455 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
455 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
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non serviam #3
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Contents: Ken Knudson: A Critique of Communism and
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The Individualist Alternative (serial: 3)
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***********************************************************************
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Ken Knudson:
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A Critique of Communism
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and
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The Individualist Alternative
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(continued)
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Let us take a closer look at the type of society the
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communists would have us live under and see if we can get at
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the essence of these laws. Kropotkin says that "nine-tenths
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of those called lazy...are people gone astray." [14] He then
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suggests that given a job which "answers" their
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"temperament" and "capacities" (today we would hear words
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like "relate", "alienation" and "relevancy"), these people
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would be productive workers for the community. What about
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that other ten percent which couldn't adjust? Kropotkin
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doesn't elaborate, but he does say, "if not one, of the
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thousands of groups of our federation, will receive you,
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whatever be their motive; if you are absolutely incapable of
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producing anything useful, or if you refuse to do it, then
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live like an isolated man....That is what could be done in a
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communal society in order to turn away sluggards if they
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become too numerous." [15] This is a pretty harsh sentence
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considering that ALL the means of production have been
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confiscated in the name of the revolution. So we see that
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communism's law, put bluntly, becomes "work or starve."*
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This happens to be an individualist law too. But there is a
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difference between the two: the communist law is a man-made
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law, subject to man's emotions, rationalisations, and
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inconsistencies; the individualist law is nature's law - the
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law of gastric juices, if you will - a law which, like it or
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not, is beyond repeal. Although both laws use the same
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language, the difference in meaning is the difference
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between a commandment and a scientific observation.
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Individualist-anarchists don't care when, where, or how a
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man earns a living, as long as he is not invasive about it.
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He may work 18 hours a day and buy a mansion to live in the
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other six hours if he so chooses. Or he may feel like
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Thoreau did that "that man is richest whose pleasures are
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the cheapest" [16] and work but a few hours a week to ensure
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his livelihood. I wonder what would happen to Thoreau under
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communism? Kropotkin would undoubtedly look upon him as "a
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ghost of bourgeois society." [17] And what would Thoreau say
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to Kropotkin's proposed "contract"?: "We undertake to give
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you the use of our houses, stores, streets, means of
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transport, schools, museums, etc., on condition that, from
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twenty to forty-five or fifty years of age, you consecrate
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four or five hours a day to some work recognised [by whom?]
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as necessary to existence....Twelve or fifteen hundred hours
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--------------------
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*Article 12 of the 1936 constitution of the USSR reads:
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"In the USSR work is the duty of every able-bodied citizen
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according to the principle: `He who does not work, neither
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shall he eat.' In the USSR the principle of socialism is
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realised: `From each according to his ability, to each
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according to his work.'"
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- 8 -
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of work a year...is all we ask of you." [18] I don't think
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it would be pulling the nose of reason to argue that Thoreau
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would object to these terms.
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But some communist-anarchists would reject Kropotkin's
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idea of not giving to the unproductive worker according to
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his needs, even if he doesn't contribute according to his
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abilities. They might simply say that Kropotkin wasn't being
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a good communist when he wrote those lines (just as he
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wasn't being a good anarchist when he supported the Allies
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during World War I). But this idea, it seems to me would be
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patently unjust to the poor workers who would have to
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support such parasites. How do these communists reconcile
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such an injustice? As best I can gather from the writings of
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the classical communist-anarchists, they meet this problem
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in one of two ways: (1) they ignore it, or (2) they deny it.
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Malatesta takes the first approach. When asked, "How will
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production and distribution be organised?" he replies that
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anarchists are not prophets and that they have no blueprints
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for the future. Indeed, he likens this important question to
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asking when a man "should go to bed and on what days he
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should cut his nails." [19] Alexander Berkman takes the
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other approach (a notion apparently borrowed from the
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Marxists*): he denies that unproductive men will exist after
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the revolution. "In an anarchist society it will be the most
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useful and difficult toil that one will seek rather than the
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lighter job." [20] Berkman's view of labour makes the
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protestant work ethic sound positively mild by comparison.
