Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Amadeo Bordiga

Quote by Amadeo Bordiga

“From the moment that opposing interests and class conflict exist, there can be no unity of organization, and in spite of the outward appearance of popular sovereignty, the state remains the organ of the economically dominant class and the instrument of defence of its interests.”

Quote by Amadeo Bordiga

Book:The Democratic Principle
Create image

Work

The Democratic Principle

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Amadeo Bordiga
Amadeo Bordiga

Amadeo Bordiga was an Italian politician and Marxist theorist, born on June 13, 1889, and died on July 23, 1970. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the Italian Communist Party and played a significant role in the development of Marxist theory. more

You May Also Like

“Scots is a West Germanic language with a literature going back more than 800 years, yet Scotland is a country where only English is compulsory in school, and where Scotland's history is barely taught beyond primary school, and where (non-Scottish) newspaper owners have been known to prohibit the reviewing of Scottish books on the grounds that this would be 'provincial', while the myopic hegemony of the Anglocentric media enshrines a set of attitudes which routinely ignores or belittles our culture.”

MediaScotlandHegemonyScots LanguageScottish CultureAnglocentrism
Book:Irish Pages, Vol. 12, No. 2: Scotland
Create image

“The crisis creates situations which are dangerous in the short run, since the various strata of the population are not all capable of orienting themselves equally swiftly, or of reorganizing with the same rhythm. The traditional ruling class, which has numerous trained cadres, changes men and programmes and, with greater speed than is achieved by the subordinate classes, reabsorbs the control that was slipping from its grasp. Perhaps it may make sacrifices, and expose itself to an uncertain future by demagogic promises; but it retains power, reinforces it for the time being, and uses it to crush its adversary and disperse his leading cadres, who cannot be be very numerous or highly trained.”

RevolutionClass StruggleHegemonyOrganizing
Book:Selections from the Prison Notebooks
Create image

“It is amazing how dispiriting it can be to enter a learning environment and to be made immediately to suppress your own exploratory inclinations. So many learning environments in the world are still like this. Don’t question what you are taught! Just listen and get good marks on the test! It conditions us to be slaves. The minute we abandon our inquisitive nature, we cede our consciences to the whims of tyrants. We are capable of better. We owe it to ourselves and each other to create better opportunities that enhance human potential. Education is the externality that allows for this, but our methods of education must promote self-guidance and self-reliance.”

EducationSelf HelpTyrannyOppressionEducational PhilosophySelf RelianceSelf GrowthSuppressionDronesHuman PotentialHegemonySlavesEducational ReformExploratory LearningExternalityInquistive NatureSelf GuidanceSpirit Breaking
Book:Sinew of the Social Species
Create image

“Many guilty consciences have been created by the slave trade. Europeans know that they carried on the slave trade, and Africans are aware that the trade would have been impossible if certain Africans did not cooperate with slave ships. To ease their guilty consciences, Europeans try to throw the major responsibility for the slave trade on to the Africans. One major author on the slave trade (appropriately titled Sins of Our Fathers) explained how many white people urged him to state that the trade was the responsibility of African chiefs, and that Europeans merely turned up to buy captives- as though without European demand there would have been captives sitting on the beach by the millions! Issues such as those are not the principal concern of this study, but they can be correctly approached only after understanding that Europe became the center of a world-wide system and that it was European capitalism which set slavery and the Atlantic slave trade in motion.”

ResponsibilityHistoryCapitalismDominationHegemonySlave Trade
Book:How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
Create image