The manufacturing worker of the 16th to the 18th centuries still had, with but few exception, an instrument of production in his own possession – his loom, the family spinning wheel, a little plot of land which he cultivated in his spare time. The proletarian has none of these things.
The manufacturing worker almost always lives in the countryside and in a more or less patriarchal relation to his landlord or employer; the proletarian lives, for the most part, in the city and his relation to his employer is purely a cash relation.
The manufacturing worker is torn out of his patriarchal relation by big industry, loses whatever property he still has, and in this way becomes a proletarian.
YOU ARE READING
The Principles of Communism
Non-FictionWant to get into communism, but can't understand the endless jargon and concepts? No worries, Engels has you covered with this simple Q&A-style piece of communist theory answering all your basic questions. Written in 1847 and translated by Paul Swee...
