Having seized control of society, the property owners, whether justified or not, created a wide assortment of techniques, programs, procedures, ideologies, institutions, and tactics to solidify their supremacy and respond to the repeated discontent of the enslaved.  Stated somewhat differently, the property owners were on top of the economic pyramid and did not hesitate to employ any means necessary to stay there.  If a dictatorship is to be effective, it must be thorough in its coverage; and if it is to be thorough, it must arrange every element of society in such a manner as to instill acceptance of the status quo.  There is little doubt that the property owners set out immediately to fulfill this assignment with every ounce of energy they could muster.  Virtually every facet of man's relationship to man was altered dramatically.

Realizing, for example, that if they were to retain their position of supremacy they must substitute a new structure for the political arrangement of primitive communal society, the newly-arisen property owners replaced the loosely-knit, rather innocuous administrative apparatus of communal times with an organized repressive force representing only themselves--the state . ⁵²   No longer was the entire communal membership allowed to meet as a body on the basis of near equality to decide general goals and procedures with a minimum of force, intimidation or punishment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁵² (a) "The state, then, has not existed from all eternity.  There have been societies (contrary to ruling class propaganda--Ed.) that did without it, that had no conception of the state and state power.  At a certain stage of economic development, which was necessarily bound up with the cleavage of society into classes, the state became a necessity owing to this cleavage."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, page 322
(b) "...what had originally been a naturally-grown democracy was transformed into a hateful aristocracy... the gentile constitution had grown out of society that knew no internal antagonisms, and was adapted only for such a society. It had no coercive power except public opinion.  But now a society had come into being that...split up into freeman and slaves, into exploiting rich and exploited poor....  The gentile constitution (the administrative apparatus of primitive communal society--Ed.)...was burst asunder....  Its place was taken by the state."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, pages 317-318
(c) "...the organs of the gentile constitution were gradually torn from their roots...and the whole gentile order was transformed into its opposite.... its organs were transformed from instruments of the will of the people into independent organs for ruling and oppressing their own people."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, pages 313-314
(d) "The state, which is organized violence, inevitably came into being at a definite stage in the development of society, when society had split into irreconcilable classes....  Thus, the state of antiquity was above all the state of the slave owners for the purpose of holding down the slaves, as the feudal state was the organ of the nobility for holding down the peasant serfs...."
Source 43 , page 48
(e) "In the question of the state...when you have become familiar with it and have gone into it deeply enough, you will always discern the struggle between different classes... the state has not always existed.  There was a time when there was no state.  It appears wherever and whenever a division of society into classes appears, whenever exploiters and exploited appear."
Source 41 , pages 6-7
(f) "The state is a special organization of force; it is the organization of violence for the suppression of some class....  The exploiting (class needs--Ed.) political rule in order to maintain exploitation, i.e., in the selfish interests of an insignificant minority, and against the vast majority of the people."
Source 42 , page 22
(g) "...the state...is simply a machine for the oppression of one class by another."
Source 44 , page 18
(h) "...every state is a machine for the suppression of one class by another."
Source 20 , Vol. 28, page 107
(i) "...the state (every state, including the most democratic republic) is nothing more nor less than a machine in the hands of one class for the suppression of another."
Source 20 , Vol. 29, page 393
(j) "In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy."
Source 64 , Vol. 1, page 485
(k) "Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another."
Source 59 , page 81

(l) "...state power is nothing more than the organization which the ruling classes--landowners and capitalists (and slaveowners--Ed.) have provided for themselves in order to protect their social privileges."
Source 63 , page 273
(m) "...with the differences in distribution, class differences emerge.  Society divides into classes: the privileged and the dispossessed, the exploiters and the exploited, the rulers and the ruled; and the...(primitive administrative apparatus--Ed.), which the primitive groups of communities of the same tribe had at first arrived at only in order to safeguard their common interests and for protection against external enemies, from this stage onwards acquires just as much the function of maintaining by force the conditions of existence and domination of the ruling class against the subject class."
Source 4 , page 205
(n) "They (Marx and Engels--Ed.) were the first to show that in all antagonistic societies the state is a weapon in the hands of the ruling class.  With the aid of the army, the police and prisons, the state has suppressed uprisings of the masses.  Officially the state is the representative of society as a whole but in reality never has been, because the state executes only the will of the class dominant in the given society."
Source 72 , page 18

 Laws and force by the few were substituted for consensus and voluntary compliance by the many.⁵³  The state--laws,⁵⁴ judges, lawmakers, military leaders, bureaus, presidents, kings, emperors, courts,⁵⁵ police,⁵⁶ armies, prisons,⁵⁷ etc.--was created by the ruling clique as a means by which to carry out its will and protect its position of dominance.  Since the newly-arisen elite possessed the wealth, they were able to enslave the majority of the commune through hiring the necessary force and imposing the desired regulations. ⁵⁸ Since the strategy of control has been remarkably similar throughout history,⁵⁹ it is not necessary to study every aspect of every society in order to understand the actual mechanics of ruling class domination.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁵³ (Add) "The shabbiest police servant in the civilised state has more 'authority' than all the organs of gentile (primitive communal--Ed.) society put together; but the most powerful prince and the greatest statesman, or general, or civilisation may well envy the humblest gentile chief for the uncoerced and undisputed respect that is paid him."
Source 63 , Vol. 2, page 320
⁵⁴ (a) "What is a law?  The expression of the will of the ruling classes."
Source 20 , Vol. 15, page 172
(b) "It is quite obvious that all legislation is calculated to protect those that possess property against those who do not."
Source 60 , page 316
(c) "Legislation, whether political or civil, never does more than proclaim, express in words, the will of economic relations."
Source 53 , page 80
(d) "...the law is sacred to the bourgeois (a capitalist property owner--Ed.) for it is his own composition, enacted with his consent, and for his benefit and protection.  He knows that even if an individual law should injure him, the whole fabric protects his interests; and more than all, the sanctity of the law, the sacredness of order as established by the active will of one part of society, and the passive acceptance of the other is the strongest support of his social position....  But for the working-man (of England--Ed.) quite otherwise!  The workingman knows too well, has learned from too oft-repeated experience, that the law is a rod which the bourgeois has prepared for him; and when he is not compelled to do so, he never appeals to the law."
Source 60 , page 262
(e) (Add) "For a working man to understand in whose interests the laws are drawn up, in whose interests those who apply them act, it is important that he should become acquainted with the laws in practice and not merely from books (bourgeois books--Ed.).  Once the worker is acquainted with the laws he will see quite clearly that the interests are those of the propertied class, the man of property, the capitalists...."
Source 20, Vol. 4, page 302
⁵⁵ "The court is an organ of power.  The liberals sometimes forget this, but it is a sin for a Marxist to do so."
Source 39 , Vol. 2, page 165
⁵⁶ (Add) "...bayonets, police and cannons, which far from being the foundation of society, are only a consequence of its structure."
Source 58 , page 528
⁵⁷ "This public power exists in every state; it consists not merely of armed people but also of material adjuncts, prisons and institutions of coercion of all kinds, of which gentile society knew nothing.  It may be very insignificant, almost infinitesimal, in societies where class antagonisms are still undeveloped and in out of the way places....  I grows stronger, however, in proportion as class antagonisms within the state become more acute...."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, pages 319-320
58 (Add) "Political institutions are a superstructure on the economic foundation."
Source 43 , page 9

59 "We must not forget that all ruling classes...behave in the same way."
Source 20 , Vol. 20, page 171

One need only observe modern America which is a veritable model of sophisticated class dictatorship.⁶⁰   In the American political arena, for example, all leaders (presidents, congressmen, cabinet members, etc.) are nothing but, to use a favorite ruling class expression, "fronts."  A more apt expression would be "puppets." ⁶¹   Many Americans find this difficult to believe or even comprehend; nevertheless, it's quite true. State governments and the national government in Washington D.C. do not direct this country; the richest property owners do.⁶²   They are usually associated with New York's Wall Street--the center of American economic activity.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁶⁰ (Add) "And the new society...has never been anything but the development of the small minority at the expense of the exploited and oppressed great majority; and it is so today more than ever before."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, page 255
⁶¹ (a) "The power of capital is everything, the stock exchange is everything, while parliament and elections are marionettes, puppets...."
Source 41 , page 22
(b) "...and what are modern parliaments but instruments for doing the will of the ruling classes."
Source 20, Vol. 36, page 242
⁶² (a) "...(bourgeois parliaments--Ed.) never decide important questions under bourgeois democracy; they are decided by the stock exchange and the banks (the rich--Ed.)...."
Source 37 , page 39
(b) "The parliaments claim that they control the government.  In fact, however, the composition of the governments is predetermined, and their actions are controlled by big financial consortiums.  Who does not know that there is not a single capitalist 'power' where the cabinet can be formed against the will of the big financial magnates?"
Source 74 , Vol. 10, page 106
(c) "The point is that in capitalist society everything that particularly interests the citizens--their economic conditions, war and peace--is decided secretly, apart from society itself.  The most important questions--war, peace, diplomatic questions--are decided by a small handful of capitalists, who deceive not only the masses, but very often parliament itself.  No parliament in the world has ever said anything of weight on the question of war and peace. In capitalist society the major questions affecting the economic life of the working people--whether they are to live in starvation or in comfort--are decided by the capitalist--who is the lord, a god!"
Source 20 , Vol. 30, pages 488-489

This is not to say that the American president or congressional members phone the financial leaders every morning to receive their marching orders, although many communications do occur.  The dominant economic figures know the politico-economic philosophy of public officials before installation so there is little reason to have daily contacts once the latter are screened.  If the president, for example, thinks and acts like Wall Streeters, one can reasonably assume that he will make the decisions desired by them.  Contrary to popular belief, party leaders do not choose political figures because party leaders themselves (county and state chairmen for instance) are chosen by wealthy people outside the immediate party apparatus although still dominant over the party.  By necessity all American elections must be essentially a choice between various candidates selected by the property owners and regardless of who succeeds the overwhelming majority of the American people will lose .⁶³   In essence, every election is a comic charade while acting as an extremely good safety valve.  With fire in their eyes, people can throw a lever or mark a ballot without really altering or abolishing those factors that count (e.g., private ownership of the means of production).

Financial domination of political figures is supported by the following rationale:  Many members of the ruling class who did not inherit any significant wealth have risen from a condition of near poverty to become billionaires.  Assuming each of these men has been involved in business for approximately forty to fifty years, as is true of many, and dividing the forty to fifty years into the one billion dollars which each possesses, it becomes apparent that each person has been receiving at least (an after tax minimum) twenty-five million dollars a year.  Certainly it is reasonable to assume that anybody who receives over 100 times as much yearly wealth as the highest paid political officials would not seriously consider following the orders of any political leader, including a $200,000 a year president.  If such a condition existed, it would be comparable to the president of the largest corporation taking orders from the janitor.  Since a person's freedom is directly proportional to the degree of control he exercises over his material conditions which, in turn, is dependent upon the amount of private property he owns, a billionaire must be under far fewer restrictions and possess far more freedom than the president.  Thus, to assume the latter can command the former rather than vice versa is naive.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁶³ "Marx splendidly grasped this essence of capitalist democracy, when...he said that the oppressed were allowed, once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class (the capitalists--Ed.) should be in parliament (Congress--Ed.) to represent and repress them."
Source 42 , pages 72-73

Besides force (the state), the newly-arisen ruling class also generated an extremely large amount of deception in order to maintain its domination. ⁶⁴ For all practical purposes, every subject within the liberal arts or humanities was restructured in such a manner as to perpetuate class dictatorship.

