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Title: The Case for Anarchism Author: Guy A. Aldred Date: 1906 Language: en Topics: introductory Source: Original text from http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=10730, 2021.
The prophet of despair is ever with us ; and to him there is no silver
lining to any cloud, no promise of sunshine after the storm, no people
so fair and upright as to be able to act honorably unless force or fear
are brought to bear upon them. To him the whole social horizon is
shrouded in darkness, and not a ray of freedomâs sun is there to
separate cloud from cloud. Humanity is inherently bad, and is for ever
doomed to âbe divided into dominated and dominators. Governments based
on fraud and coercion, a representative system founded on legislative
corruption, a poverty to offer the contrast to an equally immoral
bestial luxury: these things are the ends of all being, the tombs of all
aspirations, the alpha and omega of the social serfâs existence. To
dream of a society not founded on the âlaw of constructive murder,â of a
social state in which all are brethren and peace and good fellowship
prevail, of a society founded on truth and freedom, is to become an
enemy of the society that is, and to be regarded as a dreamer of the
most fanatical type. And in the eyes of your âpracticalâ and âbusiness
man,â no less so than in the eyes of any other prophet of despair, to
dream of anything other than of personal success or Mammon is an
unforgivable offense, socially, like unto the theological sin oi
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
What these deprecators of idealism fail to realize is that all social
progress turns upon the continual striving of the individual and the
community after something better, the continual being and becoming of
the whole of Nature, the eternal discontent underlying the most
practical of human endeavor. It follows, therefore, from a recognition
of this fact that no serious argument can be urged against the
propaganda of the Communist on the score of his idealism. For, if by
idealism be understood the yearning after some state of society or of
individual being, and the molding of the present to realize your dream
in the future, then surely there is a touch of the impracticability of
idealism about the operation of Wall Street and Stock Exchange
financiers. And yet they realize their dreams. Why, then, if the
socially maleficent dream of the millionaire can be realized, cannot the
socially beneficent dream of the Communist be realized? Is it that
behind the forces of Nature there exists an omnipotent power for evil,
and that not God, but Devil, reigns oâer all? If so, whence the sweet
fragrance of the flowers, the artistic culture of the race, the rich
verdure of the fields, the impressive heights of mountain ranges, the
beauties of the undulating plains, the luxury of Natureâs foliage? Does
not the evil in Nature counteract the good? Is it not obvious to the
student that the whole of being is reducible to no explanation that
turns upon the existence of either moral or immoral conscious sources of
being, hutâ that the basis of all physical and social activity is an
immoral tendency to be?
If this be granted, as needs it reasonably must, then we are faced with
the fact of man not merely being a social animal, but also a selfish
one; the development of the selfish instinct being of such a. kind as to
increasingly occasion the production of those types of character which
serve to give an ethical turn to the survival of the fittest, and to
make for a state of society in which the purest and ethically fittest
can survive. This assertion is founded on no mere Anarchist dream, but
is the substance of the well-reasoned address on âEvolution and Ethicsâ
which Professor Huxley delivered as the Romanes Lecture for 1893. And
even though this distinguished scientist and veteran philosopher
confessed that âstrict Anarchy may be the highest conceivable grade of
perfection oi social existence,â no one will accuse him of basing his
expositions of ethical evolution on romantic musings, or on data other
than that which he had submitted to severe analysis. Nor is it necessary
to rely on Huxleyâs testimony. It is sufficient that we trace up the
evolution of species, watch the development of the social spirit in man,
examine the basis of âduty,â and read pages of history. All these
studies will but serve to vindicate the truth of Huxleyâs contention.
What, then, is man as we know him in the highest stage of actual and
potential development? What is his relation as actual or potential
being, respectively to his present environment and Communist state of
society? Let us see.
Man as we know him, in the highest actual stage of development, loves
learning, yearns alter truth, and identifies his personal happiness with
the realization and maintenance of his ideals. The vast number of
artists, poets, philosophers, and scientists who have suffered penury
and persecution for their principles prove this. The numerous pioneers
of Freethought and social liberty who have been burned at the stake,
murdered by the Inquisition, racked, tortured, hanged and strangled,
bear a like testimony. The willingness of the mother to suffer for her
children lends further testimony to the inherent social idealism of the
individual. Whilst the fact that those who would prey on their fellows
do so in the name of justice, of spirituality, and of truth, supplies
the final emphasis. Hence we see humanity is not ruled, at bottom, by
coercion, nor by fear. nor yet by injustice. That these things should
exist but means that ignorance abounds. Let ignorance be removed, and it
will be seen that knowledge is virtue as Well as power. Knowledge spells
justice. freedom, happiness. But neither justice, nor freedom, nor
happiness can exist where the many are dominated by the few. For,
self-contained as each individual should he, loyal unto the internal
canons of thought as opposed to external authority, man is,
nevertheless, so far as his sense implied and social existence is
concerned, a part of the social organism, an ethical unit, and an
intellectual cellular activity acting and reacting upon the society of
which he is a part, and upon: the cellular activities to which he is
related. Each of these activities or social atoms is dominated by the
will to be, adaptation to and of the being. Hence we find that
adaptation to and of the environments is continual, those organisms
surviving longest which adapt themselves the more readily to their
environment.
