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The
Libertarian Society
by
Georges Bastien
Some
Words on Georges Bastien
This pamphlet was written in 1926 by
Georges Bastien. Bastien (1885-1940) was a French
Anarcho-syndicalist, that is he combined his Anarchist beliefs with
Syndicalism. Syndicalism is the name of a school of socialism that
views the building of revolutionary unions amongst the working class
as the key to creating a revolutionary movement strong enough to
supplant capitalism and begin the construction of a better world.
Syndicalism, which literally translates into English as Trade
Unionism, -from the Romance languages shared name for Labour Unions
which is a Syndicate- traces its origins to the 19th
century socialist movement. Its early strongholds being the nations
of France, Spain and Italy.
In France, Syndicalism first rose to
prominence with the creation of the Confederation Generale du
Travail the General
Confederation of Work (CGT). Georges Bastien joined the workers
struggle in 1904 in the aftermath of textile workers strike in
Amiens. In November 1904 he was one of the founders of the newspaper
Germinal, and would
spend the rest of his life working as a journalist and Anarchist
militant within the workers Syndicates. He was also a committed
anti-militarist, in 1906 Bastien and a fellow Anarchist Jules Lemaire
were sentenced to six months in prison for cowriting an article in
Germinal titled
“L’antimilitarisme et l’antipatriotisme”
(Anti-militarism and anti-patriotism) and both were then sentenced a
second time on similar charges for producing another anti-militarist
pamphlet called Aux Conscripts (To
the Conscripts). The sentences did not bar him from compulsory
military service and he was conscripted in 1907, however he remained
in uniform for just 45 days. He had been approached by his commanding
officer with an offer, shut up or desert, he chose the latter and
lived in exile for a time in Belgium and London, and at some point
after 1910
Bastien went to South America and learnt the Spanish language. The
details on this period of his life are scarce though he translate
French Anarchist texts into Spanish during it. The
list of organisations Bastien belonged to is very long, the one thing
they all had in common was a commitment to revolutionary struggle and
the creation of a Libertarian Communist society. One of the important
events he participated in was as a signatory of the document that
became known as the Charter of Amiens in 1906. This Charter for the
CGT became its main guiding document for several years and represents
the height of Anarchosyndicalist influence within the CGT. The
Charter of Amiens secured the CGT’s independence from political
parties and focused attention on more overtly revolutionary aims and
goals for the union as a vehicle for class struggle.
In
the aftermath of the First World War Bastien returned to France and
worked to revive Germinal and
support the French Anarchist movement. In reaction to the Russian
Revolution Bastien was an open and early supporter who opposed French
intervention in the country. “We are not Bolsheviks. But we will
fight for them because they represent sincere, honest and courageous
action”. Though it wasn’t long before the actions of the
Bolsheviks forced Bastien to distinguish between the revolution and
the Bolshevik party.
From
the 1920s to his death in 1940 Bastien remained an active and
important writer. In addition to the Germinal and
other newspapers Bastien authored several pamphlets including this
one Libertarian Society, and was also a contributor to Sebastian
Faure’s L’Encyclopedie Anarchiste (Anarchist
Encyclopedia) among many other works. He kept writing up to the year
of his death in Amiens. And in addition to speaking French and
Spanish he had some knowledge of Esperanto, he contributed a special
forward for the Esperanto language addition of the pamphlet.
I
chose to translate this pamphlet to add to the knowledge of Bastien’s
important contributions in the English speaking corners of the world.
There is a lot of information out there for French speakers,
including an article that manages to catalogue most of the names and
acronyms of the groups he founded or joined through out his life and
documents some of his activity in strikes and protests.
But not much in English. The work itself is also of value beyond the
connections to its author, its an early attempt to sketch out a
potential new society. Anarchists are often accused of being good at
destruction, riots, black blocks, assassinations, terrorism etc, but
having little to offer constructively. This in my opinion is a
mischaracterisation, but its easy to say that and just ignore the
criticism. This work addresses these charges in a general sense, it
is not a blueprint to be copied by the Anarchist revolutionaries
after successfully abolishing the old order, it is instead an
argument for the values, ways and means of a new way of life in
general, a direction marker rather than a map through a maze.
I’m sure
the words Libertarian and Communism being stuck next to each other is
surprising to at least a few English speakers reading this, but its
an old idea with many advocates and Georges Bastien was one of them.
Reddebrek
Foreword
to the Esperanto Publication
It is with great
pleasure that I received the news that the World Anational
Association SAT (Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda), wanted to
publish in Esperanto “The Libertarian Society” the short work
written to shed some light on the positive and practical concepts of
libertarian communism.
First, I should make a
confession. I do not think that the libertarian organisation of
society, complete and definitive, is possible in the realm of regions
and nations, the interdependence of all human fractions would not
allow the new social regime to live for long and achieve its full
maturity if it is restrained and limited to an experimental field.
This new way would have only three paths open to it: to internalise
and isolate amongst the minority of the so-called civilised world, or
to join with the older neighbouring forces and stagnate, or to
disappear, suffocated by nearby hostile social organisations.
I do not believe one can
get free of this dilemma though these three ways.
I also conform to the
logic that every adept of social transformation in the sense of
freedom and well being for all must be convinced internationalists.
*
**
A quick glance at the
world, across all the lands shows us a clear trend towards the
unification of human activity.
Even the most backward
lands tend, either by conquest or the influence of capitalism to
imitate the so-called civilised world. The mechanisms, the
industries, commerce, financial procedures of our regions penetrate
everywhere. The same social organisation implants itself bit by bit
on every continent. And everywhere we all work under the same
conditions. The competition that the capitalists implanted between
the poorly paid indigenous workers and more expensive domestic
labourers pushes the unification of existence.
Not even fashion both
male or female is an exception as it becomes international. The
cities have an accentuated tendency to become uniform, and in the
process lose their local character.
We should not complain
about this inevitable progress of human unity. It is one of the
necessary conditions for social progress; its one of the foundations
of the free society of the future. To love each other well we must
respect each other. In order to appreciate each other we must have
understanding, we cannot be too different from each other.
This is why I consider
an international language to be a necessity for buildings truly
libertarian society. And this is further proof that the libertarian
idea follows the evolutionary path, because everything tends toward
internationalism, people are trying to understand each other by
speaking a common language.
*
**
A few personal words to
end this introduction.
I traveled a little in
my youth. I had to learn English, and swallowed some knowledge in
German and Spanish, in order to “get around” in the countries I
passed through. Relatively easy work when one is young, but which
becomes difficult at a certain age. The assimilation skill is lost to
time and other studies.
How sad I was to not
find comrades in every country who spoke Esperanto! It is for that
reason that I did not continue my study of the international language
despite feeling its urgent necessity.
So I wholeheartedly wish
for the international language to become the medium of communication
amongst all free spirits, and through them grows to become the
universal language of all humanity.
