It has been the first to show what man's activity can
bring about. It has accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian
pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals; it has
conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former Exoduses
of nations and crusades.
The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising
the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of
production, and with them the whole relations of society.
Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form,
was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all
earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionising of
production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions,
everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois
epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations,
with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and
opinions,
are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they
can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy
is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober
senses,
his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.
The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases
the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must
nestle
everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere.
The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world-market
given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in
every country.
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