anarchi m BY JO LABADIE 1973 HlinrtirtlrltlIllftiltlllttlit tl lf lit illif l il A lN AVOW A R C f IS - Cenuine and Asinine 1, a (?) (?) ('t)?(?) (?) (? (?) (?)? (?)? (? O (?) Eulciones La Escuela Moderna Caa (Alberta) Canam,1973 t i 'I t ~ i `1....-i,-~ t~... r ~.....1. C1~ i ~.? i ~~r, '; 3? t tfl I, C~ ~;. IU Z.le i I?. i 't:~- ~~.I i ~~~ 3 'r i ~'.c~ t~;,~ I 23.4' V t1ir ~~~j*r ~ rj~ r.~ r 4~..L ~'~.,'~ ~' S~.~, '.. ~..~~...~C.. ~....~ '" **' r';*. f ANARCHY r L THE STATE The State is those. persona. 'who. claim absolute mastership over all the people within a given area. Assumption oatting the first letter that designates his purF pose - Loot. Does the nature of freedom change because it answers to another name? Does independence become thraldom because its garb is homespun and out of style? Does the red heart of Liberty turn black because we call it Anarchy? With brushes long lain in blackened lies Injustice paints Anarchy blacker than hell, Rulership taints it fearful, terrible, To save its own malignant sovereignty. But friensied disorder it is not,, Nor riotoua rage and wretched ranchor Pricked like bulls maddened into blind exasperation By javalins of fancied wrongs Nor wild-eyed, wild-haired, wild-acting, Running amuck with weapons deadly, Hands reckless and reeking with human bloodI Grim-visioned chaos Anarchy is not, -i But with tranquil grace and confident feet It walks the paths of the garden of reason, Restful and radiant as, leisure season, And the peOple,; ~iple, unthoughtfil, welcome and love it Tho, alas by that,iamne they know it not. Not with air-splitting thunders of war does it come, Nor with clashing blades and martial trappings. With menacing mien and hands unclean it, comes not, Nor do harm and hate and havoc herald its approach. Hence the people, undiscerning, do not know it, With fierce-frowned face and heavy hands protesting Authority anathematizes and the' people awed. But parricide, fratricide, regicide Anarchy is not; Nor is thuggery, murders massacre or assasination, But like a morning in summer it comest Like the filling of the moon It comes Out of the darkness, noiseless and calm. With hardened face, clutching its bulging pockets, Business blares against it with bowels of brass, But silent, soft-footed stealing Anarchy is not; Norpillaging, plundering, pirating, pecarooning; Nor robbery wearing the mask of commerce, With the prodigal aid of freedom, With the hope and the heart- of justice, With the lighted lamp of knowledge, The seeds of concord sowing, The needs of kindness knowing, The meeds of moiling showing, it comes. But over the barricades of the will it cannot come. Nor does it come until the fruit is ripe to harvest, As the from the womb of the East came the sun, Golden-haired god of the day, And, feeling the while the warmth of his genial smile, His breath of beatitude bloring upon you, Your flesh crawled creepily like a wounded lizard, And with tongueleds hoTror you started in awe, Believing the Cohorts of hell with its heat were oming,' You arn yours to annihilate, So, kith eyes afilmed with folly, Ignorance stands aghast, Gazing on the fair face of Anarchy. The Anarch's coming, comrade, fear you not, For what you grow and glean he comes to safeguard. From the claws of beady-eyed Usury he release you; From your limbs he strikes the shackles of the usurping lords of the land; He frees you from the gnawing bonds of torting business; He undoes the swaddling of insolent restraint; From: those sickly superstitions that hang about your neck like dead snakes he emancipates you; And he i1osens from your potency the grip of vacant-eyed Idleness. He makes you glad; He makes you riche; 041 I He makes you royall And, as a means of sundering his owm bonds, The senith of his hope is to make you freel Archy robs you while you sleep. From numbing slumbers rouse you, comrades! 1963. Folleto No XX 1973 Colecci6n Piedra y Alarido Ediciones ta Escuela iModerna Calgary (alberta) (taeda -5 - ~'ij;:~ 1 P 11,11 I jjp a j "'' lloi ANARH4I$: AN `CRIME p~gp~srqp~s~rg~yCCPaC~Y~ rl~s~()~~~CIC~~H)?lt~,1)$)~~0~9~a)J~S)~~ Crime is an injury done another by. aggression1 Anyone who injures another by encroaching upon his: life, his. freedom or his property is.a criminal. The law of equal freedom, the essential prinoiple, of Anarchism, is:a protection to life, liberty and property. Thefore, no Anarchist can take another's lifet no Anarchist can absorb as.. his. own the products of another's efforts. To do so is a denial of the fundamental concepts of Anarchism,. and brands one as the enemy of Anarchism-as an ArihiqAr. insheoadl of an An-archist. It iS, however, true that once in a while one who hOid. anarchistic views.violates the law of equal freedom. But do no:some Christians set.at naught the principles of Jesus Christ?.some vegetarians eat meat occasionally? some mothers destroy their children? But does the Anarchist invade because he is an Anarchist? does the Christian..fly in the face of Christ because he is a Christian?...does the hungry vegetarian eat meat b3 cause he is a vegetarian? does the mother who slays her childd~o so because she is. a mother? Are.not these victims of conditiq"ons -6 - which drive them to do things contrary to their general principies? It is an old story however, that of the thief running away with his booty crying "Stop thiefl" to divert attention from himself. This is.hwt is being done, wha% has always been done, by those who profi.