Revolution, and Other Essays
by Jack London
- Pages
- about 205
- Category
- Politics
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3.8 h at 250 wpm
From the opening
"The present is enough for common souls,
Who, never looking forward, are indeed
Mere clay, wherein the footprints of their age
Are petrified for ever."
I received a letter the other day. It was from a man in Arizona. It
began, "Dear Comrade." It ended, "Yours for the Revolution." I replied
to the letter, and my letter began, "Dear Comrade." It ended, "Yours for
the Revolution." In the United States there are 400,000 men, of men and
women nearly 1,000,000, who begin their letters "Dear Comrade," and end
them "Yours for the Revolution." In Germany there are 3,000,000 men who
begin their letters "Dear Comrade" and end them "Yours for the
Revolution"; in France, 1,000,000 men; in Austria, 800,000 men; in
Belgium, 300,000 men; in Italy, 250,000 men; in England, 100,000 men; in
Switzerland, 100,000 men; in Denmark, 55,000 men; in Sweden, 50,000 men;
in Holland, 40,000 men; in Spain, 30,000 men--comrades all, and
revolutionists.
These are numbers which dwarf the grand armies of Napoleon and Xerxes.
But they are numbers not of conquest and maintenance of the established
order, but of conquest and revolution. They compose, when the roll is
called, an army of 7,000,000 men, who, in accordance with the conditions
of to-day, are fighting with all their might for the conquest of the
wealth of the world and for the complete overthrow of existing society.
There has never been anything like this revolution in the history of the
world. There is nothing analogous between it and the American Revolution
or the French Revolution. It is unique, colossal. Other revolutions
compare with it as asteroids compare with the sun. It is alone of its
kind, the first world-revolution in a world whose history is replete with
revolutions. And not only this, for it is the first organized movement
of men to become a world movement, limited only by the limits of the
planet.
A short sample. Read the whole book
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