The new presentation of religion, for example, was an excellent illustration of having effectively reconstructed concepts to serve class interests.  Almost helpless and subject to a wide assortment of forces beyond his control, ⁶⁵ communal man tended to turn each of these forces into a god or other being that could be appealed to or influenced by prayers, sacrifices, or other acts.⁶⁶

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁶⁴ "The world-wide experience of bourgeois (capitalist ruling class--Ed.) and landlord governments has developed two methods of keeping the people in subjection.  The first is violence....  But there is another method....  That is the method of deception, flattery, fine phrases, promises by the million, petty sops, and concessions of the unessential while retaining the essential."
Source 17 , page 49
⁶⁵ (a) (Add) "Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.  Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people."
Source 62 , page 38
(b) (Add) "...the almost complete domination of man by external nature, alien, opposed, incomprehensible to him, a domination reflected in his childish religious ideas."
Source 64 , Vol. 2, page 255
(c) (Add) "The religious world is but the reflex of the real world."
Source 62 , page 120
(d) (Add) "...the religious sentiment is itself a social product...."
Source 62 , page 64
66 (a) "...the first gods arose through the personification of natural forces."
Source 8 , page 29
(b) "...the impotence of the savage in his battle with nature gives rise to the belief in gods, devils, miracles and the like."
Source 33 , page 83
(c) "All religion, however, is nothing but the fantastic reflection in men's minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces.  In the beginning of history it was the forces of nature which were first so reflected....  But it is not long before, side by side with the forces of nature, social forces begin to be active--forces which confront man as equally alien and at first equally inexplicable, dominating him with the same apparent natural necessity as the forces of nature themselves."
Source 62 , page 131
(d) (Add) "Religion arose in very primitive times from erroneous, primitive conceptions of men about their own nature and external nature surrounding them."
Source 8 , pages 85-86
(e) (Add) "Man makes religion, religion does not make man. In other words, religion is the self-conscious and self-feeling of man who has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again."
Source 62 , page 38

 Man tended to be superstitious and to see messages in every event of nature.  Noting the weak, ignorant, superstitious state of their slaves, the ruling class saw an immense opportunity for effective indoctrination.  The plan was relatively simple.  The exploited masses must be taught that the arrangement of society was ordained by the gods, opposition to it would be opposed by the gods, and support of it would somehow be rewarded by the gods in this world or the next.  Religion or belief in the supernatural was restructured by the ruling class in such a way as to be used as a weapon in the class struggle.  An entire theology or mythology was created complete with justification and rationale.  The oppressed were told that if they accepted conditions meekly, worked diligently, followed obediently, suffered quietly, acted humbly and refrained from violence, revolution and seizing private property, they would eventually be rewarded with happiness and contentment. ⁶⁷ In other words, they were taught to submit, submit, and once again submit.  Nowhere is this preaching more evident than in the New Testament of the Bible.⁶⁸   It is virtually a synopsis of all the above.  One would be hardpressed to discover a more effective piece of ruling class preachings in all the world.  There is little doubt that the work is a masterpiece in both form and content and for this reason, as well as the widespread adherence which it receives in the western world, a much more extensive analysis of the New Testament will be presented in a separate work entitled THE CRUX OF CHRISTIANITY .

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁶⁷ (a) "The orthodox faith is dear to them (those representing the ruling class--Ed.) because it teaches people to bear misery 'uncomplainingly.'  What a profitable faith it is indeed for the governing classes!  In a society so organised that an insignificant minority enjoys wealth and power, while the masses constantly suffer 'privations' and bear 'severe obligations,' it is quite natural for the exploiters to sympathize with a religion that teaches people to bear 'uncomplainingly' the hell on earth for the sake of an alleged celestial paradise."
Source 20 , Vol. 5, page 338
(b) What Engels said of those institutions that educated the English labourers is applicable in this regard.  "Here all education is tame, flabby, subservient to the ruling politics and religion, so that for the working-man it is merely a constant sermon upon quiet obedience, passivity, and resignation to his fate."
Source 60 , page 274
⁶⁸ "...it (Christianity-Ed.) teaches, as religion must: Submit to the authority, for all authority is ordained by God."
Source 62 , page 33

Churches, religions, priests, rabbis, ministers, and other persons or institutions connected with religious affairs could never have survived as such without financial backing from the wealthy.⁶⁹ Even today many churches would collapse if they depended merely upon what the people donated on Saturdays or Sundays.  The rich only finance and only those churches or religions survive that effectively teach submission, obedience, and endurance.⁷⁰   Once any religion or church fails to satisfy the needs of the ruling elite, it will shrivel up and usually disappear.  A multitude of religions, cults, churches, sects and denominations have appeared in history but failed to endure because they could not be used by the ruling class as weapons in the class struggle.  Christianity, however, could be employed very effectively and for this reason has thrived for many centuries .⁷¹

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁶⁹ "...the ruling bourgeoisie (the capitalist ruling class--Ed.), which all over the world devotes to the support of religion hundreds of millions of rubles from the profits squeezed out of the working people."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, page 665
⁷⁰ (a) (Add) "Religion is the opium of the people--this doctrine of Marx's is the cornerstone of the whole Marxist outlook on religion.  Marxism has always regarded all modern religions and churches and all religious organizations as instruments of bourgeois reaction that serve to defend exploitation and to stupefy the working class."
Source 33 , page 92
(b) (Add) "We, of course, say that we do not believe in God, and that we know perfectly well that the clergy, the landlords and the bourgeoisie speak in the name of God in pursuit of their own interests as exploiters."
Source 33 , page 62
⁷¹ "So it happened that among the thousands of prophets and preachers in the desert that filled that period (ancient Roman times--Ed.) of countless religious novations....  Christianity alone met with success.  Not only Palestine, but the entire Orient swarmed with such founders of religions, and between them there raged what can be called a Darwinistic struggle for ideological existence.  Thanks mainly to the elements mentioned above Christianity won the day."
Source 62 , page 182

The contents of history, economics, sociology, politics, art, architecture, music, literature, philosophy and all other disciplines involving man's relationship to man as opposed to man's relationship to nature (physics, chemistry, math, botany, etc.) were also purposely redesigned by the newly-arisen ruling class in such a manner as to facilitate control of the masses.  The philosophy projected by the elite's version of each was, and still is, replete with misleading, hypocritical, one-sided generalizations or points-of-view, often unspoken but rarely absent, intended to generate belief in and support for the ruling clique's system.  The curriculum of the United States, again using the latter as an historical model, demonstrates this contention quite well.

In the study of HISTORY for example:

(A) Students are told little about the 300 year treatment of native Americans by the whitemen (the broken treaties, land grabs, massacres, deplorable reservations, deportations, etc.).  To speak of these would tend to debunk the myth that America only supports the underdog and only engages in bestial, inhumane acts by way of exception and not as standard operating procedure.

(B) Students are told the Civil War was fought for the humanitarian ideal of freeing the slaves; whereas, in reality, it was initiated to destroy an economic system at odds with northern capitalism.

(C) Students are not told the United States stole the Philippines, Puerto Rico, part of Florida and other areas from Spain and much of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and California from Mexico, because Spain and Mexico were weak.  (Belligerent westward expansion was often classified under the euphemism of "manifest destiny," as if God had decreed imperialism).  To expose these land grabs as well as others would reveal the historical aggressiveness repeatedly displayed by the United States and tend to weaken mass support for government (ruling class) policies.

(D) Whether from an economic or a political perspective, the allegation that the United States has often been isolationist throughout its history has no foundation in fact.  It has been anything but isolationist from the beginning.  The vast American economic investment throughout the world today and all the accompanying political intervention and manipulation are the culmination of over 150 years of economic expansion and penetration (imperialism).  United States economic control of Latin America alone is all but total.  Through liberal use of marine invasions, the Colossus of the North has exploited Latin America since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 as if it were a private preserve.

(E) Students have been led to believe that he United States government has rarely oppressed large masses of people such as native Americans, Latin Americans, and Philippinos, has not exploited other countries, and has rarely broken international agreements.  Recent Cuban history alone refutes all three allegations.

(F) Students have been surreptitiously told that the United States has entered wars out of humanitarian or selfless motives or because of misguided acts by wayward leaders, as opposed to economic self-interest generated by the nature of the system itself.

(G) People have been led to believe that government officials, as opposed to an economic elite, have determined domestic and foreign policy and that a new president or administration is absolutely crucial if change is to be forthcoming.

(H) The reasons given for the actions of leaders are often described in highsounding, idealistic phraseology behind which lie down-to-earth, practical, material motives.⁷²   An example would be the capitalist contention that the American Revolution erupted because the colonists wanted freedom and opportunity and were led by a group of men whose only concerns were the achievement of justice, equality, liberty, and democracy.  Actually, the colonists revolted because England was strangling them economically through onerous taxation and stricter economic regulations.  The leaders of the revolt were property owners who were not nearly as concerned with furthering democracy and righteousness as they were with increasing their property, restructuring the politico-economic apparatus and instituting laws to protect their interests.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁷² (Add) "People always were and always will be the stupid victims of deceit and self-deceit in politics until they learn to discover the interests of some class or other behind all moral, religious, political, and social phrases, declarations and promises.  The advocates of reforms and improvements will always be fooled by the defenders of the old order until they realize that every old institution...is maintained by the forces of some ruling classes."
Source 43 , pages 12-13

(I) Another unstated theme of most ruling class teaching is that many political leaders in United States history (heroes) have generally been above corruption (Charles E. Hughes, Lincoln, Wilson, John Kennedy, etc.).  Supposedly, corruption has been the exception (Grant, Harding, and Reagan's administrations) and not the rule.  The intent of this generalization is to give people the impression that they need only find the right officials for their problems to be solved, when, realistically, any private property system is corruption personified.  It is inextricably endemic to its very nature, regardless of who leads.  They are inseparable.  By its very nature (material power determines political acts which, in turn, increases economic power) any private property system is corruption in action.

(J) Another dominant theme is that all problems emanating from private property are solvable within the system, despite the fact that most difficulties, such as crime, poverty and unemployment, have existed since the prevailing American economic system began and are no nearer solution now than 200 years ago.

(K) In conjunction with the above, much teaching is permeated with the belief that the ruling minority is voluntarily improving the politico-economic apparatus of the United States in order to make it increasingly more responsive to the people's needs and desires.  Yet, realistically, the ruling class only moves when pressured from below and will only agree to an alteration when convinced that its positive aspects outweigh the negative.  Why should those on top endanger their position by altering the status quo?  They can't go up in the system only down.  Members of the ruling class are the last to seek change, not the first.

(L) Property owners force people to study history and learn about the depressing conditions in which the masses formerly lived because, among other reasons, such information will cause today's citizenry to be more inclined to willingly accept that which they now have not realizing that, although more than people previously possessed, it is far less than that to which today's workers are entitled.

(M) Ruling class teachings attempt to give the impression that the America of today is as dynamic, progressive and concerned with liberty and justice for the downtrodden masses as in the revolutionary times of Washington and Jefferson.  Actually, today's reactionary America bears little resemblance to the progressive America of 1776.  Any valid parallels between the two are fading or have vanished entirely.

(N) The entire tenor of historical teaching in a private property system is from the point-of-view of the top looking down rather than the bottom looking up.  Subjects are chosen and depicted in such a manner as to cause the masses to believe that the system in which they reside is, and has been, the best of all possible worlds.

ECONOMIC teachings have also reflected the private property perspective.  Again the United States will be used as an example.

(A) As in historical teachings there is a pronounced attempt to give the impression that abuses are being rapidly eliminated.  Usually such contentions are followed by a rather extensive list of such organizations as the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Better Business Bureau, etc.  Actually, these organizations barely touch the surface in most areas, since they are half-heartedly employed, always, co-opted, and only used to eliminate those abuses which cause the essential corruption of the economic system to be exposed.

