Page:Karl Marx The Man and His Work.pdf/110

108 the disciplined armies of the conquerors. The economic foundation of Rome was predicated on organized slavery; and even the classic period of Letters and Art in Greece and Rome, that as yet uneclipsed period of splendour, was reared upon the backs of slaves. With the decay and fall of Slavery, the marvellous splendour, and the political and military power of Rome also collapsed. The same tendencies are also detectable when examining Feudalism. Here we note the unlimited power of social control vested in the same feudality, which through its ownership or tenure of the land—the then main agent of production—exerted practically an undivided influence over every detail in the life of its subjects. By virtue of this economic control—land ownership—the feudal lord was actually elevated to the position of arbitrator over the life, happiness and prosperity of his serfs: He held their destinies in the hollow of his hand, because he monopolized the wherewith of life—the land. And when we make an investigation of Capitalism, the by far preponderant role played by the economic element of the capitalists' power in present society is easily discernible. Here we are compelled to admit that the class divisions of to-day, similar to the ones of yore, are fundamentally economic or property divisions. Furthermore, that the influence of a class is not measured by the degree of its productivity, or the proportion of its work for the social welfare, etc., but mainly by the economic power in its control. To illustrate, in society to-day the nigh illimitable and colossal dimensions of the workers' productive faculties are easily recognized and acknowledged by everyone. At the same time the relatively insignificant and minor role played by the capitalists in this industrial process is well known. If social and political influence were apportioned in ratio to the economic use-value of a class, then the proletariat would certainly be the dominant class in society and the capitalists occupy a most insignificant position. The opposite being the case, proves conclusively that political and social influence is not the fruit of social service, but the product, as was the case in previous centuries, of economic power in some shape or form. The economic power of