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For example: "Can you doubt that even the hardest toil would
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become a pleasure...in an atmosphere of brotherhood and
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respect for labour?" [21] Yes, I can doubt it. Or again: "We
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can visualise the time when labour will have become a
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pleasant exercise, a joyous application of physical effort
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to the needs of the world." [22] And again, in apparent
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anticipation of Goebbles' famous dictum about the powers of
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repetition, "Work will become a pleasure... laziness will be
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unknown." [23] It is hard to argue with such "reasoning". It
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would be like a debate between Bertrand Russell and Billy
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Graham about the existence of heaven. How can you argue with
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faith? I won't even try. I'll just ask the reader, next time
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he is at work, to look around - at himself and at his mates
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- and ask himself this question: "After the revolution will
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* At least Berkman is consistent in this matter. Marx,
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paradoxically, wanted to both "abolish labour itself" ("The
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German Ideology"), AND make it "life's prime want"
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("Critique of the Gotha Programme").
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- 9 -
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we really prefer this place to staying at home in bed or
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going off to the seashore?" If there are enough people who
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can answer "yes" to this question perhaps communism will
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work after all. But in the meantime, before building the
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barricades and shooting people for a cause of dubious
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certainty, I would suggest pondering these two items from
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the bourgeois and communist press respectively:
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"In Detroit's auto plants, weekend absenteeism has reached
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such proportions that a current bit of folk wisdom advises
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car buyers to steer clear of vehicles made on a Monday or
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Friday. Inexperienced substitute workers, so the caution
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goes, have a way of building bugs into a car. But in Italy
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lately the warning might well include Tuesday, Wednesday,
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and Thursday. At Fiat, the country's largest maker,
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absenteeism has jumped this year from the normal 4 or 5
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percent to 12.5 percent, with as many as 18,000 workers
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failing to clock in for daily shifts at the company's Turin
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works. Alfa Romeo's rate has hit 15 percent as hundreds of
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workers call in each day with `malattia di comodo' - a
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convenient illness.... Italian auto workers seem to be doing
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no more than taking advantage of a very good deal. A new
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labour contract guarantees workers in state-controlled
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industries 180 days of sick leave a year, at full pay, while
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workers in private firms (such as Fiat) get the same number
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of days at 75 percent of full pay." [24]
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When doctors, employed by the state, made an inspection
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visit in Turin we are told that they found "that only 20
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percent of the `indisposed' workers they had visited were
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even mildly sick." For those who think that this is just a
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bourgeois aberration, let us see what revolutionary Cuba,
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after 12 years of communism, has to say about such
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"parasites". I translate from the official organ of the
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Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party:
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"Worker's discussion groups are being set up in all work
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centres to discuss the proposed law against laziness. These
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groups have already proven to be a valuable forum for the
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working class. During these assemblies, which for the
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moment are limited to pilot projects in the Havana area,
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workers have made original suggestions and posed timely
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questions which lead one to believe that massive discussion
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of this type would make a notable contribution to the
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solution of this serious problem. An assembly of boiler
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repairmen in the Luyano district was representative of the
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general feeling of the workers. They demanded that action be
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taken against those parasitic students who have stopped
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going to classes regularly or who, although attending
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classes, do just enough to get by. The workers were equally
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adamant about co-workers who, after a sickness or accident,
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refuse to go back to their jobs but go on receiving their
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- 10 -
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salaries for months without working. Questions were often
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accompanied by concrete proposals. For example, should
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criminals receive the same salaries on coming back to work
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from prison as when they left their jobs? The workers
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thought not, but they did think it all right that the
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revolutionary state accord a pension to the prisoner's
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family during his stay in the re-education [sic] centre. At
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the Papelera Cubana factory the workers made a suggestion
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which proved their contempt of these loafers; habitual
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offenders should be punished in geometric proportion to the
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number of their crimes. They also proposed that workers who
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quit their jobs or were absent too often be condemned to a
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minimum, not of 6 months, but of one year's imprisonment and
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that the worker who refuses three times work proposed by the
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Ministry of Labour be considered automatically as a criminal
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and subject to punishment as such. The workers also
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expressed doubts about the scholastic `deserters', ages 15
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and 16, who aren't yet considered physically and mentally
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able to work but who don't study either. They also cited the
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case of the self employed man who works only for his own
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selfish interests. The dockworkers of Havana port, zone 1,
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also had their meeting. They envisioned the possibility of
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making this law retroactive for those who have a bad work
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attitude, stating forcefully that it wasn't a question of
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precedents, because otherwise the law could only be applied
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in those cases which occurred after its enactment. The
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harbour workers also proposed imprisonment for the
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`sanctioned' workers and that, in their opinion, the
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punishment of these parasites shouldn't be lifted until they
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could demonstrate a change of attitude. The steadfastness of
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the workers was clearly demonstrated when they demanded that
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punishments not be decided by the workers themselves in
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order to avoid possible leniency due to reasons of sympathy,
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sentimentality, etc. The workers also indicated that these
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parasites should not have the right to the social benefits
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accorded to other workers. Some workers considered
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imprisonment as a measure much too kind. As you can see, the
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workers have made many good proposals, which leads us to
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believe that with massive discussion, this new law will be
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considerably enriched. This is perhaps the path to social
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legislation by the masses."* [25]
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These two extracts clearly demonstrate that human nature
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remains pretty constant, independent of the social system
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the individual workman is subjected to. So it seems to me
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that unless human nature can somehow be miraculously
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transformed by the revolution - and that WOULD be a
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revolution - some form of compulsion would be necessary in
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order to obtain "from each according to his abilities."
