"THERE SHALL BE NO BUYING AND SELLING OF THE EARTH, NOR OF THE
FRUITS THEREOF.
"For by the Government under Kings the cheaters hereby have cozened
the plain-hearted of their Creation Birth-rights, and have
possessed themselves in the Earth, and call it theirs, and not the
others, and so have brought in that poverty and misery which lies
upon many men. And whereas the wise should help the foolish, and
the strong help the weak, the wise and strong destroy the weak and
simple ... and so the Proverb is made true--_Plain dealing is a
jewel, but he who uses it shall die a beggar._ And why? Because
this buying and selling is the nursery of cheats; it is the Law of
the Conqueror, the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees....
And these cunning cheaters commonly become the Rulers of the
Earth.... For not the wise poor man, but the cunning rich man was
always made an Officer and a Ruler; such a one as by his stolen
interests in the Earth would be sure to hold others in bondage of
poverty and servitude to him and his party. Therefore there shall
be no buying and selling in a free Common-wealth, neither shall
anyone hire his Brother to work for him."
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs:
such, then, was Winstanley's ideal; such was the Communistic
Commonwealth he evidently imagined would naturally evolve if only the
equal claims of all to the use of the Earth were once recognised and
respected.
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