💾 Archived View for library.inu.red › file › ricardo-flores-magon-new-life.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 13:36:53. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
➡️ Next capture (2024-06-20)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title: New life Author: Ricardo Flores Magón Date: 1915 Language: en Source: Retrieved on April 8th, 2009 from http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/magon/ENArticles/NewLife.html Notes: Translated from Spanish by Mitchell Cowen Verter. From “Regeneration” number 212 November 13, 1915.
“What do we do now,” the workers ask themselves, not without a certain
anxiety.
They have successfully taken the city in blood and fire. There does not
remain a single capitalist in it, nor a priest, nor a representative of
the government, except for those who hang from telephone posts or lay on
the ground, showing their fat dead bodies to the sun. These bold workers
understand that, if they allow a single one of these parasites to
escape, they will soon return in the shadows leading a troop of
mercenaries to stab them in the back.
“What do we do now,” and the anguished question is repeated by thousands
and thousands of convulsing lips. These men, who do not fear shrapnel
and who enthusiastically salute the roar of enemy canons that sends them
death in each ball, feel timid in presence of Life, which offers them
abundance, beauty, goodness, and sweetness.
The men scratch their heads shyly and thoughtfully; the women nibble the
ends of their shawls; the kids, innocently free from the preoccupations
of their elders, take advantage of the absence of policemen who usually
are always around, and invade fruit stores. For the first time in their
lives, they satisfy their puerile appetites until their bellies are
full.
Before this spectacle, the multitude stirs: it was children who, with
their sincerity, were educating their elders about what must be done. It
is more natural for children to work like this, because their
intelligence is corrupted by neither the preoccupations nor the
prejudices which shackle the minds of adults. They do the right thing:
they take it from where they find it. The multitude moves about, its
undulation mimicking a sea of palm fronds. Our father the sun kisses the
rags of these dignified people, generously allowing them a portion of
its life, of its gold, of its beauty, and those clothes shine like the
cheerful flags of victory.
In the middle of this sea, the most virile man surges forward, like a
modest boat sailing proudly towards life. It is Gumersindo, the austere
peasant farmer who had just been seen in the most dangerous places
holding aloft his scythe, simultaneously the harvester of the heads of
evildoers, and the symbol of fecund and noble work. Gumersindo loosens
the peasant blanket that covers him. The multitude quiets down. The
breathing of a child can be heard. Emotionally, Gumersindo says:
“The children grant us an example. Let us imitate them. The
indispensable thing is to eat; that is our primary task. Let us take
from the shops and the grocery stores what we need to satiate our
appetites. Comrades: for the first time in our lives, we may eat as we
like.”
In an opening and closing of eyes, the multitude invades shops and
grocery stores, taking whatever they need. In other sections of the
city, the same thing occurs. For the first time in the history of the
population, there is not a single human being who does not satisfy the
necessities of his stomach. A great happiness reigns in all the city.
The houses are vacant: everyone is on the street. Bands improvising
music roam the streets playing joyous tunes. Everyone salutes each
other, calling each other brother and sister. Even though they did not
know each other a few hours earlier, they dance in the middle of the
street, sing to each other, laugh, cry out, joke about fraternally, and
frolic to the four winds: The tyrannical regulations of the police have
ceased!
Night comes. No one thinks about sleeping. The celebration of Liberty
continues, with more joy than can be contained. The municipal service
was disbanded when the principle of Authority disappeared. In its place,
men and women of good will take care of public lighting. They empty the
streets of dead bodies. Everything goes cheerfully, needing neither
government orders nor district regulations. Already a new day is
dawning, and the celebration, the great celebration of liberty, does not
show any signs that it will end soon, and why should it? The death of
centuries of oppression deserves to be celebrated, not with a few hours
of abandon, not with one day, but rather until the body, exhausted by
the debauchment of pleasure, reclaims slumber.
While the entire population is abandoned to pleasures, pleasures they
have always dreamed of, the comrades, both men and women, of the group
“The Equals” work day and night.
The noble builders of the new social order barely sleep. They are dirty,
unshaven, and swollen from continuously watching over the population all
night. Nevertheless, they are still active, enthusiastic, and valiant.
Upon their shoulders rests the gigantic task of constructing on top of
the debris of a past of slavery and infamy. They avail themselves of the
meeting hall of the extinct Municipal Government to hold their sessions.
The peasant railway man Ramon speaks enthusiastically. He has barely
slept during the five days since the city was taken by proletarian
forces. He is radiant. His square, bronzed face, in which one can read
frankness, resolution, boldness, and sincerity, gleams as if behind his
dark skin, a sun is blazing. He sweats; his eyes shining intensely, he
says:
“Finally, the people are enjoying themselves; finally, they avenge
thousands of years of sadness; finally, they know the pleasures of life.
