wretched-of-the-earth-frantz-fanon

120 THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH* * *bourgeois caste draws its main strength from agreements signedthe former colonial power. The national bourgeoisie hasan even greater chance of taking over from the colonialist oppressorsince it has given every opportunity to maintain itsclose links with the ex-colonial power. But deep-rooted contradictionsshake the ranks of this bourgeoisie, giving the closeobserver an impression of instability. There is not yet a homogeneityof caste. Many intellectuals, for instance, condemn thisregime based on domination by a select few. Inoped countries there areofficials who sincerelv feeleconomy,any wrm mystifi­men, to a certain degree, are in favor ofparticipation by the people in theofaffairs.The struggle against the bourgeoisie in the underdevelopedcountries is far from being simply theoretical. It is not a ques­tion of deciphering the way historv has iudged and nAnr1"'~nit. national bourgeoisienot be combated it threatens to curb the over-It must be resolutelybecause literally it serves no purpose. Mediocre in itswinnings, in its achievements and its thinking, this bourgeoisieattempts to mask its mediocrity by ostentatious projects for indi­vidual prestige, chromium-platcd American cars, vacations onthe French Riviera and weekends in neon-lit nightclubs.This bourgeoisie, which increasingly turns its back on theoverall population, fails even to squeeze from the yVestspectacular concessions as valuableIt is that much easier to neutralize this bourgeois class since,as we have seen, it is numerically, intellectually, and economi­cally weak. In the colonized territories after independence theTHE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 121confirms the neo­economy is struggling.no way, therefore, can it be said that national bourgeoisieslows the country's development, that it is wasting the nation'sor possibly leading it into a dead end. But the truth is thatthe bourgeois phase in the history of the underdeveloped coun­tries is a useless phase. Once this caste has been eliminated,swallowed up by its own contradictions, it will be clear to every­one that no progress has been made since independence and thateverything has to be started over again from scratch. This restrucofthe economy will not be based on the order set in placecaste has doneIn underdevcloped countries that acquire independence thereis almost always a small number of upstanding intellectuals,without set political ideas, who instinctively distrust the race forjobs and handouts that is symptomatic of the aftermathpendence. The personal situation of these menfor an extended family) or their life storymoralsmartandto be used intelligently in theto steer nation in a healtllY direction. Bartothe national bourgeoisie is a sure way ofavoidingofindependence, the trials and tribulations ofnationalthe decline of morals, the assault on the nation by corrup­tion, an economic downturn and, in the short term, an antidemo­cratic regime relying on forcc and intimidation. But it also meanschoosing the only way to go forward.The profoundly democratic and progressive elements theyoung nation are reluctant and shy about making any decisiondue to the apparent of the bourgeoisie.cities of the newlya"I!i;!d"" '