textfiles/politics/SPUNK/sp000421.txt

This group could do with an FAQ as their is
a lot of confusion in it with regards
to anarchism.  As there is not one we
are going to send an explanation of
anarchism based on our pamphlet Anarchism
and Ireland to it on a monthly basis.
    Workers Solidarity Movement

         Anarchists are against chaos

When you hear about anarchists you are led to 
believe that we are mad bombers. Every other 
group that lets off a bomb is immediately labelled 
'anarchist' whether they be nationalists, socialists or 
even fascists.  The myth is created that we believe in 
violence for the sake of it.  The other myth is that 
anarchism is chaos It is claimed by politicians, 
bosses and their hacks in the media that if there was 
no government there would be chaos.  But did you 
ever wonder about society today and come to the 
conclusion that perhaps we are already living in 
chaos.  At the moment thousands of builders are on 
the dole yet homeless people need housing to live 
in.  The price of butter is scandalously dear yet 
every year the EC has to deal with a butter 
mountain.  Thousands of people are dying of 
starvation around the world yet millions of pounds 
are spent every day on nuclear arms which have the 
potential for wiping us and the world out.  

You might ask why is this so? We say that there is 
one big reason - PROFIT! At the moment we live in 
a society in which there are two major classes - the 
bosses and the workers.  The bosses own the 
factories, banks, shops, etc.  Workers don't. All they 
have is their labour which they use to make a living.  
Workers are compelled to sell their labour to the 
boss for a wage.  The boss is interested in squeezing 
as much work out of the worker for as little wages 
as possible so that he/she can maintain high profits.  
Thus the more wages workers get the less profits 
the bosses make.  Their interests are in total 
opposition to each other.

Production is not based on the needs of ordinary 
people.  Production is for profit. Therefore although 
there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, 
people starve because profits come first.  This is 
capitalism.

             What is the State?

There are other classes in society such as the self-
employed and small farmers but fundamentally 
there are workers and bosses whose interests are in 
opposition to each other.  For workers needs to be 
fully met we must get rid of the bosses.  But this is 
no easy task.  The bosses are organised.  They have 
the media on their side. They also have the State 
and the force of the army and police that go with it.  
We only have to look at the 1984 miners strike in 
Britain to see how the forces of the state can 
be used against the working class.

The state (i.e.  governments, armies, courts, police, 
etc.) is a direct result of the fact that we live in a 
class society.  A society where only 7% of the people 
own 84% of the wealth. (Irish figures c. 1984)

The state is there to protect the interests of this 
minority, if not by persuasion then by force.  Laws 
are made not to protect us but to protect those who 
own the property.

Compare this with the treatment handed out to the 
multi-nationals who were able to take 500m in 
profits out of the country tax free without the 
government even knowing about it.  If you think 
that the state is there to protect you, think about the 
fact that workers pay 88% of all income taxes 
while the rest - farmers, self-employed ,and multi-
nationals pay only 12% between them. 
(Irish figures c. 1984)

    Elections: Putting numbers on a piece of paper

We are led to believe that the state is run in our 
interests.  Don't we have elections to ensure that any 
government not behaving itself can be brought to 
task? Democracy is about putting numbers on a 
piece of paper every four years.  We are given a 
choice all right but between parties who all agree 
with the system of a tiny minority ruling the 
country.

People often say that if we really want to change 
things we should run in elections. Take a good look 
at this idea and it becomes clear that it cannot be 
done if we are to remain true to our anarchism.

Electioneering inevitably leads to revolutionaries 
forsaking their revolutionary principles.  Look at the 
so-called Labour Party.  First of all they do not go to 
the people with a clear socialist message.  They go 
for whatever is popular and will ensure that they 
get elected.  This becomes more important to them 
than educating people about the meaning of 
socialism.  It also means that they look on the mass 
of voters as mere spectators.  People are seen as 
voters, not as people who can be actually involved 
in politics and bringing socialism about.  We do not 
accept that we should hand over the running of our 
lives to 160 odd people who are not accountable and 
can basically do whatever they like.

   Can socialism come through Congress

There is another reason why we do not stand for 
election.  Socialism cannot come through Congress.  
If we look at a country like Chile we can see why.  
In 1973 the people elected a moderate socialist 
government led by President Allende.  This 
democratically elected government was toppled by 
a CIA backed military coup.  Repression followed in 
which the workers movement was smashed and 
thousands of militants lost their lives.

