RadioRaheem84
19th January 2009, 22:44
Just reading the first chapter I get the sense that Marx was not talking about the reactionary conservative class but a rather cosmopolitan liberal class that sees money/trade as the root of solving man's problems. Examples:
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors", and has left no other nexus between people than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment". It has drowned out the most heavenly ecstacies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.
The bourgeoisie has, through its exploitation of the world market, given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of reactionaries, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood. All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed..... National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures, there arises a world literature.
The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it forces the barbarians' intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image.
Not to say that the Right wing in this nation isn't wrong too because they are strong adherents to free trade, even more so than the liberal, but at the same time the right wing in this nation isn't so adamant about internationalizing the economy as much. The liberal is though, albeit with rather quasi-governmental organizations like the WTO, the UN and the World Bank. They apologize for free trade and think that they can undue its crimes by restructuring it in a way that's less harmful. They create delusional think tanks in order to spread economic development ideas and "sustainable solutions". The description of the bourgeoisie fits more in line with them than it does with the reactionary conservatives.
I mean this new cosmopolitan class is well aware of itself, as I have seen pompous guys and gals feel like citizens of the world rather than citizens of their own nation, and feel more connected with the privileged elite in other nations than the poor in their own. Yet, they and their fathers strive to create a united world without 'racism', 'pollution', and 'extreme poverty'. It's almost comical yet drastically frightening too.
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors", and has left no other nexus between people than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment". It has drowned out the most heavenly ecstacies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.
The bourgeoisie has, through its exploitation of the world market, given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of reactionaries, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood. All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed..... National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures, there arises a world literature.
The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it forces the barbarians' intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners to capitulate. It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image.
Not to say that the Right wing in this nation isn't wrong too because they are strong adherents to free trade, even more so than the liberal, but at the same time the right wing in this nation isn't so adamant about internationalizing the economy as much. The liberal is though, albeit with rather quasi-governmental organizations like the WTO, the UN and the World Bank. They apologize for free trade and think that they can undue its crimes by restructuring it in a way that's less harmful. They create delusional think tanks in order to spread economic development ideas and "sustainable solutions". The description of the bourgeoisie fits more in line with them than it does with the reactionary conservatives.
I mean this new cosmopolitan class is well aware of itself, as I have seen pompous guys and gals feel like citizens of the world rather than citizens of their own nation, and feel more connected with the privileged elite in other nations than the poor in their own. Yet, they and their fathers strive to create a united world without 'racism', 'pollution', and 'extreme poverty'. It's almost comical yet drastically frightening too.