$, or think they profit, by continuing the old Archistic way, Not all who. cry thief t are thieves,,of course, nor do all of those who cry down Anar.chism profit by the reign of Authority. -.i Indeed, does it require argument to show that even among those who cry the loudest against Anarchism are those who are exploited most under the present system of industry, and enjoy least under prevailing social customs? Argument against the present monopoly system is being made everywhere, even, in the,srallest bht#its. It is being shown everywhere that the State is corropt to th:'core. If is quite a disgtace now to be a politicitan, and for one to hold a political position is usually looke.upon with.uspicin of 'wrong doing. Authority never before was dragged " tbth~ light of day as at present; and wherever it is uncoveted loot is' found in its possession or in competeTcy. slin~ks r)way branded with dishonor. ihere -it is not festerin, with corrtptionthe State is drooling,.~~"7;;!....,:r..,:,;,. with stupidity. Read.the news papers and see it condemned out of its own.mouth, see if this is not true.. If it.be true that crime is injury done others by aggression, then what is the State but the first criminal in the land? Mention one crime that is not, directly or indirectly, nearly or remotely traceable to the State that institution which embodies "th: principle of invasion in an individual, or a band of individuals, assuming to act as reprentatives or masters of the entire people within a given area"-and a thousand can be named in which it is the positive factor. II To govern is to subject the non-invasive individual to. an externat will. This is the means by.which the State commits its crimes. It gives capital the power of increase, and. "thru interest, rent, profit and taxes it robs industrious labor of its products" Indeed it has been truily said by Proudhon that it debaset man, prostitutes women, corrupts children, trammels love, stifles thot, monopolizes land, limits credit and restricts exchange. What greater crime can be done than to deny the workers free access to land, the source from which all material comforts come? Land originally cost mr hing, and rrhat valid excuse exists -8 - now that unused land shou'd be paid for by those who want to use it? Absolutely none. The ownership of unused unimproved iand restricts the production of wealth, scatters population sparsely over wide areas here or packs it like sardines in a box there, wastes effort in the building of roads little used, increases the cost of things by transporting them greater distances than a rational land system would make necessary enslaves the non-owner to the landlord, and makes a class of parasites that is worse than useless. It would be impossible to enumerate even in a thousand pages all the crimes which the State has committed and continues to commit. This.is no idle statement, but the conclusion of some of the best observers of the time. We are told by the great philosophers, historian and scientists that the State originated in violence and crime, and has continued to the present day in its original elements, altho more refined and probably less insolent in its assumptions tha in earlier periods, but not much. For the State and its partisans to call Anarchists or any other body of people oriminals Is as if the records of their own guilt were being repeated to the mul4 tudes of earth thru milions of phonographs. To stop this satufnalia of crime that curses the world ' '*,: ' 1 '. / '* * - * * ^:- ' ^!!;. */ -,; is the mission of Anarchism.It comes upon the scene, not with the bludgeon of the policeman, not with the trappings of the soldier, not with brass knuckles the cowardly bully, not with the bomb or the bullet or the dagger of the.assassin, but with a pedceful mien, serene, gentle, firm, sincere and helpful a figure of beautiful proportions, with the light of re&son in one hand, an open page in the other, a sunburst of freedom about its smiling face, and in its wake the science of the world contributing its fulness to the comfort and the happiness and the glory of e:e wi.1i g.,-member of society, Ahi what a barrier.ignorance is to worldly blessingst Now, why do you call Anarchitts bad names? Do you know anything about them? Have you read their literature, found out what they want to do and how theyr.want to do it? If you have not then do you consider it honest, fair, intelligent, to criticise or Oondemnwhat you know nothing about? Is it dignified to make yours elf ridiculous in the eyes of the well informed? Would you be proud of the knowledge of a friend.who insisted the moon is a green cheese? or that the earth is flat and poised on the- back of an elephant? Do you malign the Anardhists because they are compara tiveiy ffew aead their doctrines unpopular? Honest injun, is it not the