Sentence:  If laborers are merely commodities competing against each other in a market place like so many bags of wheat and corn ( unsupported , by the way , by any agricultural subsidy ) , then they may be pardoned for <WSD>reacting</WSD> with complete antagonism to a system that imposes such status upon them . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  show a response or a reaction to something