Note 640 — Chapter V · : PROUDHON AND THE SOCIALISM OF 1848

“Division of labour, collective force, competition, exchange, credit, property, and even liberty—these are the true economic forces, the raw materials of all wealth, which, without actually making men the slaves of one another, give entire freedom to the producer, ease his toil, arouse his enthusiasm, and double his produce by creating a real solidarity which is not based upon personal considerations, but which binds men together with ties stronger than any which sympathetic combination or voluntary contract can supply.” (Idée générale de la Révolution au XIXe Siècle, p. 95.) The economic forces are somewhat differently enumerated in chap. 13 of La Capacité des Classes ouvrières. Association and mutuality are mentioned; but while recognising the prestige of the word “association,” especially among working men, Proudhon concludes that the only real association is mutuality—not in the sense of a mutual aid society, which he thinks is altogether too narrow.