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While on this point, I would like to ask my communist-
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- 11 -
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anarchist comrades just who is supposed to determine another
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person's abilities? We've seen from the above article that
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in Cuba the Ministry of Labour makes this decision. How
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would it differ in an anarchist commune? If these anarchists
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are at all consistent with their professed desire for
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individual freedom, the only answer to this question is that
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the individual himself would be the sole judge of his
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abilities and, hence, his profession. But this is
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ridiculous. Who, I wonder, is going to decide of his own
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free will that his real ability lies in collecting other
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people's garbage? And what about the man who thinks that he
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is the greatest artist since Leonardo da Vinci and decides
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to devote his life to painting mediocre landscapes while the
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community literally feeds his delusions with food from the
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communal warehouse? Few people, I dare say, would opt to do
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the necessary "dirty work" if they could choose with
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impunity ANY job, knowing that whatever they did - good or
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bad, hard or easy - they would still receive according to
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their needs.** The individualist's answer to this perennial
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question of "who will do the dirty work" is very simple: "I
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*The Associated Press has since reported the passage of
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this law: "Cuba's Communist regime announced yesterday a
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tough new labour law that Premier Fidel Castro said is aimed
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at 400,000 loafers, bums and `parasites' who have upset the
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country's new social order. The law, which goes into effect
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April 1, provides for penalties ranging from six months to
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two years of forced labour in `rehabilitation centres' for
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those convicted of vagrancy, malingering or habitual
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absenteeism from work or school. The law decrees that all
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males between 17 and 60 have a `social duty' to work on a
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daily systematic basis unless they are attending an approved
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school. Those who do not are considered `parasites of the
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revolution' and subject to prosecution by the courts or
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special labourers' councils. The anti-loafing law - seen as
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a tough new weapon to be used mainly against dissatisfied
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young people - was prompted by Mr. Castro's disclosure last
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September that as many as 400,000 workers were creating
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serious economic problems by shirking their duties." [26]
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** Anyone who has ever gone to an anarchist summer camp
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knows what I mean. Here we have "la creme de la creme", so
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to speak, just dying to get on with the revolution; yet who
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cleans out the latrines? More often than not, no one. Or,
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when it really gets bad, some poor sap will sacrifice
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himself for the cause. You don't have solidarity; you have
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martyrdom. And no one feels good about it: you have
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resentment on the part of the guy who does it and guilt from
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those who don't.
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- 12 -
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will if I'm paid well enough." I suspect even Mr. Heath
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would go down into the London sewers if he were paid 5
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million pounds per hour for doing it. Somewhere between this
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sum and what a sewer worker now gets is a just wage, which,
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given a truly free society, would be readily determined by
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competition.
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This brings us to the second half of the communist
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ideal: the distribution of goods according to need. The
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obvious question again arises, "Who is to decide what
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another man needs?" Anarchists once more must leave that
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decision up to the individual involved. To do otherwise
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would be to invite tyranny, for who can better determine a
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person's needs than the person himself?* But if the
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individual is to decide for himself what he needs, what is
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to prevent him from "needing" a yacht and his own private
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airplane? If you think we've got a consumer society now,
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what would it be like if everything was free for the
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needing? You may object that luxuries aren't needs. But that
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is just begging the question: what is a luxury, after all?