Georges Bastien
Introduction
to Georges Bastien’s
The
Libertarian Society
Foreword
The remains and
discoveries from man’s ancient past have taught us that humanity
did not always live and behave as we do now. By a slow process of
development, which has taken many centuries mankind has grown beyond
the ancient animal tendencies. There is no reason why this progress
should be halted. The people of future centuries will not be the same
as the people of today. They will be evolved physiologically,
intellectually and morally.
In the same manner the
techniques, the means of production, means of transportation and
travel etc, experience has been deeply transformed over the
centuries. Who can predict the capabilities of technology a century
or two into the future? Or just how far the development of machinery
will push the productive capabilities of the people? On these matters
we know nothing. However it is certain that the social question of
the future will not present itself in the same way as they do in the
present. Just as the solutions proposed one or two centuries ago are
not appropriate for today.
With that in mind it
would be folly to try to predict the social structure of future
centuries, because despite the wishes of theorists, legislators and
builders of utopia, humanity will always be moving.
That is not the goal I
set for myself, I do not wish to look too far ahead.
By researching the
social question and the factors it demonstrates for the present, with
regard to the actually existing conditions and technical means
available to humanity today, I am
searching for the foundations of a libertarian society and the
physical conditions in which it could live.
If technology and science developed in a different way then the
principles which form the basis of human society would be very
different, and our movement would not exist.
It is not acceptable that with all that practical and theoretical
science has given to mankind, and the means at our disposal to build
a social organisation, that the majority of the population is still
forced to live at a level beneath that of dirt. We Anarchists
believe that if humanity rids itself of the stupid prejudices
inherited from past ages, rejected its cowardice, both morally and
intellectually, and if they get used to acting and thinking for
themselves then the obstacles that block human social development
would soon disappear.
The oppressed masses are afraid of leaping into the unknown, and this
fear is preserved and stoked by the few enjoyers of privilege and
those who wish to join their ranks.
The desire to banish
this state of spiritual stagnation is my sole reason for writing this
pamphlet.
I do not pretend to have
explored and solved every social issue. Moreover the limited scope of
this pamphlet prevents me from attempting to do so.
I merely wish to make
some use of the work of several Anarchist theorists, Proudhon,
Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta and Sebastian Faure, combined with
fundamental ideas of the wider social movement to outline the general
features of how a libertarian society without gods and masters, but
based on the relationship between freely formed associations of equal
and fraternal people. In short, I wish to show that we are not just
simple demolitionists and utopians, but that we have a clear and
accurate social program.
Part
One
The
Libertarian Principles
To
Destroy or to Build
The Anarchists wish to
destroy everything: States, judiciary, police, army, private
property, money, commerce, exploitation,; morality, religion,
patriotism, the family.
They are the systematic
destroyers of today’s society. So, why do they want to do this?
The answer is simple.
The Anarchists believe that our current society has been built in
direct opposition to rationality, and every principle of equality and
humanity. All for a minority who know how to profit from and take
advantage. And nothing for the rest.
Today’s economic
institutions have built a dictatorship that rests on hunger, its a
system entirely for the benefit of a few parasites, and disadvantages
the producers who are subjected to misery and servitude.
The political
institutions combine into a vast Union that organises violence to
terrify the masses and keep them in servitude.
The official, religious
and patriotic morality completes the work of this monstrous
inequality, dumbing down their brains, worshiping their enemies,
filling their minds with prejudices so that they don't see clearly,
cultivating hatred in their hearts to divide the oppressed, because
their agreement would be dangerous.
Everything: All the
political, economic and moral authority, has been established little
by little, through the ages. They form a block in which they all,
every kind of authority supports the others. It is impossible to
break one without first destroying the rest. If any form of
leadership be it political, economic or moral survives after
revolution, then it will reconnect with and rebuild all the others…
everything would have to start over. This has been the fate of all
previous revolutions.
The experiments of the
past have taught us that we can not do things by halves, and be
satisfied by social outbreaks that keep the old rotten house intact.
It is a new world that
we must create, with a social contract totally different from that of
the old. It is necessary that the leadership cedes its position to
the association of free people; for the development of a society
based on real equality, otherwise it will become the enemy of the
spirit and practice of solidarity.
If you want to build a
house on the site of another, and if no other land is available, it
is certainly necessary to demolish the old one first. Because the
globe is almost entirely appropriated by the privileged, who
subjugate all humanity under their yoke, the only way the new
libertarian society can establish itself is on the ruins of
institutions that stand today.
The
State
We want to destroy the state!
The state or the political leadership
is a coalition of bureaucratic, police, legal and military
institutions. Simply, it is oppression by violence. Its chief
function is the maintenance order, so that the privileged few can
enjoy their gains in peace. The state is bureaucrat, trustee, judge
and soldier, it is all these things combined for the purpose of
keeping the masses under the yoke of servitude using all means
available to it. Who in a free society, where everyone would be
equal, where misery and ignorance have disappeared, could make use of
this apparatus of compulsion? The social regime built on liberty and
solidarity cannot have any connection to those old institutions,
which are hated by the people on instinct. And how right it is to
hate the chains that bind them, and the whip that strikes them.
Study the court statistics. Nearly
every crime and misdemeanor has a cause, poverty, ignorance,
intoxication, the lust for wealth etc. or else they concern the
unfortunate people punished for not submitting to their masters.
Society should be organised in a way that everyone can enjoy a good
standard of living in exchange for a reasonable amount of work, in an
atmosphere of profound freedom; so that it is no longer possible for
one man to gain from the misfortune of another. By removing the
profit of crime and abolishing the conditions for its other causes
crime itself disappears, this evil will in effect vanish.
Regarding the few crimes caused by
passions and not profit the contemporary institutions are powerless.
A new moral environment, one where lives and freedom of others are
respected, idiotic prejudices have been overcome and where the merits
of solidarity are taught since childhood, this will have more effect
than any attempt to punish them into non-existence. Contemporary
society creates a hundred criminals while punishing one. The highly
pious and greatly respected in society, those honoured and protected
by the laws of the state are great evildoers.
The people of the future will be wise
enough to solve the anti-social cases themselves. They won’t be so
foolish as to maintain salaried executioners, who threaten us all,
under the pretext that society is threatened by the existence of a
few abnormals. They will solve these anti-social cases by eliminating
poverty, spreading education and improvement of living and
- working conditions – the building of a new society that always
attempts to eliminate vice by removing the root of its creation. They
will only take drastic measures when the danger becomes great and
imminent. But what the period of revolution? It will be the task of
the revolutionaries in that time of social readjustment to overcome
entrenched resistance. For my part, I sincerely believe that the
idlers, narcissists and criminals are in greater number amongst the
bourgeois class than amongst the ranks of the people. But the
temptation to restore the organs of oppression under the pretext of
eliminating social evil must be avoided like the plague, as the
problem can be better solved directly.
*
**
The state departments and communes that are run as public offices,:
schools, post offices, roads etc. might be adapted and conserved.
