81 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
81 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
from : The ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman
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It is very likely, of course, that if you should then see people gorge
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themselves while you go hungry, you would demand a chance to eat, and you
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would be perfectly right in that. And so would every one else, which means
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that people would not stand for any one hogging all the good things in life;
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they would want to share in them. It means further that the poor would refuse
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to stay poor while others wallow in luxury. It means that the worker will
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decline to give up his product to the boss who claims to "own" the factory
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and everything that is made there. It means that the farmer will not permit
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thousands of acres to lie idle while he has not enough soil to support
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himself and family. It means that no one will monopolise the land or the
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machinery of production. It means that the private ownership of the SOURCES
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OF LIFE will not be tolerated any more. It will be considered the greatest
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crime for some to own more than they can use in a dozen lifetimes, while
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their neighbours have not enough bread for their children. It means that
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all men will share in the social wealth, and that all will help to produce
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that wealth.
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It means, in short, that for the first time in history right, justice and
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equality would triumph instead of law.
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You see therefore that doing away with government also signifies the
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abolition of monopoly and of personal ownership of the means of
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production and distribution.
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It follows that when government is abolished, wage slavery and capitalism
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must also go with it, because they cannot exist without the support and
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protection of government.....Such a condition of things where there was
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liberty instead of government would be Anarchy. And where equality of use
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would take the place of private ownership, would be Communism.....Anarchist
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communism...means voluntary communism, communism from free choice.
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Page 11
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"But will not life under anarchy, in economic and social equality, mean
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general levelling?" you ask.
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No, my dear friend, quite the contrary. Because equality does not mean an
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equal amount but equal OPPORTUNITY. It does not mean, for instance, that
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if Smith needs five meals a day, Johnson also must have as many. If Johnson
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wants only five meals while Smith requires five, the quantity each consumes
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may be unequal, but both men are perfectly equal in the opportunity each has
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to consume as much as he needs, as much as his particular nature demands.
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Do not make the mistake of identifying equality in liberty with the forced
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equality of the convict camp. True anarchist equality implies freedom, not
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quantity. It does not mean that every one must eat, drink, or wear the same
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things, do the same work, or live in the same manner. Far from it: the very
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reverse, in fact.
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Individual needs and tastes differ, as appetities differ. It is EQUAL
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opportunity to satisfy them that constitues true equality.
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Far from levelling, such equality opens the door for the greatest possible
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variety of activity and development. For human character is diverse, and only the repression of this free diversity results in levelling, in uniformity
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and sameness. Free opportunity and acting out your individuality means
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development of natural dissimilarities and variations......Life in freedom,
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in anarchy will do more than liberate man merely from his present political
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and economic bondage. That will be only the first step, the preliminary to
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a truly human existence.
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page 25
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The revolution abolishes private ownership of the means of production and
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distribution, and with it goes capitalistic business. Personal possession
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remains only in the things you use, Thus, your watch is your own, but the
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watch factory belongs to the people, land, machinery, and all other public
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utilities will be collective property, neither to be bought nor sold. Actual
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use will be considered the only title - not to ownership but to possession.
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The organisation of the coal miners, for example, will be in charge of the
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coal mines, not as owners but as the operating agency. Similarly will the
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railroad brotherhood run the railroads, and so on. Collective possession,
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co-operatively managed in the interests of the community, will take the
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place of personal ownership privately, conducted for profit....To make
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bigger profits the coal owners artifically limit the output, and the same
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throughout the capitalistic system. With the abolition of capitalism no
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one would be interested in raising the price of coal or limiting its supply.
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As much coal will be mined as will be necessary to satisfy the need. Similarly
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will as much food will be raised as the country needs. It will be the
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REQUIREMENTS of the community and the supply obtaining which will deterime the amount it is to receive. This applies to coal and food as to all other needs
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of the people.
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page 68-69
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