The Conquest of BreadKropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz
Philosophy
The Conquest of Bread
Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz
Anarchism; Communism
A certain standard of public morals is maintained in the same way.
Authoritarians say it is due to rural guards, judges, and policemen,
whereas in reality it is maintained _in spite_ of judges, policemen, and
rural guards. "Many are the laws producing criminals!" was said long
ago.
Not only in industrial workshops do things go on in this way; it happens
everywhere, every day, on a scale that only bookworms have as yet no
notion of. When a railway company, federated with other companies, fails
to fulfil its engagements, when its trains are late and goods lie
neglected at the stations, the other companies threaten to cancel the
contract, and that threat usually suffices.
It is generally believed, at any rate it is taught in State-approved
schools, that commerce only keeps to its engagements from fear of
lawsuits. Nothing of the sort; nine times in ten the trader who has not
kept his word will not appear before a judge. There, where trade is very
active, as in London, the sole fact of having driven a creditor to bring
a lawsuit suffices for the immense majority of merchants to refuse for
good to have any dealings with a man who has compelled one of them to go
to law.
This being so, why should means that are used to-day among workers in
the workshop, traders in the trade, and railway companies in the
organization of transport, not be made use of in a society based on
voluntary work?
Take, for example, an association stipulating that each of its members
should carry out the following contract: "We undertake to give you the
use of our houses, stores, streets, means of transport, schools,
museums, etc., on condition that, from twenty to forty-five or fifty
years of age, you consecrate four or five hours a day to some work
recognized as necessary to existence. Choose yourself the producing
groups which you wish to join, or organize a new group, provided that it
will undertake to produce necessaries. And as for the remainder of your
time, combine together with whomsoever you like, for recreation, art, or
science, according to the bent of your taste.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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