(B) In conjunction with the above, the ruling class and their unwitting professorial mouthpieces repeatedly stress the curtailment of monopoly power by such laws as the Sherman (1890) and Clayton (1914) Anti-trust Acts.  Again listeners are left with the impression that conditions are either satisfactory or can be improved through new legislation.  In a thousand different ways the idea: "Stay with the system, it will improve," is repeated and reinforced.  In reality, those with sufficient economic power can evade any law, since they have the greatest influence over those material conditions which affect them and, thus, the greatest freedom.

(C) In order to make the masses feel secure in a private property system, teachings often enumerate a lengthy list of retirement, minimum wage, unemployment, consumer health and accident legislation, most of which accomplishes far less than the impression conveyed.

(D) Most discussions of economic difficulties and inequities within the system (environmental destruction, wasting of resources, slums, decaying infrastructure, decrepit schools, etc.) are usually followed by a lengthy presentation of the programs being undertaken as a response (VISTA, Job Corps, Operation Headstart, CAAP and many others).  Yet, these problems have existed since the American economic system began and are no nearer solution today than they were then.

(E) Most teaching in a modern private property system has a strong Horatio Alger tone.  Work hard, save your money, invest wisely and you too can become a millionaire.  Yet, the unstated rule is that for every success hundreds will fail.⁷³   Moreover, riches are not obtained by hard work and honest labor, even by those who succeed, but by exploitation and having others do the labor.  No one in a private property system becomes rich except by profiting from the labor of others.  No one can become a millionaire by his efforts alone.  By rising to a higher position a worker actually increases his wealth only slightly while he increases immensely the wealth of the owner of the property with which he works, because the owner exploits.  The rich seek to minimize the barriers to becoming wealthy by extolling the virtues of lotteries and other get-rich-quick schemes.  A sizable number of people hang on and keep their spirits elevated by believing they'll eventually hit the state lottery or some other lucrative gamble.  But, again, for every success thousands fail and only the former are publicized in the capitalist media.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁷³ "For one who grows rich ten are ruined, and a hundred placed at a greater disadvantage than ever...."
Source 60 , page 233

(F) Discussions of exploitation or the existence of exploitation are scrupulously avoided by the ruling class and great effort is expended to prove that the gap between the rich and poor is closing.  In reality, this gap, like the one between the rich and poor nations,⁷⁴ is greater that ever and rapidly widening.⁷⁵

(G) To minimize the gap between the rich and poor, authors sympathetic to the ruling class often resort to averages.  It's a neat little numbers game in which the yearly income of a multimillionaire or billionaire, for example, is added to that of 50 to 100 people earning a yearly income of less than $10,000, thereby giving the impression that the overwhelming majority are earning an amount considerably in excess of the correct figure.  In any private property society, especially the United States, any attempt to create general conclusions by averaging incomes or total wealth can only produce highly deceptive statistics.⁷⁶

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁷⁴ "...capitalism develops unevenly, and objective reality gives us highly developed capitalist nations side by side with a number of economically slightly developed, or totally undeveloped, nations."
Source 20 , Vol. 23, page 60
⁷⁵ "But the relative impoverishment of the workers, i.e., the diminution of their share in the national income, is still more striking.  The workers' comparative share in capitalist society, which is fast growing rich, is dwindling because the millionaires are becoming ever richer."
Source 20 , Vol. 18, page 436
⁷⁶ (a) "The combining of large and small establishments (or individual incomes--Ed.) results in absolutely fictitious 'average' figures, which give no conception of the real state of affairs, obscure cardinal differences, and present as homogeneous something that is heterogeneous, of mixed composition."
Source 20 , Vol. 2, page 412
(b) (Add) "...the public 'isn't allowed to peep' behind the scenes of official financial juggling."
Source 20 , Vol. 5, page 331

(H) Ruling class institutions also teach the masses that the wealthy are paying their share of the tax burden and pay more percentage-wise than the labourers, both of which are absurd.⁷⁷   It would be naive to think that men with millions of dollars, who are able to command obedience from the most proficient lawyers, accountants, and legislators, would not be able to avoid paying their share of anything, especially taxes.  Actually, there is no way to have a fair tax system no matter how it is arranged.  As long as one man pays more than another it is unfair and, yet, to compel everyone to pay an equal amount would place a far greater burden on the poorer individual.  Taxes are inherently unequal and unjust.

(I) As in discussions of history, problems are blamed on individuals and poor administrative skills instead of the system.  Unemployment, for instance, is attributed to people changing jobs, seasonal fluctuations, automation, laziness, and business cycles which supposedly could be eliminated if the leaders would only regulate the economy more efficiently.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁷⁷ "In actual fact, however, it is notorious that indirect taxation affecting articles of mass consumption is distinguished by its extreme injustice.  The entire burden is placed on the shoulders of the poor, while it creates a privilege for the rich.  The poorer a man is, the greater the share of his income that goes to the state in the form of indirect taxes.  The masses who own little or nothing constitute nine-tenths of the population, consume nine-tenths of the taxed items, and pay nine-tenths of the total of all indirect taxes, while they receive no more than two- or three tenths of the national income."
Source 20 , Vol. 5, page 336

(J) Indoctrination within ruling class institutions would have people believe that everyone has a stake in maintaining private ownership of the means of production.  Choosing particular phrases for the titles of secondary school books (Our Economy, Your Economy in Action , Your Economy and You, etc.) is an oft-used method by which to convey this impression.

(K) American workers are also led to believe that the free enterprise of the 1800's still reigns supreme; whereas, in truth, monopolies and oligopolies long ago assumed complete dominance over the American economy.

(L) American economic texts rarely discuss the immense degree to which United States financial interests exercise control over the economies of the underdeveloped countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  The entire discussion is usually confined to a brief look at such relatively innocuous and resource-poor areas as Guam, Wake, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as if this were the furthest extent of the American Empire.  The entirely erroneous belief is propagated that the United States is almost totally self-sufficient.  Students are left with the impression that if no direct political control is exercised over an area, no economic control exists either. ⁷⁸

(M) All ruling classes throughout history, including that of the United States, have taught that there is an inherent, sacred "right" to own private property.⁷⁹   They have deliberately distorted anthropological teachings by giving listeners the impression that private ownership of the means of production has always existed, even during primitive communal times.  In truth, private property arose at a particular point in man's evolution, is not inherent to his existence, and will vanish at a particular point in man's progression.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁷⁸ (Add) "Big finance capital of one country can always buy up competitors in another, politically independent country and constantly does so.  Economically, this is fully achievable.  Economic 'annexation' is fully 'achievable' without political annexation and is widely practised."
Source 20 , Vol. 23, page 44
⁷⁹ (Add) "We usually do not even notice how thoroughly we are permeated by anti-democratic habits and prejudices regarding the 'sanctity' of bourgeois property."
Source 39 , Vol. 2, page 245

(N) Another basis concept that has always permeated ruling class teachings is that revolution is unnecessary, self-defeating, needlessly bloody, and can only result in the creation of something worse than that which was destroyed, ⁸⁰ despite the fact that history is filled with successful revolutions that have caused tremendous economic and social improvement for the masses.  The American, French, Cuban, and Russian revolutions are only a few.  The progressive aspect of most revolutions is undeniable and only those on top of the economic pyramid, who have everything to lose and nothing to gain by the advent of politico-economic tremors, would be wise to rule them out from the start.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁸⁰ (a) "...the smug bourgeois (the capitalist ruling class--Ed.) banality, for which periods of revolutionary whirlwind seem folly ('all principles are forgotten,' 'even intellect and reason almost vanish'), while periods of suppression of revolution and philistine 'progress'...seem to be periods of reasonable, deliberate and methodical activity....  When human history rushes forward with the speed of a locomotive, he calls it a 'whirlwind,' a 'torrent,' the 'vanishing' of all 'principles and ideas.'  When history plods along at a dray-horse pace, the very symbol of it becomes reason and method.  When the masses of the people themselves, with all their virgin primitiveness and simple, rough determination begin to put 'principles and theories' immediately and directly into practice, the bourgeois is terrified and howls that 'intellect is retreating into the background' (is not the contrary the case,...).  When the direct movement of the masses has been crushed by shootings, repressive measures, floggings, unemployment, and starvation...then the knights of philistinism think that an era of calm and peaceful progress has set in and that 'the turn of intellect and reason has come.'  The bourgeois always and everywhere remains true to himself:..., you will always find this same narrow-minded, professorially pedantic and bureaucratically lifeless appraisal of periods of revolution and periods of reform.  The former are periods of madness,...the disappearance of intellect and reason. The latter are periods of 'deliberate and systematic' activities. ... The thing is that it is just the revolutionary periods which are distinguished by wider, richer, more deliberate, more methodical, more systematic, more courageous and more vivid making of history than periods of...reformist progress."
Source 20 , Vol. 10, pages 252-253 and Vol. 31, pages 359-360
(b) "To the bourgeoisie a socialist revolution always seems 'revolutionary chaos'."
Source 20 , Vol. 21, page 193
(c) (Add) "The bourgeoisie...fears revolution and loathes it;...."
Source 20 , Vol. 17, page 239

(O) Ruling class propaganda would also have the masses believe that the value of an item is determined by supply and demand.  The logical conclusion to be drawn from this is that if A offers to sell B a rusty tin can for $1,000,000 and B agrees to pay the price, the tin can is worth $1,000,000.  Obviously that's ridiculous.  As Marx showed, the value of an item is determined by the average amount of socially necessary labor-time that went into manufacturing the item, regardless of how much someone is willing to pay for it.  In a competitive market the price of an item, but not its value, is determined by supply and demand and fluctuates around the value--either more or less. ⁸¹   The unwritten rule in any economic system like that of the United States is that if someone wants to buy or sell an item above or below its value that's his problem, but the value remains relatively stationary.  This topic, along with many earlier politico-economic statements, will be discussed more extensively later.

(P) The entire presentation of socialism by spokesmen of the ruling class can only be described as reprehensible and appalling.  Any similarity between what the average American is taught about socialism and reality is purely coincidental.  Perhaps here, more than anywhere else, ruling class indoctrination has attained nearly perfect deception.  An entire book would be needed just to correct the misconceptions.  Writers and teachers are more interested in refuting Marx than in honestly presenting what he said.⁸²

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁸¹ "Supply and demand regulate nothing but the temporary fluctuations of market prices...the market price of a commodity rises above or sinks below its value....  (Supply and demand--Ed.) can never account for that value itself."
Source 56 , page 35
⁸² (Add) "Instead of thoroughly studying the new science (Marxism--Ed.) themselves to begin with, each of them preferred to trim it to fit the point of view he had brought along, made himself forthwith a private science of his own and at once came forward with the pretensions of wanting to teach it."
Source 63 , page 326

 They attempt to destroy his theory before the student has had an opportunity to understand, apply, and test it in the real world. ⁸³   Marx is often quoted as saying something which he did not, in fact, state and then refuted.⁸⁴   Some of the statements attributed to a man of his vast intellect are almost comical.  For example, one prominent anti-Marxist professor recently contended that Marx did not take account of the value contributed by capitalist thinking and planning.  To this one can only reply, "Oh yes he did and if you had done your homework you'd be aware of this fact." ⁸⁵

