Quiz: Reform or Revolution

14 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. Without the theory of collapse, what kind of foundation does Luxemburg say socialism is left with? A religious foundation, resting on Christian ethics A purely statistical foundation, by counting votes An idealist foundation, by “pure knowledge” A national foundation, in the interest of the fatherland
2. What role does Luxemburg say small capitals play in capitalist development? Pioneers of technical change, periodically mown down by big capital The main support of the socialist movement A stable class untouched by concentration A dying class that concentration will soon wipe out entirely in every branch
3. How does Luxemburg describe the relation of legal reform to revolution? Reform is simply slower revolution Revolution is only necessary where the road of legal reform is blocked Reform and revolution are interchangeable methods Reform works only within the framework created by the last revolution
4. Who has dropped anchor in the “quiet harbour” of disillusionment with social reform? The Russian legal Marxists The English Fabians The French Possibilists Professor Schmoller and the socialists of the chair
5. Why, according to Luxemburg, can cartels never become a general form of production? The law forbids them Workers always break them by strikes They raise profit in one branch only at the expense of others They cannot be organised across national frontiers and tariff walls
6. What is Luxemburg’s verdict on credit as a “means of adaptation”? It reproduces and sharpens capitalism’s cardinal contradictions It is neutral with respect to crises It removes crises by smoothing exchange between branches of production It is a socialist institution within capitalism
7. What does Luxemburg say Bernstein’s theory is a mirror image of? The programme of the Fabian Society The external world, but sometimes stood on its head Marx’s Capital, faithfully reproduced in every detail The conditions of the 1840s
8. With what story does Luxemburg illustrate Bernstein’s attempt to abolish wage slavery by law? A shopkeeper weighing cinnamon and pepper A knight tilting at windmills A boaster who claims to have jumped at Rhodes A Russian policeman who grabs a fellow by the collar and finds he has none
9. Which pillar of scientific socialism does Luxemburg say Bernstein removes? The socialisation of the whole process of production The class consciousness of the proletariat The labour theory of value The growing anarchy of the capitalist economy
10. Which French financier does Luxemburg cite as appearing, in Marx’s words, half prophet and half scoundrel? Ferdinand de Lesseps Isaac Péreire James de Rothschild Jacques Laffitte
11. Why, according to Luxemburg, do producers’ co-operatives fail inside capitalism? Their members lack the technical skill and the capital that large firms possess Consumers boycott their goods To compete, the workers must act as capitalist employers towards themselves The state refuses them credit
12. Which of these is not one of the three ways militarism serves the capitalist class? An instrument of class rule at home over the working people A weapon in the competition of rival national interests The most important field of investment for financial capital Opening natural-economy countries to capitalism
13. What, in Luxemburg’s view, can secure a producers’ co-operative’s existence? A fixed circle of consumers through a consumers’ co-operative Affiliation to a trade union that guarantees its labour Tariff protection against cheaper foreign competitors Regular subsidies from the state or the municipal authorities
14. Which sector does Luxemburg say plays the decisive part in present-day tariff policy? Agriculture Banking and finance Heavy industry Overseas shipping

0 of 14 answered