Without anticipating the consequences of that study, let's say that
these organisms can work by local, regional or national organizations
of workers, through labor associations or federations, and that they
would work so much better if they were freed from the indecisive
bureaucracy, from the scheming hierarchy, from the centralization
that kills initiative and pushes corrupt policy.
Militarism
Militarism has for a long time been
condemned by those with healthy spirits “The army is the school of
crime” said Anatole France.
The attempts to define a nation are all absurd. A country is just a
collection of slaves obeying the same masters. That’s all it is in
truth. The provinces merged into nations, and the same will happen to
nations that will one day unite in an International of peoples.
Militarism will no longer have a reason to exist.
There are some revolutionaries who
are steeped in soldiering and still trust in the pillars of the
present social regime, believe in using the arguments of the
nationalists. They propagate the pretext that the revolutionary
nation will be threatened and attacked by the slave hordes of the
rest of the world. We on the other hand believe that the most
valuable revolutionary weapons are the power of infection. The
example given to foreign proletarians and most importantly the effect
of the real sentiment it encourage within the hearts of the rebels
and international proletarians that at last a new world is starting
to be born, a world built on good and freedom, and that finally
there is something worth defending.
But if, in spite of everything the
counter-revolutionary attack still takes place, then the rebelling
populous will know that they must find new ways of fighting that
differ from those of the armies of the bourgeois patriots. Because if
they make the mistake of rebuilding military power than tomorrow it
will become the tool of social oppression.
Without going deeper into the
subject, let's say that the last short war proved the absurdity of a
professional army that the soldiers themselves trust more to the
method of an armed nation, than to that of the standing army. Should
we continue to be more backward, more militaristic than the
professionals of mass murder?
Every bureaucratic, judicial,
military and financial institutions must disappear. Evil must be
uprooted entirely. The stubborn remains of the of the old world will
be destroyed by the direct action of the people; there will be no
need to place in the hands of a few the power to menace and threaten
both the good and bad alike. A power which would enable the gradual
rebuilding of the old regime.
Capital
We want dissolve private property and
its consequences; capitalism and wages, commerce and rent, and all
other forms of exploitation of man by man which allow the few to
enjoy privileges at the expense of the many who produce.
Proudhon defined property as “the
right to payment of the work of others and from the circulation of
their products”. That is the truth of the matter.
Sheltered by the political
institutions of society and the slave morality preached to the masses
has enabled and emboldened the capitalists to declare that all the
natural riches of the earth – which no one created – and all the
social riches – created by the work of everyone – belong to them
alone. Leaning firmly on the concept of property rights they demand
rents, loans, profits, dividends etc, from the people.
We want to do away with this system
of organised theft. You must not misunderstand us; it is not the
material capital, the lands, the buildings, the factories, the
machines and the products that we wish to banish. It is the right of
exploitation from which our masters profit that must be done away
with.
We say to the people, take back your
riches, you who have been dispossessed through violence, trickery,
threats and all the other methods at the disposal of the ruling
class. Riches that have been created by your own labour
and from your forefather nature itself.
They should abolish the ugly system
of private property and communalize all property.
We are libertarian communists,
supporters of social property, because we think it is impossible to
attribute to a single person or group of people the whole labor
product, because, in our era of economic interdependence, in which
the production of the smallest object involves the whole social
mechanism, the product is social, not individual. And on the other
hand, it cannot be accepted that people declare themselves the sole
owners of something, taking the best part, while others have the
worst, or nothing at all. That would restore the curse of competition
and conflicts.
When we declare ourselves opponents
of private property, we are not talking about the objects of
individual use and pleasure; clothes, personal objects, even a home.
The new social contract will respect the freedom of everyone in
regards to these things. The social property will be the common
ownership of the means of production, transportation, communication,
tools in other words.
Instead of being the instruments of
the owners, they will belong to everyone, and the associations of
producers, of workers from factories, from workers in the
countryside, from the technical staff, and from the organizations of
consumers and users society advantageously for the common good
replace the owners, renters, landlords, financiers, merchants, etc.
Our
Morality
We are against the moral authorities
whether religious, patriotic or familial. That does not mean however
that we are without morals. It is in fact the opposite.
Patriotism, religious faith, civic
pride, respect for the bosses of every stripe. These are all symptoms
of prejudices that exist purely so the masses submit, obey and reject
resistance and remain exploited by their masters. We reject this
morality of slaves, which is ill suited for free people. Our
propaganda aims to teach the servants that they are the equals of
their masters, and that there are not two species of humanity; the
rich and the poor.
We are opposed to the idiotic and
chaotic mess that is official morality, and promote the principles of
a human and rational morality. These principles are respect for the
freedom of others and total solidarity. Freedom is needed for a
society built for the good of all. And its inseparable brother is
equality, but not that brotherhood that is written on monuments, but
the concrete brotherhood of material life, equality of social
conditions.
The Libertarian society can be
nothing more than an association freely accepted and eagerly sought,
sought because its establishment brings nothing but benefits to its
membership. Society can be firm and rational only if all are equal,
only if it rests on the individual freedom of all, because otherwise
the friction and abuses will lead to conflicts, and coercion becomes
necessary to preserve the social classes.
The other great Libertarian principle
is solidarity, the great trait that has enabled humanity to rise
above the animal kingdom. By joining together man became what he is
today and continue to advance his civilisation. The struggle for
survival is the main source of all of our misfortunes. Man is wolf to
man only because he is not certain about the present or the future.
And so, man must push away his good feelings and strengthen his
fighting instincts if he is to maintain his shaky position. Every
movement to improve development of humanity to a better and higher
morality has to suppress the spirit of division and strengthen the
spirit of solidarity to some degree. Philosophers have claimed that
once the social feelings will have become so strong that they will
become instinctual, and that we will practice solidarity the same way
as we breathe, eat and walk. It is certain that development is going
in this direction and will condemn the prejudices of today, the
sowers of discord and hate.
The religious, patriotic and
authoritarian prejudices of the present combined with other
impediments continue to methodically place obstacles, often bloody
and always painful to the normal and desirable development. All these
efforts and sacrifices are made for God, the country, the board etc,
and these sacrifices are made often against the public and there
removal would lessen greatly the problems facing humanity, By
challenging these obstacles and their false moralities, and by
strengthening the spirit of solidarity through moral and material
cooperation among the people, we can increase the pace of progress
and spin the wheel of humanity faster towards happiness, plenty and
liberty. It will praise the forces, initiatives, sacrifices, used for
the improvement of the moral and material conditions of humanity; it
will condemn the forces used to create misery and suffering.
This morality places the individual
at its foundation instead of ignoring it. For the body to feel good,
it is necessary that every part that makes it up, even the smallest,
should be healthy. The sickness of one cell endangers the life of the
whole organism. For humanity to reach its maximum potential, it is
necessary that each individual find in it as much freedom and
goodness as is possible; it is necessary that all mans interests and
all his feelings should lead him to seek union with his
contemporaries, and not to take refuge in them. A perfect society can
only be the perfect harmony between the individuals that make it up,
in finding the means to maximize their enjoyment.
