I have been having trouble getting back to the comfort of Stalin and 
have been sidetracked reading Hannah Arendt, The Origins of 
Totalitarianism... the following I find interesting and relevant to the 
thread of traditional GUILDS:

"The lower middle classes, or petty bourgeosie, were the descendants of 
the guilds of artsans and tradesmen who for centuries had been protected 
against the hazards of life by a closed system which outlawed 
competition and was in the last instance under the protection of the 
state. They consequently blamed their misfortune upon the Manchester 
system (??), which had exposed them to the hardships of a competitive 
society and deprived them of all special protection and privileges 
granted by public authorities. They were, therefore, the first to clamor 
for the "welfare state," which they expected not only to shield them 
against emergencies but to keep them in the professions and callings 
they had inherited from their families." p 36

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