns tv it. III Jevelopi~
th i!> w"Ud. he Joo not tal.e ace OUIlI of the plan's mtegr.tioo into
the politica l Ro" Ille: thn o pJlO"t's ..a mcnca and tI,e USSR Ih ~I I'
out the wo rM. l ie ('onfl nes himself 10 cOllsidering t he q uite l 'ICW
economic prind ples t hai il bri llg~ into t he relat ions be tween
nations.. I k does not consi.x-r tllCe.'ohmon of these relations due
(0 the real, poli ti cal impfernc nt.a tion o t the pla n, '101' 1110< cfkcts
o f fhi~ ~'()IU l ioo on . he: inlerTl.l tiorud struanoo.
I will rerum t o a q ucsuon rha e the au thor I,,,, dc ltbcrarelj-
k it o pen . But il h first necessa ry 10 show th.. inte rest 01 h i"~
te:d mk aI 3ualp ii:s.
'77
THE "''''' URSE D S ... ... P~
'79
1\ mea ns in 0 ~~,ol J't'1/K. TI,i) i1"l< , .. ase of wealth "ould IWH."
an~"~ the combocd dcImnd.~ of IfWl}' fStlInrtd interests.. I{CI U.......
ing 10 t he viewpoine oI"gcnerd.1 cconom)-o" bc)'OI1J lhe (!rrwral
opentions COfl5idcrt'l lJ) I ' ''"too Pe rroccc, isvIornJ il1 l(:fOC mc:;ul!>
precisel) this: that exh IWIoIM enl;!) on earth. in all of Ii-'iog
nature, rends t o gR)\,' Am! t1l1:oretic:all) can Jo so, In f.Kt every
isolated li" lll@;partici e com usc a scrpius of ' t":'>OUR "C!> - "Ilkh il
has a t its J io;pos.l1 und er .... er~ conJitions - either lOr an illt 11:'_
throu~h rcprooucl iul1 or lilt ib in,lh irlual gtm\ th. Bu t thi~ necJ
10 1,'1'0"", to Co1lT}"gf'()\' til to t he lim ib of flOMibilil). is dl.1l fac tcr
b t i\..- o f isolaud hc:i ~; it defines iwIofcd inlert:!it . It is c~tomal1
to consider [Fnl"Ml inh',,,sl in terms o f iV>WIM in tCl'c:.•• h ut til..
world is not so simpl.. Ihat one can alwa) s do this "it!JOfJI int",..
<ludng an en ol' of pc "'pt't·l i~e.
It b cas)" to m ake thi s error pcrceptibje. Conddercd in t h e
aggregate, Ihc growth on i- i llg particles , 'alln OI be infin it e. Th ere
exists a puint o f S"lurMlon of" rhe space o pen to h fc. Douhtlcs~
rI,C 0 p<;: nness o f ~ p.tcc 10 . he PJo,, ' b of active forc es I. liable
to Vd' ) w it h the Ilo1lUrc Of l hc: H' il'l; form s. T h e w mgs o r bir. l,
ope neJ OJ more ex rens tv... space to grow th. T he sarne is nve o f
human techn iq ues lhal rnatk possible ~~ k4>Jll'i in t ilt' dC\t l-
oprneJlt of li lt: ~)'Slc m~. o f s)lolems that consu mc and protl\!( e
en..'ID"- [ach nC't' rccluuque itg:lf enables .. new ~~Hh u ftllc
proJut:"t.i\'C lOn:es. But th is tTlO'loemem of grow lh run, up ~ainsl
li mi ts at e.el) M~C o f Iile. II is continually stoppe,l dlK! fon ed
10 wait b- a dwtge in t1~ Cont:lilions of lii: bcfOrt: I'C$lllltl l\;. 'n..
(cs.,.u ion o f d e.oelol'n'lt.:llt d,,(,.'"S 1101 tlo "\\<11)' wi th Ilk- I~SOt)r(:t."l;
t.hat coulJ ha..~ i~~d the volume uflil"r fiJlf..es. lJul the cnctI!'
that. migllt hit\1: pro<lUl""t'tI.", incn:asc is then opendetl to no pur_
pose, As ~ r ;n llUman ... ri,·iti.... itre concerned, the resource, thai
cou ld have been itCCUmula1ed (t,;tp;t;lli/ etl) as ne w lorc C'> o f pr,,-
duction arc (l i~ ipi! lc,1 ill one \\01)' o r another. As a ~nt'u l rule.
