Vladimir Lenin's quotes about Freedom

“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”

—Vladimir Lenin

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Source and Context of this Quote :

“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”

The quote, “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners,” was said by Vladimir Lenin.

This statement appears in his work "The State and Revolution," which was written in 1917 and published in 1918.

1 In this text, Lenin discusses the nature of the state and democracy under capitalism, arguing that true freedom for the working class is not achievable within a capitalist system.

2 He draws a parallel between the limited democracy of ancient Greek city-states, where freedom was largely confined to the slave-owning class, and the perceived freedoms in capitalist societies, which he believed primarily benefited the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class).
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The quote “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for slave owners” is attributed to Vladimir Lenin.

It appears in his work "The State and Revolution" (1917), where he critiques bourgeois democracy and argues that under capitalism, true freedom is reserved for the ruling class (the bourgeoisie), much like how in ancient slave societies, only slaveholders enjoyed real freedom.

Exact Context:
Lenin uses this analogy to highlight that despite the formal declarations of freedom and equality in capitalist democracies, the economic conditions of exploitation (wage slavery) ensure that true freedom remains a privilege of the propertied class, just as it was for slaveholders in antiquity.

Source:
- Vladimir Lenin, The State and Revolution (Государство и революция), Chapter 5, Section 3.
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Here is the full passage from Lenin’s 'The State and Revolution' (1917) where the quote appears, along with its immediate context. The line you referenced is part of Lenin’s broader critique of bourgeois democracy and capitalist "freedom":

From 'The State and Revolution', Chapter 5: "The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State"
Section 3: "The First Phase of Communist Society"

"Capitalist culture has created large-scale production, factories, railways, the postal service, telephones, etc., and on this basis the great majority of the functions of the old 'state power' have become so simplified and can be reduced to such exceedingly simple operations of registration, filing, and checking that they can be easily performed by every literate person, can quite easily be performed for ordinary 'workmen’s wages', and that these functions can (and must) be stripped of every shadow of privilege, of every semblance of 'official grandeur'.

The more democratic the 'state' which consists of the armed workers, and which is 'no longer a state in the proper sense of the word', the more rapidly does every form of state begin to wither away altogether.

For when all have learned to administer and actually do independently administer social production, independently keep accounts and exercise control over the parasites, the sons of the wealthy, the swindlers and other 'guardians of capitalist traditions', the escape from this popular accounting and control will inevitably become so incredibly difficult, such a rare exception, and will probably be accompanied by such swift and severe punishment (for the armed workers are practical men and not sentimental intellectuals, and they will scarcely allow anyone to trifle with them), that the necessity of observing the simple, fundamental rules of the community will very soon become a habit.

Then the door will be thrown wide open for the transition from the first phase of communist society to its higher phase, and with it to the complete withering away of the state."

Relevant Excerpt on "Freedom" (Shortly Before the Quote)

"Democracy for an insignificant minority, democracy for the rich—that is the democracy of capitalist society. If we look more closely into the machinery of capitalist democracy, we see everywhere, in the 'petty'—supposedly petty—details of the suffrage (residential qualification, exclusion of women, etc.), in the technique of the representative institutions, in the actual obstacles to the right of assembly (public buildings are not for 'paupers'!), in the purely capitalist organization of the daily press, etc., etc.—we see restriction after restriction upon democracy. These restrictions, exceptions, exclusions, obstacles for the poor, seem slight, especially in the eyes of one who has never known want himself and has never been in close contact with the oppressed classes in their mass life (and nine-tenths, if not ninety-nine hundredths, of the bourgeois publicists and politicians are of this category); but in their sum total these restrictions exclude and squeeze out the poor from politics, from active participation in democracy.

Marx grasped this essence of capitalist democracy splendidly when, in analyzing the experience of the Commune, he said that the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament!

But freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners. Owing to the conditions of capitalist exploitation, the modern wage-slaves are so crushed by want and poverty that "they cannot be bothered with democracy", "cannot be bothered with politics"; in the ordinary, peaceful course of events, the majority of the population is debarred from participation in public and political life."
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Key Points of the Passage
1. Bourgeois democracy is a sham : Lenin argues that capitalist "freedom" only benefits the ruling class (the bourgeoisie), just as ancient democracies (like Athens) only granted rights to slaveholders.
2. Wage slavery under capitalism : Workers are "wage-slaves," too exploited to meaningfully participate in politics.
3. The need for proletarian democracy : Only a workers' state (a dictatorship of the proletariat) can dismantle class oppression and create true freedom.

Why the Greek Republics?
Lenin references 'ancient Greek republics' (e.g., Athens) because they were "democratic" only for free male citizens—not slaves, women, or foreigners. Similarly, under capitalism, formal "freedom" masks economic exploitation.

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