This is the highly humane morality
with which the anarchists oppose the prejudices skillfully
perpetuated by the masters of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The
greatest freedom for all, the most intimate solidarity uniting
people, these are the great moral principles on which we want to
establish the libertarian society.
The
Intellectual Dictatorship
The spirit of authority, or rather
the thirst for control and exploitation, ever persistent and feeling
that the state, religion, country, capital, etc., are shaking under
the blows of reason, tries to disguise itself under another face.
Alas! Before the people have fully learned to lead themselves they
will be manipulated into once again obeying, because they will still
not have the courage to say `No!` to those who want to be leaders,
the successors of that vile type.
After the nobles, the kings, the
priests, the politicians have been dealt with, we find ourselves
being told about directing society by the intellectuals and civil
bureaucrats. We would see the graduates under the pretext of
competence capture the positions of social leadership. They would use
their positions and acquired knowledge to instruct the rest of us in
how to behave. Too often the diploma in most cases is just a license
to parasitism, a means to exploit the poor. Apart from a few
exceptions the intellectual professions are a business of a slightly
different type. That is enough for us to understand that the
intellectual authority, if it were to rule society, without delay
would grant to itself political and economic privileges and that a
caste of masters would soon be restored.
It is the society that enables any
individual to study, to become a technician, it takes care of him, it
can provide him with what he needs. The simple logic indicates that
it is then the society that has acquired rights over the technician,
and not him over it.
The libertarian society will have
technicians: engineers, doctors, etc. even more than today, because
it will not make these positions a monopoly of caste, a privilege
reserved for a lucky few. Schools and universities will be
established everywhere. The child's education will be more
comprehensive than today. A better social organization will yield
more leisure, and those who will feel in themselves an ability and
desire for study will find libraries, museums and courses to realize
their aspirations. Instead warring against intellectual development,
the libertarian society will promote it to the maximum possible
extent. That will be its interest and its security.
The intellectual worker is as useful
as the professional technician. The first is as necessary as the
latter. It is better for man that he is not condemned to be one or
the other. But the relations between them must not develop into a
hegemony. Technicians are needed in all branches of human work. Same
- in all councils of groups or associations of the future that will
replace the current economy. Technicians are needed in all branches
of human work. The same is true- in all the councils, groups or
associations of the future that will replace the current economy.
But those intellectual workers will
be equals with everyone else. There will be a specialization of the
work, nothing more. No privilege to some against the others. Everyone
will share in the hard work in a friendly manner according to the
particular abilities of each person.
We
are not Politicians
Do not misunderstand the purpose of
our merciless criticisms. We are not a political party that after
exposing the defects in others, presents itself as a savior, the only
one capable of bringing goodness and freedom to the masses.
We do not demand the power to rule.
Thinking it a poison for others that we also consider it the case for
us too. Power corrupts its users as well as its victims. We want to
destroy it in every guise it presents itself, hidden or overt,
hypocritical or honest.
It is not because the power to rule
is in the hands of others that we oppose it. We leave that thinking
to jealous revolutionaries. Anarchists wish neither to rule nor
coerce. Put simply the people in general are responsible for founding
and administering the new society.
The task of creating a new social
harmony will belong to an organisation established freely from among
the people. The Libertarian society is and can only be an agreement
founded on the principles of freedom and solidarity an association of
all kinds: production, transport, public offices, distribution,
teaching, art, etc. etc., which will form freely in all fields,
uniting in them all branches of human activity, being administered at
will, grouping together and later federating, always according to the
principles of freedom and collaboration.
We dismiss with contempt the idea of
being a party imposing its will on the people. We are satisfied with
a more modest role. But a role much more useful and more noble, to
constitute the active agitators, always ready for the struggle of the
people's revolution, which will sweep away all injustices and all
pressures.
The
way to progress
We have said that the economic
foundations of the society of tomorrow will be the regime of free
associations harmonising their efforts and balancing their needs and
federating as needed. This will not be utopia nor will it be founded
on the fragile ground of magic.
The libertarian society is already
embryonic today, and is starting to function in contemporary society.
The principle of the association replacing conflict is not an
unfounded dream. It begins to materialize, begins to develop, begins
to conquer society, before our very eyes.
The workers are organising into
Unions, some are forming associations of producers. Consumers are
setting up co-operatives, many have since formed federations out of
several co-operatives. There are also unions for tenants, artist
collectives, networks of scientists, even associations for tourists.
This impulse to unite for a common gain can be seen in every field of
human society. Already there are many societies promoting mutual aid
in existence. Even the bourgeoisie make us of associations, even
though the very concept condemns their way of life. Whether Unions
or agricultural co-operatives, industrial, commercial, even joint
stock companies etc. The practice of associating appears everywhere,
conquers everything, the routine spirit and stupid customs of work
fall into the past, and thus a collective property of some kind comes
into being.
The big businesses and their big
ideas are mainly the reason for these associations, to counter the
associations of their bosses who have used them to gain all the
profit from the work. One can even say that the many and varied
associations are above politics, in the ordinary sense, for they
promote countless initiatives, and they are almost always the ones
who drag the state behind and actively pushes human development
forward.
The association is everywhere on the
agenda. It is the great force of the future, perfectly constructive
in spirit, the most direct method for social improvements.
Authority and property inherently
hinder and oppose the way to fulfilling the principle of association.
The social revolution having swept away all these fences will open
wide the door of success and will enable association to become the
fundamental principle of future society, and will conquer all fields
of human activity.
Libertarian communism, which is based
not on the codification of social relations, but on the balance and
harmony of the many diverse associations of residents, consumers,
producers, artists, etc., in short of those interested in
participating. And so remain, therefore, on the path of human
development. It the forces themselves, which germinate and develop
before our eyes, it will nurture them into the elements constituting
the new social life and replace the decaying forms of contemporary
political and economic organization.
A
few numbers
We do not expect miracles from the
people’s revolution. Later just as before society can only consume
what it produces. That should be obvious. Let those who laugh
absurdly at our "utopias" say nonsense. They are invested
in devaluing the concept of equality, because they benefit from
society as it functions in the present. The poor will not wish to
become millionaires. It is not among the people you find the
obsessive drive to live life solely through amusements and banquets.
For them the new society will guarantee well being and material
security, in exchange for work on a basis of rational need; they can
be free in the fullest sense of that word, this is what they want.
Does contemporary society as it
exists today produce enough to allow for a good standard of living
for all? Without hesitation we answer `Yes!`
The official statistics for the year
1923 sum up the profits between 150-160 billion francs. Since then
they may have increased a little, because the means of subsistence
for the poor does not increase in proportion to the commodity costs,
whereas for the rich their share follows their rise. If the
consumption power represented by these benefits would be shared
fairly among all, the welfare resulting would present approximately
the standard of living that a family of 4 would have had in 1923
persons having an annual income of 16,000 Fr. Francs.
