The Servile State

Hilaire Belloc

15 chapters · about 3 h

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The opening

I

Definitions

What “wealth” is and why necessary to man⁠—How produced⁠—The meaning of the words “capital,” “proletariat,” “property,” “means of production”⁠—The definition of the “capitalist state”⁠—The definition of the “Servile State”⁠—What it is and what it is not⁠—The reestablishment of status in the place of contract⁠—That servitude is not a question of degree but of kind⁠—Summary of these definitions.

Man, like every other organism, can only live by the transformation of his environment to his own use. He must transform his environment from a condition where it is less to a condition where it is more subservient to his needs.

That special, conscious, and intelligent transformation of his environment which is peculiar to the peculiar intelligence and creative faculty of man we call the “production of wealth.”

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About this edition

The words
The author's text, copied word for word.
Left out
  • The title page and opening pages before chapter 1
  • Imprint
  • Colophon
  • Copyright-page
  • Toc
  • Landmarks

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