This happened for two reasons.  The Chilean 
socialists did not understand that real power is not 
in the parliament but in the boardrooms of the 
multinationals. It is those who have the money who 
hold real power.  Socialism does not come through 
electing socialists to Congress but through the direct 
action of workers taking control of the factories and 
land.  For us socialism can only come from below, 
not from the top.

This point is not understood by the so called 
socialist parties of Europe which are in government 
at the moment.  In the 80's in France, Spain and 
Greece 'socialist' governments are pushed working
 class peoples living standards down because 
international banks want loans repaid and 
multinationals want to maintain profits.

The second reason is that the Chileans did not 
smash the state but tried to capture it peacefully.  
We must understand that the army and police are 
against us.  They are there to protect the wealth of 
the ruling class.  To make a revolution it will be 
necessary to use violence, not because we believe in 
violence for the sake of it, but because we recognise 
that the ruling class will not give up its wealth 
without a fight. Allende refused to arm the workers 
and so made the job of the military much easier.

                 How ideas change

>From the moment we are born we are taught that 
we must give up control of our lives to those more 
capable of running things - that we must put our 
faith and loyalty in government to organise our 
lives.  In school, in the papers and on television the 
working class are portrayed as sheep who need to 
be led and governed over.  Even in the unions, the 
organisation of the working class, workers are 
discouraged from taking any initiative by 
themselves.  Instead they are treated by the union 
bureaucracy supposedly on the workers' behalf.

However, capitalists in their mad rush for profits 
are forced to keep workers' pay and conditions at 
the lowest possible level.  In times of recession 
competition between capitalists increases, and if 
profits are to be maintained capitalists argue that 
workers must accept cuts in their pay and 
conditions.  It is when workers are forced into 
conflict with their bosses, when they go on strike, 
that they realise their own strength.

Without labour all production grinds to a halt.  The 
bosses simply cannot run the factories by 
themselves.  Workers who go on strike begin to rely 
on their own collective strength, they realise that if 
they are going to win they must stick together.  
They become more aware of what they can achieve 
and they become open to more ideas, new ideas.  
This was seen in the 1984/5 British miners strike.  
Before the strike most miners believed womens' role 
was in the home minding the children.  But as the 
strike began, women took the initiative and set up 
support groups to aid the strike.  Women actively 
took part in picketing as well as fund-raising.  Faced 
with this many miners changed their sexist ideas.  
Their ideas about the police and the courts also 
changed. In conflict, they realised the main purpose 
of the police and courts was to protect the bosses 
and smash the strike.

This is not to say that workers going on strike set 
out with socialist goals in mind. However when 
workers win on `bread and butter' issues, their 
confidence increases and so does their faith in their 
own ability to organise themselves.  That is one of 
the reasons for the WSM being involved in 
supporting strikes - to build the links between 
workers' day-to-day struggles and our aim of a 
truly equal society.

            Socialism from Below

Central to our politics is the belief that ordinary 
people must make the revolution. Every member of 
the working class (workers, unemployed, 
housewives, etc.) has a role to play.  Only by this 
participation can we ensure that anarchism is made 
real. We believe in a revolution that comes from the 
bottom up and is based on factory and community 
councils.  Freedom cannot be given, it has to be 
taken.

This is where we disagree with what is called the 
"revolutionary left".  While they say that they agree 
with all this they still hold to a belief that a party is 
necessary to make the revolution for the people.  
Most of them base their ideas on Lenin who 
believed that workers were only capable of 
achieving what he called "trade union 
consciousness".  According to him they needed a 
party of professional revolutionaries to make the 
revolution for them.  The result of this thinking is to 
be clearly seen in the Eastern Europe of today.  
What we see in Russia has nothing to do with 
socialism.  Power rests in the hands of a tiny party 
elite.  The state is the boss and the workers are still 
exploited and told what to do.  This is state 
capitalism.  Workers do not control their 
workplaces.  All power is held by the bureaucracy.  
A workers revolution will be necessary to 
overthrow this bureaucratic elite and bring in true 
freedom.