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To millions of people in the world today food is a luxury.
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To the English central heating is a luxury, while to the
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Americans it's a necessity. The Nazi concentration camps
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painfully demonstrated just how little man actually NEEDS.
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But is that the criterion communists would use for
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determining need? I should hope (and think) not. So it seems
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to me that this posses a definite dilemma for the communist-
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anarchist: what do you do about unreasonable, irrational, or
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extravagant "needs"? What about the man who "needs" a new
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pair of shoes every month? "Nonsense," you may say, "no one
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needs new shoes that often." Well, how often then? Once a
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year? Every five years perhaps? And who will decide? Then
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what about me? I live in Switzerland and I'm crazy about
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grape jam - but unfortunately the Swiss aren't. I feel that
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a jam sandwich isn't a jam sandwich unless it's made with
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GRAPE jam. But tell that to the Swiss! If Switzerland were a
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communist federation, there wouldn't be a single communal
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warehouse which would stock grape jam. If I were to go up to
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the commissar-in-charge-of-jams and ask him to put in a
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* I'm reminded here of the tale of the man who decided
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his mule didn't NEED any food. He set out to demonstrate his
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theory and almost proved his point when, unfortunately, the
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beast died. Authoritarian communism runs a similar risk
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when it attempts to determine the needs of others.
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- 13 -
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requisition for a few cases, he would think I was nuts.
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"Grapes are for wine," he'd tell me with infallible logic,
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"and more people drink wine than eat grape jam." "But I'm a
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vegetarian," I plead, "and just think of all the money (?)
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I'm saving the commune by not eating any of that expensive
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meat." After which he would lecture me on the economics of
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jam making, tell me that a grape is more valuable in its
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liquid form, and chastise me for being a throwback to
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bourgeois decadence.
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And what about you, dear reader? Have you no
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individual idiosyncrasies? Perhaps you've got a thing about
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marshmallows. What if the workers in the marshmallow
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factories decide (under workers' control, of course) that
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marshmallows are bad for your health, too difficult to make,
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or just simply a capitalist plot? Are you to be denied the
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culinary delights that only marshmallows can offer, simply
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because some distant workers get it into their heads that a
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marshmallowless world would be a better world?
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But, not only would distribution according to need hurt
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the consumer, it would be grossly unfair to the productive
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worker who actually makes the goods or performs the
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necessary services. Suppose, for example, that hardworking
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farmer Brown goes to the communal warehouse with a load of
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freshly dug potatoes. While there Brown decides he needs a
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new pair of boots. Unfortunately there are only a few pairs
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in stock since Jones the shoemaker quit his job - preferring
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to spend his days living off Brown's potatoes and writing
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sonnets about the good life. So boots are rationed. The boot
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commissar agrees that Brown's boots are pretty shabby but,
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he points out, Smith the astrologer is in even greater need.
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Could Brown come back in a month or so when BOTH soles have
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worn through? Brown walks away in disgust, resolved never
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again to sweat over his potato patch.
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Even today people are beginning to complain about the
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injustices of the (relatively mild) welfare state. Theodore
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Roszak writes that in British schools there has been a
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"strong trend away from the sciences over the past four
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years" and that people are showing "annoyed concern" and
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"loudly observing that the country is not spending its money
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to produce poets and Egyptologists - and then demanding a
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sharp cut in university grants and stipends."[27] If people
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are upset NOW at the number of poets and Egyptologists that
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they are supporting, what would it be like if EVERYONE could
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simply take up his favourite hobby as his chosen profession?
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I suspect it wouldn't be long before our professional
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chess players and mountain climbers found the warehouse
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stocks dwindling to nothing. Social unrest would surely
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increase in direct proportion to the height of the trash
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- 14 -
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piling up on the doorsteps and the subsequent yearning for
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the "good old days" would bring about the inevitable
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counter-revolution. Such would be the fate of the
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anarchist-communist utopia.
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* * * * *
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____________________________________________________________________
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***********************************************************************
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* If the whole is not defined as the sum of its parts, there is *
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* no reason to expect the whole to be just the sum of its parts. *
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***********************************************************************
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