Anarchism and SocialismPlekhanov, Georgii Valentinovich
Philosophy
Anarchism and Socialism
Plekhanov, Georgii Valentinovich
Anarchism; Socialism
"Well, Citizens, let others preach industrial barracks, and the convent
of "Authoritarian" Communism, we declare that the _tendency_ of
societies is in the opposite direction. We see millions and millions of
groups constituting themselves freely in order to satisfy all the varied
wants of human beings, groups formed, some by districts, by streets, by
houses; others holding out hands across the walls (!) of cities, of
frontiers, of oceans. All made up of human beings freely seeking one
another, and having done their work as producers, associating
themselves, to consume, or to produce articles of luxury, or to turn
science into a new direction. This is the tendency of the nineteenth
century, and we are following it; we ask only to develop it freely,
without let or hindrance on the part of governments. Liberty for the
individual!" "Take some pebbles," said Fourier, "put them into a box and
shake them; they will arrange themselves into a mosaic such as you could
never succeed in producing if you told off some one to arrange them
harmoniously."[56]
A wit has said that the profession of faith of the Anarchists reduces
itself to two articles of a fantastic law: (1) There shall be nothing.
(2) No one is charged with carrying out the above article.
This is not correct. The Anarchists say:
(1) There shall be everything. (2) No one is held responsible for seeing
that there is anything at all.
This is a very seductive "Ideal," but its realisation is unfortunately
very improbable.
Let us now ask, what is this "free agreement" which according to
Kropotkine, exists even in capitalist society? He quotes two kinds of
examples by way of evidence: (_a_) those connected with production and
the circulation of commodities; (_b_) those belonging to all kinds of
societies of amateurs--learned societies, philanthropic societies, etc.
"Take all the great enterprises: the Suez Canal, _e.g._, Trans-Atlantic
navigation, the telegraph that unites the two Americas. Take, in fine,
this organisation of commerce, which provides that when you get up in
the morning you are sure to find bread at the bakers' ... meat at the
butchers', and everything you want in the shops. Is this the work of the
State? Certainly, to-day we pay middlemen abominably dearly. Well, all
the more reason to suppress them, but not to think it necessary to
confide to the Government the care of providing our goods and our
clothing."[57]
Remarkable fact! we began by snapping our fingers at Marx, who only
thought of suppressing surplus value, and had no idea of the
organisation of production, and we end by demanding the suppression of
the profits of the middleman, while, so far as production is concerned,
we preach the most bourgeois _laissez-faire, laissez passer_. Marx
might, not without reason, have said, he laughs best who laughs last!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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