So we say it is up to ordinary people.  Some ask is 
this possible? Would it not be chaotic? Of course 
not.  At the moment capitalism would collapse 
without the support of the working class.  We make 
everything, we produce all the wealth.  It is possible 
to organise production so that the needs of all are 
met.  It is also possible to create structures that 
allow everyone to participate in making the 
decisions that affect them.

              Democracy and Freedom

As already stated society would be based on factory 
and community councils. These would federate 
with each other so that decisions could be made 
covering large areas.  Delegates could be sent from 
each area and workplace.  They would be recallable, 
i.e.  if those who voted them in are not happy with 
their behaviour they can immediately replace them 
with someone else.  With the new technology it will 
be much easier to involve lots of people in making 
quick decisions.

Within this society there would be genuine 
individual freedom.  Individuals would have to 
contribute to society but would be free to the extent 
that they do not interfere with the freedom of 
others.  Fundamentally we believe that people are 
good and if they won freedom would not easily 
give it up or destroy it.

So where does the Workers Solidarity Movement fit 
into all this? We are a new organisation - small in 
numbers but rich in ideas.  We don't set ourselves 
up as "the leaders who know it all".  We believe that 
our ideas are good and are worth trying out. We 
believe it is necessary for those agreeing with them 
to organise together so that our ideas will spread 
and be understood by a lot more people.  To us it is 
important that those revolutionaries active in 
different areas are brought together so that 
experiences can be shared and learned from.  We 
believe that in day-today struggles or in campaigns 
it is important that the message is driven home that 
only a revolution made by the working class can 
give us the freedom to run society so that all our 
needs are met.  We see our role as encouraging the 
initiative of working people and arguing for 
structures which allow people to take part in local 
or workplace activities.

We do not believe that the revolution is around the 
corner.  We believe that making it is a slow process 
during which there may be huge jumps forward.  
Overall though it is a slow process of spreading 
ideas and building peoples confidence to bring 
about change.  We accept that winning reforms and 
short term demands are all part of this process.  
Below we set out some of our ideas in relation to the 
Irish society of today.

The  Trade Unions 

Unions are defence organs of the 
working class.  They are not revolutionary 
organisations.  Today the majority of unions have 
become conservative institutions with a lot of 
emphasis being placed on the role of the full time 
officials as problem solvers and negotiators.  Whole 
sections of the trade union bureaucracy have 
become outright defenders of the status quo.  This is 
typified by the use of the two-tier picket (where 
groups of workers from another union in the same 
job are encouraged to pass pickets). Within the 
unions decision making has shifted from the 
shopfloor to the bureaucrats.  With this the rank and 
file have become more isolated from control of their  
unions and thus more apathetic.

For us the unions have to be made into real fighting 
organisations which are run and controlled by 
workers on the shopfloor.  We do not think you can 
change the unions by capturing the full-time jobs at 
the top.  Our role is to encourage the self-activity of 
as many workers as possible.  The bureaucracy itself 
has to be torn down.

We believe in building a rank and file movement 
which would embrace workers from different 
workplaces and areas of work.  Its main function 
would be to encourage solidarity between all 
workers.  It would support all strikes, fight for the 
election of all full-time officials so that they are 
responsible to the workers, fight for equal rights for 
women and ultimately resist any attempts by the 
bosses to make us pay for their crisis.

We see the organised labour movement as an 
essential area of activity for revolutionaries.  Politics 
have to be brought into the workplaces and unions 
as it is here that we have strength and can inflict 
real damage on the bosses.

                Unemployment

Unemployment is always a direct effect of living 
under capitalism, it is used by the  bosses to depress 
wages "there are plenty of people out there who  
work for less money than you" is a common threat  
as is "behave yourselves or I'll close down". The 
chaotic nature of  also leads to regular crisis which 
cause massive unemployment

 Unemployment will not be stopped while the 
capitalist system exists but there are immediate 
demands that can be put forward.  Any workplace 
threatened with closure should be occupied.  
The workers should demand continued 
employment whether it be under a new owner or by 
nationalisation.  We believe it makes little difference 
because, for us, nationalisation is not a cure-all.  It is 
no guarantee of better wages or job security and it 
does not bring us any nearer to socialism.  There is 
no essential difference between a boss who is a civil 
servant and one who is a private employer.  We also 
call for a shorter working week, an end to 
systematic overtime and double jobbing and an end 
to all productivity deals.  Basic wages should be 
high enough so that workers do not need to work 
excess hours.

