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[YAWN 26]
[Art Strike 1990-1993]
Stealing Back and Forth of Symbols
The divine right of kings was first invoked by secular interests
combatting the authority of the theocrats. It held that God appointed
the king, rather than the church authorities, to represent the secular
interests of "the people." Later, when the church made peace with
established monarchs, identifying its interests with the interests
of the secular authorities, the church adopted the doctrine as its
own. And subsequently the bourgeoisie repudiated the doctrine, in
repudiating both monarch and state. It did so in the name of
"rights." Among these "rights" was "freedom." And Marx in turn
stole this bourgeois symbol for the proletariat. The stealing back
and forth of symbols is the approved method whereby the Outs avoid
being "driven into a corner."
Kenneth Burke, Attitudes Toward History (1937)