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05 - Anarchy - Errico Malatesta · The Philosophy Insights Collection

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All that you have said may be true. Say some anarchy may be a
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perfect form of social life, But we have no desire to take a leap
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in the dark. Therefore, tell us how your society will be organized.
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Then follows a long string of questions, which would be very interesting if it
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were our business to study the problems that might arise in an emancipated society,
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but of which it is useless and absurd to imagine that we could now offer
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a definite solution. According to what method will children be taught? How will
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production and distribution be organized? Will there still be large cities? Or will
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people spread equally over all the surface of the earth. Will all the inhabitants
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of Siberia winter at nice? Will every one dine on partridges and drink champagne?
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Who will be the miners and sailors? Who will clear the drains?
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Will the sick be nursed at home or in hospitals? Who will arrange the
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railway time table? What will happen when if the engine driver falls ill while
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the train is on its way, And so on without end? As though
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we could prophesy all the knowledge and experience of the future time, or could
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in the name of anarchy, prescribe for the coming man what time we should
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go to bed, and on what days he should cut his nails. Indeed,
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if our readers expect from us an answer to these questions, or even
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to those among them really serious and important, which cannot be anything more than
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our own private opinion, at this present hour, we must have succeeded badly
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in our endeavor to explain what anarchy is. We are no more profits than
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other men. And should we pretend to give an official solution to all the
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problems that will arise in the life of the future society, we should have,
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indeed a curious idea of the abolition of government. We should then be
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describing a government dictating, like the clergy, a universal code for the present
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and all future time. Seeing that we have neither police nor prisons to enforce
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our doctrine, humanity might laugh with impunity at us and our pretensions. Nevertheless,
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we consider seriously all the problems of social life which now suggest themselves,
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on account of their scientific interest, and because, hoping to see anarchy realized,
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we wish to help towards the organization of the new society. We have
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therefore our own ideas on these subjects ideas which are to our minds likely to
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be permanent or transitory according to their respective cases, and did space permit,
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We might add somewhat more on these points. But the fact that we to
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day think in a certain way on a given question is no proof that such
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will be the mode of procedure in the future. Who can foresee the activities
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which may develop in humanity when it is emancipated from misery and oppression, when
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all are the means of instruction and self development, when the strife between men
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with the hatred and rancored breeds will be no longer a necessary condition of existence.
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Who can foresee the progress of science, that new sources of production,
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means of communition, et cetera. The one essential is that a society be
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constituted in which the exploitation and domination of man by man are impossible. That
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the society, in other words, be such that the means of existence and
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development of labor be free and open to every one, and all be able
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to co operate according to their wishes and their knowledge in the organization of social
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life. Under such conditions, everything will necessarily be performed in compliance with the
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needs of all according to the knowledge and possibilities of the moment, and everything
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will improve with the increase of knowledge and power. In fact, a program
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which would touch the basis of the new social constitution could not do more,
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after all, than indicate a method. And method, more than anything else,
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defines parties and determines their importance in history. Method apart. Everyone says
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he wishes for the good of mankind, and many do truly wish for it.
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As parties disappear, every organized action directed to a definite end and disappears.
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Likewise, it is therefore necessary to consider anarchy as above all a method.
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There are two methods by which the different parties not anarchistic expect or say
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they expect to bring about the greatest good of each and all. These are
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the authoritarian or state socialist and the individualist methods. The former entrusts the direction
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of social life to a few, and it would result in the exploitation and
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oppression of the masses by that view. The second party trusts to the free
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initiative of individuals and proclaims, if not the abolition the reduction of government.
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However, as it respects private property and is founded on the principle of each
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for himself, and therefore on competition. Its liberty is only the liberty of
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the strong, the license of those who have to oppress and exploit the weak,
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who have nothing. Far from producing harmony, it would tend always to
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augment the distance between the rich and the poor, and end also through exploitation
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and domination in authority. This second method, individualism is, in theory a
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kind of anarchy without socialism. It is therefore no better than a lie,
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because liberty is not possible without equality, and true anarchy cannot be without solidarity
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without socialism. The criticism which individualists pass on government is merely the wish to
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deprive it of certain functions, to virtually hand them over to the capitalist.
