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Title: Money Author: Freedom Press (London) Date: September, 1889 Language: en Source: Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, Vol. 3, No. 34, online source http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=3047, retrieved on April 12, 2020.
(By an Individualist Anarchist.)
THE two primary purposes for which the State exists are these: (1) the
maintenance of legal property, from which arises an monopolies of land
and means of labor; (2) the manufacture of the so-called legal currency,
or medium of exchange; and practically speaking Anarchists attack these
two monster evils.
The State has arisen out of and still embodies the principle of Mutual
Distrust, and it can only be abolished by replacing this principle by
that of Mutual Confidence. Doubtless there is a tendency towards a
growth of this latter principle, and hence the hope of the Anarchist.
People who are not accustomed to question the present order of things,
treat as perfectly chimerical or utopian the idea of doing away with
money; indeed the belief in money and the belief in property are
probably the two most deeply rooted superstitions that have ever
occupied the human mind. Nevertheless they are but superstitions, and
until they are eradicated the progress of mankind towards happiness will
be very slow indeed. These two superstitions produce much misery in
society, perhaps one half of the existing misery, the other half being
produced by our social customs regarding the sexual relationship, and
these being the prime causes of social misery, there is no prospect of
its alleviation until these causes are removed.
I give a person a piece of gold or silver stamped by the government, in
exchange for something which he gives me. This arrangement simply
implies an absence of all mutual confidence between us. We require the
State to make these coins because we cannot trust one another, but see
what this want of mutual confidence implies. It means that no exchanges
of commodities or services can take place except among people who happen
to have got hold of these pieces of gold and silver. -This means:
(1) That the exchanges of commodities and services must be considerably
fettered.
(2) That those who have no money must ever be at the mercy of those who
have.
Money therefore, simply fetters exchange of commodities and services and
consequently hinders the final cementation of society. This is so true
that I don't suppose many people will heed it.
I quite agree with Sir Thomas More, and indeed every day's experience of
life impresses its truth more and more upon me, when he says, "So easy a
thing would it be to supply all the necessities of life if that blessed
thing called money, which is pretended to be invented for procuring
them, were not really the only thing that obstructed their being
procured."
Exchange is the life-blood of human society, and money which is an
obstacle in the way of exchange is a vampire draining that life-blood.
But how can we do without money I Plainly enough. Start exchanging on
any mutual principle upon which you and others can agree either by a
Free Currency representing your goods or on a principle of Free
Communism, meaning the free giving and taking of services, or by any
other mutual arrangement you may devise.
A. TARN.