Note from the translator
[Alberto Orze]
In 1923 for an 8 hour working day a
skilled worker received an average wage of 40 ff. Multiplied by 300
working days that there are 2,400 working hours per year and a salary
of 12,000 ff. So, if all the able-bodied people cited by the author
worked usefully, even together with the homeless, we would have the
6-hour labourday and more than 53 ff as salary. In other words, the
working time would decrease 33- percent and there would be a 30
percent salary increase.
Relations to the working time do not
take into account the unemployed who existed in 1931, due to the
development of machinery; their inclusion too would lower the
working time, if it were divided equally.
*
**
In France there are
around 40 million inhabitants. Many are absolute duds, digestive
tubers. Others do work that is wholly or partially unprofitable.
There are, according to official figures, approximately 10 million
wage earners in France, of which at least one million perform
functions that would disappear in a rational society. If you count 3
million useful workers, though not salaried (the number is a bit
excessive), this represents a total of 12 million useful workers, who
harvest, manufacture, transport, prepare the products for
consumption. Each of them works an average of 3,000 hours a year, the
French consumption therefore requires 36 billion working hours with
the current poor technical organization.
The Libertarian society will be able to keep the children in school
up to the 15th year: 10 million children; and accounting for the
elderly over the age of 60 (though they will still be able to help,
or participate with their own advice to the common creative efforts):
4,900,000 elderly people; the mothers of children up to 4 years old
will need to take care of the little one: 2,500,000. And accepting
for argument sake that of the remaining able-bodied people there are
2 million for one reason or another unable to work, 20 million will
remain, who will be able to participate in the joint effort.
If
they shared the work fairly and everyone could turn to where his
native abilities lead him and can develop them, then each person
would have to complete only 1,800 working hours per year to ensure,
changing nothing from the current methods of work,
the same amount of consumables, as exists today, that means comfort
for all, which the vast majority have never known.
There is no doubt that when the economic life would be more
rationally organized, the rate of production could to be much more
intense. The machinery is not used as it should be. The collective
work is not yet installed everywhere, where it could be useful. The
productivity of the proletarians is certainly inferior to what it
could be if they lived in better conditions and would feel like their
own masters.
On the other hand the current economic organisation often promotes
the unrestrained dispersion of products and compels useless work.
Manipulations, transportation advertising etc. All of which can be
removed or at least reduced by improved organisation.
That means that, the sum of good and freedom would continually
increase according to the degree of consolidation of the libertarian
society.
The
Errors
We will talk only to remind ourselves
about politics, about this representative and parliamentary system,
by which the population entitles a few to rule the rest and do the
thinking for everyone, to lead society on our behalf. The example
that politics gives us, both the national and provincial, over the
past century, is conclusive. Incompetence, careerism, corruption, no
complaint is lacking in this record.
On the other hand, the socialist
authoritarian schools predict the next state, tomorrow's economic
life centered in the hands of government. Experimental experience has
already given a verdict on this. Extreme centralisation of power
demands a strong hierarchical system, which must be enforced, and
soon to the rebuilding of all the institutions of social violence.
To subdue a nation under a common law, the rulers are forced to use
violence. Far above the people, far from all control and
accountability, the chiefs finally believe themselves to be a
separate caste, and a new aristocracy.
Both in the political field and in
the economic field, centralisation is condemned by simple wisdom and
reason. The last experiment in Russia proves this. They wanted to
centralize everything. It was a terrible failure. And the rulers, who
destroyed the people's initiative, were forced to turn to the
capitalists.
We condemn centralisation as a danger
to public liberty, as technical nonsense and economic error.
The libertarian society will throw
away those evil methods which have given their regrettable proofs in
the past.
It will decentralize as much as
possible the offices of public interest. It will be based mainly on
the free associations that the individuals will found among
themselves. This is the only means to leave free the flow of all
initiatives, to stifle no aspiration, nor news, to allow society to
develop freely to an ever higher ideal, no longer having a need for
revolutionary violence.
*
**
There is another error
that we want to expose, to correctly explain our point of view. In
the explanation, which we shall do, we shall content ourselves with
sketching roughly the method of future association that seems to us
most practical and most capable of leading to the establishment of an
era of solidarity, respect to individual freedom.
We do not believe that
the same kind of association will be practiced everywhere. That would
be a serious error; the experiments must multiple. Each method will
have to show the evidence of the positives and negatives that they
contain. And there is the differences of temperaments, the
characteristics of the various peoples, and preferences for this or
that practice.
The libertarian society
will avoid imposing a single type of association, because then it
would slip into centralisation, in other words to authority and to
all that comes from it.
It will only require
individuals and groups to respect the new social contract, that is
balance and harmony between the principle of freedom and that of
solidarity.
The interest of the
people, conforming with the feelings of sociability, which develop
constantly, will establish a mutual agreement by which each
individual and group guarantees the others, between the invalids and
able-bodied, the old and the young, to men and women etc. the
material right to exist. That certainty and freedom from harm in
material life must replace the decaying forms of authority, to the
ending of every institution that takes away all possibilities beyond
themselves via justification or excuses.
Outside the practice of
this solidarity, whose positive name is Anarchist Communism, the most
absolute freedom must be left to all for the choice of the forms of
associating and for the ways of existence that they prefer.
Part
II
Libertarian Communism
The
Libertarian Community
The previous section may
be enough to indicate how we would begin to build a libertarian
society.
However, in my opinion,
it is not useless to start a somewhat detailed scheme of the
structure of society as we see it, and as it could be realized, right
now, if the people really wanted it.
We established, as a
fundamental principle, that the libertarian society will be the
material and practical organization of society, that is, in other
words, it will guarantee to everyone without distinction of age and
sex, of health and ability, the satisfaction of his needs: food,
housing, clothing, education, hygiene, etc. The new social contract
will be a guarantee for each individual that, from its birth to its
death, its livelihood will be secured.
However, it would be too
risky, perhaps unwise to suggest, that there will be no limit, that
everyone will be able satisfy themselves without measure. As soon as
the future popular organizations have taken control of production,
and begun operating for the general well-being that the fruits of
labour will be able to be guaranteed to all. And a superior
standard of living to the one many working families have today will
be secured. But, it will not be unlimited. It will be necessary to
even, as a consequence of the resistance of the reactionary forces
who will strive to limit and prevent production during the
revolutionary period, to live more or less from the provisions of the
country and exercise some restriction, until the time of difficulties
is settled by the full triumph of the revolution.
It will be necessary to
organize consumption on the one hand, production on the other, and
the circulation of the products.
There is no one better
than the consumer groups and users, consisting of all interested
parties, more qualified to take care of the distribution of the
products.
No organization,
political or not, will have the competence of the labor associations
in operating the factories, organizing the public offices,
undertaking cultural or any other type of work.