,80
il hu to be gTamec:l t!lat l i f~or wealt h (.<IIlnot be in<lf'f mitd ) proJific
ande hat the momellt ..lwa vs a"il~ " In~n rhq m uSt SlOp RTO\\,-
ing ,,00 begin to speed. The «neuse pToIil~ ....tiorJ of imrnoetalhv-
in{l lx:i "WI- L1,c simpleSI IK:i tl!,'S - succeejs tI,C luxurj o f death
atltl sexu al r(:pro<l ut ·t io n. which maintains an imme nse endem ic
"'Iuant lcr. The e.u i~ o f ani n", ls b)' o ne anot llel' is ibl::lf a brake
on 0'I,t:raI1RJO\\llJ. And similarl). OIl\. C domi nation ef rhe a,,,,H-
abl e spac e is ensured at tI,C expense o f ani nws. men han: thc ir
\\ atS and the il rholl"-lnJ fOnns of usel ess (;otlw mption. f< lank illJ
is it t the sam e t ime - t11ro ugh itlt lubtry, which ll SC.~ c n erg ) fo r
ti,e Jcvd opn lt' m o f tile forces o f product ion - d manifol d open-
ing o f th e possib ilit ies o f E;rowth and an infinite capaci') 10.-
wasteful cOIlbu m ption.
But g ro " th GIn be ,·iC1\·cJ in theo!) <IS the concern o f rhe tso-
lared inJ ivklua l, who docs no t measure its lim its, who bt ruAAIt:S
Il;litlfu lly ro ensu re it , and who .Ioes not \ \"0( 1)' abc.,ut ir s conse-
qucoces. l11C lO m lula for ".r", th is that o f the iso lated k odel:
" e.teh in llis own meeresr and without consiJcriTl{! t he repercus-
sions on OI )C 'S neiRhbors ," ' et alo "" the gtntraJ n:percms iOflS. On
ti le ocher ha nd, rbc r.. e x ists (be)o nrl the ecerall human in terest
wh ich, conceived juS! as I lJa\e baid , is on l~ an a berra n t m u lri-
pUcatio tl o f th e ssolared illle teSt ) a gronal !)Oint of \ iew. fro m
whit.1I li ft .s seen itl a ne" light. Of coarse, th is point of ..Ic...
~ nol imply a ncg-a tio n o f t he a(h,m uges o f growlh. but it
oppose s to individ ual blinJ n.,ss - and d ~pa i r - a n range, ClI. U-
l)Crant . sirnultancous lv bcndk Cllt ana d isastrous sense o f wealth .
This int'l"O:"t is d rawn from an experjenoe ('()Ill"', ,') to thoU in " Ilich
selfishnO$ tIom i mt ~. It is not t he eepeocncc of rhc in<:Ih idual
an x iom 10 olI~n hllllSClf b) de>'tloping his p.;rsonal forces. It is
t he contnl r) awareness of Ille fUli li l )' o f 3n1'liet). The th emc ~ of
cr o nom bs e nab le o ne to ~peci f)' rhe nature 01" t his int e rest . If
one condde rs rhe holden of capital as a botl ~ , one q uickl) per-
,',
, .. ~ "SH) S"A"~
,"
. .".....
_~Ol·;1'l P""ur~ and t he MonhlJlI Pion
I n om) C~. a fo nd.lmemal rli llicu h) t anl104: be ~emo'\ ed . HO'l' I~
the coll t~i but ion rc be ser fn-c? l-lo" e.tn Ilve bill ........ rlofl<lo br
"ithd n " n from . h" ru l" n f i!>Olate:t.l pro li.? I low Collfl it be s.ac~i
Ficro ? This i~ " l lt' ~" the pl<ln\ m h l\",lllln i nto d w real pcllncal
game becomes the' question - " hich, "!I r have 53id, was not' tn:att"l l
in Perro ux's work. En'TYThi ng wo uld <lprMr<: llt l~ ha, e 10 be: res-on-
sidered st;lrling [rem there. I r.lJ,\ oi\ P"nollx has defined th,' plan
~s if th,' cflJ1 l1i btlt iu n's libe ra tion from t he c o m mon n Ile we n:
gin'n , as if it " ell' t hl' effect of tt u- com m on inten " t . I h ~", nOI
been able 10 ag n 'C.' " ilh h im "Iltircl)' on th is point . I he plall ln<o>
be a n " inW$' mt' lll in rh... "orld's inn-reo' ," bur i l also rna) b.; an
iIlH:,>.menl " in Alll.~riU·S imcrcsr," I do no l !loa' 11),)( Ih,s is 10e
U~ , but the q uc-:.rio ll arises, Mort'C)\'t'~, II i ~ possible Ih,It, oclllg
Min rh e wor-ld') intc rl:"\l - al tM (M11St:'1, It "i ll be ""rpt:d in the
d irection of rhr Amcncan inten·t;t .