We believe that the unemployed should accept no 
responsibility for the situation. Dole payments 
should be increased substantially.  Where possible, 
the unemployed should organise themselves to 
defend their rights and link up with the broader 
trade union movement.

               Women's Freedom

We believe that women are oppressed as a sex.  
They are denied equal rights, such as the right to 
control their own fertility and the right to work, and 
thus cannot fully participate in society.  They have 
been assigned the role of cooks and child minders, 
their place is in the home.

We believe that the root of women's oppression lies 
in the division of society into classes, and the 
economic and social relationships that created.  We 
thus believe that for women to be really free we 
have to smash capitalism and build a society based 
on anarchism.  We disagree with those feminists 
who think that all you have to do is for women to 
become bosses and politicians to achieve equality.  
We want to destroy the existing power structures.  
We also disagree with those who think that men are 
the cause of women's oppression.  We do not deny 
that men gain from this but we identify the source 
of this oppression as the class system, not 
individual men.

Women's oppression is not purely a struggle for 
women as it is a class issue but we hold that women 
have the right to organise separately because it is 
they who suffer the oppression.  We do believe, 
though, that the priorities of the woman's 
movement have reflected the fact that it largely 
consists of middle class women.  We believe that it 
must become more relevant to working class 
women.  Our priorities are those issues which 
immediately effect thousands of working class 
women e.g.  work, childcare, housing, etc.

We believe in the right of women to control their 
own fertility.  Women must be free to decide to 
have children or not, how many and when.  Thus 
we believe in the right to free contraception and 
abortion on demand.

For these demands to won as many working class 
women as possible must be brought together to  
build confidence and defeat the isolation that comes 
from being in the home.  Thus in campaigns to win 
these demands our emphasis is on building in 
workplaces and on the  estates where women are 
directly affected.

              Anarchism in Action

You probably agree that what you have read so far 
are mostly good ideas.  You probably accept that the 
wealth of society should be distributed equally and 
also that ordinary people should have more say in 
the running of their lives.

Like most people who hear about Anarchism you 
probably believe that it is a good set of ideas but 
unfortunately it would never work.  People are 
naturally greedy and selfish, if there was no 
government to look after our interests there would 
be complete chaos".

It has already been stated that we believe capitalism 
is chaos.  It does not and never can meet the needs 
of ordinary people.  On the other hand, a society 
run by those who actually produce can.  This kind 
of society is not myth we have dreamed up. At 
various stages of our history it has become a reality.  
Working people have taken their destinies into their 
own hands and made a success of it.  Far from being 
naturally greedy and selfish these experiences 
actually show that given the right conditions people 
can co-operate and act in a spirit of mutual aid.

The next part of this FAQ goes on to discuss some
of the historical achievements of anarchism, showing
the heroic struggles that workers have waged in
the past to change this system.

              ********************

The Workers Solidarity Movement is an anarchist 
organisation.  We believe in a revolution by the 
working class which will overthrow the bosses and 
their governments, and create a society run and 
controlled by those who actually produce the 
wealth of the world.  We believe that it is possible to 
live without government and to put in its place 
councils and assemblies where the "ordinary 
people" can decide what happens to this wealth.  
We believe in the equality of all and that maximum 
solidarity is needed between workers and other 
oppressed groups if we are to defeat those who live 
off our sweat.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Workers Solidarity Movement can be contacted at 
     PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland

or by anonymous e-mail to an64739@anon.penet.fi

Some of our material is available via the Spunk press electronic archive

             by FTP to etext.archive.umich.edu or 141.211.164.18
              or by gopher ("gopher etext.archive.umich.edu")

in the directory /pub/Politics/Spunk/texts/groups/WSM
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Status: RO

               In the Beginning

As Anarchists we trace our tradition back to the first 
International Working Mens [sic] Association where 
the Anarchists formed a distinct tendency 
influenced mainly by the ideas of Michael Bakunin.  
Since then Anarchism has always been deeply 
rooted in the working class.  Contrary to popular 
belief Anarchists do not spend their time plotting in 
back rooms.  For most their activity means bringing 
their politics into the daily struggles of the factories, 
the offices and the communities.  Anarchists have 
been involved in all major modern revolutions They 
have been there arguing and fighting for the right 
and necessity of working people running society as 
opposed to any so- called "socialist party" or 
bureaucratic elite.

