With the community of revolutionary proletarians on the other hand, who take their control, it is just the reverse; it is as individuals that the individuals participate in it. It is just this combination of individuals (assuming the advanced stage of modern productive forces, of course) which puts the conditions of the free development and movement of individuals under their control-conditions which were previously abandoned to chance and had won an independent existence over against the separate individuals just because of their separation as individuals and because their combination had been determined by the division of labour, and through their separation had become a bond alien to them.
My difficulty is in understanding why free development and the movement of individuals was up to chance before the individuals started to control it.
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I had trouble understanding the passage but I think what Marx and Engels are trying to say is that when people work alone that they might behave in a different way then when they work in a group with a common goal. When they work independently they might leave a lot of things to chance and maintain the status quo, but when they work with a group towards a common goal and have a particular role as a member of the group they tend to work harder, put more effort towards change, and set their sights on a higher goal. They can often reach their goal because of the communal effort.
ReplyDeleteAn example of this would be how the colonists banded together and unified because the shared a common goal to defeat the British and become an independent nation. If they fought alone they would have been defeated but they worked together and were able to divide jobs, share information, resources, and etc. Since they were united they became stronger and were able to succeed with their goals.