Tbeorct u-allj, II "a pnllourw! nt:g.ll ion of capi talism: in Ihi~
reseoc tcd sense, I'lOrh ing is 10 be laLcn . ".1) loom th e llNJ'Ol'ltlOn
bm ught out ill I r.l.~ o i s Perroux's .lIlal}S i'" But in ~"ali l } ?
There is not ft't.l rca[ i t~ . Le t us nlt;rcl} pose th" <1,10'\(10 11: It
ma~ be t hat in wa nt ing 10 J ell)' itself ca pi t~ l i , m w ill " '\eal at
the sam e l in ,.. that i, c ou ld not avoid dnillg \ 0 and t ha t il [ac!' cd
the nen'_~s.\rJ ~ 1 1't:.Ilgth for such sdf·rkn i~ ]. And y"l. for lht' Ameri-
can world , it h II qlJe~ t ion o(\ife ~ m l death.
rh is aspe-'Ct o f the mo< l" m \\tlriot is overlooked by J1lO!;( o f the _
who t ~ 10 undcesrand I~: III a pa~o" ical " a~. the situa l ion i~
gO\"enlcd ." rhe li\llCt that Wilhout t h~ l>Oilu taf)" fe a~ nl rhO' 51...tees
[or some "'~>OI.J'i rh~t ), t im:: "'Qu I.! be no Marsha ll Pb n, r he
l~uth is tha.t Ih l' d i p l(' mac~ of t he .... n. m li n hofd~ rtw I..C) 10 rbe
America n coll.'n. Portadoxical l~ , tlK" ten~i()n it 1TlOIi nnil15 in the
\'\'o~"1 i" " hal . k"'ermi~ the larecr's 0l0\t'11ll- 1llS. Such ~n ions
• o ul<l .. a~il)' slip in lo abs urdil}. btl! (Inc n il sa~ t hat " ittoo" t l he
"1
USSR, w it ho u t the politi cs o frc nsion it adbe rc s t o , th ", capita l
lst wo rl d cou ld not be certain o f a\"lJ id ing pa r~ lysis. T h is t rut h
do m in ate s c urren t den~lopment'O.
lt i ~ n ot ce rt ain tha t the Soviet regi n~ , at pre~e nl, Is a nswe r-
ing lhe economic demands o f t he world in ge nu a!. On", ar lcas t
imag in es that <I plethcrh- economy docs IIu t J1t:ce~saril) req uire
th e dic tatorial urg"" lllit iun o f imlu sl rr BUl lhe po !Ulml "Clio" of
lhe Uni on and rhc Cominform is ne ccssa l) tn the world economy.
He re the ac t tc n h The consequence n ot onl) o f a di fference ill
su perstruc tu res ( in t he ju n ,lic,,1 systems o f p roduction}, OuT ~ Iso
<I , 1iI1., re llc e in eco no mic le n k In othe r won l" (h,- poluu - al
rL-gime in One p la, e , rhe R us, i'lIl worl, I, ex p re\SCS rhe inel]ualil)'
o f reso urr-e s [ ot the movement 01 ., ner~») by' an "ggrcss i\e agita-
no n, an e- xt reme It'n, io n o f the class struggle. lt goes" lt hc ut
5a) ing that this te nsio n is favorable ro a less uneq ual d ist ribu t ion
o f reso urce s , rc a c ircu lat io n o f wea lt h that th e im;rea~ ing une-
vcnncss o f lcccls paralyze d . [he Marshall Plan is the collscquence
o f a ,",'Orkillg -d as.; agita t ion th at it n-ics to rcm c J y w ith a rise ; n
t he Wes tern st" ml" r<l o f! i\"ing.
'rne Gl m m lln ist opposit ion t o tbe I\litrsha lJ Plan itsd f prolong'
th., initial se tt ing in mt lti on o f tl... pbn. It, t.,n, Is 10 im pe de th "
pla n's impl er lle lllatiu n, bU I , 'o nlrdl)' lO OIppeilr'IIlI'C\, h arc-e mu-
ates the ver~ moverucm it c o m ba ts. It acce ntuates an d contro ls
il ; in theory, " iel to Europe imroduccs the po ~~i bil it)" tnd ccdrhc
ne c essity , o f an American in terve nti on, but the Sov iet o p posi tio n
makes any irregulari ty o r excess d ifficult, reducing the risk th at
th.. lIlten 'en tllln m ig ht tllm into a con'lue~t. Trlle, 'so..;t't So1 ho-
\;lge co u ld <l imini,h the effect, o f t he pl..n. But on the o th e r hand
i( inen-J'...·" the f..clillg o f n... ·"",i£)·. if IIOt o f d istrt'O<.s, IhM ..nSllr.,,;
a l e~s lu:!.ildll t i mplc rrlt' ll ld l ioll.
