At the sunset of the Weimar republic, one of Germany’s greatest ever sociologists put the final nail in the coffin of left-wing revolution.

Class struggle was born in the English Civil War, honed in the French Revolution, and perfected in Marxism—all revolutions from the left. But liberal democratic capitalism has been able to digest and neutralize all left-wing radicalism. Revolutionary socialism was simply bribed into deradicalizing by offering the proletariat concessions. The trade union went from vehicle of revolution to integration within the structure: the enemy of liberal capitalism became its partner.

Freyer sees another revolution on the horizon—revolution from the right. Not based on narrow class interests, and so not corruptible, it reasserts the proper use of the state, answering the question “for whom?” with for the folk. In this dazzling combination of sociology and prophecy, Freyer tells us the hour of decision is come, and we are either for bourgeois society or for the revolution from the right.