                    Russia

"We say to the Russian workers, peasants, soldiers, 
revolutionists: above all continue the revolution.  
Continue to organise yourselves solidly and unite 
your new organisations: your communes, your 
committees, your soviets.  Continue, with firmness 
and perseverance, always and everywhere to 
participate more extensively and more and more 
effectively in the economic life of the country, 
continue to take into your hands, that is into the 
hands of your organisations, all the raw materials 
and all the instruments indispensable to your 
labour.  Continue the revolution.  Do not hesitate to 
face the solution of the burning questions of the 
present.  Create everywhere the necessary 
organisations to achieve these solutions.  Peasants, 
take the land and put it at the disposal of your 
committees.  Workers, proceed to put in the hands 
of and at the disposal of your own social 
organisations - everywhere on the spot - the mines 
and the subsoil, the enterprises and the 
establishments of all sorts, the works and the 
factories, the workshops and the machines". Golos 
Truda Russian Anarchist-Syndicalist paper August 
25th 1917

The Russian Revolution was truly a turning point in 
modern history.  For the first time workers took 
control and asserted their right to run society.  At 
the time of the revolution there were about 10,000 
active Anarchists in Russia, not including the 
movement in the Ukraine led by Nestor Makhno.  
There were at least four Anarchists on the Bolshevik 
dominated Military Revolutionary Committee 
which engineered the seizure of power in October.  
More importantly, Anarchists were involved in the 
Factory Committees which had sprung up after the 
February Revolution.  These were based in 
workplaces, elected by mass assemblies of the 
workers and given the role of overseeing the 
running of the factory and co-ordinating with other 
workplaces in the same industry or region.

Anarchists were particularly influential among the 
miners, dockers, postal workers, bakers and played 
an important part in the All-Russian Conference of 
Factory Committees  which met in Petrograd on the 
eve of the October Revolution.

It was to these factory committees that the 
Anarchists looked as the basis for a new self--
management which would be ushered in after the 
revolution.  They resisted all efforts to undermine 
the Committees and take away their power.

The Anarchists had co-operated with the Bolsheviks 
in seizing power from the ruling class, believing 
that once captured power could be diffused.  It was 
not long before they saw that the real intention of 
the Bolsheviks was to take power and keep it.  Their 
concept of socialism did not allow them to trust in 
the ability of ordinary people to run society in their 
own interests.  Power was wrested away from the 
Factory Committees and placed in the hands of 
bodies controlled by the Bolsheviks. Firstly they 
were subjected to control by Bolshevik dominated 
trade unions.  These unions were then put under the 
thumb of the state, which was totally dominated by 
the Bolsheviks.  Once the Anarchists' usefulness to 
them had ended the Bolsheviks ensured they were 
suppressed.  Their papers were closed down and 
many of the activists arrested.

                 Ukraine

Anarchist influence here was dominant right up to 
1921.  An insurgent army led by Nestor Makhno 
played a central role in defeating the local counter-
revolutionary forces and the numerous armies of 
foreign intervention.  The Red Army led by Trotsky 
signed a treaty of co-operation and Lenin talked of 
giving the Ukraine over as an experiment in 
building an anarchist society.  The Makhnovists 
were hailed as heroes of the revolution by the 
Bolshevik press.

However as soon as the threat of invasion had been 
overcome the Bolshevik leadership tore up the 
treaty and declared war on the Anarchists as if they 
were an army of reaction.  This stab in the back led 
to the destruction of the Makhnovist forces at the 
hands of the same Red Army which attacked the 
naval base at Kronstadt and murdered the 
revolutionaries who had been in the forefront of the 
struggle against the Tsar and the Provisional 
Government.  Their "crime" was to resist the new 
elite and demand workers power and freedom for 
all revolutionary organisations.

             Collectivisation

The achievements of the Makhnovists were not only 
military.  As their army moved through the Ukraine 
they encouraged and helped the setting up of 
collectives among the peasantry and farm labourers.  
Often this had to take second place to the need to 
fight and defeat the varied foreign armies of 
occupation.  What was important was that it was 
proved, even in the conditions of war and invasion, 
that production could be organised to benefit all 
rather than to line the pockets of a few.