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But it cannot attack those repressive functions which form the essence of government, For
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without an armed force, the proprietary system could not be upheld. Nay,
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even more, under individualism, the repressive power of government must always increase in
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proportion to the increase by means of free competition. Of the want of equality
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and harmony, anarchists present a new method, the free initiative of all and
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free agreement. Then, after the revolutionary abolition of private property, everyone will
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have equal power to dispose of social wealth. This method, not admitting the
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re establishment of private property, must lead, by means of free association,
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to the complete triumph of the principles of solidarity. Thus we see that all
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the problems put forward to combat the anarchistic idea are on the contrary arguments in
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favor of anarchy, because it alone indicates the way in which, by experience,
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those solutions which correspond to the dicta of science and to the needs and
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wishes of all, can best be found. How will children be educated?
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We do not know what. Then, the parents, teachers, and all
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who are interested in the progress of the rising generation will meet, discuss,
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agree and differ, and then divide according to their various opinions, putting into
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practice the methods which they respectively hold to be best. That method, which,
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when tried, produces the best results, will triumph in the end.
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And so for all the problems that may arise. According to what we have
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so far said, it is evident that anarchy, as the anarchists conceive it,
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and as alone it can be comprehended, is based on socialism. Furthermore,
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were it not for that school of socialists who artificially divide the natural unity
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of the social question considering only some detached points, and were it not also
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for the equivocations with which they strive to hinder the social revolution, we might
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say right away that anarchy is synonymous with socialism, because both signify the abolition
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of exploitation and of the domination of man over man, whether maintained by the
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force of arms or by the morapolization of the means of life. Anarchy,
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like socialism, has for its basis and necessary point of departure, equality of
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conditions. Its aim is solidarity, and its method liberty. It is not
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perfection, nor is it the absolute ideal, which, like the horizon,
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always recedes as we advance towards it. But it is the open road to
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all progress and to all improvement made in the interest of all humanity. There
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are authoritarians who grant that anarchy is the mode of social life which alone opens
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the way to the attainment of the highest possible good for mankind, because it
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alone can put an end to every class interested in keeping the masses oppressed and
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miserable. They also grant that anarchy is possible because it does nothing more than
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release humanity from an obstacle government against which it has always had to fight its
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painful way to its progress. Nevertheless, these authoritarians, re enforced by many
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warm lovers of liberty and justice in theory, retire unto our last entrenchments,
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because they are afraid of liberty and cannot be persuaded that mankind could live and
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prosper without teachers and pastors. Still hard pressed by the truth, they pitifully
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demand to have the reign of liberty put off for a while, indeed,
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for as long as possible. Such is the substance of the arguments that meet
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us at this stage. A society without a government, which would act by
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free, voluntary cooperation, trusting entirely to the spontaneous action of those interested,
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and founded altogether on solidarity and sympathy, is, certainly, they say,
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a very beautiful ideal, But like all ideals, it is a castle in
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the air. We find ourselves placed in a human society which has always been
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divided into oppressors and oppressed. And if the former are full of the spirit
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of domination and have all the vices of tyrants, the latter are corrupted by
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servility, and have those still worse vices which are the result of enslavement.
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The sentiment of solidarity is far from being dominant in man at the present day.
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And if it is true that a different class masses of men are becoming
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more and more unanimous among themselves, it is nonetheless true that that which is
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most conspicuous and impresses itself most on human character to day is the struggle for
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existence. It is a fact that each fights daily against everyone else, and
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competition presses upon all workmen and masters, causing every man to become a wolf
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towards every other man. How can these men, educated in a society based
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upon antagonism between individuals as well as classes, be transformed in a moment and
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become capable of living in a society in which each shall do as he likes
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and as he should, without external coercion, caring for the good of others
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simply by the impulse of their own nature. And with what heart or what
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common sense can he trust to a revolution on the part of an ignorant,
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turbulent mass, weakened by misery, stupefied by priestcraft, who are to day
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blood sandronary, and to morrow will let themselves be humbuged by any knave who
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dares to call themselves their master? Would it not be more prudent to advance
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gradually towards the anarchistic ideal, passing through republican, democratic, and socialistic stages.
