The Slavery of Our Times

by Leo Tolstoy

Write The First Customer Review

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIII. WHAT ARE GOVERNMENTS? IS IT POSSIBLE TO EXIST WITHOUT GOVERNMENTS? The cause of the miserable condition of the workers is slavery. The cause of slavery is legislation. Legislation rests on organised violence. It follows that an improvement in the condition of the people is possible only through the abolition of organised violence. "But organised violence is government, and how can we live without governments? Without governments there will be chaos, anarchy; all the achievements of civilisation will perish, and people will revert to their primitive barbarism." It is usual not only for those to whom the existing order is profitable, but even for those to whom it is evidently unprofitable, but who are so accustomed to it they cannot imagine life without governmental violence, to say we must not dare to touch the existing order of things. The destruction of government will, say they, produce the greatest misfortunes-- riot, theft, and murder--till finally the worst men will again seize power and enslave all the good people. But not to mention the fact that all--that is, riots, thefts and murders, followed by the rule of the wicked and the enslavement of the good --all this is what has happened and is happening, the anticipation that the disturbance of the existing order will produce riots and disorder does not prove the present order to be good. "Only touch the present order and the greatest evils will follow." Only touch one brick of the thousand bricks piled into a narrow column several yards high and all the bricks will tumble down and smash! But the fact that any brick extracted or any push administered will destroy such a column and smash the bricks certainly does not prove it to be wise to keep the bricks in such an... Read Less

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIII. WHAT ARE GOVERNMENTS? IS IT POSSIBLE TO EXIST WITHOUT GOVERNMENTS? The cause of the miserable condition of the workers is slavery. The cause of slavery is legislation. Legislation rests on organised violence. It follows that an improvement in the condition of the people is possible only ... Read More