Not Whether We Accomplish Anarchism

Organisation, Far From Creating Authority, Is The Only Cure For It And The Only Means Whereby Each Of Us Will Get Used To Taking An Active And Conscious Part In Collective Work, And Cease Being Passive Instruments In The Hands Of Leaders.

The Question May Seem Embarrassing, But It Can Be Answered In A Few Words. For Two People To Live In Peace They Must Both Want Peace; If One Of Them Insists On Using Force To Oblige The Other To Work For Him And Serve Him, Then The Other, If He Wishes To Retain His Dignity As A Man And Not Be Reduced To Abject Slavery, Will Be Obliged In Spite Of His Love Of Peace, To Resist Force With Adequate Means.

And By Anarchist Spirit I Mean That Deeply Human Sentiment, Which Aims At The Good Of All, Freedom And Justice For All, Solidarity And Love Among The People; Which Is Not An Exclusive Characteristic Only Of Self-declared Anarchists, But Inspires All People Who Have A Generous Heart And An Open Mind.

In The Anarchist Milieu, Communism, Individualism, Collectivism, Mutualism And All The Intermediate And Eclectic Programmes Are Simply The Ways Considered Best For Achieving Freedom And Solidarity In Economic Life; The Ways Believed To Correspond More Closely With Justice And Freedom For The Distribution Of The Means Of Production And The Products Of Labour Among Men. Bakunin Was An Anarchist, And He Was A Collectivist, An Outspoken Enemy Of Communism Because He Saw In It The Negation Of Freedom And, Therefore, Of Human Dignity.

If You Say That You Reject Violence When It Exceeds The Limits Imposed By The Needs Of Defense, They Accuse You Of Pacifism, Without Understanding That Violence Is The Whole Essence Of Authoritarianism, Just As The Repudiation Of Violence Is The Whole Essence Of Anarchism.