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98 THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTHto rationalize popular praxis, in o<strong>the</strong>r words <strong>the</strong>ir incapacity toattribute it any reason.The characteristic, virtually endemic weakness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> underdevelopedcountries' national consciousness is not only <strong>the</strong> consequence<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonized subject's mutilation by <strong>the</strong> colonialregime. It can also be attributed to <strong>the</strong> apathy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> national bourgeoisie,its mediocrity, and its deeply cosmopolitan mentality.The national bourgeoisie, which takes over power at <strong>the</strong> end<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonial regime, is an underdeveloped bourgeoisie.economic clout is practically zero, and in any case, no way commensuratewith that <strong>of</strong> its metropolitan counterpart which itintends replacing. In its willful narcissism, <strong>the</strong> national bourgeoisiehas lulled itself into thinking that it can supplant <strong>the</strong>metropolitan bourgeoisie to its own advantage. But independence,which literally forces it back against <strong>the</strong> wall, triggerscatastrophic reactions and obliges it to send out distrcss signalsin <strong>the</strong> direction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former metropolis. The business eliteand university graduates, who make up <strong>the</strong> most educated category<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new nation, are identifiable by <strong>the</strong>ir small numbers,<strong>the</strong>ir concentration in <strong>the</strong> capital, and <strong>the</strong>ir occupationsas traders, landowners and pr<strong>of</strong>essionals. This national bourgeoisiepossesses nei<strong>the</strong>r industrialists nor financiers. The nationalbourgeoisie in <strong>the</strong> underdeveloped countries is not geared to production,invention, creation, or work. All its energy is channeledintermediary activities. Networking and scheming seemto be its underlying vocation. The national bourgeoisie has <strong>the</strong>psychology <strong>of</strong> a businessman, not that <strong>of</strong> a captain <strong>of</strong> industry.And it should go without saying that <strong>the</strong> rapacity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonistsand <strong>the</strong> embargo system installed by colonialism hardlyleft it any choice.Under <strong>the</strong> colonial system a bourgeoisie that accumulates capitalis in <strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> impossible. our thinking, <strong>the</strong>refore,historical vocation <strong>of</strong> an au<strong>the</strong>ntic national bourgeoisie in anunderdeveloped country is to repudiate its status as bourgeoisTHE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 99an instrument <strong>of</strong> capital and to become entirely subservient to <strong>the</strong>revolutionary capital which <strong>the</strong> people represent.an underdeveloped country, <strong>the</strong> imperative duty <strong>of</strong> an au<strong>the</strong>nticnational bourgeoisie is to betray <strong>the</strong> vocation to which itis destined, to learn from <strong>the</strong> people, and make available to <strong>the</strong>mintellectual and technical capital it culled from its time incolonial universities. We will see, unfortunately, that <strong>the</strong> nationalbourgeoisie <strong>of</strong>ten turns away from this heroic and positive path,which is both productive and just, and unabashedly opts for <strong>the</strong>antinational, and <strong>the</strong>refore abhorrent, path <strong>of</strong> a conventionalbourgeoisie, a bourgeois bourgeoisie that is dismally, inanely, andcynically bourgeois.We have seen that <strong>the</strong> objective <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> nationalist parties froma certain period onward is geared strictly along national lines.They mobilize <strong>the</strong> people with <strong>the</strong> slogan independence, andanything else is left to <strong>the</strong> future. When <strong>the</strong>se parties are questionedon <strong>the</strong>ir economic agenda for <strong>the</strong> nation or <strong>the</strong> regime<strong>the</strong>y propose to establish <strong>the</strong>y prove incapable <strong>of</strong> giving an answerbecause, in fact, <strong>the</strong>y do not have a clue about <strong>the</strong> economy<strong>the</strong>ir own country.This economy has always developed outside <strong>the</strong>ir control. Asfor <strong>the</strong> present and potential resources <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir country's soil andsubsoil, <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge is purely academic and approximate.They can only talk about thcm in general and abstract terms.After independence, this underdeveloped bourgeoisie, reducedin number, lacking capital and rejecting <strong>the</strong> road to revolution,stagnates miserably. It cannot give free expression to its geniusthat was in <strong>the</strong> past hampered by colonial domination, or so itclaims. The precariousness <strong>of</strong> its resources and <strong>the</strong> scarcity <strong>of</strong>managerial talent forcc it for years into an economy <strong>of</strong> cottageindustries. In its inevitably highly limited perspective, <strong>the</strong> bourgeoisie'sidea <strong>of</strong> a national economy is one based on what we cancall local products. Grandiloquent speeches are made aboutlocal crafts. Unable to establish factories which would bc more
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OTHER WORKS BY FRANTZ FANON PUBLISH
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Foreword: Framing Fanonby Homi K. B
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xFOREWORDFOREWORDxito such a narrow
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xviFOREWORDor ancient, despite the
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'.1'tPreface by Jean-Paul Sartre No
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xlviPREFACEPREFACExlviiWhat a downf
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PREFACEPREFACElicrime, they lay dow
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livPREFACEPREFACEIvAcropolis. Okay:
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Conclusion Now, comrades, now is th
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242 ON RETRANSLATING FANON, RETRIEV
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#'iF.#~y250 ON RETRANSLATING I'ANON