One cannot ovcrcr nphasize th e importance u f the se mov e ments
o f repercu ssion. T hey go in the direction o f a profounJ nansfor-
'"
manon of ttw t'n"k , m~-. It is not IXna in thal the ir resultv " ill
sutbce, but tf-.t.:w p.i.ToIdoAin l e"char,;« pro,.-e d'lolt the \\orld'~
l:Ofil ooic ttons "1 11 not nccee..... ri l) I,.. resolved b~ WOI r. In a 1....-n-
cr..1 "'a). \\ hethC:Tsociali" or nmlITltlll i",-. th (' worl i n~< lass ~i
uti on is aU \lalll rOllelun\'C wa peaceful ~ol ut ion - wit ho u t
re volution - o f I~ economic im li turlo m . 'I. pri maT) .... or is in
t h lll l i ll~ that a moderate, reformist agil.1, ioll wou ld e-ns ure th is
evolution by itself. If th e <lw tat ion Ihat IS due to the comm unist ,
revol u tiona ry in i, i" t h t' <Ii,I no t t ake "- t h,c,.ltcn ing t u rn , t here
would be no r nore- ,·, ,, Iul io n. Bu t o lle wo uld be " ron~ 10 i mag o
inc that t h e (111) success ful effec t <)1' communism would be the
seizure o f fXJ"cr. Lven ill pmocm. rbc r ommunists would connnoe
to "d13nge tN- world." B~ itsrlf. ;11\ dl,oct such as the Mar.Ju1l
rbo is considlTablc:. but it shoukl not be SCUl ~ a hmit." 11w eco-
no m ic celm pt"t ' tlC>Il ~u l ting from subversive action roeld t'a!>,I~
e mail. OC)o nd changes in the disltibuti oll 0 1 we..lrh . .. dc.-pcr
dlolnge in SUllC'U~.
economy, the onl) ' YIX' posst ble \\ hCR . rhe grOlonh of proc!lI("-
ti n ' torr."" bt-il'f( ~"rbed . capitalist acetJmuliltion. Jnc! rcoscqccmll
" I
profit, would no longe r have a suffi cient margin. I\lo....owr, th e
form o r aid ro e uro pe is nor t he o nly indicato r or a dndopment
th at is generally favo red by wo rking-e lao;s agitation . The Unit..d
SLa tes i~ slruggling " it h insolu ble conrradicrtonv. It defends free
enterprise, but it th"'rc by inn ",ases the impo rtance 01 t he sta te.
It i ~ o n ly adnnc ing, as ~Iow l)' as it ca n, W"<Ir<J a point where th e
U SSR rushed headlo ng,
T he sfllv iJlg of social problems flO lo nge r depends on street
uprisi ngs, am I "e are f.ar fro m t he t jr ne W l "~ ll expamli ng pop" I;,. -
nons, short o r eco nomic resources , we re constrained to i' l\'ad..
Lhe " ....althiesr ''''gio n.s. [ Besides, m ilit'lry co nd itions work in favor
of rhc rich nowadays, t he opposi te being true in th e- pas t.] Hence
the co nsequences of po lit res apart fro m wars '11-" of utmost inter-
est. \Ve cannot be sure rh at th ey w ill save us lro m disaster: bu t
t he y are o ur only c hance. \Vc cannot de n} t hat war a li-en prec ip i-
t ared t he developme nt otsocict tc» Avide Imrn th e Sevier Union
itself , our Ieasr rigllt socialrelations, an,] our nationahzed ind ue-
rrjes and services, OIl'''' the re_ulr of two wars t hat s hoo k Euro pe.
II is eve n true that we come out of the [a,t wal"" it h an inc reased
pop ulati o n; ltv ing standards th.. mseh-es arc sti ll im pro.-ing ove r-
all. Nevertheless, it is hard to see w hat a th ird war wo uld bring
us, o ther than the irremedia ble rcduct ion 01 til" globe to the con-
,Iition ofGennany in 19 45. Hencefo rt h we need 10 think in terms
01 a pt' iICeful evolution withou t w hich t he dest ru c tson o f cap i-
ta lism wo u ld b.. at the same time t he dest ru c tion o f t hc lIvrks
of capitalism, the ct<'\\a t ion o f eco no m ic development. and the
diss ipat ion f) f Lite soclalts t .Iream . \Ve m ust no" expect from
th ", Ihroo l of war that w hi.:h yesterday it wo uld havc be e n callous
but correct to cxpect from Wdr. rh i ~ is no t reassuring, but th e
c hoice is not givcn.