role of an ignoramus to voice opinion; on a subject to which 410-~ no study has been given? and is it not the part of a coward t ruffiaily' jump on the numerically weak? &s6" concession to ignorance, and on the plea that to do so migit lessen opposition and prejudice, a quarter of a century ago it was suggested that Anarphists change the name of the sect or cultipi,phii6sophy, a.ou will, ndeed, groups did change to Voluntary Socialists, Free:.Socialists, Voluntarysts, Individualis ts, AntiStateid-ts, and.so on. It was siad that people who believe in passive resistance to wrong, who insist that the social-eco nomic probleims which.in every corner of the world press for solution must be solved thru the medium of peace, as Anarchists do, should not give themselves a:name that was generally considered to mean chaos. It was contended, that the wora Anarchy to the uncultu, r~i mind'meahs disorder, violence, bloodshed. The answer was that inieed it means this only to those unfamiliar with its philosophy and literature, and so the. Anarchists have steadfastly refused to& change the 'fame. If it startles people and they are led to investigate'as sure as day is light and night is dark, adherents will: c:ie t6 it. They know that every body of people, no matter in what aage, who discovered and propagated a new idea, or an old one in new form; 'had to run the gaunlet of prejudice, ignorance, ri3 -dicule, abuse, maltreatment f every kind, even to imprisonment -11i and death; that even the gentle Jesus, the Graechi, Galilei, Bruno, and thounsands of others, have suffered for opinion's sake, that every new religion, every change in the political form of every government, every social and economic improvement in the conditions of the people, has had to prove its right to -e by wading thru floods of bitter opposition and cruelty and barbarities of every description.- But it was hoped this -was a more calightened S age than those thru which other reforms had passedi that the days of martyrdoms and thumbscrews and rack could never be revived. Alast judgment was too soon. The Anarchist is the last to bear the contumely and brutality bof the ignorant and the knavish, and so today fatnecks, political and religious; intellectual crooks and irosititudes; foolish, idiotic folk who think they know things without the need of study, investigation, observation; monopolists profitmongers(except here and there one who is better than the system), do not hesitate to vilify the Anarchist, IV SAll who believe in authority and government,.in the sense in w1itH These words are used, and therefore deny freedom, can consistently resort to violence and orime, because to hold arbi- I trary, ihysical force control over others is itself a crime. Aggre ssion, denial of freedom, pf indiviual sovereignty, is the fundaJ"' -, "" -12 - mental concept of their scheme of politics. Slavery in every form is injury done those over whom mastership is exercised, and what.is slavery but forcible control of others? Why does anyone want to control others if not to reap where he:s not sown? Why does anyone want more land than he can personally use if not to more firmly grip power over his fellows for unsocial purposes? Why does the banker ask special privileges in the issuance of money if not to get an underholt on those who have no such privileges, if not to get more than he gives? Why does the politician strive so strenuously to get,.office if in some way the office gives him no unequal advantage over others? But he who believes in freedom, in Anarchism (if he live in harmony with his philosophy), cannot excerdise unnatual, artificial advantages over his fellows. He is willing to take his hances in the open, without privilege or coercion or violence. He will not even profit by his neighbor's ignorance, as this is only another way of enslaving his weaker brother. There is no difference in kind'if onebe stripped by physical force or cunning. The Anarchist is willing that people either co-operate or compete, as r. they themselves individually determine, and he will not monopoli-.'.'.. ' ' -,. ze of nature's forces more than is necessary for his own use. It has been said that the Anarchists should be prevented from carryng the red flag, and indeed the authorities of the.. State have been invoked to prevent them doing so. But why? Do you prevent the Irish from carring green or yellow flags? Do you protest against church organizations, social or civic bodies or anybody else *!.-,,.". carryng whatever kind of flag or banner they choose? Is it because Christ's banner was crimson? or that the battle of Bunker Hill was ' "- /..... |.,,. the color of the flags of the poor and downtrodden and revolutionary? Come, how, honor, bright, do you know why you rail at the red"" flag? Isn't it because you don't know any better, and.,this makes you a bigot and blatherskite? Here is the difference between the Red Flag and every, other flag, Every other flag stands for but a single group or nation while the red flag is universal in its character and significance, symbolizing universal brotherhood, Anyway, Anarchists do not pin their faith to the color of a piece of cloth. They don't care particularly for any kind of a flag, and would not fight for any. They're not so foolish. Bulls get angry and fight over a red rag, and how silly for human beings, ~ _-1 *...