The Russian experience also shows that the fake 
socialists and their parties cannot be trusted.  If 
socialism is to triumph power must stay with those 
who produce society's wealth.  No party, no matter 
how well intentioned, can deliver socialism on a 
plate.  Workers must take power and build the new 
order themselves.

                      Spain

Of all the western countries Spain is where the 
Anarchist influence predominated. Introduced in 
the last century it rapidly spread throughout the 
country.  This led to the formation of the Anarchist 
Union C.N.T.  (National Confederation of Labour) 
in 1911.  In the years up to the beginning of the 
Spanish Civil War in 1936 the CNT had over two 
million members.  It was the major union in the 
most industrialised areas, especially Catalonia and 
its capital Barcelona.  It also had a large base among 
day labourers and small peasants in most provinces.  

The CNT was a revolutionary union of workers 
(usually described as Syndicalist or anarcho-
syndicaIist).  Its role was twofold.  Firstly to fight to 
improve conditions for workers and secondly to 
organise for the overthrow of capitalism.  Its beliefs 
were translated into action at every opportunity and 
this militant tradition attracted workers in their 
hundreds of thousands.

The CNT organised itself from the place of work.  
Each workplace joined in a federation with other 
workplaces in their region to form a regional 
committee.  These regional committees were then 
federated on a national basis and formed a national 
committee.  Within each particular industry there 
was also a regional and national federation.

Assemblies of workers were the core of the CNT.  
These made the decisions and elected delegates to 
regional and national level.  All delegates could be 
recalled and replaced by the assembly if the 
members were not satisfied with their conduct.  
Thus no decisions could be made without 
consulting the rank and file membership.  There 
were no full-time union bureaucrats beyond the 
control of the workers.

The number of full-time officials was minimal.  
They were elected for specified periods after which 
they had to stand down and return to their previous 
job.  At all times they were subject to control by the 
rank and file.  The experience and organisation of 
the CNT shows that contrary to popular belief 
Anarchists are not anti-organisation.  In reality 
Anarchism is highly organised and allows for the 
participation of all.  Nor are we against 
centralisation.  What is important is that those at the 
centre are recallable and directly responsible to 
those they are elected to represent.

                 The Civil War

The Civil War started with an attempted fascist 
coup following the victory of the Popular Front (an 
alliance of liberal, republic, socialist, and Stalinist 
parties) in the 1936 elections.  In response to the 
coup the workers mobilised to defeat fascism. 
popular militias were formed by the unions and 
workers seized factories.  Peasants took over land 
which had been abandoned by the landlords.  This 
marked the beginning of the revolution for the 
Anarchists.  They believed that the Civil War had to 
be not just a fight against fascism but also against 
the capitalist system which had spawned fascism in 
the first place.  Thus they set about seizing factories 
and ranches and turning them over to workers 
control.

In the zones controlled by the Anarchists workers 
self-management became a reality.  In Catalonia 
there were at least 2,000 industrial and commercial 
collectives. At least 60% of "republican" Spain's 
agriculture (that part controlled by anti-fascist 
forces including the Anarchists) was collectivised.

In the workplaces councils or "comite" elected by 
assemblies of workers and representing all sectors 
of the enterprise, were given the task of 
administering the collectivised factory.  
Collectivised enterprises in each sector of industry 
were represented in an Economic Federation.  This 
in turn was topped by a General Industrial Council 
which would closely control the whole industry.

Here is a description of the organisation of gas, 
electricity and water in Barcelona. "Each type of job 
(e.g.  fitters )set up a section consisting of at least 
fifteen workers Where they were not the numbers to 
do this workers from different trades got together to 
constitute a general section .  Each section 
nominates two delegates which are chosen by 
assemblies of the workers.  One of the delegates will 
be of a technical calibre and will participate in the 
"comite" of the workplace.  The other will be 
entrusted with the management of work in the 
section.

