The State: Its History and Development Viewed SociologicallyOppenheimer, Franz
History
The State: Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically
Oppenheimer, Franz
State, The
Such a community was found in the Germany of the four centuries[148]
from about A. D. 1000, when the primitive system of vast estates was
developed into the socially harmless dominion over vast territories,
until about the year 1400, when the newly arisen great properties,
created by the political means, the robber wars in the countries
formerly Slavic, shut the settlers from the westward out of lands
eastward of the Elbe.[149] Such a community was the Mormon state of
Utah, which has not been greatly changed in this respect, where a
wise land legislation permitted only small and moderate sized farm
holdings.[150] Such a community was to be found in the city and county
of Vineland, Iowa, U. S. A.,[151] as long as every settler could obtain
land, without increment of rent. Such a commonwealth is, beyond all
others, New Zealand, whose government favors with all its power the
possession of small and middle-sized holdings of land, while at the
same time it narrows and dissolves, by all means at its command the
great landed properties, which by the way, owing to lack of surplus
laborers, are almost incapable of producing rentals.[152]
In all these cases there is an astoundingly equalized well-being, not
perhaps mechanically equal; but there is no wealth. _Because well-being
is the control over articles of consumption, while wealth is the
dominion over mankind._ In no such cases are the means of production,
“capital,” “producing any surplus values”; there are no “free laborers”
and no capitalism, and the political form of these communities
approximates very closely to a “freemen’s citizenship,” and tends to
approximate it more and more, so far as the pressure of the surrounding
states, organized from and based on the laws of war, permit its
development. The “state” decomposes, or else in new countries such as
Utah or New Zealand, it returns to a rudimentary stage of development;
while the free self-determination of free men, scarcely acquainted
with a class fight constantly tends to pierce through ever more
thoroughly. Thus in the German Empire there was a parallel development
between the political rise of the unions of the imperial free cities,
the decline of the feudal states, the emancipation of the crafts, then
still comprising the entire “plebs” of the cities, and the decay of the
patrician control of the city government. This beneficent development
was stopped by the erection of new primitive feudal states on the
easterly border of the former German Empire, and thus the economic
blossom of German culture was ruined. Whoever believes in a conscious
purpose in history may say that the human race was again required to
pass through another school of suffering before it could be redeemed.
The Middle Ages had discovered the system of free labor, but had not
developed it to its full capacity or efficiency. It was reserved for
the new slavery of capitalism to discover and develop the incomparably
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account