Let us rejoice in this blessing, like the father finds recreation seeing
his children play. Our brothers and sisters enjoy until they are
exhausted from pleasure. Meanwhile, we work: we finish the plans for
social reconstruction.”
The joyous notes of a waltz arise from the street, making all the faces
turn toward the windows. The waltz ends, followed by an explosion of
cries, whistles, hearty laughter, all sorts of sounds produced by
striking all kinds of objects against each other.
“The people are enjoying themselves,” says Ramon. “We are working.”
And the men and the women of the group “The Equals” continue their
labors.
Ten days have passed since the proletarian forces took the city. The
entire population rests, fatigued by the week of pleasure during the
celebration of Liberty. Numerous groups of proletarians assemble in the
plazas asking each other what would be the right thing to do now. The
comrades of the group “The Equals” have completed their plans for social
reconstruction. They have affixed announcements to the street corners,
inviting the residents of various city neighborhoods to congregate in
specific sites in each neighborhood to discuss affairs of common
interest. Everyone responds to the call, because they are all yearning
to do something. For many, the future is uncertain. For others the
horizon is limited. There even some who believe that the skies will soon
discharge its anger against the men who executed the priests. The terror
of the ignorant is widespread. The anxious crowd begins to murmur.
The comrades of the group “The Equals” distribute themselves in the
various city neighborhoods. In plain language, they explain the
excellence of communist anarchist to the people The people crowd around.
They do not want words: they want deeds. They are right: they have been
deceived too much! But no: this time no one is trying to deceive them.
The orators lecture with all clarity about where they should go next,
without delay, on the march of progress. The first thing they must do is
investigate, with the greatest possible exactitude, the number of
residents in the city. They must make a thorough inventory of the food
and clothing in all the shops and department stores. With this
information, they must calculate how long they will be able to feed and
clothe the population with the assets they have on hand.
The problem of the adequate shelter still remains. It was partially
resolved during the days of the Festival of Liberty. On their own
initiative, some residents of the city housed themselves in the
dwellings of the bourgeoisie and other parasites, who have finally
disappeared forever. However, many families still remain living in tiny
neighborhood rooms and shacks. On hearing this, the masons leap forward,
saying that they will make as many cozy, lovely houses as would be
necessary. Without needing anyone to order them around, they themselves
organize commissions to investigate precisely how many houses must be
built to lodge those who are still living in tiny rooms and shacks.
The murmuring ends: fears and suspicions dissipate from the gathered
crowd. No; “This is serious,” they say and confidence is reborn in their
hearts, that, like a amiable fire, frees up the enthusiasm that is so
necessary in all human enterprise. More than enough men of good will
volunteer to perform the census of the population and to take
inventories of all the articles in the shops. It is necessary to take
inventory not just of the food and of the clothing, but of all items
useful in domestic and industrial settings.
The applauses repeat again and again, not so much to praise the merit of
the volunteers, but to express the joviality of their spirits. These
simple people understand that the fulfillment of duty does not need to
be rewarded. The sea of palm hats stirs cheerfully under the rays of an
amiable sun. The women display their satisfaction, cleaning the clothing
taken from the shops. For the time being, the kids suspend their
frolicking, because they all have furious bellyaches from stuffing
themselves so fully. Convoys of parrots fly joyfully above the crowd,
leaving an impression of openness, of freshness of health, of
youthfulness, of spring. All dawns are beautiful, why shouldn’t this
dawn of Liberty and Justice be beautiful as well?
The conclusion of yesterday’s meetings were postponed until today at two
in the afternoon. The volunteer commissioners are all present. Not one
is missing. All carry exact data about the number of residents in the
city, as well as the existence of food and the other articles contained
within the shops and grocery stores.
The day is splendid, one of the last days in April, when all is light,
perfume, color, youth, love. In all the gardens, now tended by female
volunteers, the flowers show their petals of silk, their exquisite,
smooth, warm, humid vegetable lips that invite caresses and kisses.
In the same sites of yesterday’s meetings, people speak animatedly. “How
well and how quickly everything comes together when Authority does not
intervene,” they say in their conversations. Their hearts palpitate
violently. Gumersindo does not take a moment of rest for himself. He
roams all the neighborhoods in an expropriated automobile, now property
of the community. Its usage is now absolutely necessary, because it
unifies the resolutions made in each city neighborhood. He does not
abandon his scythe, tying it to the hood of the automobile, giving
prestige and luster to a machine that yesterday was merely aristocratic.
