Karl Dannenberg

“ Marxism can, therefore, and without indulging in exaggeration, lay claim to the legacy of Classical Political Economy, and consider itself the only legitimate heir to the scientific values of this science. And acting in accord with this dictate of social development, Marx has raised upon the solid foundation laid by a Petty, Smith, Ricardo and Mills a structure truly massive, colossal and inspiring in its mighty grandeur, and overpoweringly convincing, yes unassailable and irrefutable in the scientific profundity of its construction. ”

“ The ship of the German bourgeois revolution had followed in the wake of the Parisian uprising, and in this revolution the proletariat for the first time had affirmed its interests as a class, unfolding the banner of the Industrial Republic. And in Germany the bourgeoisie had only shattered the absolute monarchy with the massive fists of the proletariat. It was, therefore, easily conceivable, why in the beginning the bourgeoisie watched the rapid progress of the revolution with anxiety, and saw in this progress more an element of danger than victory. ”

“ The victory of the proletariat is the first victory in which the vanquished class will at the same time become part of the victor class, because this victory is the last phase of the class struggle and announces the victory of society over class rule. Different from all previous struggles in the evolution of mankind, the battle of the proletariat is not a battle for proletarian supremacy over capitalist supremacy—a supremacy which is to be asserted at the expense and subjugation of another economic class ”

“ And just because Marx was a searching scientist and his scientific findings made out of him a revolutionist, that is why he was ostracized by the class which to-day, by virtue of its economic power, is in control of the institutions of learning: that is why Marx was condemned to battle with the most dire poverty during the greatest part of his life. ”

“ It was up to Marx and Engels to clarify, amplify and develop these elementary truths, and this they have masterfully accomplished in the many years of joint efforts. Today the fruit of these efforts can be seen in the classical Socialist philosophy: a philosophy which has withstood the onslaughts of the master-minds of bourgeois intelligence; a philosophy, which furnishes scientific and incontrovertible knowledge appertaining to the cause, goal, driving forces and course of historic life; and a philosophy which is truly the beaconlight of the proletariat in its struggle for emancipation. ”

“ The political struggle, as carried on by the class-conscious workers and pursuing but one objective, can, therefore, be utilized and exploited by the proletariat for only one purpose, namely to abolish Capitalism. By using the political arm in this manner, the political victory of the workers will naturally be synonymous with the abolition of politics—the abolition of classes. Thus the political struggle is engaged in by the workers to carry on revolutionary Socialist propaganda. ”

“ In a powerful and highly fascinating style, Marx unrolls before the eyes of the reader a picture vividly showing the birth, development and culmination of Capitalism. Here we have a history of the capitalistic stage in the endless chain of social development, a history written by the formulator of Historical Materialism, and it is truly a presentation throbbing with the creative vitality only inherent in convincing and irrefutable arguments: arguments taken from and corresponding with the indisputable facts of historic data and events. ”

“ The tidal wave of the revolution, which had carried the "Neue Rheinische Zeitung," was gradually breaking upon the rocks of a luke-warm bourgeois liberalism. The fears of the capitalist class for the thorough measures and class-aspirations of the proletariat were quickly turning their course into the less dangerous avenue of a parliamentary struggle against feudal prerogatives, a struggle in which the workers as a class were destined to play a historical role, but which forever separated them from the contaminating influence of bourgeois liberalism. ”

“ Marx now shows that due to its physical peculiarities and the wonderful productivity of our age, labor-power is the only commodity which in the process of productive consumption yields far more than its value, i.e., far more than it needs to reproduce itself. He clearly underscored that where all other commodities when consumed yield but the value contained in them, labor-power yields far in excess of its value, because the worker is the only commodity which produces or yields far more than what is consumed in its production. ”

“ Therefore, tactical clarity and efficiency in a Socialist movement can only flow from theoretical clarity; a soundness in scientific consciousness and profundity being the father to class-consciousness, and class-consciousness again giving birth to effective class action—the dynamo of class movements.
Having established the original source of working-class power, and knowing that it rests in the consciousness of the worker appertaining to his economic indispensability, it is now quite a simple proposition to formulate a tactical program for the organization of this industrial might. ”

“ Karl Marx and his followers, perceiving capitalist society through the spectacles of dialectical evolution and Historical Materialism, and seeing in all its manifestations but the logical sign of social development, were bound to collide with the gasconading idealist, who contemplated revolutionizing society via the road of backroom conspiracies and armed uprisings, especially at a time when sporadic prosperity had momentarily blinded the average wage slave to his actual conditions. ”

“ I believe I am not exaggerating when I state that no movement has placed its founder upon a higher pedestal, or paid a greater tribute to its master than the Socialist movement. If anyone desires to view an example of deep gratitude and noble affection let him study the whole-hearted idolization of Karl Marx indulged in by the proletariat the world over. ”

“ This also leads to a dissection and scathing criticism of the capitalist order, winding up with the convincing demonstration that capitalist society bears within its womb the material germs of Communism; also that this society at the same time rears in the working-class the might necessary to execute the inexorable dictate of historical evolution. And in order to make the workers conscious of their historic mission, this masterpiece of keen scientific analysis, conciseness and literary beauty concludes with that world-renowned battle-cry: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" ”

“ If the revolution were to run its full course in Germany, i.e., if the revolution were to develop into a full-fledged bourgeois revolution, a revolution that would sweep away the last vestige of feudal prerogatives, then all the forces of the bourgeoisie would have to be enlisted in its cause and whipped on to a determined struggle. It was clear to Marx that this revolution could only be victorious, if it downed, together with the brutal forces of reaction, also the secret fears of the bourgeoisie for the proletariat. ”

“ Karl Marx was a true scientist, who did not consider himself a neutral and independent atom of the social organism—an atom that could function without affecting other atoms—but a scientist who through the result of his scientific findings felt himself morally compelled to participate in the reconstruction of society, who became a revolutionist, because he wanted to be and remain a true scientist. In Marx, therefore, the scientific world finds a man, who through his keen analysis and comprehension of social phenomena dedicated his faculties to the cause of the disinherited working-class ”

“ To a revolutionary Socialist only such an organization is considered class-conscious which affirms unequivocally the inability of the workers to improve their economic and social conditions under capitalism permanently and calls upon the workers to marshal their forces on the economic as well as political field under the banner of not palliation or reform, but revolution. ”

“ And, true to the Marxian conception of capitalism, class-lines will continue to become more distinct and the class struggle correspondingly more intensive, the industrial depressions more frequent and the lot of the worker more unsettled, as the capitalist mode of production reaches ever higher forms in its development. To sum up: today, more lucidly than ever, the economic and philosophical deductions and principles of Marx stand verified and vindicated by the force of past experience and the facts of current events—an intellectual oasis in the desert of vulgar-economy. ”