^ ' supposed to have more sense, to do the isane As a matter of fact, h...owever,.there is no such thing as an anarchistic flag. Kings, capitalists, monopolists and politicians keep peoples divided and.-tontetigus with fool notions about flags and patriotism; lust as tho either, gave honest Labor in any field bread and butter and shelter, and freedom, Anarchists want to be judged by the princpiles they themselves hold and their behavior, and nolt by what either their fool friends or enemies may say of them,. or what a single individual says or.does,. The o.apitalistic newspapers' are not just criterions, _because they. aPre,,published to make money, and it" does not pay -to tell the truth about Anarchists. The public is debauched with sensation, and, as a.-drunkard., loves what is its own hurt. Would you like tp be judged by-your enemies?- Dobyou really think they would bIjust..to.you? Would they be likely to? Weil, neither db Anarchists want tqle Jdged by their foes'--They want to I'b',.estmated by what they really stand for., They want'-you to read anarchistic books and papers - the' writings of Proudhon, of Sir Auberon Herbert, John Henry Mackey, Tucker, Tandy, Stephen Pearl Andrews, Josiah Waren, Kopotkin, Tolstoi, Herbert Spencer, Emerson, Thoreaand........5- ''., others who stand for freedom. Of course, they don't all agree in every particulars but neither do the spokesmen of the authoritarian school. Individual Anarchists differ in the manner of presen ting Anarchism as de other people in expounding theiy philosophies or doctrines. Do..all democrats or republicans or prohibitionists or trades unionists or authoritarian socialists or monarchists or ca tholics or protestants or any other body agree in everything? In order to find out the essentials in each one of these fellowships, cults, societies or whatever you choose to call them, one must find out those things in which there is agreement. Now, all Anarchists believe in Freedom, the freedom of the individual to do what he wills, so long as he does not by aggression injure another. This applies to every walk of life. The individual must 'be his own soverign, must be responsible for his own conduct, must be free to do or not do whatever he chooses within the realm of noninvasion, of what Spencer calls equal freedom. As to methods, nearly all of them believe in the efficacy of peaceful means in accomplishing their objects, such as the boycott or taboo, the general strike or refusal to serve an opponent, education as to the needs and rights of the individual in society, persuasion, appeal to personal and class interestspassive resistance in every form. Some of them, like Tolstoi, for -16 - example,, even go so far"a tib advocate' non-redistance:md the doing of.good-: to those Who do you evil. This certainly is mild ehough:.for the gentles and meekest of menl a m glad to say most Anarchists are more. worldly and practical' than this. I Would'?% advise you..... to assault one without very good: cause and expect to g'0t off with a whole' skin. VI Now, have you"any ttde idea.what Aarchidsm aims to do? You have been told they waiýit to kill the rich 'nd divide their go.,.:.ods equally; that every Anarchist goes about like a battleship,::armedto the turret with whiskey bottles and dynamite and daggers and,:guns and bombs. If you believe this kind of stuff then you? are indeed as gullible and foolish as the: plunderbund, 'press, pul.pit and politicians think you are. It is quite nattral, however,....or one inclined to these things himself to think others are also& In the absence of-knowledge to the contrary one is apt' judge others by himself. Nearly every assassinatiofi, every murder, crime o. c every description against 'p"blic men and ~oriie for years,pagt: has been imputed to Anarchists. It is a wonder they were not harged with the;.killing of Lincoln and Garflel and Goebel and Har.ison. and: thers.,:Indeed, President Mc Kinfi 's fetath was certay.taxed to Anarchism, notwithstanding th~f hat t was -17 - proven that the poor unfortunate Czolgosz was a republican voted at republican primaries, and no doubt was insane as the result of a boyish vice. These facts come to me by letter from Peter Witt, city clerk of Cleveland while Tom L. Johnson was mayor. Mr. Witt wiil undoubtedly give you the facts too if you ask him. "Czolgosz was not an Anarchist", writes Mr. Witt. "To charge that he was is simply ridiculous. He was insane. In politics he was a republican, and as such voted at the republican primaries for several years. This fact I brought out shortly after the assassination by going over the election records. These records have since been destroyed, not because of what they contained but to make room for later ones, His father and brothers voted at the same primaries," This ought to forever silence the.criminal charge that Anarchism was responsible for the assassination of McKinley. But it probably will