Page:Zelda Kahan - Karl Marx His Life And Teaching (1918).pdf/23

 Why, for instance, do we now shudder with horror at the idea of cannibalism, of slavery, even of serfdom, whereas we accept without demur the hidden form of slavery existing at the present time? Simply because when the productive forces of society were small and primitive, the prisoner of war or the stranger caught trespassing could serve no more useful purpose than that of a meal for his conqueror—to keep him would only have meant a burden for society, and for a very poor society, even an intolerable burden. The cannibal did not thus reason with himself, but unconsciously to himself, his ideas, his moral feelings, his whole psychology accepted the eating of his fellow-men as a natural, quite moral thing to do, because, without knowing it, it was the most natural thing to do under the conditions of the society in which he lived. Similarly with the custom of killing off female or weakly babies prevalent in some primitive societies who otherwise are extremely kind and tender to their children. As, however, the productive forces develop, and the means of substance therefore increase, additional men are a blessing, and not a burden. A new ideal, the sacredness of human life, a horror at eating one's fellow-being, appears first faintly, then more strongly, until it finally takes the place of the old. But what underlies this ideal, what has made its appearance possible, what has caused this, often enough unconscious, change in moral outlook? Simply the development of the productive forces, or in a later stage of society, the change in the mode of production. We do not now kill off our weakly babies, but we let them grow up, without proper care to make them strong in mind and body; we allow them to breathe the foul atmosphere of factory and workshop at a tender age, when they should still be at school or in the country. We crush them in body, mind and spirit with monotonous toil. Kind, honest, tender people that we are, we rob the vast majority of mankind of all that makes life worth livingour morality, our religion allows all this. Why? Because our mode of production necessitates a plentiful supply of cheap labour, whatever may happen to the individual labourer. We make and obey laws regarding private property and theft; we obey a certain code of morals, and regard these laws and