Page:Georgii Valentinovich Plekhanov - The Bourgeois Revolution- Its Attainments and Its Limitations - tr. Henry Kuhn (1926).pdf/34

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

lusory all other equality.

In much the same manner the bourgeoisie would make the workers believe that, today, there is nothing more to be done in the realm of economy and that, therefore, one must only indulge in the game of "pure" politics. But "pure politics" means for the workers nothing but kite-tail politics in the service of the bourgeois parties, and the bourgeoisie is fully aware of the significance of this brand of "pure politics," at least such was the case when it was engaged in the struggle with the nobility and clergy. In the brochure "Qu'est-ce que le Tiers Etat?" once before mentioned, which must be regarded as the program of the bourgeoisie of 1789, the sophistries of the "pure politicians," then to be found in the two upper estates, were refuted with much talent. Abbe Sieyes insisted that the nation, as a matter of fact, was divided into two camps: in the one, the privileged; in the other, the oppressed; and that this actual division must be reflected in politics. It was natural and understandable that the privileged would seek to preserve their inter-

34