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁸³ (Add) "And consequently, Marx was the best hated and most calumniated man of his time.  Governments, both absolutist and republican, deported him from their territories.  Bourgeois, whether conservative or ultra-democratic, vied with one another in heaping slanders upon him."
Source 7 , page 30
⁸⁴ (a) "Poor Marx and poor Engels, what abuses their works have suffered through quotations."
Source 20 , Vol. 8, page 279
(b) "The enemies of revolutionary Social-Democracy (Marxism--Ed.) have from time immemorial, it may be said, resorted to the method of reducing its views to an absurdity and have, for the convenience of their polemics drawn a caricature of Marxism."
Source 20 , Vol. 17, page 333
(c) (Add) Engels stated in the supplement to Capital's third volume that, "a man like Marx has the right to be heard himself, to pass on his scientific discoveries to posterity in the full genuineness of his own presentation."
Source 51 , Vol. 3, page 867
⁸⁵ (Add) As Lenin stated in another context, "Anybody who has read Capital knows that this is absolutely untrue."
Source 20 , Vol. 1, page 135

To the extent that a capitalist performs necessary managerial and supervisory functions, to that extent he is performing useful, productive labor, and should be rewarded.⁸⁶   Apologists of capitalism⁸⁷ enjoy putting capitalist tinted glasses on students through which the latter can then observe Marxian ideology.  The result is unavoidable.  Capitalist and Marxist economic theory are mixed in such a manner as to produce a totally unrealistic and incorrect hodge-podge philosophy which is then sold as Marxism.  When it is a question of what secondary or college students should read, the ruling class makes sure they receive nothing but the most distorted, deceptive, inaccurate anti-Marxist propaganda available. ⁸⁸ Anyone who doubts there is extensive ideological control need only visit any high school, college or public library and observe the writings available.  It is difficult to find one book that is an acknowledged defense of Marxism.  They are extremely rare.  The few that are available were written many years ago and their relevance to present-day society is not readily apparent.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁸⁶ (a) "The labour of supervision and management is naturally required wherever the direct process of production assumes the form of a combined social process, and not of the isolated labour of independent producers.... ...all labour in which many individuals co-operate necessarily requires a commanding will to co-ordinate and unify the process, and functions which apply not to partial operations but to the total activity of the workshop, much as that of an orchestra conductor.  This is a productive job, which must be performed in every combined mode of production."
Source 51 , Vol. 3, page 376
(b) (Add) "Included among these productive workers, of course, are all those who contribute in one way or another to the production of the commodity, from the actual operative to the manager or engineer...."
Source 54 , page 152
⁸⁷ (a) (Add) "Taken as a whole, professors of economics are nothing but learned salesmen of the capitalist class....
Source 27 , page 322
(b) (Add) "But the social status of professors in bourgeois (capitalist--Ed.) society is such that only those are allowed to hold such posts who sell science to serve the interests of capital, and agree to utter the most fatuous nonsense, the most unscrupulous drivel and twaddle against the socialists.  The bourgeoisie will forgive the professors all this as long as they go on 'abolishing' socialism."
Source 20 , Vol. 20, page 147
⁸⁸ (a) (Add) "...there can be no 'impartial' social science in a society based on class struggle.  In one way or another, all official and liberal science defends...(the capitalist system--Ed.)....  To expect science to be impartial in a...(capitalist--Ed.) society is as silly and naive as to expect impartiality from manufacturers on the question whether workers' wages should be increased by decreasing the profits of capital."
Source 43 , page 7
(b) (Add) "It (the class struggle--Ed.) sounded the (death--Ed.) knell of scientific bourgeois economy.  It was thenceforth no longer a question of whether this theorem or that was true, but whether it was useful to capital or harmful, expedient or inexpedient, politically dangerous or not.  In place of disinterested inquirers, there were hired prize fighters (anti-Marxist professors, for example--Ed.); in place of genuine scientific research, the bad conscience and the evil intent of apologetic."
Source 51 , Vol. 1, page 15
(c) (Add) "In the domain of Political Economy, free scientific inquiry meets not merely the same enemies as in all other domains.  The peculiar nature of the material it deals with summons as foes into the field of battle the most violent, mean and malignant passions of the human breast, the Furies of private interest."
Source 51 , Vol. 1, page 10
(d) (Add) "...contemporary bourgeois political economy, which has degenerated into open apologetics of capitalism."
Source 54 , page 27
(e) (Add) "Not for nothing has it been said that were the truths of mathematics to affect the interests of men (or rather, the interests of classes in their struggle), those truths would be heatedly challenged."
Source 20 , Vol. 20, page 200
(f) (Add) "No wonder, therefore, that the Marxian doctrine, which directly serves to enlighten and organize the advanced class in modern society, indicates the tasks facing this class and demonstrates the inevitable replacement (by virtue of economic development) of the present system by a new order--no wonder that this doctrine has had to fight for every step forward in the course of its life."
Source 39 , Vol. 1, page 46

(Q) Socialism is often portrayed as government ownership of the productive forces while capitalism is depicted as individuals running their own businesses.  In reality, socialism is an economic system in which all the people own all the major means of production, while under any private property system a small groups owns nearly all the means of production and operates them for their own benefit at the expense of the multitude.  By alleging that socialism is merely government ownership and operation of the means of production, the impression is intentionally conveyed that the switch from capitalism to socialism means little more than changing from one group of oppressive exploiters to another.  By deceiving the American masses the United States elite are attempting to cause disgruntled Americans to veer away from socialism and reaffirm capitalism.  The workers are never told that under socialism they own the means of production instead of a small clique and thus receive the full benefits of their labor.  For the first time they are working for themselves instead of a small group which dominates society.

(R) Socialism is also portrayed as a vast welfare system in which lazy people sit around waiting for handouts⁸⁹ while the government tries to make everybody equal.  It looks good on paper but fails to take account of human nature.  These are only a few of the misconceptions encountered in a private property environment.  In reality under private property systems property owners do no productive labor, yet receive the overwhelming amount of what is produced simply because they own the means of production.  If ever there was a vast giveaway program this is it.  Under socialism, on the other hand, "He who does not work shall not eat" is a dominant theme.  Moreover, no Marxian socialist has ever stated that the intent of socialism is to make everybody equal.  Is its intent to make everyone equally affluent and abolish classes?  Yes!  Is its intent to make everybody equal physically, intellectually, etc.?  No!  Of course not.⁹⁰

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁸⁹ (Add) "He believes that the communists (read: socialist--Ed.) were only waiting for 'society' to 'give' them something, whereas at most they only want to give themselves a society."
Source 58 , page 229
⁹⁰ (Add) "The idea of socialist society as the realm of equality is a one-sided French idea resting upon the old 'liberty, equality, fraternity'--an idea which was justified as a stage of development in its own time and place but which, like all the one-sided ideas of the earlier socialist schools, should now be overcome, for...more precise modes of presentation of the matter have been found."
Source 52 , page 36

(S) Ideologist would also have Americans believe that the United States economy is evolving toward socialism through the enactment of much social welfare legislation in recent years.  In truth, welfarism is far from socialism. In order to have the latter one would have to abolish all private ownership of productive property.  All stock and commodity markets (New York, American, Midwest, OTC, etc.) would have to be eliminated since all dealing in stocks and bonds would vanish.  The hundreds of billions of dollars tied up in buildings, equipment, machinery, land, tools and all other wealth-producing property would have to be taken from the owners and be given to the masses.  This program, coupled with many other economic changes, would necessarily result in a stupendous alteration of ownership of productive property.  Only when this has been accomplished will a meaningful step have been taken toward the institution of socialism.  In light of the fact that no such program is being discussed on a significant scale in the United States, let alone being implemented, one can see that the alleged evolution of the United States toward common ownership is a myth.  As long as private ownership of the basic means of production and distribution remains, socialism is not present.  A more extensive analysis of this topic will be presented later.

POLITICAL teachings in any private property system are also arranged in such a manner as to cause slaves, serfs, peasants, and workers to willingly accept the society in which they find themselves.  Political ideology in the United States is no exception.

(A) As in historical analyses people are led to believe that political leaders and not economic czars control the United States.

(B) The influence of economic activities upon political decisions or the dependence of the latter upon the former⁹¹ is minimized.  The two are approached as if they were in separate realms divorced from one another instead of inextricably intertwined. ⁹²

-------------------------------------------------------------------

91 "...politics is a concentrated expression of economics...."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, page 527
⁹² "The consciousness of the interconnection between this political struggle and its economic basis becomes dulled and can be lost altogether.  While this is not wholly the case with the participants, it almost always happens with the historians."
Source 8 , page 84

(C) Government and governmental problems are presented with almost no reference to the economic foundation and maneuverings upon which both lie.  Governmental affairs are analyzed more from the realm of ideas (freedom, democracy, liberty, etc.) than material dictates.  If the ruling class taught the materialistic outlook on life in which ideas were seen as merely a reflection of material conditions and governments were seen as understandable by-products of a particular economic system, the laboring masses would be far more inclined to change the material conditions instead of superficially altering governmental structures or policies.  The ruling class knows that if increasing numbers of people tend to rely less upon the institution of new political leaders and ideas as an answer to problems and rely more upon fundamental economic change, its position will become less secure.  Anytime the masses bypass all of the secondary and tertiary issues that are intentionally pushed to the forefront of public attention by the elite ⁹³ and walk straight to the heart of the problem, the prevailing system is endangered.  When the exploited begin to see the light of reality and truth at the end of the proverbial tunnel, the ruling class can't help but worry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁹³ (Add) "The man in the street, swallowing everything he is told, listens to these fables, taking them at their face value, and blindly follows the swindlers who try to divert 'public' attention with exactly the kind of thing that serves their interest.  The man in the street does not suspect that he is being led by the nose, and that the ringing phrases about 'patriotism,' the country's honour and 'prestige'...are a deliberate attempt to cover up the machinations of financial swindlers and all sorts of capitalist adventurers.  The sensational reports cooked up daily by the big bourgeois newspapers...are designed specifically to distract the attention of the crowd from the really important questions and the real background of 'high' politics."
Source 20 , Vol. 36, page 228

(D) As in economics the masses are led to believe that they organized the system⁹⁴ and have a stake in its preservation.  Again secondary book titles (Our Government, Your Government and You, Your Government in Action, Government by the People) and slogans (Support Your Local Police) are used as key conduits by which to convey this impression.

(E) Nearly all textbooks have a section on immigration and citizenship requirements.  "Be glad you are here; see how difficult it is for others to enter; it must be worse elsewhere" are the subtle teachings.  In other words, accept your predicament; it could be worse.

(F) The government is portrayed as a neutral body, a public servant, above class antagonisms, class struggle and class interests.  In reality, no government is neutral in the clash between the interests of the property owners and the exploited.  There are no impartial mediators or arbitrators in labor disputes, for example.  Since any state by its very nature exists for the benefit of the dominant class, a non-partisan government would be a contradiction in terms,⁹⁵ regardless of appearances.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁹⁴ (Add) "...if political power is in the hands of a class whose interests diverge from those of the majority, any form of majority rule is bound to become deception or suppression of the majority."
Source 20 , Vol. 25, page 199
⁹⁵ (a) "In a society based on private property and the enslavement of millions of propertyless toilers by a handful of rich people, the government cannot be anything but the loyal friend and ally of the exploiters and the most reliable guardian of their power.  In our times, guns, bayonets and whips are not a sufficiently reliable guardian; it is necessary to convince the exploited that the government stands above classes, that it does not serve the interests of the...bourgeoisie, but those of justice, that it is concerned with protecting the weak and the poor against the rich and the powerful, etc."
Source 20 , Vol. 5, page 82
(b) "Who does not know that talk about this or that institution being non-partisan is generally nothing but the humbug of the ruling classes, who want to gloss over the fact that existing institutions are already imbued, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, with a very definite political spirit?"
Source 20 , Vol. 7, page 50
(c) "Our liberals...have a strong aversion for the 'theory' of the class struggle, and particularly insist on their view that the governments of modern states can stand outside classes or above classes.  But what can you do, gentlemen, if the 'theory' which is so distasteful to you corresponds exactly to reality?  If all the fundamentals of contemporary legislation and contemporary politics clearly show us the class character of the structure and administration of all contemporary states?  If even information about the personalities of prominent politicians, members of parliament, high officials, etc., reveals the inseparable connection existing between economic rule and political rule?  The denial or concealment of the class struggle is the worst form of hypocrisy in politics; is banking on the ignorance and prejudices of the least developed strata of the people,...a subtle method of corrupting the people and keeping them in slavery on the part of the liberal intellectuals."
Source 20 , Vol. 19, pages 241-242
(d) "It is not only the conscious hypocrites, scientists and priests that upheld and defend the...lie that the state is free and that it is its mission to defend the interests of all...  You say your state is free, whereas in reality, as long as there is private property, your state, even if it is a democratic republic, is nothing but a machine used by the capitalists to suppress the workers...."
Source 41 , page 21
(e) "Actually the government does not stand above classes, it protects one class against the other, protects the propertied class against the propertyless...."
Source 20 , Vol. 2, page 111

(G) The ruling class spreads the myth that governments were created by man to bring order out of chaos and animalism; whereas, in reality, their appearance came with the emergence of animalism and egotism out of brotherhood and unity.