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Will not an educative government composed of the best man be necessary to prepare
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the advancing generations for their future destiny. These objections also ought not to appear
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valid if we have succeeded in making our readers understand what we have already said,
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and in convincing them of it. But in any case, even at
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the risk of a repetition, it may be as well to answer them.
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We find ourselves continually met by the false notion that government is in itself a
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new force sprung up. One knows not whence which of itself add something to
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the sum of the force and capability of those whom it is composed of and
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of those who obeyed. While on the contrary, all that is done is
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done by individual men, the government as a government adds nothing save the tendency
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to monopolize for the advantage of certain parties or classes, and to repress all
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initiative from beyond its own circle. To abolish authority or government does not mean
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to destroy the individual or collective forces which hard work in society, nor the
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influence men exert over one another. That will be to reduce humanity to an
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aggregate of inert and separate atoms, an impossibility which, if it could be
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performed, would be the destruction of any society, the death blow to mankind.
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To abolish authority means to abolish the monopoly of force and of influence.
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It means to abolish that state of things by which social force, that is,
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the collective force of all in a society, is made the instrument of
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the thought, will and intrance of a small number of individuals. These,
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by means of the collective force, suppressed the liberty of every one else to
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the advantage of their own ideas. In other words, it means to destroy
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a mode of organization by means of which the future is exploited between one revolution
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and another to the profit of those who have been the victors of the moment.
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Mihail Bakunnen, in an article published in eighteen seventy two, asserts that
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the great means of action of the International, with the propagating of their ideas
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and the organization of the spontaneous action of its members in regard to the masses.
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He then adds, to whoever might pretend that action so organized would be
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an outrage on the liberty of the masses, or an attempt to create a
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new authoritative power, we would reply that he is a sophist and a fool.
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So much the worse for those who ignore the natural social law of human
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solidarity. To the extent of imagining that an absolute mutual independence of individuals and
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of masses is a possible or even desirable thing to desire, it would be
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to wish for the destruction of society. For all, social life is nothing
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else than this mutual and incessant interdependence among individuals and masses. All individuals,
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even the most gifted and strongest, indeed most of all the most gifted and
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strongest, are, at every moment of their lives at the same time,
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produces and products equal liberty. For every individual is only the resultant, continually
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reproduced of this mass of material, intellectual, and moral influence exercised on him
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by all the individuals around him, belonging to the society in which he was
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born, has developed and dies to wish to escape this influence in the name
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of a transcendental liberty, divine, absolutely egoistic, and sufficient to itself,
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is the tendency to annihilate. To refrain from influencing others would mean to refrain
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from all social action, indeed, to abstain from all expression of one's thoughts
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and sentiments, and simply to become non existent, this independence so much extolled
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by idealists and metaphysicians. Individual liberty conceived in this sense would amount to self
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annihilation in nature, as in human society, which is also a part of
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this same nature. All that exists lives only by complying with the supreme conditions
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of interaction, which is more or less positive and potent with regard to the
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lives of other beings according to the nature of the individual. And when we
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vindicate the liberty of the masses, we do not pretend to abolish anything of
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the natural influences that individuals or groups of individuals exert upon one another. What
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we wish for is the abolition of artificial influences, which are privileged, legal,
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and official. Certainly, in the present state of mankind, oppressed by
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misery, stupefied by superstition, and sunk in degradation, the human lot depends
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upon a relatively small number of individuals. Of course, all men will not
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be able to rise in a moment to the height of perceiving their duty or
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even the enjoyment of so regulating their own action that others also will derive the
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greatest possible benefit from it. But because nowadays the thoughtful and guiding forces at
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work in society are few, that is no reason for paralyzing them still more,
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and for the subjection of many individuals to the direction of a few.
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It is no reason for constituting society in such a manner that the most active
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forces, the highest capacities, are in the end found outside the government and
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almost deprived of influence on social life. All this now happens owing to the
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inertia that secured positions foster to heredity, to protectionism, to party spirit,
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and all the mechanisms of government. For those in government office, taken out
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of their former social position, primarily concerned in retaining power, lose all power
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to act spontaneously and become only an obstacle to the free action of others.
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With the abolition of this negative potency constituting government, society will become that which
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it can be with the given forces and capabilities at the moment. If there
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are educated men desires of spreading education, they will organize the schools and will
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be constrained to make the use and enjoyment to be derived from education felt.
