Frederich Engels was a German socialist leader and political philosopher who collaborated with Karl Marx on the Communist Manifesto in 1848. When he was a youngster, his father took him on a tour of the family textile factory—the factory that was to become young Frederich’s inheritance.
The six-year-old lad was bothered by the miserable working conditions there. He saw children about his own age working long hours.
He didn’t have the courage to ask his stern father any questions about the situation, but he did question his mother when he got home.
“Will I soon have to go to work in the factory?” he asked.
His mother reassured him. “No Frederich, you won’t. You can be glad that we own the factory.”
That didn’t quite satisfy him. He asked, “How about the children who do work there? Are they glad?”
His mother now put him off. She said, “Frederich, it’s better that you don’t worry your head about such things. You can’t change things.”
The…
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