not. This kind of a lie dies hard, From my point of view the killing of another, except in defense of human life, is Archistic, authoritarian, and, therefore, no Anarchist can do so. It is the very opposite of what Anar*' chism stands for. Can one be an Anarchist and do Archistie acts any more than one can do antichristian deeds and be & ehfistian at the same timi? Qan -one steal and be honest? Can one go6 east and -18 - west simultaneously? Is up and down the same thing? "We must study the causes to which the annual recurrence of crimes in all countries is due", says Ferri in is Positive School of Criminology. "These are natural causes, which I have classi fied under the three heads of anthropological, telluric and social. Every crime, from the smallest to the most atrocious, is the result of the interaction of these three causes, the anthropological condi tion of the criminal, the telluric environment in which he is born, living and operating. "Want", he says, "is the strongest poison for the human body and soul. It is the fountain head of all inhuman and antisocial feeling. Where want spreads out its wings, there the sentiments of love, of affection, of brotherhood, are impossible. "Crime", he continues on another page, "has its natural source in the combined interaction of three classes of causes, the anthropological (organic and psychological) factor, the telluric factor, and the social factor. And by this last factor we must not only mean want, but any other condition of administative instability in political, moral, and intellectual life. Every social condition which makes the life of man in society insecure and imperfect is a social factor contributing towards criminality". When it is difficult.or impossible to earn a living by -19 - honest methods, then it is maintained by crime, by taking the means of sustaining life by theft, chicane or murder. Anarchism would make it easier to earn a living honestly and therefore tends toward the reduction of crime. Let me tell you briefly what Anarchism aims to do i It claims that freedom, liberty, is the greatest factor in bringing material comfort and happiness to the people,and so Anarchism would reduce gradually, even to the vanishing point, the political power and physical control which some people hold over others. It wants to make all unused land free to those who will use it. This will dispense with the colossal expense of supporting the landlord class and increase the wealth-producing power by turning landlords and the disemployed poor ftom parasites to producers. It wants to make the issuing of currency, money, the tool of exchange, call it what you will, as free as the issuing of a personal note or mortgage. This would wipe out the interesttakers and make them more useful to society. It wants to do away with pv.tent and copyrights. This would turn the vast unearned sums that now go into the pockets of privilege into the comforts and h6mes of the producers, and -20 - 1. increase the amount of machinery, books. etc., and at less cost. There is no justice in making property of ideas. It wants to substitute voluntary co-operation and really free competition for the present State, under ehich things are worth more than human beings, abolishing the politician, with his arbitrary physical power as manifested by the police, the army and the navy, which are now supported by taxes fercibly collected from the people. It believes soldiers, policemen, politicians and all the other extravagances made necessary to support the present criminal State, would be very much more useful to society, were they to raise their own food, make their own clothes and build their own houses, Most Anarchists would treat crime as a disease and the criminal as a fitter subject for the hospital than the prison. Anarchists as a rule know that fundamental social and economie changes come slow'y, thru experiments and thought and necessity and patient toil and not by wars and violence and disor der and bloodshed; and so they do not expect the millenium to come at beck and call by ballot or bluff, by bullet or bluster; but that societies gAw more just and perfect if permitted, and that vio lence and disorder but retard symetrical growth as the vandaldhatchet and violent storms maim and disfigure and re-tard even the most -21 - rugged tree. They do hope, however, to better human conditions by clearing away the rubbish injustice, letting the sun of righteousness shine on the dark places. They know that you must become an Anarchist before Anarchism can be; that you must have an intelligent desire to be free before timid freedom ventures within your reach-that freedom is inly for those who want itl that you must rea ze your slavish conditions before slavery can be abolished; that you must comprehend your own degradation and servility before human dignity and self-respect can be yours; that you must know that you are being des polled of the greater share of the results of. your honest efforts before the.despoilers will cease their spoliation; that you must have the knowledge, the will and courage to take: your own and leave'what belongs to others before you