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And if there are no such men, or only a few of them,
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a government cannot create them. All it can do, as in fact it
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does nowadays, is to take these few away from practical, fruitful work in
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the sphere of education, and put them to direct from above what has to
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be imposed by the help of alice system. So they make out of intelligent
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and impassionate teachers mere politicians who become useless parasites, entirely absorbed in imposing their
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own hobbies and in maintaining themselves in power. If there are doctors and teachers
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of hygiene, they will organize themselves for the service of health. And if
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there are none, a government cannot create them. All that can do is
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to discredit them in the eyes of the people, who are inclined to entertain
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suspicions sometimes only too well founded, with regard to everything which is imposed upon
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them. If there are engineers and mechanics, they will organize the railways et
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cetera. And if there are none, a government cannot create them. The
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revolution, by abolishing government and private property, will not create force which does
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not exist, but it will leave a free field for the exercise of all
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available force and of all existent capacity. While it will destroy every class interested
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in keeping the masses degraded, it will act in such a way that everyone
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will be free to work and make his influence felt in proportion to his own
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capacity, and in conformity with its sentiments and interests. And it is only
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thus that the elevation at the masses is possible. For it is only with
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liberty that one can learn to be free, as it is only by working
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that one can learn to work. A government, even had it no other
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advantages, must always have that of habituating the government to subjection, and must
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also tend to become more oppressive and more necessary in proportion as its subjects are
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more obedient than docile. But suppose government with the direction of affairs by the
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best people, who are the best? And how shall we recognize their superiority?
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The majority are generally attached to old prejudices, and have ideas and instincts
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already outgrown by the more favored minority, but not the various minorities, who
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all believe themselves in the right. As no doubt many of them are in
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part which shall be chosen to rule, and by whom and by what criterion,
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Seeing that the future alone can prove which among them is the most superior.
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If you choose a hundred partisans of dictatorship, you will discover that each
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one of the hundred believes himself capable of being, if not sole dictator,
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at least of assisting very materially in the dictatorial government. The dictators would be
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those who, by one means or another, succeeded in imposing themselves on society,
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and in course of time, all their energy would inevitably be employed in
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defending themselves against the attacks of their adversaries, totally oblivious of their desire,
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if ever, they had had it to be merely an educative power. Should
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government be, on the other hand, elected by universal suffrage, and so
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be the emanation more or less sincere of the wish of the majority. But
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if you consider these worthy electors as incapable of providing for their own interests,
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how can they ever be capable of themselves choosing directors to guide them wisely?
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How solve this problem of social alchemy? To elect a government of geniuses by
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the votes of a mass of fools, and what will be the lot of
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the minority who are the most intelligent, most active, and most advanced in
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society? To solve the social problem to the advantage of all. There is
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only one way to expel the government by revolutionary means, to expropriate the holders
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of social wealth, putting everything at the disposition of all, and to leave
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all existing fools, capacity, and good will among men free to provide for
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the needs of all. We fight for anarchy and for socialism because we believe
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that anarchy and socialism ought to be brought into operation as soon as possible,
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which means that the revolution must drive away the government, abolish private property,
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and entrust all public service, which will then embrace all social life to the
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spontaneous, free, unofficial, and unauthorized operation of all those interested, at
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all those willing volunteers. There will certainly be difficulties and inconveniences, but the
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people will be resolute, and they alone can solve all difficulties anarchically, that
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is, by direct action of those interested and by free agreement. We cannot
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say whether anarchy and socialism will triumph after the next revolutionary attempt. But this
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is certain that if any of the so called transition programs triumph, it will
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be because we have been temporarily beaten, and never because we have thought it
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wise to leave in existence any one part of that evil system under which humanity
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groans. Whatever happens, we shall have some influence on events by our numbers,
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our energy, our intelligence, and our steadfastness. Also, even if
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we are now conquered, our work will not have been in vain. For
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the more decided we shall have been in aiming at the realization of all our
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demands, the less there will be of government and of private property in the
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new society, and we shall have done a great work. For human progress
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is measured by the degree in which government and private property are administered. If
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to day we fall without lowering our colors, our cause is certain of victory
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tomorrow. End of Section five, End of Anarchy by Erco Mala Testa