Antonio Gramsci

Men of Flesh and Blood

1921
Source: LOrdine Nuovo, May 8, 1921;
Translated: by Mitchell Abidor;
The workers o !iat ha"e returned to their #obs$ %etrayal& 'enial o re"olutionary ideals& The
workers o !iat are men o lesh and blood$ They resisted or a month$ They knew how to i(ht
and resist, not only or themsel"es, not only or the rest o the workin( masses o Turin, but or
the entire )talian workin( class$
They resisted or a month$ They were *hysically worn out because, or many weeks and
months, their salaries were reduced and were no lon(er suicient to sustain their amilies, and
yet they resisted or a month$ They were com*letely isolated rom the nation, immersed in a
(eneral atmos*here o weariness, indierence, hostility, and yet they resisted or a month$
They knew not to e+*ect any outside assistance$ They knew that the )talian workin( class was
now rendered hel*less, condemned to deeat, and yet they resisted or a month$ There is no
shame in the deeat o the !iat workers$ ,e can-t ask o a mass o men who, assailed by the
most *ressin( needs o e+istence, who are res*onsible or the e+istence o a *o*ulation o
./,/// *eo*le, we can-t ask o them more than was (i"en by these comrades who returned to
work, sadly, re(retully, conscious o the im*ossibility o urther resistance or action$
0s*ecially we 1ommunists, who li"e side by side with the workers, who know their needs,
who ha"e a realistic idea o the situation, should understand the reasons or this conclusion to
the Turinese stru((le$
!or too many months the masses ou(ht, or too many years they e+hausted themsel"es in
small scale actions, s2uanderin( their means and their ener(y$ And this was the re*roach that at
the end o May 1919 we o 3Ordine Nuovo4 consistently *ut orth to the heads o the workers
and socialist mo"ements: don-t abuse the resistance and the "irtue o sacriice o the
*roletariat$ ,e were dealin( with ordinary men, real men sub#ect to the same weaknesses as all
the ordinary men that we *ass on the street; who drink in the ta"erns, talk in (rou*s in the
*la5as, who are hun(ry and cold, who are mo"ed when they hear their children cry and their
wi"es loudly lament$
6ur re"olutionary o*timism has always been sustained by this crudely *essimistic "ision o
human reality, which must ine+orably be taken into account$ A year a(o we already oresaw
what the )talian situation would result in i the res*onsible leaders were to continue in their
tactic o re"olutionary s2ualls and o**ortunist *ractice$ And we des*erately ou(ht to recall
these res*onsible indi"iduals to a more realistic, more *ractical "ision, one more con(ruous
and in accordance with the de"elo*ment o e"ents$
Today we are *ayin( or the ine*titude and the blindness o the others$ 0"en today the Turinese
*roletariat must su**ort the blows o the ad"ersary, stren(thened by the non7resistance o the
others$ There is no shame in the surrender o the workers o !iat$ That which had to ha**en
im*lacably did ha**en$ The )talian workin( class has been lattened beneath the steamroller o
ca*italist reaction$ !or how lon(& 8othin( is lost i belie and consciousness remain intact, i
bodies surrenders, but not souls$
The workers o !iat ou(ht or years strenuously, ha"e bathed the streets in their blood, ha"e
suered rom hun(er and cold$ Thanks to their (lorious *ast they remain in the "an(uard o the
)talian *roletariat, they remain militants aithul and de"oted to the re"olution$ They ha"e done
what is (i"en men o lesh and blood to do$ ,e should take o our hats beore their
humiliation, because e"en in this there is somethin( (rand that ins*ires the sincere and the
honest$