EDIT. NOTE:The emergence of the anarcho syndicalist movement of Spain as a first-rate revolutionary power brought to the foreground the question of working out a constructive program for the libertarian movement. A powerful organization like the C.N.T., which may soon be placed in the position of responsibility, cannot confine itself to slogans of a mere negative nature. It has to envisage the problems of revolutionary construction for the very near future. And what faces the anarchist movement of Spain as a present day actuality may emerge as such in the not too distant future for the libertarian movement of other countries where the bankruptcy of the authoritarian communists is bound to result in an active effort to solve the revolutionary problems along the road of libertarian communism.
We therefore welcome the attempt made by comrade Cornelissen to place the problem of a constructive libertarian program before the attention of our movement. Not being in full agrcement with all the tenets of comrade Cornelissen, (thus we believe the idea of functional decentralization is not sufficiently emphasized, while the idea of communal (territorial) autonomy is given a much too preponderant place in his political scheme, leading as it does to the idea of national independence with the dangerous and non anarchistic implications of national sovereignty), we still believe that the presentation of his views is of timely interest to all those who wish to see the rebirth of a vigorous libertarian movement based upon a realistic approach to the problems of revolutionary struggle and reconstruction. In our coming issues we shall take up those very issues at greater length trying to bring before the readers the opinions of outstanding leaders of libertarian thought.
During the first forty years of its existence, libertarian propaganda was distinguished by its strictly negative character. The anarchists declared themselves against the state, against Religion and Church, against Capitalism, and likewise against all forms of domination over the working masses by the representatives of the three above mentioned powers. They were anti-parliamentarian, anti-reformist, anti-syndicalist and in fact against all organization. In a word, they were more or less "anti-everything"
During this period they adopted the terroristic methods of the Russian nihilists upheld in western Europe by the propaganda of men like Bakunin and for a time by men like Elisee Reclus and Peter Kropotkin.1
In western Europe this period of basically negative propaganda reached its highest point at the time of the individualist terrorist acts of 1893-94 and the "trial of the thirty" in Paris. I recall having been present during this period at meetings where comrades seriously discussed the question of whether it was right to have a chairman at an anarchist meeting2 and whether the whole idea of definite organization was not a violation of individual liberty.
But, we began to observe that after several decades of negative propaganda, even our most ardent comrades were beginning to ask for positive measures and constructive propaganda. The latter, they complained, was being monopolized by the social-democrats and the cooperative movement. Anarchist journals were gradually losing their readers, sales of pamphlets decreased.
At the beginning of the twentieth century it was noted that the interest of the man on the street in anarchism had begun to wane. He would say that it mattered little that the anarchists were against everything; he wanted to know what thcy were for...
The highpoint of this negative period was reached prior to the outbreak of the World War. It was, however, the war, its aftermath and the Russian Revolution which administered the "coup de grace" to this type of propaganda. Although necessary at the beginning of our movement, negative propaganda has gradually become an obstacle to its further development. The World War, the Russian Revolution and the advent of Fascism in Italy, Germany, Poland and Hungary have demonstrated to all those whose eyes were open to realities that we must have at our command strongly organized forces directed toward a well defined goal, if we are to achieve anything of lasting human value. The present world crisis has added the finishing touches to the lessons already learned by revealing to us the basic forces in society which cannot be combatted by sheer visions and dreams of a far off world to come.
The modern libertarians recognize all the advantages of modern machine methods: they detest the miseries of the old fashioned domestic labor. They realize that in the production of articles of major importance (coal, iron, steel, oil, rubber paper, glass, lumber, cereals, cotton, wool, silk, etc.) the growth of large scale industry is inevitable: it is a necessary concomitant of technological progress.
As long as men want to live decently, to be well fed, well clothed and properly housed, as long as everybody wants to make use of rapid means of communication, it becomes necessary to produce consumption goods in mass quantities and to organize our life in such a complex fashion which makes the satisfaction of the needs of the community utterly beyond the reach of small associations of artisans.
If everybody wants to travel and to go to the movies, it will be necessary to construct railways, street cars and automobiles and to produce films.
