The History of Capitalism

The Dutch ruling classes punishment of sodomites in the 1730s more closely resembled the cruel spectacles of Venice than the bookkeeping operation of Florence's officers of the night. The wave of persecutions reflected a secular economic crisis of capitalism, a floating mass of surplus labor appeared alongside surplus capital seeking speculative investments abroad and at home. As Marx points out, you need to separate people from their ability to survive on their own,. To get them to survive in snatches to the rhythms of accumulation.