On the one hand the
grouping of needs, on the other hand the association of efforts.
Accord, balance, harmony between these two coalitions, this is
roughly the structure of the libertarian society.
*
**
For reasons we explained
above, when we talked about centralisation, we believe it is neither
wise nor practical to want to establish a vast social state,
encompassing one or more nations. If you no longer want to repeat the
mistakes of the past and face the dangers of centralization, it is
necessary that the core, the cell of the social organization be
directly controlled by its interested parties, this is the only means
to prevent authority from reestablishing itself, the only means also
for everyone to take an interest in the social functioning of the
economy and society, because they are connected to it, they know what
is happening, what is necessary, what is good or bad. An organization
too far from the individuals who make it up ultimately create a state
of mind of separation and disinterest. This distance and mindset
accounts for a lot of the actions of authoritarian bodies.
The libertarian social
cell will, therefore, be narrow enough, so that the direct
collaboration of each is not an empty expression. It will also still
be big enough, so that the practice of solidarity between individuals
can be effective compensating for flaws and shortcomings with their
strengths and talents, mutual aid in other words. Its vastness will
be sufficient so that the work and the organization can benefit from
the technical capabilities of today, from the mechanisms and
expertise, because too great a separation is ultimately too expensive
and hinders practical collaboration.
We see this balanced
middle in the popular communes, groupings of inhabitants who combine
and interact directly with each other.
In the countryside they
will be smaller, and larger in the cities. Inspired by the regional
needs and conditions, the residents will define the area themselves
of their community. And later, if it is thought necessary by the
interested parties, nothing will prevent them from transforming,
expanding, reducing, joining or separating their community.
*
**
What exactly will that
community be like? Neither a caricature of a district government, nor
an administration acting on behalf of all. We do not wish to repeat
in detail the errors which we condemn on a large scale.
The community will be,
in our opinion, an agreement of solidarity contracted between all the
inhabitants, a kind of mutual aid association guaranteeing everyone
the necessities of life, material, intellectual etc.
Today communities supply
water, install streetlights, organise ridiculous institutions for the
provision of charity and hygiene. Official support humiliates those
who require it. Tomorrow, after the revolution society will not be
satisfied with these ridiculous methods and will instead guarantee to
all without prejudice or privilege, the satisfaction of the main
means of life. A minimum of welfare will be assured to all, which
will be the inalienable right of all. Guarantees that all will be
able to eat, be clothed and housed, and the people no longer knowing
misery and want, will soon free themselves from the state of slavery
that they have today. It is need that bows heads. When education is
given to all on a grand scale, the prejudices will fall together with
the spirits of resignation and inferiority which cloud the minds of
the poor. It has long been established that crimes and misdemeanors
spread according to the extent of poverty. If the latter disappears,
those will disappear as well. If life is assured to all, all pretexts
are taken away for the restoration of the authority.
We do not persist in the
illusion that we would believe that everything will exist in
abundance. The possibilities of production will define what will be
distributed. The organizations responsible for ensuring the
distribution will have to apply a system of rationalization to some
goods. But we have already seen that the level of well-being feasible
even at the earliest stage will certainly be superior to the
miserable life of today's proletarians. Later, according to the
intensification of production through better working methods, by the
removal of contemporary wastages, then soon the level guaranteed to
all will be able to be raised, the rationalization of production will
leave room for the free distribution for number of products and will
increase with time and development.
In exchange for this
mutual guarantee for the means of life, of the effects of solidarity
in practice, the community will require those able to work to join
one of the community’s production associations, leaving to them the
choice of affiliation to one or the other, according to their
preferences, their relationships and skills. The number of working
hours required for the needs of the community will be relatively few,
as we’ve shown before. It will be refused less than today, when the
work is arduous, unhealthy it is treated as dishonorable, is
considered a defect, a punishment.
Today's morality honors
the parasite, criticizes the worker, the one of tomorrow will be
quite the opposite. It will not be tolerated that a person lives at
the expense of another. We have more faith in this regard in the
opinion and action of the people than in the authoritarian
institutions led by the parasites themselves.
The individual who,
through his work accomplished in the terms of as much freedom as
possible delivered his share of labour to the common effort, will be
completely free to seek other pleasures later, alone or in a group
with those who have the same inclinations.
The
Communal Organisation
Associations, as numerous and diverse
as the needs and ways of work, this is the organic basis of the
libertarian society. The commune is the harmoniously established
accord between the various associations.
The study of the associations that
are being created today, shows us that there are three paths open to
us:
the associations of consumers
and users, which joins together to fight against exploitation and in
some cases creates co-operative distribution organizations;
associations of producers.
Rural, industrial, transport; managers or workers; capitalistic
joint stock companies; labor unions, which tomorrow may transform
into groups of production;
the various associations:
artistic, tourist, sports, literary, school, etc., etc.
We will find these three tendencies
of association in the libertarian society developed, having hit their
stride and spread everywhere, having taken the place of the owners,
entrepreneurs, landlords, financiers, traders, transport companies,
etc. The revolution will make them grow. Expropriating the current
privileged few, it will be entrusted to the associations of the
interested parties to directly guide the various parts of the social
organism.
*
**
The number of these
associations cannot be estimated beforehand, nor can they be defined
for all regions accordingly in the same uniform way. An agricultural
community, or a mining community for example will have only one or a
few production groups while the central location of numerous
industries will have a larger number of them. A community of 3-4,000
inhabitants will be able to satisfy itself with one supply
cooperative, and a larger community will have one cooperative per
neighborhood or possibly one per Department.
In addition, it is not
at all absolutely necessary that each individual resident must be a
member of a single group. The differences of temperament and
inclinations will be able to encourage the organization of
associations with the same purpose. It will be up to the interested
parties to judge whether the inconveniences of too great a division
are compensated by advantages in freedom for others. Let's trust to
the simple wisdom of the people to prefer the constancy and harmony
of efforts, for their self interest.
Outside the activity and
life in the Commune, the individuals will enjoy sufficient freedom to
satisfy the needs and feelings of independence. The libertarian
society will not be a barracks.
Moreover, this is of
secondary importance. When the consumption groups have their share of
products, this security will guarantee that all have the ability and
freedom to do as they please? The main thing is that the principle of
solidarity should be respected by all. It is in no way incompatible
with respect for individual freedom.
Consumption
The consumption groups already exist
in the form of co-operatives, although very saturated by the
bourgeois spirit. The revolution will pass through them, putting them
into the hands of the rebels. Yes there will be created everywhere a
system to replace the businesses and to organize fairly the
distribution of the objects and products. Instead of the businessmen
and other brokers the people's revolution will support the growth of
groups of consumers who will take the resources of consumption and
will organize them.
The operation is simple. General
meetings defining the big questions; committees of volunteers
approved by those meetings, controlling the functioning of those
organisations and taking care of the detailed questions; the
workforce, grouped in a labor society, for the implementations, the
calculations etc. Among that workforce and its technicians of course.