will be fit to associate with those who love justice and hate wropg, who ape wise enough to know theirown rights and strong enough to re-. frain fromi agressing another's.security, who are clear enough of enptal vision to distinguish friend from foe. Anarchists know that so long as they are few in number they can be overwhelmed by authority and its ignorant and therefore willing victims. This is why they spend. si much time and effort and money to reach your thinking machine so as to lay before it facts and reasons that will influence its mechanism. When this is -22 - done successfully your intlligeni will no doubt show you useless and harmflamost of our preent political madcinery is, and you will co-operate with them, be one of them,-in the effort to reduce the powers and functions of the State and increase the beneficent influences of freedom, Evreaz' pvrson convinced of.the truth of SAnarhism sees how liberty enlarges human prosperity aBd happiness,,and becomes from purely se nterest a propagandist, dreaing of Sfutire when. - "For a' that, and 8 th at. It's comin' yet.at athat, That man to man the world o'er Shall l others ibe for a' that." * ** * **** * * * **## * *####### ~t~3~~l~CU~nSCSC### ~ MMC~~t C~~~~~~~ - 23 - THE' GOVERNMENT" Government is the excercise of. force against the non-invasive individual. The opposite of goWHAT TIS AND TISN 'T vernment is defendment, the prote tion'of the individual against So you want me to tell transgression. you what Anarchism is, do t is!irtffff4F to you? I can do no less than make the attemptb and in my own simple way try to make you understand at least that it is not what the uninformed and the capitalistic newspapers, liars, fools.and villains generally say it is. In the firt place, let me urge upon all who desire to learn the ttuth about Afarchism riot to go to its enemies for information, xbut to talk with Anarchists and read anarchistic literature. And it is not always safe to take what one, two or even a half dozen persons may say about it, either, though they call themselves Anarchists. Take what a goodly number of them say and then coppel. those statements in which they are not in accordWhat remains -in all probability Is true,. For example, what is Christianity? Ask a dozen or more people and it is likely their answers will not agree upon some fundamental propositions. This is more likely to be the correct pocition of Christianity than the state--24- A:, ~~.1,, ments made by any one of them. This process of cancellation is the best way of' finding out what any philosbphy is. This I have' done in detetmining what Aharchism is, and it is a fair presumption that I have arrived tolerably near the truth, Anarchism, in the language of Benjamin R. Tucker, may be des6ibed as the doctrine that "all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals, or voluntary associations, and that state should be labolished". Tho cacwte is "the embodiment of the principle of invasioni in an individual, or.Za band of individuals, assuming to act as representatives or masters Obf the entire pe6ple within a given area." Government is "the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an external will" Now, keep these definitions in mind, and don'tNise the word "state" or "government" or "Anarchy" in any other sense than that in which the Anarchist himself uses it, Mr.Ticker's definitions are generally accepted by,..Anarchists everywerei The state, accordingrto Herbert Spencer and thrs, originated in war, aggressive. war, violence, afd has alwysa been maintained by violence. The function of the state.has always been to govern-to make the non-ruling classes: do what theku~rling classes -25 - want done. The state is the king in a monarchy, the king and parliament in a limited monarchy, elected representatives in such a republic as exists in the United States, and the majority of the voters in democracy as in Switzerland. History.-shows that the masses are always improved in mental, moral and material' conditions, as the po ers, of the state over the individual are reduced. As man becomes more enlightened '-regarding his interests, individual 'and collective, he 'insist thai forcible authority over him and his conduct. shall.'be abolished. He points to the fact that the..church has improved "in its material affairs, to say nothing of the Opiritual,.'since the individual is not conipelle'd to support it and accept its doctrines or be declared a.heretic and 1burned at the stake or othetwise maltreated; to the fact that people are better dressed: since the state has annulled the laws regulating dres; to the f&,ct that people are happiet married since each pereon can chooe his" own mate; to the fact that people are better inveryt way since the la"' were r,bo iishd re.gulating the individu l's haircut,''his traeling, r 'is tr de, the..umber of iwindow-paneas in his house,::chewing tobacco ort kissing on Sundays,,ind so on without number...In Russia and sorr other co-untries even now you would not be allowed to go into the country -Cr come outi of it without legal permission, to print or r.ad books or papers except those permitted by law