The "comite" of the building or plant comes next.  It 
is nominated by the delegates of the sections and 
consists of a technician, a manual worker and an 
administrator.   The manual worker has to solve 
difficulties which might arise between different 
sections.  He or she receives suggestions from 
workers in the different trades and the sections give 
him or her daily reports on the progress of work.  
Periodically the delegate calls the sections to general 
meetings.  At these proposals and initiatives which 
are likely to improve production and productivity 
are studied as well as ones to improve the workers' 
situation.  A copy of the deliberation is sent to the 
Council for Industry

The delegates with administrative functions 
supervises the arrival and warehousing of materials, 
records requirements details with book-keeping for 
supplies and reserves, and keeps an eye on the state 
of income and expenditure.  S/He also deals with 
correspondence and it is his/her responsibility to 
see that balance sheets and reports addressed to the 
Council for Industry are prepared.

The delegate with technical functions supervises the 
activities of his section, and uses every endeavour to 
increase productivity.  to lighten the workers' 
burden by introducing new methods.  S/He checks 
on production at the power stations, the state of the 
network, prepares statistics and charts indicating 
how production is developing. At the summit there 
are the Councils of Industry.  One each for gas, 
electricity and water, Each is composed of eight 
delegates, four from the U.  G.  T.  (the socialist 
trade union) and four from the C.N.T.  These are 
capped by the General Council of the three 
industries, which is also made up by eight delegates 
drawn equally from the two unions.

This Council co-ordinates activities of the three 
industries; attunes the production and distribution 
of raw materials from a regional, national and 
international point of view; modifies prices; 
organises general administration; indeed takes and 
uses all initiatives useful to production and the 
workers' needs.  Meanwhile it is obliged at all times 
to submit its' activities to the scrutiny of local and 
regional union assemblies"

This account is taken from "Collectives in the 
Spanish Revolution"     by Gaston Leval.

               On the Trams

The achievements of collectivisation in Barcelona 
were many.  Take for example the tramways.  Out 
of the 7,000 workers 6,500 were members of the 
CNT.  Because of the street battles all transport  had 
been brought to a halt.  The transport syndicate (as 
unions of the CNT were known) appointed a 
commission of seven to occupy the administrative 
offices while others inspected the tracks and drew 
up a plan of repair work that needed to be done.  
Five days after the fighting stopped 700 tramcars, 
instead of the usual 600, all painted in the black and 
red colours of the CNT, were operating on the 
streets of Barcelona.

With the profit motive gone, the trams had 
belonged to a Belgian company before the workers 
took over, safety became more important and the 
number of accidents was reduced.  Fares were 
lowered and services improved.  In 1936, 
183,543,516 passengers were carried.  In 1937 this 
had gone up by 50 million.  The trams were running 
so efficiently that the workers were able to give 
money to other sections of urban transport.  Wages 
were equalised for all workers and increased over 
the previous rates. For the first time free medical 
care was provided for the workforce.

As well as giving a more efficient service the 
workers found time to produce rockets and 
howitzers for the war effort.  They worked overtime 
and Sundays to do their share for the anti-fascist 
struggle.  To further underline the fact that getting 
rid of the bosses and rulers would not lead to a 
breakdown of order it can be pointed out that in the 
three years of collectivisation there were only six 
cases of workers stealing from the workshops.

                On the Land

The countryside also saw collectivisation.  In 
Aragon which was near the war front-line 
collectivisation took root and spread like wildfire.  
In February 1937 there were 275 collectives totalling 
80,000 members.  Three months later there were 450 
collectives with 180,000 members.  Often the 
peasants and farm labourers went further than their 
counterparts in the towns and cities.  Not only was 
production collectivised but in rural areas 
consumption too.  In many of these areas money 
was abolished.

Large estates were taken over by landless labourers, 
small holders put their land together so that it could 
be worked more efficiently by the use of machinery.  
Collectives were based around the villages and 
federated on a regional basis.

Usually the decision to collectivise was made at an 
assembly (a meeting of all the village).  It meant 
handing over land, livestock, tools, seed, stocks of 
wheat and other produce.  The land was then 
divided into sectors, each of which was assigned to 
a work group of about a dozen who elected their 
own delegate.  Produce went into the "pile" for 
communal consumption.  Each would produce 
according to their ability, each would consume 
according to their needs.

Collectivisation did not only apply to the land.  In 
the villages workshops were set up where all the 
local trades people would produce tools, furniture, 
etc.  for the village and also carry out repairs to the 
collectivists houses.  Bakers, butchers, barbers and 
so on were also collectivised.