If the spirit of freedom have penetrated well into the masses, the
relations between workers, the committees and meetings etc, will be
completely comradely. Each one of the interested parties will have an
equal right, as the others, to take care of the operation of the
creative labour. And then, the option is open for the dissatisfied to
found another association, if the interaction is difficult, this
freedom serves as a powerful brake against the spirit of authority.
Let's repeat for the last time, it is necessary that the associates
of any organization should be completely structured so as not to
prevent any one member from having the ability to takeover leadership
of the association for themselves. Otherwise everything would have to
start over. The revolution would not be definitive.
There will also be groups for food,
housing, clothing, the various public offices. The current tenant
unions, no longer needed for legal struggles over rent and right of
occupancy, will become groups that will manage the housing with its
architecture, working in collaboration with the construction workers
groups. The companies with monopolies, gas, electricity etc., will
have to leave and be replaced by the administration of user
committees.
And the same for all forms of
consumption or public offices, although no compulsory form of
distribution should be imposed. There may be, for example, several
sections of a food cooperative: one for home distribution, another
for organizing restaurants. Same for the apartments. Someone in an
association will be able to create garden houses, canteen, another a
type of phalanstère (),
etc.,
*
**
The public offices will
be handled along the same lines. The users will be able to meet to
discuss and take part in the great management and delegating comrades
with needed skills.
The public offices will
be expanded and developed. They will gradually bring everyone
together and serve the main needs of the individual and community
life.
The communities, through
the associations, will spread education by all means, including the
creation of universities.
Hygiene and health will
no longer be the object of medical business, but will be organised by
a rational system.
More and more people
will abandon the practice of isolated work and individual needs to
seek comfort, prosperity, even luxury, in common buildings, although
attention will be paid to the need for necessary isolation for
individuals, libraries, meeting rooms, parks etc. will be at the
disposal of the people.
This practice of sharing
will benefit mainly the woman, slave of the home today. The society
of the future will try to eliminate the tiring work of the household,
through the arrangement of kitchen cooperatives, of washrooms, of
more convenient residences, nurseries, garden schools, etc. Freed
from the primal thinking, consequence of the current economic life,
the woman will become equal to the man, delivering her work to the
community according to her abilities, no longer having a need to make
a living. The agreement of solidarity to her will ensure, to her and
her children, if she is a mother, means of life equal to all. Her
emancipation is, as we can see, more of a technical problem than a
philosophical one. Love, like the rest will be free.
*
**
We said that out of
respect for the agreement on common solidarity, a minimum well-being,
the basic needs will be guaranteed.
Other needs may arise:
new needs, personal needs, or needs that society will not be able to
guarantee to everyone.
If the possibilities
allow it, if the opinion is unanimous, those needs will automatically
form a minimum of collective well-being.
If it will be otherwise,
well, we will proceed as we must, but, with more facilities
available. Those interested will try to realize themselves, in
isolation or in groups, the satisfaction of these needs will be seen
to when possible.
A sense of progress
prevailing in the future world, the sympathy and help of all will be
its spirit. The community will be able to provide the initiatives
with sites, resources to advertise, tools to research, etc. The
scientific researches will undoubtedly be considered equal to public
work. If 1800 working hours per year is enough for social life, there
will be time left for the initiatives of everyone’s goals that
please them, travel, sport, art, or simply an increase in well-being.
No impossibility exists, so that, in exchange for these additional
enjoyments, the interested parties should deliver additional work
under conditions quite easy to define.
Thus, on through the
collective, the individual will live in the fullest freedom. The road
to progress material, intellectual, artistic, etc. will be completely
unhindered to whoever wants to walk down it.
Work
For the organisms of production, the
method of the association also appears as the most advantageous, as
the method that leaves the most freedom possible, without disturbing
the productive operations. The associations of production will
replace the masters, and the exploiting companies.
Property must remain social, so that
the children, the elderly, the infirm, the invalids should have their
right to life! The conditions of work are different according to some
regions. There is no justification for someone to set themselves up
in a position in society, to the detriment of all, which would evoke
conflicts. “The land to the farmers, the factories to the workers!”
is a naive and unfair formula. It is necessary to say: “The land,
the factories, the machines belong to everyone. But the farmer and
the worker will be free to organize their own work as they please”.
In a word, the labour associations of agriculture, industry,
transport, public offices are managed by the workers involved in
those branches of the economy. They should be co-initiated to operate
a public office, run a factory, cultivate soil, the associations of
producers will manage themselves freely. Like the production
organizations, the consumption organizations will be able, according
to the limits of practical possibility, to divide and arrange
themselves at will.
Some types of work can be done
individually or in small groups: small cultivation, vines, etc. s.
Those individual jobs or the work of small groups, will still be
connected to society cooperatively through transportation and
logistics, even some difficult jobs can be done very well that well
that way. Other jobs on the contrary, will require a rather large
workforce; some offices require the staff to be present without
interruption. However these roles will be shared out in accordance to
absolute freedom. Everyone can find, as the saying goes "a shoe
for his foot", the craft that fits best to his temperament.
Interruptions in work may be planned:
closing of factories during the grain harvest, for example. In short,
in this multitude of working methods there will be the greatest
freedom for all. In addition, the labor associations, which will be
free organize the work as desired, will try to make it more pleasant,
more healthy, etc.
Every work association will naturally
be a whole: craftsmen, specialists, technicians, all with equal
rights, everyone's skills are valued by everyone.
From time to time there will be
community meetings, where all groups will be represented, whether by
all members in the smaller population centers, or from delegations in
the big ones. In those meetings, the consumption groups will say what
they need, and so will the users of the public services The
production groups will describe the efforts needed. An agreement will
be made, an agreement defining what will be acceptable, defining the
workforce and the material needs of the working groups. These, whose
task has been defined, will be arranged as it pleases. All forms of
co-operative work will undoubtedly be used: guild, labor unions,
co-operative of individual workers, etc. Does it matter in any way to
the community the methods of work, if the goals are fulfilled in
satisfactory conditions, or the production need fulfilled punctually?
Such will be, in its great features,
the internal organization of the community.
The
Intercommunal Life
We have sketched out communal life in
a way that is precise enough so that one can understand our social
ideal and its practicability.
But, the future life will not be
contained to the inside of a community, however completely organized
it may be. Regional, national, even global relationships are
necessary. Moreover, there must always be an aim to the development
of the interdependence of the regions and nations among themselves.
On the other hand, although we will
try to live by our own powers as much as possible, industrial and
rural decentralization will have to coincide as much as possible with
the political decentralization, there are products that it are not
found in some regions or which ones are rare and difficult to obtain
locally.
The many covenants in all fields
which have been established throughout the world among people, are
currently hindered by borders, customs, codes, conflicts of interest.