The blanket that covers the shoulder of this rural peasant guarantees
his modesty and concern.
Now they know how many residents there were in the city as well as the
quantity of all kinds of manufactured goods. Despite their inability to
find a mathematician on hand, they rapidly calculate how much longer
they can continue to live off the provisions, a necessary calculation
for regulating production. Hundreds of working hands plot the figures
with expropriated pencils.
In a few minutes, these men of the hammer, of the shovel, of the saw,
and of the chisel explain that this quantity of food is needed to
provide daily subsistence for that many residents. They say that,
because this quantity of foodstuff has been found, the entire population
can subsist for that length of time.
Everyone is satisfied. “My goodness, this is going well” they say. Not a
single complaint can be heard. “Truthfully, one needs only anarchists to
arrange things,” they add. Cries of “Long live Anarchy” thunder
throughout the space, in well-justified ovations that finally accept the
sacred ideal. Ramon, the peasant railway man, cries with emotion and
shakes a red bound booklet above him, saying in a voice broken with
sobs:
“This is our masterpiece!”
It is the Manifesto of September 23, 1911, issued by the Organizing
Council of the Mexican Liberal Party.
Ramon is magnificent. Like all heroes, his square face, which looks like
it has been hewn by ax blows in the strongest wood, radiates light.
However, a hero is not a god, because anarchists do not have gods.
Rather, it is a being who, through his actions, elevates himself above
us as an example, as a great and beneficial teaching. Whether or not one
wants to admit it, he shines like a sun.
Ramon explains that, considering the quantity of supplies, all the
workers in the each industry must assemble to agree upon how work will
be organized in their industry. Once they obtain this agreement,
delegates from all the industries must also come to an accord on how to
produce what the population needs. All approve of the idea, and
Gumersindo lets all the assemblies in the different city neighborhoods
know of this agreement. They all receive this idea with grand gestures
of enthusiasm. An era of prosperity and progress is opening up before
the redeemed city. From now on, the production will be adjusted to the
needs of the population rather than to enrich some bandits.
Volunteers from the many trades have completed the construction of vast
galleries in various locations in each of the neighborhoods which divide
the city. Other volunteers have carried to these galleries all the items
that always are found in great quantity in the shops, stores, and other
warehouses. These articles are classified carefully. They have been
distributed in the storehouses made expressly for containing them, where
people who need them can go take them. In these galleries will be
deposited all the articles that the many industries produce.
The comrades of the group “The Equals” do not rest. What an enormous
task they have! What colossal responsibilities will flatten them if the
new order comes to nothing. However, they work with great faith in its
success, the intense faith that is born from a profound conviction.
Nevertheless, some details preoccupy them. The city can not get beyond a
certain point without the aid of the farm workers. The peasant farmers
must give the city worker what they need to eat, as well as the primary
materials for industry such as cotton, wool, wood, cactus leaves, and
many other things. In exchange, the peasant farmers will have the right
to take from the city’s storehouses everything they need: clothing,
prepared or manufactured food, furniture, machinery, and utensils for
work. In a word, everything they need. The metallurgic industries need
the miners to cooperate with metals. In exchange, they obtain all that
they need, like their brothers the peasant farmers.
“Yes!” Ramon cries enthusiastically, “we need the cooperation of the
peasant farmer, of the miner, of the quarrymen, of all who work outside
the city, and we have obtained it!”
A cloud of volunteer commissioners scatter to the region conquered by
the workers’ firearms. They invite their brothers to cooperate in the
great work of social production, as has been said before. All accept
with enthusiasm, and promise to send what they produce to the city, in
exchange for what the city workers produce.
The anarchist society is finally a reality. Everyone works, everyone
produces according to his strengths and aptitudes and consumes according
to his needs. The old and the invalid do not work. All live contentedly,
because they all feel free. No one orders and no one obeys. In all
fields of work, the greatest harmony reigns between everyone, without
needing taskmasters or bosses. There is very great traffic on
streetcars, on railroads, on automobiles, and on carts, because now
everyone has the right to transport himself from one place to another
according to his whim.
Some five or six days is all it has taken to obtain such a cheerful
result. Finally, humanity has been regenerated through the adoption of
the principles of communist anarchist. One can not even understand the
depth of feeling in Gumersindo and Ramon when they emotionally
contemplate the beautiful work in which they played such a large part.
From the nearby hill, on the route to the city, they look with eyes
dampened by emotion upon the tranquil city, the peaceful city, the city
of brothers and sisters. The murmur of the immense metropolis breathing
comes to them. It is no longer the breathing of fatigue nor the death
rattle of an agonized population of slaves, but the ample, profound,
healthy breathing of a city of free and happy beings.