The task of the destruction of the present social order is being performed for the most part by the present system itself: the narrow egoism, the errors and the crimes of the capitalists are doing this work. The real test for us revolutionaries will come afterwards when we shall inherit the disorder and misery left to us and shall have to construct the new world.
While cleaving to the basic ideal of liberty, the libertarian communists have been obliged to accept the principle of the necessity of local, national and international organization. In these organizations they still maintain the principle of free federation, the autonomy of various groups in their local propaganda, and the liberty of individuals in the groups themselves as long as this liberty does not interfere with the activities of the other members or of the whole group. Likewise, concerning social life in general and the carrying out of any economic or political act, the modern libertarian communist defends the liberty of each individual in actions which concern him or her alone. He also defends the autonomy of communes and regions in any action which is not incompatible with the needs of national and international life. Finally, he defends the liberty of each nation to govern itself as a part of the United Nations of the World.
The libertarian communists of Europe have declared themselves against all forms of fascism-red, black or brown. All dictatorships in effect become social systems directed from above, founded on the exploitation and militarization of the working masses. The libertarian communists favor a democratic order directed from the bottom up, in whích each indívidual maintains his liberty of thought and action.
The modern libertarian communists have, in the sphere of economics, broken definitely with the principle, formerly so popular in our movement, of the free association of small groups of comrades toiling as artisans in industry or tilling the soil with spade and pick-axe. They do not want to go back to the Middle Ages.
They realize that the methods of the hand craftsman can be used today only in a very few industries, such as the production of some luxury articles or in repair work. In agriculture the old methods can be used only for some forms of horticulture, truck gardening and the higher grades of vine culture.
The modern libertarians recognize all the advantages of modern machine methods: they detest the miseries of the old fashioned domestic labor. They realize that in the production of articles of major importance (coal, iron, steel, oil, rubber paper, glass, lumber, cereals, cotton, wool, silk, etc.) the growth of large scale industry is inevitable: it is a necessary concomitant of technological progress.
As long as men want to live decently, to be well fed, well clothed and properly housed, as long as everybody wants to make use of rapid means of communication, it becomes necessary to produce consumption goods in mass quantities and to organize our life in such a complex fashion which makes the satisfaction of the needs of the community utterly beyond the reach of small associations of artisans.
If everybody wants to travel and to go to the movies, it will be necessary to construct railways, street cars and automobiles and to produce films.
The task of the destruction of the present social order is being performed for the most part by the present system itself: the narrow egoism, the errors and the crimes of the capitalists are doing this work. The real test for us revolutionaries will come afterwards when we shall inherit the disorder and misery left to us and shall have to construct the new world.
Since the working masses are at present nowhere quite ready (technologically) to undertake the management of industries - especially large scale and medium sized industries - the modern libertarian communists have united with the revolutionary syndicalists in an attempt to effect as soon as possible cooperation between workers and technicians in leaning how to manage the industries in which they work. This will be an indispensable training school for the organization of the technical cadres, which in the future will have to take over the management of the expropriated industries.
Inasmuch as they are communists (in the broad sense of the term-ed.) the modern libertarians insist more than ever before upon the necessity of socialized property.
The society following our present capitalist order will also be based upon the commune, i. e. upon urban and rural municipalities, and in modern countries all land and houses will become social property, to be administered by the commune.
The commune will have an ample supply of the resources necesssary to fill the storehouses of the regional and national administrations, to guarantee to all the inhabitants of their respective territories the prime necessaries of life (food, working clothes and lodging will be given free to everybody) and to undertake the education of children and the upkeep of hospitals, scientific and cultural institutions, museums, etc.
Land and houses having become communal property, lent to the inhabitants who will pay no rent or taxes for them, it will be impossible for those who have hoarded money to invest it in real estate or to lend money for interest, because credit will be free under the control of the commune.
In the political sphere, the defects of parliamentarism have been amply revealed in all modern nations. Although the political system may vary from country to country, it seems that, for the most part, it will take the form of a National Assembly of Producers working together with and checked by a Congress of Consumers. The make-up of the former can indeed be modeled after the "soviets" as they were functioning in Russia before the Communist Party distorted them by its party monopoly. The representatives to the Congress of Consumers will be elected by all adult inhabitants of the country, male and female, who were born there or have lived there a specified length of time.