Communism is inequality, but not as property is. Property is exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is exploitation of the strong by the weak.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
A common danger tends to concord. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In Communism, inequality comes from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Proudhon critiques Communism, suggesting it promotes mediocrity while undermining excellence.
In this quote, Proudhon argues that Communism, in its attempt to create equality, ultimately leads to the exploitation of the capable by the less capable. He posits that by leveling mediocrity with excellence, society fails to recognize and reward true talent and hard work, thus creating a new form of inequality that arises not from capitalism, but from the ideology itself.
Themes
CommunismEqualityInequalityMediocrityExcellence
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on economic systems, this quote could emphasize the potential pitfalls of enforcing equality through policies.
More from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
All quotes βI build no system. I ask an end to privilege, the abolition of slavery, equality of rights, and the reign of law. Justice, nothing else; that is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
All men in their hearts, I say, bear witness to these truths; they need only to be made to understand it.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
To name a thing is easy: the difficulty is to discern it before its appearance.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order in anarchy.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
The possessions of the rich are stolen property.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead
Similar quotes
If the world is meaningless, then so are we; if we mean something, we do not mean alone.
C. S. LewisRead
Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
O take heart, my brothers. Even now... with every leader & every resource & every strategy of every nation on Earth arrayed against Her - Even now, O even now, my brothers, Life is in no danger of losing the argument! - For after all .... (as will be shown) She has only to change the subject.
Kenneth PatchenRead
A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean question: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well - or ill?
John SteinbeckRead
And why do you think that foolishness is bad? If human foolishness had been as carefully nurtured and cultivated as intelligence has been for centuries, perhaps it would have turned into something extremely precious.
Yevgeny ZamyatinRead
Texas can make it without the United States, but the United States cannot make it without Texas
Sam HoustonRead