(H) As in the teaching of economics people are given the impression that certain ever-present problems are solvable within the system.  The problem of money and its all-pervasive domination of governmental affairs is a prime example.  Realistically, how could this dilemma ever be solved?  How could a man with only $1 to his name ever be politically equal to a billionaire?  The latter will always exercise far greater political influence through donations and contributions than the former.  Without economic equality political equality will always be illusory. Universal suffrage, one vote per person, lowering the voting age, reapportionment, recalls, referendums, abolishment of Jim Crow laws and the electoral college, etc. barely begin to create political parity.

(I) In conjunction with the above, the exploited are led to believe that all people are equally susceptible to the law when, actually, sufficient wealth exempts one from any legislation.  As stated earlier in regard to economics, the richer a man becomes the more immune to legislation he is.  Members of the ruling class are above all laws ⁹⁶ and answerable to no one.  In light of their political control, it would be naive to believe that those within the financial elite would allow laws to be passed to govern their activities, unless evasion would be relatively simple.  The old adage, "He who pays the piper calls the tune," pervades the entire political realm of private ownership. ⁹⁷

(J) Ruling class preachings never tire of depicting the Constitution as a document created for the people while quietly ignoring the fact that its entire political structure favors the property owners. ⁹⁸

(K) The masses are told they have a Bill of Rights which protects them from arbitrary rule, since without such inculcation they could easily realize that the word of the powers-that-be and their word alone is really the law of the land.  In reality, there is no document, law, constitution, or set of regulations to which the behavior of ruling authorities must conform.  An appearance of adherence to the Bill of Rights, because the latter supposedly restricts the actions of all, is only promulgated during those generally affluent periods in which no significant threat to the system is present.  At such times much propaganda is generated about the undying devotion of capitalism to liberty, equality, and individual "rights."  But once the ruling class feels that actions detrimental to the system's security (e.g., dissent) have attained serious proportions, the democratic facade begins to fade and the "rights" so loudly proclaimed earlier are steadily eroded and destroyed.  Although not immediately adopted the ruling minority increasingly gravitates toward fascism which was and remains the last refuge of a capitalist.  For all practical purposes, under the latter arrangement the democratic cloak is discarded.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁹⁶ "...no law can restrict the expression of the will of the ruling classes."
Source 20 , Vol. 15, page 172
⁹⁷ "No democracy in the world can eliminate the class struggle and the omnipotence of money."
Source 20 , Vol. 18, page 335
⁹⁸ (a) "All constitutions that had existed till now safeguarded the interests of the ruling classes."
Source 20 , Vol. 42, page 105
(b) "The spirit and idea of all previous constitutions, even the most republican and democratic, amounted to one thing--property."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, page 324

(L) Although courtroom activities are depicted as evenhanded, justice could never emerge from any system in which a small minority appoints the judges and prosecutors, selects those who write the procedural and substantive legislation, "programmes" the legal education of everyone, including the defense attorneys, determines the life-time philosophy of every person involved in the legal proceedings, and possesses the requisite financial resources to distribute "favors" and administer reprisals.

(M) The ivory tower from which judges supposedly issue decisions is actually a dirty cellar.  They are no more isolated from the all-encompassing hand of the ruling elite than any other political, economic or administrative figures.  The ease with which judges are removed from the Supreme Court lends credence to the assertion that even those who are supposedly appointed for life are directly responsible to the ruling class.  When the philosophy of a particular judge, like any political official, no longer suits the elite's needs, he is either transferred to another position like a crate of oranges or dumped (purged) by any one of several expedients.  It's also important to note the political philosophy of judges appointed to preside over key cases.

(N) Voting is depicted as an answer to the working man's problems, since it is relatively easy for the dominant group to determine the outcome by channeling sufficient funds into the right places.

(O) Although depicted as the Nation's commander-in-chief, the President only administers national policy; he doesn't create it.  The power of decision-making arises from wealth and the accompanying control over material conditions; it is not a by-product of status, position, or prestige.  The President is only allowed to formulate basic procedures with respect to a particular issue is when the economic czars feel the security of private property is not in jeopardy or significantly threatened.  The subservient status of the President accounts for the fact that national policies do not undergo major alterations when a new person enters office.  The facade changes but the hidden rulers remain.

(P) A central theme of most political education within all private ownership is that the masses should support "their" government regardless of how many faults it may possess (Love It or Leave It and My Country Right or Wrong).  The total submission and blind obedience which the ruling class of every country seeks from its people not only forestalls unification of the world's workers by fomenting international divisions and feelings of superiority, but also allows the exploited of every country to be duped into aiding their own exploiters by willingly fighting their brothers--the exploited of other countries. ⁹⁹

-------------------------------------------------------------------

⁹⁹ (a) (Add) "Never and nowhere has 'liberty' been won by the oppressed peoples through one people waging war against another.  Wars between peoples merely increase the enslavement of peoples."
Source 20 , Vol. 18, page 353
(b) (Add) "The working class, which is the principal supplier of soldiers, and which bears the brunt of the material sacrifices, is in particular the natural enemy of wars...."
Source 20 , Vol. 15, page 193
(c) (Add) "It is primarily on Social-Democracy (Marxism--Ed.) that the duty rests of revealing the true meaning of the war (World War I--Ed.), and of ruthlessly exposing the falsehood, sophistry and 'patriotic' phrasemongering spread by the ruling classes, the landowners and the bourgeoisie, in the defence of the war."
Source 20 , Vol. 21, page 27

 Every time the ruling classes of several nations are forced by developing economic conditions and competition to seek each other's wealth through violence (e.g., World War I)¹⁰⁰ their respective working classes can be easily persuaded to engage in combat.¹⁰¹

SOCIOLOGICAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL teachings are also arranged in such a manner as to instill acceptance of the prevailing system.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁰ (a) "...the war of 1914-1918 was imperialistic (that is, an annexationist, predatory, plunderous war) on the part of both sides; it was a war for the division of the world, for the partition and repartition of colonies, 'spheres of influence' of finance capital, etc."
Source 24 , page 9
(b) "What is this war (World War I--Ed.) being fought for, which is bringing mankind unparalleled suffering?  The government and the bourgeoisie of each belligerent country are squandering millions of rubles on books and newspapers so as to lay the blame on the foe, arouse the people's furious hatred of the enemy, and stop at no lie so as to depict themselves as the side that has been unjustly attacked and is now 'defending' itself.  In reality, this is a war between two groups of predatory Great Powers, and it is being fought for the partitioning of colonies, the enslavement of other nations, and advantages and privileges of the world market."
Source 20 , Vol. 21, page 367
(c) "The present world war (World War I--Ed.) is an imperialistic war waged for the political and economic exploitation of the world, for markets, raw material sources and new spheres of capital investment, oppression of weak nations etc."
Source 20 , Vol. 23, page 149
(d) "...the guilt for the imperialist war of 1914 falls equally on the 'evil designs' of the governments and the bourgeoisie of all the 'Great Powers...."
Source 20 , Vol. 21, page 184-185
(e) (Add) "Neither of the two belligerent groups of nations is second to the other in cruelty and atrocities in warfare."
Source 20 , Vol. 20, page 18
¹⁰¹ (a) "A favorable soil for wars are nationalist prejudices, which are systematically cultivated in the civilised countries in the interests of the ruling classes, with the object of diverting the proletarian masses from their own class objectives and making them forget the duty of international class solidarity."
Source 20 , Vol. 15, page 193
(b) (Add) "Social-Democracy (the Marxists--Ed.), therefore, must give most emphatic warning to the...working people of all nationalities against direct deception by the nationalistic slogans of 'their own' bourgeoisie, who with their saccharine or fiery speeches about 'our native land' try to divide the proletariat (the workers--Ed.) and divert its attention from their bourgeois intrigues...."
Source 20 , Vol. 19, page 245

(A) Bourgeois analyses of social ills have rarely, if ever, exposed students to the central role of the class struggle.  Instead, they have stressed a multitude of sociological studies which almost invariably have been little more than mazes of statistics and innocuous conclusions.

(B) When the crucial importance of class differentials can no longer be ignored, ruling class teachings allege that they can be overcome by education, occupational enhancement, marriage, talent, initiative and creativity.  Individual escape may be possible in rare instances but for the vast majority of people it is out of the question.  As long as private ownership of the means of production prevails, the minority will always be able to reap the harvest of the majority's efforts.

(C) As in economics there is a strong Horatio Alger theme in most admonitions.  Work hard, save your money, be creative and you too will climb the social pyramid to success.  For a decreasing few this may be possible, but for every success hundreds will fail.  The chances of an individual being in the former group as opposed to the latter are virtually nil.  The average person should realize from the beginning that his interests, his life, his future lie with the exploited and not the exploiters.

(D) As in their presentation of history, those within the ruling minority would have the masses believe that the heritage of the past must be maintained.  "Don't be anxious to discard the tried and proven" is their message.  Yes, it is tried and proven; it has been proven to maintain their system quite well.¹⁰²

(E) Although lip service is paid to the material influences upon man, the underlying theme is one of blaming the individual and not the system for the former's problems.  Consequently, far greater stress is placed upon adapting people to the system than adapting the system to people.

(F) Ruling class institutions (the media, churches, schools, etc.) contend that racial, religious, national, sexual, linguistic, and occupational hatreds are generated by the psychological problems of people rather than a system in which the elite must divide and factionalize by any means necessary in order to rule more effectively.  Again, the attempt to blame the psychology of people rather than material conditions for the world's problems is readily apparent.  As stated earlier, psychology is a reflection of material conditions; it's secondary not primary.¹⁰³

(G) The psychological problems of children and young adults are depicted as understandable natural products of maturation, when, in reality, most of their difficulties emerge as a result of being indoctrinated and coerced into a hypocritical, bestial, stultifying system.  Again, citizens rather than material conditions are blamed.

(H) Professors, scholars, psychologists, writers, doctors, and other unwitting ideologists of the ruling class philosophy pour forth a constant stream of methods by which one can learn to live with what is basically an anachronistic system.  Take new paths, learn new goals, create new ideas, lower your aims, be more submissive, join new groups, be less concerned, and seek diversions are only a few of the maxims propounded.  In other words, adapt, adapt, adapt.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰² (Add) "Tradition is a great retarding force, is the vis inertiae of history, but, being merely passive, is sure to be broken down....  The (English people--Ed.) are, no doubt, shackled by traditions of various kinds...traditions, such as there can be but two parties...."
Source 10 , pages 49-50
¹⁰³ "...it's (materialism--Ed.) conclusion that the course of ideas depends on the course of things is the only one compatible with scientific psychology."
Source 20 , Vol. 1, pages 139-140

(I) Parents are repeatedly blamed for their children's behavior even though the former are as much a victim of the system as are the offspring.  How can parents separate their children from an adverse environment when they can't even separate themselves from it.  And how could they possibly screen everything children experience prior to the latter's contact?  That's completely impractical.

