Anarchism may be briefly defined as the negation of all government and all
authority of man over man; Communism as the recognition of the just claim
of each to the fullest satisfaction of all his needs--physical, moral, and
intellectual. The Anarchist, therefore, whilst resisting as far as possible
all forms of coercion and authority, repudiates just as firmly even the
suggestion that he should impose himself upon others, realising as he does
that this fatal propensity in the majority of mankind has been the cause of
nearly all the misery and bloodshed in the world. He understands just as
clearly that to satisfy his needs without contributing, to the best of his
ability, his share of labour in maintaining the general well-being, would
be to live at the expense of others--to become an exploiter and live as the
rich drones live to-day. Obviously, then, government on the one hand and
private ownership of the means of production on the other, complete the
vicious circle--the present social system--which keeps mankind degraded and
enslaved.
There will be no need to justify the Anarchist's attack upon _all_ forms of
government: history teaches the lesson he has learned on every page. But
that lesson being concealed from the mass of the people by interested
advocates of "law and order," and even by many Social Democrats, the
Anarchist deals his hardest blows at the sophisms that uphold the State,
and urges workers in striving for their emancipation to confine their
efforts to the economic field.
It follows, therefore, that politically and economically his attitude is
purely revolutionary; and hence arises the vilification and
misrepresentation that Anarchism, which denounces all forms of social
injustice, meets with in the press and from public speakers.
Rightly conceived, Anarchism is no mere abstract ideal theory of human
society. It views life and social relations with eyes disillusioned. Making
an end of all superstitions, prejudices, and false sentiments, it tries to
see things as they really are; and without building castles in the air, it
finds by the simple correlation of established facts that the grandest
possibilities of a full and free life can be placed within the reach of
all, once that monstrous bulwark of all our social iniquities--the
State--has been destroyed, and common property declared.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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