This process of development tends to become an ethical one and to
identify individual ability and power to survive with the evolution of
the social instinct and desire to serve. It follows, most distinctly,
that capitalist environment not only favors, but creates the Communist.
Our right to live, is conditioned by the intellectual and economic
forces which surround us. These forces demand that each organism shall
perform certain social functions in order to maintain its own right to
existence. To exhibit vitality the primordial law of life. But it is
impossible to obey this law, without which being cannot he manifested,
unless we harmonize with our environment. It is impossible to live and
to impoverish. The law of life is that, only by enriching our
environment, by rendering it more vital and depriving it of death and
decay, can we survive. Only by nourishing can we gather nourishment.
Selfishness teaches us to discharge duties as well as to preserve
rights.
The logical expression of this selfishness of the individual is the
doing of good because it is good. We incline to abolish suffering
because pain to others occasions agony for ourselves. We are impelled to
produce the best of which we are capable because our natures demand
thoroughness in the discharge of those functions for which our organisms
are fitted. Equally, we are compelled to take from the community all
that is necessary to the maintenance of our being, because the welfare
of all requires that the individual craving or appetite should be
satisfied. Thus rights involve duties and duties proclaim rights.
Idiosyncrasies vary and cannot be crushed. Men and women insist on
discovering hobbies with which to amuse themselves after having sweated
for a master. Does it not follow that, in a free society, not only would
each work ior all, but each would toil with earnest devotion at that
which âbest suited and expressed his or her temperament? There would
exist, in consequence, not merely a purer and freer society, not only
happier and nobler individuals, but a practical individualism, a sound
and sane collectivism. The forms and modes of productivity and
distribution would tend to good food, healthy living, decent clothing,
and equal intellectual and moral liberty for all. Hence the thoroughness
of production and distribution would be co-existent with a minimum of
labor and a maximum of pleasure. Liberty would co-exist with social
service, because the power to dictate and the desire to invade would be
abolished.
It may be said that this is mere theory. Quite so. But what if it is
only theory? Have we not reasoned together logically from data
scientifically collected? All the data relevant to the problem under
discussion has been considered. None has been ignored or overlooked.
There exists no facts which militate either against the basic
assumptions or main contentions of the theory.
Communist theory, is but an anticipation in thought of what will occur
inevitably in reality. It is a correct outlining of the future.
Had there been no pioneers who died for Truth, Communism would be
impossible of realization. If none had been burned for Liberty, then
there could be no Anarchy. Were there no mother-love, then the Earth
would not âbe our common mother, and the sun would not shine to give
warmth and light to us all. But there is an idealism of the past and of
the present which conditions the future. There have been Brunos and
Spinozas and Chicago Martyrs. Isaiah has triumphed over Moses. Within
the most depraved breast, there does exist a spark of chivalry which
often consumes the entire being of the outcast sinner; there dwells many
a virtuous inclination which the surrounding world of respectability
conspires to crush and to decline. Modem society seems to thrive on an
acquired taste for sordid criminality. But even society is moved, at its
respectable worst, by something noble: than an instinct and aptitude for
crime.
The world is governed even to-day by its impulse towards liberty and
love. âTruthâ and âHonorâ are not empty sounds, but the dearest of the
worldâs ideals. So much we know. Then let us be logical and recognize
that the Free Society of which we dream is something beyond a mere
possibility. It is not a vain imagining of the better things that might
be. But the inevitable goal of our social revolution.
With the advent of capitalism, theological speculation entered upon its
period of decline. The dark serpent of theological superstition lost its
hold over the minds of children and adults. Influenced by its growing
sense of rpower over nature, humanity lost its fear of god. The world
ceased do be a battle-ground for unknown divinities. It was a mystery
wonder land no more. It became a realm of established fact and
experience, of scientific investigation and regulated discovery. Its
philosophy, in consequence, became utilitarian.
Underlying all social progress is the first law of Nature, the law of
self-preservation. So long as man could safely live unto himself, he
paid little attention to the wants of his fellows. Experience taught him
the folly of isolation. He realized that, from time to time, he ran
risks of being deprived of his existence. Alone, he sometimes lacked the
means to sustain his being. Each day convinced him of his
ever-increasing indebtedness to his fellows. He consented to recognize
his obligations and so became a social animal. But it was self-interest
which dictated his growth in wisdom and in understanding and in moral
righteousness. Selfishness lies at the moot of all social and industrial
development.
