Monopoly
Engels writes, “The proletarian is helpless; left to himself, he cannot live a single day. The bourgeoisie has gained a monopoly of all means of existence in the broadest sense of the word. What the proletarian needs, he can obtain only from this bourgeoisie, which is protected in its monopoly by the power of the State." Engels employs the term monopoly to underscore the material power which the middle class possess. Since the middle class are monopolists of material resources, the low-class individuals must work for them to earn a livelihood. The wealthy individuals exploit their monopoly-like power to dominate the working class.
Army
Engels observes, “When these people find no work and will not rebel against society, what remains for them but to beg? And surely no one can wonder at the great army of beggars, most of them able-bodied men, with whom the police carries on perpetual war.” The metaphoric army underscores the colossal numbers of individuals who engage in beggary due to poverty. Although they are strong and able bodied, they lack resources to improve their financial status; all resources have been monopolized by the bourgeoisie.
Phenomenon
Engels elucidates, “Drunkenness has here ceased to be a vice, for which the vicious can be held responsible; it becomes a phenomenon, the necessary, inevitable effect of certain conditions upon an object possessed of no volition in relation to those conditions.” Equating drunkenness to a phenomenon underscores its omnipresence among the working class. The poor working people embrace alcohol to deal with stress which is inherent in their difficult lives. Being drunk, which is very alluring, reprieves them temporarily from their comfortless lives and exhaustion.
Objects
Engels expounds, “Just as in Stirner’s recent book [The Ego and Its Own], people regard each other only as useful objects; each exploits the other, and the end of it all is that the stronger treads the weaker under foot; and that the powerful few, the capitalists, seize everything for themselves, while to the weak many, the poor, scarcely a bare existence remains." Deeming other humans objects is attributed to the Ego which encourages self-seeking tendencies among humans. People are conscious of their personal interests and they regard others as objects which could be exploited to achieve the interests.
Weapon
Engels remarks, “Since capital, the direct or indirect control of the means of subsistence and production, is the weapon with which this social warfare is carried on, it is clear that all the disadvantages of such a state must fall upon the poor." Underprivileged individuals are imperiled in ‘social warfares' because they lack capital to defend themselves from deficiency and exploitation. Comparatively, individuals with sufficient capital have higher odds of triumphing in such warfare.
