And, therefore, working-people do not consider the activity of
business-men of any advantage to them. Their activity is associated with
violence; and its object is not their good but always and only personal
advantage; and yet, strange to say, these business-men are so assured of
their own usefulness that they boldly, for the sake of their imaginary
good, do an undoubted, obvious harm to workmen by extricating themselves
from labour, and consuming the produce of the working-classes.
Scientists and artists have also freed themselves from labour by putting
it on others, and live with a quiet conscience believing that they bring
sufficient advantages to other men to compensate for it. On what is this
assurance based? Let us ask them as we have done statesmen and
business-men. Is the utility of the arts and sciences recognized by all,
or even by the majority, of working-people?
We shall receive a very sad answer. The activity of men in the State
Church and government offices is recognized to be useful in theory by
almost all, and in application by the majority of those for whom it is
performed. The activity of business-men is recognized only by those who
are engaged in it or who desire to practise it. Those who bear on their
shoulders all the labour of life and who feed and clothe the scientists
and artists cannot recognize the usefulness of the activity of these men
because they cannot even form an idea about an activity which always
appears to workmen useless and even depraving.
Thus, without any exception, working-people think the same about
universities, libraries, conservatories, picture and statue galleries,
and theatres, which are built at their expense.
A workman considers this activity so decidedly pernicious that he does
not send his children to be taught; and in order to compel people to
accept this activity it has everywhere been found necessary to introduce
a law compelling parents to send the children to school.
A workman always looks at this activity with ill-will, and only ceases
to look at it so when he ceases to be a workman, and through gain and
so-called education passes out of the class of working-people into the
class of men who live on the neck of others.
Notwithstanding the fact that the usefulness of the activity of
scientists and artists is not recognized and even cannot be recognized
by any workman, these men are, all the same, compelled to make
sacrifices for such an activity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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