And as, at the end of the Eighteenth Century, the people of Europe began little by little to understand that what formerly seemed a natural and inevitable form of economic life-namely, the position of peasants who were completely in the power of their lords-was wrong, unjust and immoral, and demanded alteration, so now people t()~day are beginning to understand that the position of hired workmen, and of the working classes in general, which formerly seemed quite right and quite normal, is not what it should be, and demands alteration.
The question of the slavery of our times is just in the same phase now in which the question of serfdom stood in Europe towards the end of the Eighteenth Century, and in which the questions of serfdom among us and of slavery in America stood in the second quarter of the Nineteenth Century.
The slavery of the workers in our time is only beginning to be admitted by advanced people in our society;the majority as yet are convinced that among us no slavery exists.
A thing that helps people to-day to misunderstand their position in this matter is the fact that we have, in Russia and in America, only recently abolished slavery.But in reality the abolition of serfdom and of slavery was only the abolition of an obsolete form of slavery that had become unnecessary, and the substitution for it of a firmer form of slavery and one that holds a greater number of people in bondage.The abolition of serfdom and of slavery was like what the 'Fartars of the Crimea did with their prisoners.They invented the plan of slitting the soles of the slaves' feet and sprinkling chopped-up bristles into the wounds.Having performed that operation, they released them from their weights and chains.The abolition of serfdom in Russia and of slavery in America, though it abolished the former method of slavery, not only did not abolish what was essential in it, but was only accomplished when the bristles had formed sores in the soles, and one could be quite sure that without chains or weights the prisoners would not run away, but would have to work.(The Northerners in America boldly demanded the abolition of the former slavery because among them the new, monetary slavery had already shown its power to shackle the people.The Southerners did not perceive the plain signs of the new slavery, and, therefore, did not consent to abolish the old form.)Among us in Russia serfdom was abolished only when all the land had been appropriated.When land was granted to the peasants it was burdened with payments, which took the place of the land-slavery.In Europe taxes that kept the people in bondage began to be abolished only when the people had lost their land, were unaccustomed to agricultural work and, having acquired town tastes, were quite dependent on the capitalists.
Only then were the taxes on corn abolished in England.
And they are now beginning, in Germany and in other countries, to abolish the taxes that fall on the workers and to shift them on to the rich, only because the majority of the people are already in the hands of the capitalists.
One form of slavery is not abolished until another has already replaced it.There are several such forms.And if not one, then another (and sometimes several of these means together) keeps a people in slavery-that is, places it in such a position that one small part of the people has full power over the labo~ and the life of a larger number.In this enslavement of the larger part of the people by a smaller part lies the chief cause of the miserable condition of the people.And, therefore, the means of improving the position of the workers must consist in this: First, in admitting that among us slavery exists not in some fignrative, metaphorical sense, but in the simplest and plainest sense; slavery which keeps some people - the majority-in the power of others-the minority; secondly, having admitted this, in finding the causes of the enslavement of some people by others; and thirdly, having found these causes, to destroy them.The Slavery of Our Times -- Ch 9 -- Leo TolstoyFrom The Slavery of Our Times by Leo Tolstoy
