Political economy came into being as a natural result of the expansion of trade, and with its appearance elementary, unscientific huckstering was replaced by a developed system of licensed fraud, an entire science of enrichment.
Friedrich EngelsRead
The slave frees himself when, of all the relations of private property, he abolishes only the relation of slavery and thereby becomes a proletarian; the proletarian can free himself only by abolishing private property in general.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that true freedom comes from the collective abolition of oppressive systems, rather than merely escaping personal bondage.
In this quote, Friedrich Engels argues that individual liberation is limited if it only addresses personal oppression like slavery. He posits that a broader societal change is necessary for true freedom, which involves dismantling the entire system of private property that perpetuates inequality and exploitation. This reflects the idea that socioeconomic structures must be challenged in order to achieve genuine emancipation for all individuals.
Themes
FreedomSlaveryProletarianPrivate PropertyEmancipation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social justice, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of addressing systemic issues.
More from Friedrich Engels
All quotes →I have learned more [from Balzac] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together.
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People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.
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Just as Darwin discovered the law of evolution in organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of evolution in human history; he discovered the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of idealogy [sic], that mankind must first of all eat and drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, religion, art etc.
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...it was always our view that in order to attain this [proletarian revolution] and the other far more important aims of the future social revolution, the working class must first take possession of the organised political power of the state and by its aid crush the resistance of the capitalist class and organise society anew.
Friedrich EngelsRead
People have learned by bitter experience that the "European fraternal union of peoples" cannot be achieved by mere phrases and pious wishes, but only by profound revolutions and bloody struggles; they have learned that the question is not that of a fraternal union of all European peoples under a single republican flag, but of an alliance of the revolutionary peoples against the counter-revolutionary peoples, an alliance which comes into being not on paper, but only on the battlefield.
Friedrich EngelsRead
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