A feeling of despair took possession of all those who wished to do anything useful in public life; while the peasantry were ruined at an appalling rate by over-taxation, and by ‘beating out’ of them the arrears of the taxes by means of semi-military executions, which ruined them for ever.
Kropotkin describes the despair felt by those wanting to contribute positively to society amidst oppressive taxation and government actions.
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