The apparent growth in the Altruistic mode of expressing our individual
selfishness tends to belie the primary selfishness of our individual
desires. Thus we find in the tribal state a slow decay in the massacring
of prisoners of war in order to turn them to account as slaves. Chattel
slavery gives way to free slavery when the economic interests demand the
change. To retain power a dominant class ever concedes advantages no
those under the yoke of its oppression.
Altruism plays no part in the march of industrial progress. The
utilitarian instinct or self-preservation desire is the deciding factor.
Not a dualistic crossing of Altruism and Egotism, but a naturally
evolved egoism explains the nature oi the individualâs progress in
Communistic inclinations.
The nature of a species can be changed completely as a result of the
modifications resulting from the passage through a series of
environments. But only the expression is modified in the case of the
effect of factors operative in the environment on the nature of an
individual member of the species. By adding to or subtracting from the
ethical factors in a human beings environment, it is possible to divert
his inclinations from one channel to another. Meantime, economic
conditions are tending constantly to alter the individualâs attitude
towards abstract ideas. Hence, in our maturity, we respond not only to
intellectual truth but also to the ever-increasing pressure of economic
interest. Our rectitude is modified by the action and reaction which
exists between the idealism of philosophy and the determinism of
industrial conditions.
In the fact of this action and re-action so existing is to be found the
cause Of our present chaos and uncertainty in all revolutionary
propaganda. Our only emancipation from the resulting apparent confusion
will be found in the intellectual and economic destinies which
constitute the logic shaping the ends of communities as well as of
individuals. Whilst individually, man may be said by virtue of his
heredity to largely mold his environment to his own ends, the ideals and
inclinations of the race are molded by external conditions. Hence,
socially a creature of circumstances, man is individually a free being
capable of influencing his environment, as also of adapting it to his
own ends. Only in so far, as he is a member of a society which
recognizes his natural freedom can he identify his interests with that
of society. Only in proportion as he realizes the influence society
exercises in the molding of the character of the race can he consciously
contribute to the securement of his own freedom and that oi his
posterity, along the lines of least resistance. Hence the natural
evolution of man, his place in society and his attitude towards abstract
problems which have often supplied an excuse for reaction, only serve to
emphasize humanityâs potential capacity for Communism. Mankindâs present
activity is a certain promise of its inevitable arrival at that state of
society which shall witness the combination of absolute individual
liberty with the greatest amount of social order. With the many coerced
by the few, the only âorderâ existent at present is that of disorder.
With all enjoying the advantages of a social order based on an
enlightened social expression of individual happiness.
In order that we might understand this phase of our subject, it is well
to note Spencerâs contribution to the consideration of society as a
social organism. Referring to the individual as a unit in society, he
notes the tribal tendency to a small aggregation of individual units,
augmenting insensibly in mas. At first, the communities thus formed seem
structureless, so simple is the nature of their structure. In the course
of their development, however, they become more and more complex, and
the mutual dependence of their component parts or units becomes more and
more firmly established, until at last the life of each unit is only
made possible by the consent and activity of the remaining parts. To
complete his analogy, Spencer shows that the life of society is
interdependent of, and far more prolonged than the lives of any of its
component units, which are conceived only to grow, work, reproduce and
die, while the body politic, which is composed of them, survives
generation after generation, increasing in mass, in completeness of
structure and in functional activity. This is society as we know it. the
state in which the individual is made by schoolmaster and nurse, by
priest and politician, a unit existing merely for the well-being, not of
the whole organism. but of the consumptive or parasitical portion of the
organism. Or, to vary our conception, in which the working section
enjoys sufficient food to keep the central stomach of the organism in
activity, whilst the vitals of the organism are being eaten away by the
parasitic growths living in luxury on its activity.
Up to the point named the analogy between society and biological
organism would seem to be complete. But the comparison entirely breaks
down in that the body cells are of no importance in themselves, but are
only of value in so far as they eon; tribute to the well-being of the
whole; whilst, in the case of the âState, it having no corporate
consciousness, its existence is only of âimportance in so far as it
contributes to the happiness of the individual. In the case of the
animal, it is well that the directive power should be central, inasmuch
as the cellular consciousness is coupon ate, and therefore central. But
as the consciousness in society of its units is individual, the
directive force must âbe individual, and hence all central authority is
artificial and an impertinent imposition. Only by the operation of
internal canons of thought, only by the âindividualâs growth in the
direction of social feeling, by virtue of his own experience and
observation, can he learn to identify his own interests with that of the
communityâs well-being. A central activity, devoid of conscious control,
cannot do this, for there exist no nervous tissues to convey the results
of central legislative effort to all parts of the body politic and
inspire the units with legislative vitality. Moral suasion, educative
endeavor, rational convictionâthese are the only forces which will
contribute to this âdesirable end. Inasmuch as Anarchist society alone
can develop these forces, Anarchists need have no fear of submitting
their principles to analysis in the mental laboratory of reason.