(J) Attempts to blame citizens rather than systems for the world's problems generally culminate in an overt or covert discussion of human nature.  Few phrases in the English language are more deceptive; few phrases instill acceptance of ruling class preachings with greater effect; few phrases express more effectively the concept of individual responsibility which the ruling class is trying to convey.  Events great¹⁰⁴ and small are attributed to the supposedly inherent qualities of greed, laziness, self-centeredness, desire for power, etc., despite the fact that there are thousands of people in whom each of these characteristics is negligible.

(K) One of the most insidious of all ruling class preachments calculated to instill acceptance of economic subservience and exploitation is that the masses should seek happiness through by-passing wealth and continuing on to greater goals such as social prestige, status, friendships, love, respect, and contentment.  Not stated, of course, is the fact that before the latter group can be enjoyed the former need to be present.  Certainly wealth and the accompanying controls over material conditions are not the only things in life; but without their presence to a major degree, the enjoyment of happiness, contentment, security, friendships, etc. will be far less accessible than otherwise.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁴ (Add) "The war (World War I--Ed.) is not a product of the evil will of rapacious capitalists although it is undoubtedly being fought only in their interests and they alone are being enriched by it.  The war is a product of half a century of development of world capital and of its billions of threads and interconnections.
Source 17 , page 54

(L) The masses are taught that social inequality is a natural law of nature, despite the fact that it was negligible in primitive communal times.  There is no natural law stating that men must always be unequal in wealth and social position any more than there is a valid law stating that private property is sacrosanct or eternal.

ART (pictures, plays, movies, TV, etc.), too, is employed as an ideological weapon in the class struggle and reflects a distinct upper class philosophy.  There is no neutral art or art which is above class conflict.  All art reflects a class point of view or serves the interests of a particular class. ¹⁰⁵

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁵ (a) "There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics."
Source 50 , page 299
(b) "In the world today all culture, all literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines."
Source 50 , page 299
(c) "All works of literature and art serve the politics of definite classes.  There is no such thing as 'free' literature and art detached from class politics, nor can there be any.  Whatever their particular form of expression, the ideas of any (artistic--Ed.) person, including those of any writer, are not isolated 'ideas of his own'.  They are a manifestation of the ideas, interests, and aspirations of definite classes...."  (He is serving the interests of a particular class whether or not he realises this fact--Ed.)
Source 80 , page 24
(d) "All images created in works of literature and art show the political tendencies of the writers and artists, their class love and class hatred (even though the individuals involved may not realize they are serving the interests of a particular class--Ed.).  There is no such thing as an abstract or disinterested 'truthful reflection of reality."
Source 80 , page 25
(e) (Add) "...his ludicrous and non-Marxist attempt to divorce culture from politics...."
Source 74 , Vol. 8, page 161

The ruling class only fosters, finances, and distributes art which does not come to grips with the real world and its problems.  Nearly all ruling class art, as exemplified by most abstract paintings and many plays, provides escape.  That which does turn and face reality provides an analysis similar to that of literature in private property systems.  Either individuals are blameable for their problems or the system should be improved.  Art akin to that of socialist realism, art presenting the world as seen by the working masses, art dwelling on themes of pressing concern to the people, critical art providing realistic alternatives and solutions as opposed to that which is escapist, revolutionary art as opposed to that which buttresses the status quo, art for progress as opposed to "art for art's sake" ¹⁰⁶ is inhibited by the elite.

Artists should be deeply involved in world affairs because they have an important role to play in the uplifting of mankind.  Through artistic techniques they can portray that which has been or should be; they can provide insights and concepts which are realizable through no other mechanism; they can deprecate that which is undesirable and enhance that which is desirable.  Just as a painter creates value by painting a house, a sanitation engineer creates value by cleaning a park, and a landscape architect creates value by carefully arranging shrubs, artists create value through the influence of their works upon the lives of observers.  Although measuring the degree to which lives are improved may be quite difficult, value exists nevertheless.  Unfortunately, in the world of private property most artists produce little of value to anyone except the ruling minority and their personal vanities.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁶ (Add) "He (Marx--Ed.) never subscribed to the idea of 'pure aestheticism,' of 'art for art's sake,' which is so often coupled with political indifference or even servility."
Source 66 , page 504

ALCOHOL, SEX, and DRUGS, like art, are also employed in such a manner as to provide an avenue of escape and enjoyment for the distressed or dissatisfied masses.  It isn't accidental that the consumption of alcohol was legalized in 1933 at the depths of the Depression when mass discontent was greatest, that sexual diversions are readily available (movies, adult bookstores, etc.), or that drugs flow so freely throughout the United States today.  The production, circulation and consumption of each are not only allowed but tacitly encouraged as long as long as those affected can continue to work and produce effectively.  Investigative bureaus are intentionally given insufficient funds with which to stem the flow of drugs and illegal consumption of alcohol.  Often laws are intentionally ignored.  People are under the mistaken impression that they are fooling the ruling class; whereas, in reality, the reverse is true.  Only when those involved cease to be productive are prohibitions enforced.  Only when the wealth of the ruling class is being adversely influenced because of excessive indulgence are sanctions seriously imposed.

MUSIC is also employed as an effective method by which to maintain ideological control and is by no means neutral or above the class struggle.  Nearly all dances (the twist, rock and roll, etc.) musicals, and popular songs dwell on the baser emotions--the primitive instincts.  The ruling class saturates the masses with music that does not generate the self-restraint and contemplation which are necessary ingredients to any program for putting the interests of others above concern for oneself or working harmoniously and self-sacrificingly with others for the common good.  Popular music brings forth a feeling of individualistic egotism manifested in a plethora of reactionary desires, anti-social attitudes, and degenerate thoughts.  The desire to satisfy self replaces a desire to enhance the condition of others.  Such a philosophy of egotism, which the elite labels "individualism" would be abhorrent in a communist system.¹⁰⁷   The regressive music of ruling class societies is geared to maintaining the status quo, dividing mankind, and fostering self-indulgence above all else.  Many songs, for example, have reactionary words or titles, such as "Whatever will be will be" and "The world is always the same you'll never change it."

ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, and CLOTHING STYLES are not exempt from contributing to the elite's control either.  If the masses dwell in or daily observe structures which are modernistic or futuristic in design, they will tend more toward revolutionary thought and activity.  They will feel less need to maintain the heritage of the past, less affinity or kinship to that which was established in by-gone days, and, thus, more susceptible to reformist or revolutionary ideology.  Colonial or French Provincial styled homes for example represent reactionary architecture.

The ruling minority surreptitiously promulgates particular fashions (miniskirts, tight dresses, hot pants, plunging necklines, tong bathing suits, etc.) because they too, like popular music, produce regressive feelings of self-seeking, self-indulgence, and animalism instead of restraint and concern for the betterment of others.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁷ (a) (Add) "One of his (Marx--Ed.) favorite sayings was: 'Work for humanity'. ...'I am a citizen of the world', he used to say; 'I am active wherever I am."
Source 71 , page 72 (Quoted from Paul Lafargue)
(b) (Add) "If a man works only for himself he can, perhaps, become a famous scientist, a great sage, an excellent poet, but he can never become a man that is truly perfect and great."
Source 15 , page 18
(c) (Add) "What are the main human qualities that must be instilled?  They include, firstly, love, love for one's own people, love for the working masses.  Man should love his fellow-man.  If he does, his life will be better, more joyous, for nobody lives so miserable a life as the misanthrope, who hates human beings.  The misanthrope is more miserable than anyone else."
Source 15 , page 128

SPORTS, too, are employed as a control mechanism.  They are used in such a manner as to provide the masses with an avenue by which to escape reality, release tensions, and lessen frustrations.  They furnish a goal, a purpose, to an otherwise purposeless, aimless existence racked by boredom and monotony.  As the Roman ruling class employed gladiators, so the American rulers employ boxers, wrestlers, and football players.

LITERATURE has always been employed by the elite as one of the most effective weapons by which to maintain their domination.  Intellectuals, scholars, and writers are especially susceptible to this form of indoctrination.

(A) Writings describing idyllic scenes or societies are fostered by the ruling minority because they soothe the reader by ferrying him to an "Alice in Wonderland" world where he can forget the problems of everyday existence. (Walden, Utopia).

(B) Escape is also provided by poets describing idyllic scenes and soothing the reader with pleasantly rhyming verses.¹⁰⁸

(C) The ruling class is especially fond of writings that create acceptance of the status quo through generating fear of the future.  Brave New World, Animal Farm, and 1984 are classic examples of intimidation and for this reason acquire widespread publication and distribution.

(D) Many works are widely circulated because they merely reaffirm an age-old ruling class contention that the evils of society are attributable to man's inherent evil nature (human nature). (Lord of the Flies, Las Exit to Brooklyn, The Scarlet Letter, Paradise Lost, Notes from the Underground, Crime and Punishment).

(E) Some writings criticizing the system receive continued support because their suggested solution is one of escaping rather than abolishing the problem.

(F) Some books are aided because they attribute events to fate or divine decree instead of material conditions.  Readers are subtly told that their feeling of helplessness arises from the nature of life rather than the social system in which they reside. (Catch 22, Space Odyssey 2001 , Tess D' Urbervilles, Return of the Native, Jude the Obscure )

(G) Some writings receive support because they reaffirm and modernize such traditional myths as the existence of individualism and freedom in the world of private property and the sanctity of the latter. (Atlas Shrugged , Fountainhead)

(H) Many essays are supported because they teach the masses to be humble and, thus, eschew an understanding of how the entire system operates.  Uncritical, humble individuals who are under the mistaken impression that their knowledge is insufficient to find a rational alternative will be more inclined to accept prevailing conditions. (Pope's Essay on Man and some of Leibnitz's writings)

(I) The powers-that-be circulate an extremely large number of popular writings, such as love stories, murder mysteries, and sci-fi novels because they provide the masses with an exciting and suspenseful escape from boredom and monotony while leaving the status quo intact.

(J) The ruling minority intentionally projects the impression that magazines and newspapers are relatively neutral sources of information varying only in their scope, proficiency, depth, and subject matter. In truth, every newspaper and magazine reflects the point of view of a particular class and is by no means neutral or above the class struggle.¹⁰⁹   From nationally known magazines and other periodicals to the small town newssheet, the all-pervasive hand of the ruling class is ever present.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹⁰⁸ (Add) "...poets live in a world of fantasy...."