to keep anyone in your house over night without notifying the police, and in a thousand ways the individual is hampered in his movements, Even in the freest countries the individual is robbed by the tax-collector, is beaten by the police, is fined and jailed by the courts-is browbeaten by authority in many ways when his conduct is not aggressive,or in violation of equal freedom. It is a mistake often made, even by some Afiarhists, to say that Anarchism aims to establish absolute freedom. Anarchism is a practical philosophy, and is not striving ti'do the impossible. What Anarchism aims to do, howevery humai creature. The majority under this rule has no more rights than the minority, the millions no greater rights than one. It assumes that every human being should have equal rights to all the products of nature without money and without price; that what one produces would belong to himself, and that no irividual or collection of persons, be they out law or state, should take any portion of it without his knowledge or consent; that every person should be allowed to exchange his own products wherever he wills; that he should be allowed to co-operate with his fellows if he chooses, or to compete against them in whatever field he elects; that no restrictions what soever should be put upon him in what he prints or reads or drinks or eats or does, so long as he does not invade the equal rights of - 27 - his fellows. It is often remarked that Anarchism is an impractical theory imported into the United States by a lot of ignorant foreig-,ners. Of course, those who kaha.thA. statement are as much mistaken as though they made it while "onscious of its falsity. Thei:dcctrine of personal freedom is an American doctrine in so far as the attempt to put it into practice is:concerned, as Paine, Frankin, Jefferson and others understood it quite well. Even the Puritans had a faint idea of it, as they came here to excercise the'right of private judgment in religious matters, The right to excercise private judgment in religio" is Anarchy in religion. The first to formulate the doctrine of individual sovereignity was a blue-bellied Yankee, as Josiah Warren was a descendant of the Revolutionary -.Ge9eral Warren. We have Anarchy in trade between the states in this c: oupnry as free trade is simply commercial Anarchy. S.-No one who commits crime can be an Anarchist, because - crime is the doing of injury to another by aggression-the opposite of Anarchism. No one can kill a!nother,. except in self-defense, and be an Anarchist, because that would bre invading another's equal right to live-the antithesis of Anaachit"s.:. Hence assassins and criminals generally are called Anar' t * '* ' .-arA Bier L e iLjs eney a.esnbuloo rbrs sahiaasse^s eonedH chists only by the ignorant and'malicious. You can't be an Anarchist and do the things which Anar' chism condemns. Anarchism would make occupancy and use the sole title to land, thereby abolishing rent for land. It would guarantee to each individual or association the right to issue money as a medium of exchange, thereby abolishing interest on money in so far as co-operation and competition can do it, It denies the justice of patent and copyrights, and would abolish monopoly by abolishing patent-rights. It denies the right of any body of people to tax the individual for anything he does not.want, but that taxation should be voluntary, such as is now done by churches, trade unions, insurance societies and all other voluntary associations. It believes that freedom in.every walk of life ip the greatest possible means of elevating the human race to happier conditions. It is said that Anarchism is voluntary Socialism. There are two kinds of Socialism, archistic and anarchistic, authoritarian and libertarian, state and free. Indeed, every proposition for social betterment is either to increase or decrease the powers "' -.:. 1'1''. - '. ' ^. '! ' *'. -2 9 . -*! 1,. ~. 1 of external wills and forces over the individual. As they increase they are archisticl as they decrease they are anarchistic. Anarchy is a synonyme' for liberty, freedom, independence, free ply, self government, non interference, mind your own business and let your neighbor's alone, laissez faire, ungoverned, autonomy, and so on. Now that I as done I find that you have been given only a faint outline of what Anarchism is and is not. Those who desire to pursue the subject further will find food for intellectual adults in Tucker's "Instead of a Book". Proudhon's "What is Property" and "Economical Contradictions" Tandy's "Voluntary Socialismr" Mackay's "The Anarchists"; Auberon Herbert's "Free Life", etc. ^****************** ANARCHY TO TOIL ************** Rude Archy binds him hands and feet, And robs Tqil of his "dough", Yet still he prays to this his god On him to weal bestow. Blithe Anarchy theh comes, AlnA, Would free him ftYn h isplight. When he protesA in fear and rage And Anarchy would fight, hy fight you me?" asks Anarchy, "When I would set you free From this old shark, whose interest Is your servility?" -30 - i;=i- M S:.::Then Ignoranc&, old Archy's friend, Puts in a word or two: '"Don't mind