.~ "' . .
"Dynamic Peace"
We o n ly need to b,; ng a clear principle into pol itical judgments.
II t h.. th reat o f ...ar caLl~~ rh.. Un it e d State to comm it th e
fTIajo r p"rt "f lhc .. x"..ss III military manufac tures, it \~ill be use-
le ss to st ill speak of a peaceful evolution. In actua l fact, war h
bou nd to occ u r. JIaJlkjnd ,,-in nJO>-C pm«Julh lo...." d a [J('neral resolu-
tion of its problems on~v 'f this threat ("(fuses the U.S. to moan a larne
share of the <'.\'«55 - <k1;bcrare~I' and lIithour return - to misilllllhc 8/obal
lWII<JarJ vf 1i.;n1/. ,XOIII.JnUC veti,,11 thus 8"il18 lhe surplus energy pro-
dvced vn ollilel other l}wlI \\01. It i~ no longer a matter of say'ing rhar
th e lack 01 dlsarma rne-nr m ..a ns war; but America n policy' hevi-
t<lt.. , bt'tw..., ,, h,~ , 1"'lh" fi l her r.. arm Furopc Wilh LIlt' h.. lp o f.l
"7
wa r. Onl} a ~l'll<Tmi' proce tS al1~we rs a c ry ing need lo r c hange. It
is rhe on ly form llb th~t Gill ~ opposed to tfw revo lut ionary ,leter-
ruination o f the S<>vit,t<;. Am! .:!l'lI<lmi( pe<lu'as~umcs t hat their I'C \ -
o luce d e tenn inati on \\ ill ma intain the th re at of war; it means the
ann ing o f o pprn.itc camp.'.
ness : He g i\'e'i ull his claim to th e c omplete luctdlrj- t], rou g], which
man hils the c ha nce to be, finally, a wl/-w/lSooultl€>5. To be sure.
sd j -eOru;;kJuSMll i, al so rule d o u t w ith in th e limits o f the ~'ie t
sphe re. MOl"Covt' r, it carmoe bind iT'ie1 f t n any rhing t],ar is ;J. [read)
g iven . It impl ies, under t he threat 01 war, iI rapid change and the
S llCC~S.~ t l l rhe wo rld 's domlnan r pm , e r. '" O n t], .. o rhe r hand . it
i~ "I,"t'acl)' illvolve<\ in ;I subsequent choice o t t],e American democ-
racy, and it ca nnot he lp bUI callfor th e la rrer's ,ucn:~~ w ith o u t
war. T h e natio nal pu inl uf,i .,w i~ ir rclc vam. J?
"9
the \-i....., point imrodu..re d ill thi.. book. t hat o ne m Ul>t d e e I J C II I
,~,
Notes
I'REBCf
P.,,,, O...-L
t. OJ the materialit y of the ' mi , C""', ",Heh doubtks•• in it< proximale ;u><l
rem<.J 'c a. pe ct ' . i, ......" , "" ytHng bm " beyund or th o ught. h<lfJJ1mfflt dcsi~, "'tc,
,h., "hkh julfJI,-'tld f. llOt ,b, " hieh" (lJlji/lM. InJin". i> in Of'l'c"iti un both
'" ,Icc li",it...d ,let... rrni,..,;u" d,.1 ,,, ,hc ;w;;b"""\ <nd.
2. 11 i' .,,,, med tl w if in<lu'''J """'lO' b n ',," ;,,,I<1' ni,... ,I,,,,-I" I'''''' n' , lilt"
",me i. not trt>C o fcbe "'e" lee,' cotlSlit uti"!1- ,,1"'1 i' e, lIed the "-rti") "",u,,-
'"
TH E ACCU"SClJ SH""L
" f ,h <."Cu llumy (tI ... pr; m.ry l>cing .grK:ult ure and Ih", sc<:ond>ry', ;nd u-~trJ)'
WhK·h indu,'.., 'P"r.;,,] ''''.! 'Il>UW~ ,. v.-ga.,.,...,.",,, "" "el' "" ,ho wo rk "f an i",,""
3. See f"t""s 35-6.
1 , U"luftu,,,,d,. il i, nvt 1"",iLk ' u ,Ii-.( ,-,,,.II th.."., p'c1>I" ", wilhin II",
I,.mew",,'" ofa lir<l - tho'etica.l and hi" orical - e....)'.
5. SeE- v.: \"er.-..d. ~)", L" B>e<phf", Par i'. 1929. wh"re 1OI11e of the c()f]sidu>--
,inll~ ,h. t fnl lc",' .'" o ", li,...·,1(f'un , a ,I,R.""", " ie" ruim).
