Without the power of the Industrial Union behind it, Democracy can only enter the State as the victim enters the gullet of the Serpent.
Meaning of the quote
This quote means that if the people do not have the strong support and power of workers' unions, then democracy will be taken over and destroyed by the government or other powerful forces, just like a snake swallows its prey. It suggests that democracy requires the backing of organized labor to survive and thrive in a country.
About James Connolly
James Connolly was a Scottish-born Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader who played a pivotal role in the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland. He founded Ireland’s first socialist party and was a prominent figure in the Irish labour movement.
More quotes from James Connolly
The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave.
Irish republican, trade unionist and socialist revolutionary
If you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves we will still evoke a spirit that will thwart you, and perhaps, raise a force that will destroy you! We defy you! Do your worst!
Irish republican, trade unionist and socialist revolutionary
Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national literature cannot rise above the moral level of the social conditions of the people from whom it derives its inspiration.
Irish republican, trade unionist and socialist revolutionary
Without the power of the Industrial Union behind it, Democracy can only enter the State as the victim enters the gullet of the Serpent.
Irish republican, trade unionist and socialist revolutionary