A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive rôle. He does not act, he is acted upon.
 George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). copy citation

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Author George Orwell
Source The Road to Wigan Pier
Topic influence work
Date 1937
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200391.txt

Context

“And even when my account is exhausted the bank people are still passably polite. This business of petty inconvenience and indignity, of being kept waiting about, of having to do everything at other people’s convenience, is inherent in working-class life. A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive rôle. He does not act, he is acted upon. He feels himself the slave of mysterious authority and has a firm conviction that ‘they’ will never allow him to do this, that and the other. Once when I was hop-picking I asked the sweated pickers (they earn something under sixpence an hour)” source