M
6. n e .....--.:;"t;o,- i:I 'ppal"'" I) implic.-I in Ih ""prL"'inn, uUIC ,in of tile jlt,Il.
"'''RT fw()
L f!t-rr",roino de Sohap'R. //&/oric 8"''''''01 de J", rose. de ]\'U"tl ['1"'00. MeLico
G '," p'-,rrii a. 1956. 1\0<,1 \ '11 , ell. 2
). II""''''' ,'" 1m .11<>1.-0"'" I"" nI.' I""'",a" ell. 6 .
I . SaI,,,!:,in. 1100111 . CI,. S.
4. Ibid. , . fP"",li x " I Flovl ll.
5. Ib"l,Hnnl II.(Jl.24.
6. Ibid" llool-. II. 0. S
7. IlmJ.. BvoL II, o; 24 .
s. 1I>1d., IIl" ,k II, o; 21.
9. Ibid.. FI<,,>I< II. Ch. H .
10 .1001, Bov l.. II, o; 36.
1 l. IbiJ., FI<",k II. C1>. U .
12. 11wJ.. lk>ol.. "I, Ch. .11.
13.Il>iJ., Ilook \1,0,.:1.
11 I am I.. ,i,-~ "'pdf nO' ,h.· ,'i..",~ "f M.'Lel CT.Il." . ,,,1CeOl'g'" I)"''''-,j l.
IS. I ", ish t e. cmpha'i 'C a b"" i, fan, T he >ef",a!ion ufbeinl(' i' lim'le d lu lhe
re.1 unlet. It j, ",,1)' if I r"''''';" attached w the o"le r of ,h;fig. Ih.r rh"".,p-
.'d';" " i' m .r!. It u'" fac' rwl, I" ll ",ha' i, 1t",1 i>e,umal. ''I n' imd' d )••11 men
are one ."
If>. I" ,h e ';" 'I'I~ ,':",e u f d Ino,d"dg" o f the d"',,,,,. It j,., been ""'d tbll th. ,
'''''l> tha. I 'ek, '" <h,,,,' a l1"j,'i.,- i"fI"""",·. T h;, h)I""h",i. "Trn, pCli m·
16' to me . r he su bstance ot C hri <lian be lief, ;, ;, ,,,11 d, own t,om ,h" I"'''''io''.
'"
NOTCS
P\ln rrtRrr
I. [ mil e Dermcnr,br,,,,, Tim"'lI""'Y" tit- rbi,,,,,, N,~.. '''T k. ,,,kUT.I p"m;"~m,,
er «welk< dr /0 r"'''''''II,m musu/ma",,_ £'P ' 17 1· H7.
'91
2. 'hd.. p. J11.
J. Of COU'""". Emi lf' I ~""",,\-""m D " .. II ~"~~ o f >hi" f....ht, or. ..... .....-i ~
->On«-,.\ookm ..,.,...,.. pr«Ml~ ''';nrd, ,.,........" •. . .Ml p. 1ll'1). Onmawt....,,\
u~ in l.L.nio """'<T' i'I ~ I.. No< .. nit..., .-In,;r.tbl, Ct>r"o«m-
'If' ,,-.....km m~... i<."" ·' ..-! 001, m"'l!- '" qtot.. ........ u hi. d;flic.. lt, III ~""Il
' o d.-fln<" f., o~ >"lIun ol .
-to lbod.. pp. 1l (,.11.
5. i\\.ourio.e G.•uddoo,. l J< _b)'~. l.a I~ m"""""''''~, I~ ... 194 6
(}nl u l. ). P. 120.
11. S<:o R. Grou.."'., 15./0" "'" , ./ "',,",, r-u;", N an, 1946, ~" .... """'... " d<'s
"""""""', ~ I'p. 171-99
'94
" >T E S
Pun f o uR
I. Hi' famoo.". 'nodi.... on "the Prot"".mt ",hi<. .nd . Il,· 'piri' "r Ur"al i, m ,"
IJI< p'"mwnno.dt< Ethik und dN G.i," <1<, Kapitul" ",m. fi"t l'ub1i,hnJ in "",<I,,,.
fiT SotiaJ"'i,,,,,r""'h,,j' "Tr<! Sotia II"J",~. 'uk XX .r ~I XXI, 1904 ""d 19(15 . j;-.,m
, h" Ii ," ,01" ",,, 01 , he lMlfl""" <C7101oa", lub, ,,~," , 1911. J ' 01••
2. R. H. T''' "cy. Rd 'p'M uaJ 1M R"" .,r Caprla/ism (2nd ••d.) . """. - Yor" . 1'l47.
J. IbM..p.xn' i. n. ll.
4. IbM.• r- 9').
S. Quat.d Iry Taw""}, Ibod.. p. lOS.
c. Ibid.. p. 111.