Source 64 , Vol. 1, page 585

¹⁰⁹ (a) "Journalism must be led by, or 'bound' to, a particular class, and journalism supposedly free of any 'bonds' simply does not exist....  Where is ever the newspaper in the world that is above classes?  The bourgeoisie (the capitalists--ED.) long ago advertised their press as 'independent', 'free from party affiliations',....  But more than a century has passed, and those newspapers that were the 'independent' label are nothing but tools for particular parties or financial groups."
Source 2 , pages 16-17
(b) "Journalism has class character and non-partisanship, and supra-class 'objective reporting' does not exist."
Source 2 , page 18
(c) "...so long as the world is divided into classes, the press will remain an instrument of class struggle."
Source 2 , page 54
(d) "The various branches of journalism, including the newspapers, the periodicals, the radio and the news agencies, are all instruments of class struggle."
Source 2 , page 1

(K) In regard to whether ideas or material conditions are primary--the fundamental question of philosophy¹¹⁰ --members of the ruling class always stress thought over matter.  They contend, contrary to the entire tenor of this book, ¹¹¹ that material conditions do not make man; man makes the material conditions.  Man makes history more than history makes man.  The economic czars always portray life, historically or otherwise, from the idealistic as opposed to the materialistic perspective.  In their writings they assert, for example, that the Protestant Reformation erupted because the ideology of Luther, Calvin, and other religious figures changed, endured, and gave rise to new conditions.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹¹⁰ (a) "The great basic question of all philosophy, especially of more recent philosophy, is that concerning the relation of thinking and being."
Source 8 , page 28
(b) "Whether nature, matter, the physical, the external world should be taken as primary, and consciousness, mind, sensation,...the psychical, etc., should be regarded as secondary--that is the root question which in fact continues to divide the philosophers into two great camps."
Source 27 , page 316
(c) (Add) "...consistent philosophical doctrines must take either nature or human thought as primary."
Source 27 , page 167
¹¹¹ (Add) "On closer consideration, it is, however, immediately evident that this apparently simple proposition, that the consciousness of men depends on their being and not vice versa, at once, and in its first consequences, runs directly counter to all idealism, even the most concealed.  All traditional and customary outlooks on everything historical are negated by it."
Source 64 , Vol. 1, page 369

Yet, in reality, the advent of capitalism and altered material conditions fathered and fostered the new ideas.¹¹²   The rising capitalist class began to aid and finance a different form of Christianity more conducive to its needs.¹¹³   Protestantism was more compatible with capitalism than the Roman Catholicism of feudal times.¹¹⁴  The ruling class would have mankind believe that ideas are primary.  Yet, from whence the latter arise remains an unanswered mystery, ¹¹⁵ since they could not emanate from matter which is alleged to be secondary or other related ideas which often do not exist.¹¹⁶

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹¹² (Add) "...if in different periods of the history of society (e.g. the capitalism as opposed to the feudalistic period--ED.) different social ideas, theories, views, and political institutions are to be observed; if under the slave system we encounter certain social ideas, theories, views, and political institutions, under feudalism others and under capitalism others still, this is not to be explained by the 'nature' of the 'properties' of the ideas, theories, views, and political institutions themselves but by the different conditions of the material life of society at different periods of social development.  Whatever is the being of a society, whatever are the conditions of material life of a society, such are the ideas, theories, political views and political institutions of that society."
Source 75 , page 21
¹¹³ (a) "...the class most directly interested in the struggle against the pretensions of the Roman Church was the bourgeoisie....  The long fight of the bourgeoisie against feudalism culminated in three great, decisive battles.  The first was what is called the Protestant Reformation in Germany."
Source 10 , pages 28-29
(b) (Add) "Even the so-called religious wars of the sixteenth century involved primarily positive material class interests....  Although the class struggles of that day were carried on under religious shibboleths, and though the interests, requirements, and demands of the various classes were concealed behind a religious screen, this changed nothing...."
Source 62 , page 87
¹¹⁴ "But the great international centre of feudalism was the Roman Church."
Source 10 , page 27
¹¹⁵ (Add) "Philosophical idealism is nothing but a disguised and embellished ghost-story."
Source 27 , page 167
¹¹⁶ "The whole previous view of history was based on the conception that the ultimate causes of all historical changes are to be looked for in the changing ideas of human beings, and that of all historical changes political changes are the most important and dominate the whole of history.  But the question was not asked as to whence the ideas come into men's minds and what the driving cause of the political changes are."
Source 7 , page 19

The logical conclusion to be drawn from this muddle is that people commits acts or create ideas for no reason whatever.  In essence, we are being asked to accept the unscientific proposition that ideas can materialize without any cause.  Contrary to one of the four basic assumptions mentioned initially, we are being asked to believe in a causeless event.  In reality, only materialism (material conditions, existing independently of man, are primary; ideas are secondary)¹¹⁷ presents the world accurately.¹¹⁸

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹¹⁷ (a) (Add) "The recognition of theory as a copy, as an approximate copy of objective reality, is materialism."
Source 27 , page 247
(b) (Add) "The 'naive realism' of any healthy person who has not been an inmate of a lunatic asylum or a pupil of the idealist philosophers consists in the view that things, the environment, the world, exist independently of our sensations, of our consciousness, or our self and of man in general...the world, the environment exist independently of us.  Our sensation, our consciousness is only an image of the external world....  Materialism deliberately makes the 'naive' belief of mankind the foundation of its theory of knowledge."
Source 27 , page 58
¹¹⁸ (a) "Only the materialist conception of history can bring light into this chaos and open up the possibility for a broad, coherent, and intelligent view of a specific system of social economy as the foundation of a specific system of man's entire social life."
Source 20 , Vol. 4, page 48
(b) (Add) "Where do correct ideas come from?  Do they drop from the skies?  No.  Are they innate in the mind?  No.  They come from social practice (material conditions--Ed.), and from it alone;...."
Source 50 , page 206

Why do the wealthy avoid the materialist philosophy?  Why do they teach the masses that ideas arising from no particular cause (material cause) are the dominant force in the history of man?  Why do their textbooks dwell on concepts (humanism, romanticism, transcendentalism, liberty, democracy, equality, freedom, patriotism, nationalism, Thomism, rationalism, liberalism, etc.) instead of matter?  Briefly stated, why do the elite teach people that changing philosophies have determined the course of all societies as opposed to altered material conditions?¹¹⁹   There are several reasons.

First, masses who believe ideological changes are more important than material alterations consider key individuals (The Jew who allegedly decided to die on a cross; the Pope who decided to launch the Crusades; the French general and German dictator who decided to invade Russia; the President who decided to abolish slavery; the Archduke who decided to enter the Balkans; the doctor who decided to cure yellow fever, the inventor who decided to invent the telephone, etc.), instead of classes, as the motive force of history.  They understandably reason that if ideas are primary then individuals harboring crucial concepts are the primary catalysts of change.  As a result, they tend to adopt a "hero-worship" mentality that allows them to be easily transformed into loyal followers.  The well off need only furnish them with the "right man," provide arguments as to his messianic qualities, ¹²⁰ and install a new leader when the earlier choice has lost his effectiveness.  Millions can be kept on a never-ending treadmill, especially when elections occur, running from one individual to another in a system which, itself, is the core of the problem.  Whether A or B wins a contest is of tertiary importance to the overall situation.¹²¹

Secondly, people infected with idealism tend to shun group action and adopt a philosophy of innocuous individualism.  They logically conclude that if individuals with advanced thoughts have been the dominant societal force throughout history, then everyone should seek success through individual effort rather than class action.  Much to the delight of the ruling minority, they avoid class coherence and proceed on the assumption that each person can determine events by finding the right concepts.  Consequently they are easily crushed and manipulated by the property owners because their forces are divided and their strength dissipated.  Weaker members (slaves, serfs, and workers) seeking to struggle alone don't have a chance, ¹²² since competitive power is directly proportional to property possessed. ¹²³

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹¹⁹ (Add) "All preceding conception of history has either completely ignored this real basis of history or has considered it only as incidental and in no way connected with the course of history... this (the idealistic--Ed.) conception of history saw in history only the main official actions of the state and the religious and generally theoretical struggle....  For example, if an epoch imagines that it is determined by purely 'political' or 'religious' motives, although 'religion' and 'politics' are only forms of its real motive, its historian accepts that opinion."
Source 62 , page 70
¹²⁰ (Add) "The whole of historical development consists, according to the ideologist, in those theoretical abstractions which originate in the 'heads' of 'all the philosophers and theologians of the age,' and since it is impossible to 'put' all these 'heads together' and induce them to 'take counsel and register their votes,' there must of necessity be one sacred head, the spear-head of all these philosophical and theological heads, in a word,...the savior."
Source 58 , pages 587-588
¹²¹ "It is a matter of class, not of persons.  To attack Milyukov personally, to demand, directly or indirectly, his dismissal, is a silly comedy, for no change of personalities can change anything so long as the classes in power are unchanged."
Source 20 , Vol. 24, page 197
¹²² (a) "If the isolated workman tries to drive his bargain with the capitalist he is easily beaten and has to surrender at discretion."
Source 5 , page 9
(b) "On his own the worker is quite helpless against capital (the capitalist property owners--Ed....."
Source 20 , Vol. 2, page 102
¹²³ (Add) "Since capital...is the weapon with which this social welfare is carried on, it is clear that all the disadvantages of such a state must fall upon the poor....  Cast into the whirlpool, he must struggle through as well as he can."
Source 60 , page 58

 If the masses were not told to put the ideas of advanced individuals above material conditions, they would seek class movement, because only large groups of people can construct or reconstruct the material world.  They would begin to rely on class demands and disdain any belief in heroes, great men, or individualism (every man for himself).  To the detriment of the ruling elite, they would tend to draw together as a cohesive, collective force subjugating personal whims and desires to group requirements for effectiveness, instead of continuing as a motley mass of "rugged individualists" each thinking he can ascend the social staircase without united class action.

The fact that classes have been fundamental to the creation of history while well-known individuals such as presidents (Washington and Roosevelt) or generals (Caesar and MacArthur) or explorers (Columbus and Byrd) or inventors (Watt and Edison) have been relatively insignificant is demonstrated by the American past.  All major changes in U.S. history were caused by the materially motivated actions of a class of people or the threatened actions of a class.  The colonies did not obtain their independence by the action of key figures but as the result of a mass uprising by thousands of people--a class struggle.  The slaves were not freed by Lincoln's Proclamation but by a major war involving the masses--a class struggle.  Pure food and drug laws were not passed around the turn of the century until large masses of people began to move against the property owners--a class struggle.  The Muckrakers were relatively innocuous literary spokesmen as are consumer advocates today.  Women were not given the right to vote, nor was Prohibition established, until masses of people marched and protested--a class struggle.  The reforms of the New Deal era were the by-product of rising dissatisfaction and protest, or the threat of same, on the part of millions--a class struggle.  The large body of civil rights reforms in recent years were the result of a mass movement on the part of Afro-Americans and Afro-American organizations-- a class struggle.  Such laws would never have been enacted if the efforts of any one individual had been relied upon.  The lowering of the voting age to 18 was not a gift from Congress, the President, or the ruling class but an incorporative attempt to head off threatened student disruptions throughout the country by co-optation.¹²⁴ It was the result of a threatened class struggle.  The eradication of Native Americans as a significant force throughout the New World as well as the major territorial divisions of the world which emerged from World Wars I and II were the result of large bodies of people coming into conflict--a class struggle.  Neither could have resulted from the efforts of one man, regardless of his position.  The laws which have been passed by legislative bodies throughout history have always been the outcome of class conflicts.  Struggling classes have pushed senators and congresspersons back and forth like goliaths moving pawns on a chessboard.  Virtually all objects in any city are the result of class struggles.  The cars are a product of engine designers struggling with body designers; the streets are the result of street builders struggling with car manufacturers in regard to size, weight, height, and width, and zoning ordinances are the result of developers struggling with environmentalists and consumer advocates.  All of this pushing and pulling only results in an outcome that is not fully to the liking of anyone and is nearly always divorced from what should be done.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹²⁴ (Add) "The more a ruling class is able to assimilate the foremost minds of a ruled class, the more stable and dangerous becomes its rule."
Source 51 , Vol. 3, page 587

 In summary, competing classes have created man's history, not great individuals--heroes.¹²⁵   Famous politicians, presidents, kings, princes, ¹²⁶ explorers, scientists, theoreticians, inventors, ¹²⁷ popes, pharaohs, clergymen, generals, businessmen, etc. have had an effect on world history which is miniscule and superficial in comparison to the much more basic and all-encompassing changes brought about by competing classes.¹²⁸   So-called important historical world leaders have not only been secondary but relatively insignificant in the creation of man's history, even though

