House of Paine

rev asceticism

 today's ponder 

worthy words 
from a red angel

 “ Already 
among these precursors of the movement
 we notice an asceticism
 which is to be found 
in all  uprisings
  tinged with religion.......



...........in modern times
 at the beginning 
of every proletarian movement
 This austerity of behavior
 this insistence on relinquishing
 all enjoyment of life
 contrasts the ruling classes
 with the principle of
 Spartan equality........
............ it is a necessary
 transitional stage
 without which 
the lowest strata of society
can never start
 a movement.........
............ In order to develop  revolutionary energy
 in order to become
 conscious of their own hostile position
 towards all other elements of society
 in order to concentrate
 as a class

 the lower strata of society
 must begin
 with stripping themselves of everything
 that could reconcile them
 to the existing system of society

 They must renounce
 all pleasures
 which  make 
their subdued position 
in the least tolerable
 even those pleasures
which the system itself
 at its most extreme 
can  not  deprive them. ”