“It is an old and established maxim that obsolete social forces, nominally still in possession of all the attributes of power and continuing to vegetate long after the basis of their existence has rotted away, in as much as the heirs are quarreling among them over inheritance even before the obituary notice has been printed ant the testament read – that these forces summon all their all their strength before the agony of the of death, pass from the defensive to the offensive, challenge instead of giving way and seek to draw most extreme conclusions from the premises which have not only been put in question but already condemned.”
Karl Marx, to Angels dt. London June 25, 1855