Skip to content
quotesby

Only a work democracy can create the foundation of genuine freedom. Long experience in sociological disputes leads me to expect that a great many people will take offense at the disclosure of this miscalculation. It makes the highest demands on people's will to veracity; it puts a heavy burden on everyday living; it places all social responsibility on those who work, be it in the factory, in the office, on the farm, in the laboratory, or wherever.

Wilhelm Reich#28

PoliticsFreedomResponsibilityDemocracyWorkTruth

About this quote

What does it mean?
Only work democracy can truly create freedom, but it demands high honesty, heavy daily burdens, and places all social responsibility on workers.
In plain terms
Work democracy offers genuine freedom but requires honest effort and puts responsibility on workers.
What can you take from it?
Prepare workers for the demanding responsibility that true freedom entails.

Where it applies

  • labor policy
  • social reform

Putting it to work

  • set realistic expectations for workers
  • support ethical standards

Questions to consider

  • Can workers sustain such responsibility?
  • What support systems are needed?

Another view

Heavy burdens may be unsustainable for many individuals.

More from Wilhelm Reich

  1. Work-democracy adds a decisive piece of knowledge to the scope of ideas related to freedom. The masses of people who work and bear the burden of social existen…

    Permalink to quote #27
  2. If 'freedom' means, first of all, the responsibility of every individual for the rational determination of his own personal, professional and social existence,…

    Permalink to quote #29
  3. What is new in work democracy is: that for the first time in the history of sociology, a possible future regulation of human society is derived not from ideolo…

    Permalink to quote #26

Related quotes

  1. We still proclam the old ideals of liberty but we cannot voice them without anxiety in our hearts. The question is no longer one of establishing democratic ins…

    Charles Evans HughesCharles Evans Hughes quote #8
  2. What is new in work democracy is: that for the first time in the history of sociology, a possible future regulation of human society is derived not from ideolo…

    Wilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich quote #26
  3. You can choose whatever name you like for the two types of government. I personally call the type of government which can be removed without ?violence 'democra…

    Karl PopperKarl Popper quote #1