7. Jhk/., 1'. 109.
8. h n y,h ing ,h.. I.., nC) "''' abl,," rh.. rq """ i" " or bI'l;l!i "10: alld '''II. ..''''''}
is 'lui,,· " ''''a,kabl" {"'... p. }6.~). On,· rard) "" U""L"'" • de...cr pc,c"I"i"" "f
,h,' action " I'<'< " nic i"w , ' '><' h"-dog,. I" ,h I. ,hc hru •.Ji'y "I -
"t,' hem "n ~ tt i"l; rid " I oorrprodua ll' pOV"," found .~ ,,, ..s.ion in ,it< ha"h·
." lOr,.". of 'Il< authoritarian "'hie. h"'" Il.i'[,0fl ~rl<I ..y ' Uf'.,g,,".'<l 'ha' "-StU' dy
be)!)!"" , ho uld be .e""d amI m.de , Ia,·e. tel the public ror a n"ai" ,e,nt of
,ean"(p. no).
9. IbM., p. 1I3.
10. T1>t Olll} 0 "". Iha' i'. bl' "'hich 00<' c." go to 'he limit' 0/ 'b" I"""hl.·.
1/. H" "" ,I", me<I,,,,,,1 '''pm,,,n'.. ',,n " ""I )' , ho' d"s,,>! f<'rm lrom " Il k h w,'
Ar" "·,,,u,..,I I>TCf' ,,, ,I,· I'l , I... Rd'"m. " ,,,, arKI ,t> lU""'''''' ''''''''''l"nu-'. fl,,'
tI", ""d.. " , repn ..""",. , ;"n<. ,he "de",.1 ,c p, e",,,,,,,;,,,,,. or ,he pd mithe re p
re,entAl ;"'" ha,,· afn''''' th e ,;une m...ni rll(, or" purer mc<m',,~. in om "j't'<.
12. It .hot~d be add"d: or " I' a ra'" mawr'al. indd ,ni teh .>o ibblc fi.>r ,I,,' u.e
of ,it< prod""", or merchant.
13. Wha. I mean 'pnifkaU} "Mnn.'K a<:tio". mo ' i'·.,cd b,' f,,,,l i r~ .Ild ",,-k-
I"" •• entin,cnt.l ""i,f.uiotl, " "'nt i"g 10 d o. ill . " oro. Ih.ol ",hi, h nnn,,'
b<' dolle, ho ' " ,,1)' c~p"""n<HI , ,e ......"...l "" gr.on· i. "T"""~ in ,I,.. , oh-i",,,
CO " ...· , ,, , " ".
11. All ,,~,.-li r't: pc"plc lurn,.hcd ii' ,he """'" furn'shed. " il l. 't:. 0" tl pn,,-;,
;"'''. d .. ,,,, 01 d ,e ",,,, f..c,, "ho "e, e ernpl,,)'e,! at sump'w" ...k,.
I.., E ACClJRS EO SHA "~
I'"",·~" I
1. JOITi' . I 'I f.R5.s. 10 krru' It, HOfHmt.' . Pari •. 194 'i, p. 133.
2. Ibi<!.
J. ··ChoW J k1lclod" in RIl.>ian.
4. Alnin>~l, Lo RIlSSJ<' T"",lut_ nalr' , Pari., 19 47. PI'. 168-69 .
5. Ibid" , p- 254.
6 . V_A. Kr.lvdK'tl ku . 1 (ht:M f " " k;w, 194(,. "If... "'~ tho l I h",,, m..l~ .-.I
th,. illlpo<.arli .JouJ.Jl\~ lI1, wh i~h i, <"" i" " ,I ) I>i"",d 1\11' a" , hc n' k, <;on,i". in
.J,a", in~ ou' ........'" of ,1..-- "",hf<:1 ",fo",u. lOJ\ " ~on'alJl." III k q ">lllJ: wnh <t1 1C'
and , in gennal. hum the dmhor\ lac k of imeJlect llai so lidify, n,,{hinl( can bo'
n ",du,It,t! ~a,n" , he, boo~'. am ocn ticil}. 11 i, a docum~ "t ti k.. " fl}. nloc~, , ,,
h" "",d wi' h <olll ior., lit.: an} ot he r doclIm~llt.
~bl'· I><JOL<d,dn'.
15. To V'I: t h,· pl.,. ", roined I')' /".n J.r'l U~' ~ .... c.-Schr~ib<-r. ~" I 'fk~i<kTlt
j Dl".t: '; 1c pa", . .... ,~, of ' emorbhl,- .,-tid.,. puhli4 cd ill i ' .t1e"a, of Janual"l
15, Iii, l1.nd IR, 1949 .