this chap, for Archy will Take a father's care of you. "Altho he bind you hands and feet, And takes your pocketbook, "Tis done to better ~erye.you, son, And guard you from this crookl".Ppor, silly Toil, in tattered ciothes, His body.,sore and gaunt, Can't understand, if this be so, Why he' should "'always want. But 'yet his masters always say That,Anarchy is wrong, That there is wreckage in his steer, Damnation in his song. "I,ijll not, comrade coddle you Says smiling Anarchy; "Nor will I rob or..give you pelf, But simply make you free!" 4.. la. ~::" ":i -31 - @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@M LIWFMMF7 _VW -W ffly 7-L -W I HE PARAMOUNT NEED Ill 2 When one realize how little is needed for a person to live in comfort and happiness he wonders why there is so much want and trouble in the world. The actual needs of human being, put brietly, are expressed in the words food and shelter. Unless one wants to eat canary birds tongues and manna and to live in a cristal palace the simplest things are the sanest and easiest to get, under rational conditions. Food consists of eatables and drinkables, and shelter includes housing, clothing, fuel, etc.-those things that protect us from the inclemencies of the weather. These are produced with comparatively little labor, Just a few acres of good land cultivated with care and skill will produce all the food needed for the average-sized family,.and comfortable clothing is not expensive. But all of these things come directly from land, and so long as the producer is denied free access to unused land and the right to issue his own notes, in co-operation with his fellows, as a medium of exchanging his services and products he will be carrxng the galling burden of landlord, usurer, and all their flunkies and the loafer classes, and this is a grievous burden indeed. -32 - Stripped of all fantastic figres of speech and fritless &1a Jwill-o-th 4 p schemes for social bett n, ' nth~' 3 suffice that does not include free land and free money. Every acre of land not under cultivation or used must be opened for the actual settler and producer and the home maker; and the right to issue one's credit notes as a medium of exchange must be realized. Every labor organization and every society whose aim is to improve the social-economic conditions of the people, specifically or in general, is wasting its efforts if it have not the demand for free land and free money in its program, is going thru the motions of serious intent but accomplishing no material results. Two things are necessary to reach this end: first to realize the need of its realization; second, the means by which the end may be attained-the manner of accomplishment...t ~. *. -.,, -.- *, * (@@@ ^a@@?-- IMPERIALISM I am an imperialist, Being emperor of myself, My ego is my empire, over which none other may wield the scepter of rulership. I alone am emperor in the realm of my own consciousness. -33 - Who denies me this prerogative is a usurper; Who take it from me is mine enemyt Who invades my territory deserves no kindly consideration, put his weal in jeopardy. This empire keeps me busy with affairs its own. So I have no time to dabble in matters foreign to its sphere, No inclination to add burdens to those justly, fairly, squrely mine own. My empire is different than any other. In so far as is possible mine is a self-determining entity. And no one shall invade it but at his peril. I am enemy of all invaders, and invader of none. Being at peace with every one who mind his own business and leaves mine to myself. Jo LABADIE Decembe; 1973 I IlIIi! i i i niIi Colecci6d Piedra y Alarido n n iIiii -34 - ::* rs** **iOe ~-Lv Folletos editados por la Colecoi6n "Piedra y Alarido" Edicioones La Escuela Moderna de CALGARY (ALBERTA) C A N A D A TITULO AUTOR I - LA REVOLUCION SOCIAL FUERZA,,...,,,..,,,,Francisco de Araujo. 2 - CADENAS PARA LA REVOLUCION........,.,,.,,,Campio d(arpio. 3 - FRANCISCO FERRER Y LA PEDAGOCIA,......,.Kaxl Schneider. 4 - ANTOLOGIA MILICIANA,...0....,...........Angel Samblancat. 5 - AGONIA DE UNA MIXTIFICACION...,,,,,........F.O.R.A. (BsAs.) 6 - AMERICA PARA LOS AMERICANOS?..,,,,,,,,.,,.,Eugen Relgis, 7 - PENDONES INSURGENTES....,,...,,.........,,Campio Carpio. 8 - POEMAS SELECTOS,...,,*..,......,.......,..Eugen Relgis. 9 -CANTO CONTIGO LIBERTAD,...,..,......t*,...Campio Carpio. 10 - A.B,.C. SINDICALISTA................,.....,Juan Ferrer 11 - LA JUVENTUD ANTE LA INCOGNITA..,,.a#,,o0.,4Fontaura. 12 - THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMANISM.....,,......,,...Eugen Relgis, 13 - ANARQUISMO DE LOS URBANISTAS..,....,,,,...,Victor Garcia. 14 - LEON NICOLAYEVICH TOLSTOI,,..,,,,,,,.,,...FEDERICO ARCOS. 15 - LA ESTRELLA Y EL HOMBRE..........,,,,,,,,,,,,,M, Betanzos Santos. 16 - PEAN CORO Y LAGRIMAS.,.,,...,,...,,.'.,,,C Campio Carpio. 17 - ANARQUISMO PARA ANARQUISTAS....,,...,,,,.,,Fontaura. 18 - GEORGE ORWELL Y SU VISION,,....,,,..,,....Victor Garcia, 19 - LA CRISIS DE LA INDIVIEUALIDAD y SOBPE LA...Carlos A. Padr6n. 20 - ANARCHISM..,,.........,,............ Jo Labadie Co?'cci6n Piedra y Alarido -------.- 35 - ii i"^:~ I r I C' r:L) K ~ ~ ~i 90~I v