capitalism 7
- The richest are still the idlest, and those who do the hardest work are the worst rewarded
- The modern workman works harder than the feudal serf, lives little better, and produces far more luxury for his master
William Morris
English designer, writer and socialist (1834 to 1896); author of Signs of Change.
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What William Morris says most about
agency 4
- Trying to change the present system piecemeal underrates how strongly it grinds people into their places
- Art cannot result from external compulsion, because the labour that produces it is voluntary
happiness 4
- Letting machines be our masters rather than our servants is what injures the beauty of life today
- Making someone do the same task every day with no hope of change turns their life into a prison-torment
politics 3
- Reformers seek to end class struggle while the exploiting class keeps exploiting, which is an impossible problem
- Socialists’ work lies outside Parliament, in educating the people to know, take and use their own
creativity 2
- Art cannot result from external compulsion, because the labour that produces it is voluntary
- Work that is a burden and a slavery cannot produce art, only bare utility or sham