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Title: Revolutionaries
Author: Dermot Sreenan
Date: 1994
Language: en
Topics: revolutionary anarchism, Workers Solidarity, Ireland
Source: Retrieved on 18th November 2021 from http://struggle.ws/ws94/revolution43.html
Notes: Published in Workers Solidarity No. 43 — Autumn 1994.

Dermot Sreenan

Revolutionaries

I may not have any chains around my feet, but still, I am not free. In

modern society — capitalism — our bosses and leaders have invented new

methods to chain us. According to the propaganda we are supposed to live

in a free, democratic society, yet all of us experience limitations in

our lives. Everyday more of us are being flung on the dole, families are

being thrown out on the streets, our pay packets are shrinking and

prices keep going up. Politicians care about little else except their

popularity. In truth, we all know that this free, democratic society

doesn’t exist on the streets where we live.

We must change the system which forces us to live under it’s heel. The

only way to take the power back from the bosses and place it in the

hands of the people is via Revolution. Capitalism now operates globally.

If you are serious about fighting them then there is a glaring need to

organise and co-ordinate. It is in answer to this need that

revolutionary organisations spring.

Anarchists have an acknowledged respect for individual freedom. We

believe that anarchist ideas and principles are those which will bring

about a successful revolution.

We are not interested in changing our leaders. We wish to change the

system so that there is no leaders just real democracy. We therefore

believe in the need to develop individually. Socialism doesn’t exist

without freedom. What we want is a society where we are free to exercise

control over our own lives.

Ideas are our lifeblood

Just as there are major differences between Marxists and Anarchists in

politics so there is in the way we organise. We do not have leaders and

led. Anarchists believe that ideas are the lifeblood of a revolutionary

movement. We wish to be the educators and instigators of our class but

not the leaders. The working class has been led down enough ‘cul de

sacs’ to not be bothered with the journey.

The WSM, as our organisation, must reflect the type of society we wish

to create. All our members are active in the work and decision making of

the organisation. Each member carries out the tasks of writing, paper

selling, and preparing educational talks. We are all involved in

campaign work and in our trade unions. Here we address the issues and

try and win people to our politics in both heat and mind.

Party Versus You

There are no power positions within the WSM. Any position held within

the organisation is electable, recallable and entails administrative

work. The Leninists demonstrated that power when wielded in the name of

the working class means the precedence of the party over the people.

There will always come a time when there is a clash between the party

and the people. This is because it is the party making the decisions on

behalf of the people and not the people making and exercising their own

decisions.. We say that Anarchism has no place for power unless it is in

the hands of the workers themselves.

The need for efficient co-ordination and decision making in a post

revolutionary period shall be dealt with by the workers’ own

organisations. The history of struggle is also the history of

self-organisation. >From the Paris Commune through the original Russian

Soviets to the workers’ self-management in 1930’s Spain, people have

automatically sought to organise themselves and create their own

decision-making organs. Democracy either involves decisions being taken

by the people being effected or it is not democracy. Such

self-organisation will provide the structure for our future free society

to be built on.

“Only the Truth is Revolutionary”

The WSM are not players in a game called politics. For us politics is

the fight forward for a better future. Anarchism will either be the

creation of a free and politically aware working class.....or it will

not be anarchism.

It is the role of a revolutionary organisation is to get our class to a

stage where we take on the might of the state, destroy it and replace it

with workers’ councils. There is no room for leaders or parties doing it

on our behalf. There is only room for the working class being in control

and in power. When the working class are in charge of society then it

will only be run in our interests.