16. As s.,,~-an-s.:,hrdkr indicat es, and as p.-ogt""""i", Amer ic:>n intel k """,I, ."nd
to lhint , on<: ca n "x pe~'. ~"mid<: l"ab1c, '""I~ ,l mlJl,ronll~liolL u f 11K' in kl"<",1
,i'Ufi<ln " f the Uni , ~< 1 SI.le. 11"0'" lh~ . .....H' roc v i . . ...·w pu lil;cal I",u:. ,1"'1
of rbe , •..:J ~ un ;",,, .
,,6
NorCS
11. W ily de,l)' th~ Ian that the re ~;>n no 1 0l~ b" a '''''' ini, iat " .. ,Q....~"l i",I ,~
p" ooence "'" m., ~rr <>I count"", <>11><:. Ih"n til<: UW{ , .. ,h< I Jj,f\i 10 la,l! b<>l" ,.d
n" l""'E"r h... any ITIc,;"'in~ nccp< ill do) ' 0 d,,) pol e mici ,
J 8. W hir h i. f",."1,,,n in ,h~ moment , md ependent "f a t>, k n~~d,~ 10 [,.,
c..<ri"d OlU .
19 . I do "",an fIIoba/' In Ihi....n...., ,ll.. 1.'~"'I.,.i,',"al iUf' "r " 'IIl"UII puliC),
;ndk.t"J in ' h" ~Tru,mll PI""." i, mOf<' ' n....ningl,,1 ,h.m the Marll1alf Plan i ~fI.
Il w in «-...·n' f"" li,h, of com ..., , ,, , ..... 'nfu' ion "I .h" probl~m of w.' in con-
,,,,c'ion " ilh ,he", ecotlOl1"C mea'''''''. In ac"",f fac., '''~n ir 11,..)' w.. ... ' mple-
m" ",e d in" ""io..", wOJ, ,oc")' 'm"fd on f)" di mi " . ' .. t1,,, """. "i'" no ' ,h.
I"",,,ibili,y. of war; but, wilb ,fl<: b.-lp uf II... 'C' ,ibl.. , h. ... , of , he- n" ",,,' ""'.p-
on" ,hat migh' " ,fii, e ill p.;nLi p1c. In ....~. co,.,. n"thin~ nlOre cou ld "".• Io n...
) 0. l><:,' .h",.., Pa., I \~ d ,. 2, "The Bourge<>i. World," p. 129.
) I. 1\01h;nl; b", 1""'>interi onl)'. " hic h i. nut .. 'hu,&.
n . The mo"",nt wou ld arriw when f""" ion "'",,Id "" long", h ' all agUI1 of
"""",,,,,;,,,,,,,-. It " 'ill b" said Ih"t " nil " m",ll11.n ro,,1<1 pt ', n';" ,· ,,>(,1. thill:'
ill ,h" I\.la",I",11 ~<><l -r i-u m~n pf."•• J .m that rn,,~man. Ill' he ..0') pr ""i,e ~"""
tl!;" ,he,'c i' ,h~ choic~ ol lwo ' hinw: Hth~.lhe 0p"':lfiOll ",m fail. u r tl,.. ",..1 -
man ", iJI aor;'.., a, the ",If-cnll'.c~ I ' p". 1< <Jf. bee"",,· rca,,,,, , !>e i'>g con-
!OciOll!it"'' . is r" ll) COn>ciotlS on l) if it ha, f~ an olJjct:{ tha' ,,!oid. i. no< ,educible
' 0 il. f apoIugi,~ (,,< in' Totl"" " 'g """",k,r."",,, I"'r~ ,ha' ' '' /<'' 10 0 preci"" bet:
that in ", he r U·_'ptTh ,Ix> .", ho. " I . h i, hoo k On economl i•• im ated (by . part
of hi. wo tt 1 in th~ fint; of mystic:> o f all ti mes (but he h """,.m.:J...,. br rrrno, ul
lTom alJ d ie p"'iupp<><it iot" of tI,.. "a rlu." rn~,tici"m, to ",hid, 1,,' " PI""'"
onl,. d ", luddi ' j' .,j ""!{-""",«)<,,,.,...).
(
'97
Illi. ~<l itl()" d"" ign.·,ll')· IlnK"." Mau
T, p~ compo>~,l h} I\,<"\'i.>at Ca' la,ljan C"m p", lt io n
Prlnt..d an.! bound Sm}·the~, n '" \,e.>'" {,""phin H"lI,<l",'
using s,, ~oadd-frtt P"P'"