The libertarian society will remove all those obstacles and establish
between the communities, the regions and nations relations, as free,
diverse and numerous as the individual relations within the
community.
This is what we call libertarian
federalism, in opposition to central authority.
*
**
Each of the special
groups constituting the organizational base of the community will be
obliged to group with the groups with the same purpose and the same
composition from the other communities, to find out about the news,
to have notifications, directions, etc. c. The particular needs of
all those groups will encourage them to the creation of regional or
global federations for the organization of the circulation of their
materials, for the creation of centers manufacturing the necessary
equipment etc.
So many groups in the
community, so many scattered networks of threads securing the bond
with the rest of the world.
*
**
Besides that, some of
these associations will not just have a purpose within one commune;
their field of action will be able to spread over several
communities. Some even, like scientific or tourist associations will
spread over a large part of the earth. The communities themselves
will often need to associate with each other, either directly or
indirectly through the agreement of the groups of users, to achieve
some goals.
These unions of
communities or groupings will be formed directly, not needing the
consent of anyone other than that of the interested parties, they
will be very numerous and diverse.
*
**
The great public
offices, like the mail, the sea and river transportation, the power
plants etc., will necessitate an organization that operates beyond
the individual communes.
We will proceed as in
the middle of the commons. There will be a staff association that
will take over the administration, as it were, by cooperating with
the group formed by all the communities.
In a word, instead of
local staff, there will be a regional, national, global even labor
federation, who would secure this office. The groupings of private
users would have become groups representing the communities.
Thus, for the railways,
a thousand communes agree to operate a rail network between them,
define how many trains they need for travelers and for goods. The
workers' federation of the railways defines in turn how many workers
and materials are needed. The needs for the staff and the material
will be supplied by those interested communities.
In total, it will be
necessary for the realization of the fact that the existing labor
organizations expropriate the companies, and organize with their own
resources the operation of their offices, in agreement with the rebel
communities.
Exchange
Federations
The communities will need to provide
themselves with products, materials and machines that they do not
harvest or manufacture. There is nothing easier for this than to
embrace the idea realized by the cooperative movement, by the central
cooperatives or federations of cooperatives.
Federations of exchange will be
created on points conveniently defined. The role of these federations
will be to first register and fulfill the orders of the communes, and
in addition, to receive from those communes, in return, the excess of
their production.
I don't think it's necessary to
immediately establish global communism for reasons mentioned above.
It's more likely that will be achieved later, with the development of
the means of production and the introduction of new customs? At
present it is too bold to believe it practicable.
The federations will establish,
therefore, at least for some time in the early days, a running
account for each community. On the credit side, the products supplied
by the community; on the debit side, the products ordered by it. The
two accounts balance.
That system of exchange would allow
the communes to provide themselves with what they’re lacking for
the consumption of their population, for obtaining some materials,
raw materials, tools and machines.
Perhaps instead of a single
federation involved in all fields of productions, there could be
several departments, one for food, another for tools, etc. A system
of simple of rotation, as practiced among themselves by the banks,
could allow the communities to make use of their resources
indifferently or in accordance to their needs with several different
federations.
When you consider the monstrous
commercial and financial complication of the present society,
occupying hundreds of thousands of civil servants in France, you can
see the huge saving, in terms of workers, calculations and
initiatives that could be achieved through this new system.
Through the system of
the federations the communes or constituent groupings could pay their
contributions to their debt directly to the large intercommunal
organisations: public offices, railways, etc. The same relation
applies to the contributions, which the various groupings of the
community would be indebted to their own federations.
Some communities might
be favored, others disadvantaged by the nature of their soil, poverty
or wealth of their production: coal as an example. The principle of
solidarity will be important for the intercommunal relations. From
the beginning it will be able to apply practically the definition of
the value of the products circulated by the federations. Let experts
define the value of the products supplied by the community according
to the necessary working time. The commune delivering so many hundred
liters of wheat, for example, will see noted on its credit account a
value representing the work to produce, that amount of wheat. Later
the federation will determine the value for delivery of that wheat
setting a mean for the various and distinct values. Some regional
cooperatives, with many branches, will then practice this
equalization of prices. That is a means to establish now as far as
possible the balance between the various communities. There is also
means to improve transport and production in the most favorable
regions, making larger orders from them, which will encourage them to
increase their own population and perfect their gear.
This will not prevent
these communities from showing solidarity with the poorer communes or
regions affected by disaster and cataclysm. This is already the case
in our current bourgeois civil society. This will be all the more the
case in the libertarian society!
*
**
The exchange federations
will have another role to be played during the revolutionary period;
the role of serving as an intermediary between the rebel communities,
between them first, and then with the territories that have not
completed their social transformation or completed it according to
different methods.
In that particular case
they will be able to trade, exchange products with the aforementioned
untransformed regions. They will also prevent the rebel communities
from using money or any other monetary system.
*
**
There are certainly
other means of bonding the people into more rational and human
groupings. We sketched those that seemed to us the main ones and the
most applicable at the beginning of social transformation. Others
continue this study, which is and can only remain incomplete.
We simply wanted to show
that a libertarian society can function without a state, nor a
central power, that the principles of association can be immediately
applied. In the same way that God was reduced to the level of
historical accessory, so too will the idea of authority disappear
from this world. People will realise that they no longer need it.
Conclusion
We know what we want. That to us
signifies our line of conduct in relation to current society, in its
entirety and in its parts.
Everything that is contrary to our
ideal, we fight against without mercy. A fight to the death with the
prejudices and immoral institutions.
Everything that contains future
promises, we’ll protect, develop and, if necessary, show the way to
the road of progress.
We do not pretend we’ll fall asleep
during an evening in today's society and wake up tomorrow in a
libertarian society. We know that it will take long, repeated and
energetic efforts to achieve it. We also know that the privileged,
the exploiters, authorities, all accustomed to using violence to
rule, will not hesitate to use these violent powers to defend
themselves. Let's prepare ourselves and the people for the inevitable
revolutionary battle.
The spread of our ideal, which will
be the more cherished the more it is understood and will encourage
sacrifices. The education of the people and the preparations for the
Social Revolution, will complete themselves by constant activity in
the midst of contemporary society.
Every time we can weaken evil,
strengthen the good, hindering the forces of reaction on some
particular points, demanding improvements for the people, freeing
victims, reducing the amount of control and misery, this is what we
must do in the present.
Every time we can help to raise the
intellectual, moral and material standing of the people, and aid
organisations that will make up the elements of tomorrow, let's not
hesitate, let's act.
Contrary to the believers and
electorates who simply wait for happiness to be brought to them, for
us there is no to be found in the gods, nor from dictators, nor of
supermen.
Happiness, prosperity and freedom
will be the property of the people only when they have the energy to
conquer and the wisdom to preserve them.
We are accused of being dreamers. At
least, let's dream awake, let's dream marching towards our ideal. We
will get closer to it continuously, and our descendants will reach it
one day.
Georges Bastien
August 1926
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