The lot of rural workers and peasants was improved 
by the introduction of machinery. Living standards 
rose, in the words of one collectivist "those who had 
less now ate more and better - no one went short".  
Education became a central concern and young 
children who had never been to school were given 
the education denied to them by the landlords and 
their system.

            Women's' Action

Gains were also made by women.  In relation to 
their role during the Civil War observers have 
pointed out that they played a full part in the anti-
fascist resistance. They were present everywhere - 
on committees, in the militias, in the front line. In 
the early battles of the war women fought alongside 
men as a matter of course. It was not merely a case 
of women filling in for men who were away at the 
front. (Which is usually the case in wartime.  When 
the war is over and women are no longer needed in 
the labour force, they are pushed back  into the 
home).

They were in the militias and fought alongside the 
men as equals.  They were organising the collectives 
and taking up the fight for against the sexist 
attitudes of the past which have no place in any real 
revolution.

The Anarchist  women's organisation, Mujeres 
Libres (Free Women), had 30,000 members.  It had 
been active before the Civil War organising women 
workers and distributing information on 
contraception.  During the war abortion was 
legalised in the "republican zone".  Centres were 
opened for women, including unmarried mothers 
and prostitutes.

>From all accounts there truly were changes in 
attitudes towards women.  One woman participant 
in the Civil War has said "It was like being brothers 
and sisters.  It had always annoyed me that men in 
this country didn't consider women as beings with 
full human rights.  But now there was this big 
change.  I believe it arose spontaneously out of the 
revolutionary movement"  Margorita Balaguer 
quoted in "Blood of Spain" ed.  Ronald Fraser.  page 
287

This sort of thing is common to most revolutionary 
situations.  When people begin to throw off the old 
ideas and start creating a new society their views on 
many things change.  This is not inevitable though 
and does not negate the need for propaganda and 
activity against sexism, not only in society as a 
whole but also within the revolutionary movement 
itself.

                 Not all Roses ...

This account of the collectivisation is, of necessity, 
brief.  The main point is that given the right 
conditions mutual aid and co-operation will flourish 
- Problems did arise in Spain as is inevitable.  The 
Anarchists made mistakes.  In our opinion they 
hesitated in carrying out their programme - Instead 
of seizing power and making a direct appeal to the 
workers to take control of economic and social 
affairs, they collaborated with the Popular Front 
and ended up joining the government.

They were also attacked by the Communist party 
who preferred defeat by the fascists  then the 
victory of anarchism.  The Communists were tied to 
the needs of Stalin's foreign policy which meant not 
upsetting the Western powers.  To them the 
restoration of the capitalist order was preferable to 
seeing the working class take power.  And that 
should come as no surprise as the Stalinist system in 
Russia is no more than another form of capitalism.

              The Lessons

History is not neutral.  What we learn in school is 
the necessity for government, rulers and capitalism.  
What we do not learn is that many times it has been 
shown that this government is not necessary.  
People are not inherently bad.  Given the right 
conditions a spirit of mutual aid and co-operation 
can grow.  People are not naturally evil and greedy.  
We only have to look at the response from ordinary 
people to the appeal for aid for Ethiopia to see this.

Economic conditions determine peoples' behaviour.  
How we act is related to the structure of society and 
the dominant value system within it.  When 
structures are changed and oppression and 
exploitation is done away with the "goodness" that 
is in most of us come through and flourishes as it 
did when the workers held the reigns in Russia and 
Spain.  The experience of self-management is not 
limited to these countries but is something that has 
been seen in most countries at some stage.  In the 
early 1920's creameries, farms, Cork Harbour and 
Kilkenny gasworks were taken over and run as 
Soviets (the Russian word for workers councils).

What Anarchists are saying are not just' `nice ideas.  
History shows us that these ideas can work.  A new 
society can be created with the workers in control.  
But it won't happen spontaneously - We must 
organise for it.

That is why we need revolutionary organisation.  
An organisation that draws together all those 
fighting for workers control.  An organisation that 
gives us the chance to exchange ideas and 
experiences, and to learn from the lessons of history.  
An organisation that allows us to struggle together 
for a new society.

We do not need a group of leaders and their passive 
followers.  We do need an organisation working 
towards mobilising the mass of ordinary people in 
the process of making the revolution.   If you 
like what you have just read, you should start
working to build just such an organisation.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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or by anonymous e-mail to an64739@anon.penet.fi

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