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹²⁵ (a) "Marx and Engels advanced as one of the basic premises of historical materialism the idea that it is not the 'hero', but the mass of the people who are the genuine makers of history."
Source 77 , pages 26-27
(b) "We believe that historical events should be judged by the movements of the masses and of classes as a whole, not by the moods of individuals or small groups."
Source 20 , Vol. 18, page 315
¹²⁶ "Marx demonstrated, chiefly on the basis of German history, that history made the princes, not vice versa."
Source 66 , page 134
¹²⁷ "A critical history of technology would show how little any of the inventions of the 18th Century are the work of a single individual.  Hitherto there has been no such book."
Source 62 , page 121
¹²⁸ (a) (Add) "Hence, if historical science is to be a real science, it can no longer reduce the history of social development to the actions of kings and generals, to the actions of 'conquerors' and 'subjugators' of states, but must above all devote itself to the history of the producers of the material values, the history of the labouring masses, the history of peoples.  Hence the clue to the study of the laws of history of society must not be sought in men's minds, in the views and ideas of society, but in the mode of production practised by society in any given historical period; it must be sought in the economic life of society."
Source 75 , page 30
(b) (Add) "...the childishly naive and purely mechanical view of history held by the subjectivists, who contented themselves with the meaningless thesis that history is made by individuals and who refuse to examine what social conditions (what class struggles, etc.--Ed.) determine their actions, and exactly in what way."
Source 20 , Vol. 1, page 411

Hollywood movies and ruling class textbooks project exactly the opposite image.¹²⁹

Thirdly, those who have been taught the idealistic approach to reality are easily led into accepting any one of many beautifully constructed cobweb theories from spiritualism and Thomism to existentialism and utilitarianism.  Idealists tend to believe that which sounds most plausible.  From their perspective any theory or ideology which sounds reasonable could be accurate and that which sounds most reasonable is accurate.  Theories and beliefs are not judged in relation to material conditions but are analyzed on their own merits without regard to the arrangement of matter.  Unlike scientists, who compare all theories to material dictates, idealists adopt or discard theories according to feasibility.  Plausibility rather than materiality is the ultimate criterion for reliability.  Idealists don't test theories, they merely accept or reject them; their minds dwell far more on words and thoughts than matter or material conditions; their ideas are more mystical than scientific.  "Why should ideas be compared with material conditions if the former are primary?" they subconsciously reason.  Having been surreptitiously taught that man makes his environment more than vice versa, idealists often harbor thousands of erroneous thoughts perpetuated by the ruling class because tests were never conducted to determine their validity.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹²⁹ (a) (Add) "The ideas that political acts, grand performances of state, are decisive in history is as old as written history itself, and is the main reason why so little material has been preserved for us in regard to the really progressive evolution of the peoples which has taken place quietly, in the background, behind these noisy scenes on the stage.  This idea dominated all the conceptions of historians in the past."
Source 4 , page 220
(b) (Add) "...the earlier theories did not cover the activities of the masses of the population...."
Source 43 , page 28
(c) (Add) "...the old idealist conception of history, which was not yet dislodged, knew nothing of class struggles based upon economic interests, knew nothing of economic interests; production and all economic relations appeared in it only as incidental, subordinate elements in the 'history of civilization'."
Source 4 , page 41

 In truth, reality should first be skeptically analyzed in minute detail and, then, all theories, ideas, ideologies and philosophies formulated accordingly.  Idealists proceed in reverse.  Ideas must fit conditions; conditions don't have to fit ideas.

Fourthly, people who have accepted concepts as the primary motive force of history--idealists--will be much more susceptible to high-sounding words (freedom, democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity, justice, securities, premiums, pacification, etc.), phrases (AID programs, "managing" the news, Peace Corps, global policeman, Your local police), slogans ¹³⁰ (equality under law, separate but equal, Alliance for Progress, fair trade, right-to-work), titles¹³¹ (Your Honor, The Right Honorable, Your Holiness, Reverend), philosophies (rationalism, libertarianism, individualism) and euphoric speeches, than the message conveyed by surrounding reality.  Instead of analyzing what they have been told from the point of view of reality, they will analyze reality from the point of view of what they have been told.  The elite need only create the word or phrase, apply it to an object or concept and have them observe the material world from the perspective of the word or phrase as if looking through tinted spectacles.  What could be more desirable from the point of view of the property owners who control all "educational" institutions and news media.

Fifthly, those influenced by idealism do not become major economic competitors because of their tendency to reject this world, seek escape rather than involvement, and scorn the attainment of wealth.  Believing that happiness results more from a state of mind than a condition of body and that ideas are more important than daily living conditions, they accept their status complacently.  Their militancy, their desire to obtain a greater share of that which is produced and their tendency to challenge ruling class decisions are greatly lessened.  Convinced that searching for wealth and the better life are inherently undesirable, not realizing that the attainment of goods and the comforts of life, after having abolished all private property systems, are pre-requisites to happiness, contentment and an existence full of meaning, creativity and purpose, they become easy prey for property owners seeking compliant, servile laborers.  Once they believe that happiness consists merely in finding a comforting philosophy (an ideology that is soothing and seemingly reliable, regardless of the degree to which it accurately portrays reality) and that their surroundings--the system--are of secondary or tertiary importance, the elite need only provide numerous erroneous and deceptive philosophies (yoga, religion, astrology, hedonism, mysticism, existentialism, the occult, etc.) for the desired results to occur.  It is a rare person, indeed, who would be attracted to none.  If people look upon wealth and the attainment of same as unsavory, if they adopt philosophies negating or rejecting the real world, there is little doubt that defeat will await them in any class struggle with those believing the contrary.  In truth, there is nothing wrong with the accumulation of wealth as long as it opens doors to more noble ends and is not obtained at the expense of others.  Without some degree of opulence, the sick will die, the young will starve, all will be ignorant, activities will be monotonous, and life will be abbreviated.  The solution to life's problems, whether resulting from the presence of private property or otherwise, is not to escape, deny, or avoid but to attack, defeat and alter.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹³⁰ "...the bourgeoisie (capitalist ruling class--Ed.) democrats have always advanced and still advance all sorts of 'slogans' in order to deceive the people.  The point is to test their sincerity, to compare their words with their deeds, not to be satisfied with idealistic or charlatan phrases, but to get down to class reality (to get down to the material conditions--Ed.)."
Source 37 , page 101
¹³¹ "My Soviet experience has taught me to regard titles as childish jokes...."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, page 478

And lastly, those who accept ideology as a greater influence on the development of society than material conditions--idealists--are far more concerned with altering the minds of troubled individuals than changing or abolishing the material conditions--the system--from which the latter's ideas emerged.  Believing the system is essentially satisfactory and not realizing mental problems (hatreds, aggressiveness, paranoia, phobias, obsessions, etc.) can not vanish until the system does, they tend to direct their efforts more toward changing the ideas of maladjusted people rather than altering the material conditions from which concepts arise.  Convinced that if the "word is spread" and enough people can be persuaded to change their outlook the world's problems will end, they are victims of a cruel hoax. ¹³²   Their activities resemble a futile, superficial attempt to cure measles by coloring over the red spots with a skin-color cosmetic.  Changing an individual's conception of reality or his outlook toward others does not alter the conditions from which his ideology arose.  Attacking a problem by altering its symptoms is no solution.  The cause may be hidden but it endures.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹³² "It is the old illusion that changing existing conditions depends only on the good will of people, and that existing conditions consist of ideas.

Source 58 , page 414

In conclusion, Americans are always being guided even though they may not be aware of this fact.  Shrewdly, subtly, covertly, ideas buttressing the ruling class are conveyed in such a manner as to elude most people.  Public opinion is formed;¹³³ it does not arise from individuals exercising an option after having received the facts and heard the alternatives.

Since the masses are programmed like computers to ruling class specifications, they understandably formulate conclusions desired by the powers-that-be independently of any immediate and direct influence exercised upon them. To programme people, especially by means of compulsory school attendance, is to predetermine the outcome of their later conclusions and actions.  Under an arrangement of this nature the rulers can easily foster the illusion that free thought exists and no fundamental control is exercised.  One need only note that lists of those who are on the directing boards of high schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country nearly always appear to be composites of influential economic figures--a veritable Who's Who in the Local Chamber of Commerce--or their hand-picked representatives, ¹³⁴ to realize that control encompasses all topics and schools are viewed as key elements in the predetermination of mass attitudes favorable to the ruling minority.¹³⁵

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹³³ "In capitalist usage, freedom of the press means freedom of the rich to bribe the press, freedom to use their wealth to shape and fabricate so-called public opinion."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, page 131

¹³⁴ (a) (Add) "To separate the sphere of education from this (the economic and political sphere--Ed.) is, firstly, absurdly utopian, because schools (like 'national culture' in general) can not be separated from economics and politics...."
Source 3 , page 129
(b) (Add) "The very term 'apolitical' or 'non-political' education is a piece of bourgeois hypocrisy, nothing but humbuggery practised on the masses, 99 per cent of whom are humiliated and degraded by the rule of the church, private property and the like....  In all bourgeois states the connection between the political apparatus and education is very strong, although bourgeois society cannot frankly acknowledge it."
Source 39 , Vol. 3, pages 478-479
(c) (Add) "In the first case, there can be no such thing as non-class education."
Source 20 , Vol. 2, page 465
¹³⁵ (a) "When the bourgeois gentry and their uncritical echoers, the social-reformists, talk priggishly about the 'education' of the masses, they usually mean something schoolmasterly, pedantic, something that demoralizes the masses and instills in them bourgeois prejudices."
Source 39 , Vol. 1, page 792
(b) "The old school declared that its aim was to produce men with all-round education, to teach sciences in general.  We know that this was utterly false, for the whole of society was based and maintained on the division of men into classes....  Every word was falsified in the interests of the bourgeoisie (the capitalist ruling class--Ed.).  In these schools the younger generation of workers and peasants were not so much educated as drilled in the interests of this bourgeoisie.  They were trained in such a way as to be useful servants of the bourgeoisie, able to create profits for it without disturbing its peace and leisure....  The old school was a school of cramming; it compelled pupils to imbibe a mass of useless, superfluous, barren knowledge, which clogged the brain and transformed the younger generation into bureaucrats regimented according to one single pattern."
Source 33 , pages 51-52
(c) (Add) "The old school turned out servants needed by the capitalists."
Source 33 , page 56

 Feeling there is no small group actively managing their lives, some people will, of course, doubt what they consider to be a conspiratorial presentation of society's evolution.  The "ruling class" is myth they believe.  Others will concede some control by a minority but deny that it is as extensive as previously outlined.  Both groups would be aghast if they only knew the awesome degree to which dictatorial control dominates every aspect of our lives.  In politics, religion, sociology, history, government, psychology, anthropology and all other disciplines involving man's relationship to man the guiding hand of the ruling clique is ever present. ¹³⁶  It is virtually axiomatic that, to use the terminology of the vernacular, "whoever runs the dough runs the show."¹³⁷

-------------------------------------------------------------------

¹³⁶ (a) "The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of the ruling class."
Source 59 , page 77
(b) "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force....  The individuals composing the ruling class possess among other things consciousness, and therefore think.  Insofar, therefore, as they rule as a class and determine the extent and compass of an epoch, it is self-evident that they do this in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch."
Source 58 , page 60
¹³⁷ (a) "He who commands property commands everything."
Source 11 , page 642
(b) "Once capital exists, it dominates the whole of society, and no democratic republic, no franchise can change it in essence."
Source 41 , page 20
(c) "The present structure of society--this is now pretty generally conceded--is the creature of the ruling class of to-day, of the bourgeoisie."
Source 10 , page 95