An Anarchist FAQ — Section a Workplace Develops and Changes
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Like all anarchists, Proudhon saw this integration of functions as the key to equality and freedom and proposed self-management as the means to achieve it. Thus self-management is the key to so- cial equality. Social equality in the workplace, for example, means that everyone has an equal say in the policy decisions on how the An Anarchist FAQ — Section A workplace develops and changes. Anarchists are strong believers in the maxim "that which touches all, is decided by all." This does not mean, of course, that expertise will be ignoredor that everyone will decide everything. As far as expertise goes, dif- ferent people have different interests, talents, and abilities, so ob- viously they will want to study different things and do different kinds of work. It is also obvious that when people are ill they con- sult a doctor – an expert – who manages his or her own work rather than being directed by a committee. We are sorry to have to bring these points up, but once the topics of social equality and workers' self-management come up, some people start to talk nonsense. It is common sense that a hospital managed in a socially equal way will not involve non-medical staff voting on how doctors should perform an operation! In fact, social equality and individual liberty are inseparable. Without the collective self-management of decisions that affect a group (equality) to complement the individual self-management of decisions that affect the individual (liberty), a free society is impossible. For without both, some will have power over others, making decisions for them (i.e. governing them), and thus some will be more free than others. Which implies, just to state the obvious, anarchists seek equality in all aspects of life, not just in terms of wealth. Anarchists "demand for every person not just his [or her] entire measure of the wealth of society but also his [or her] portion of social power." [Malatesta and Hamon, No Gods, No Masters, vol. 2, p. 20] Thus self-management is needed to ensure both liberty and equality. Social equality is required for individuals to both govern and ex- press themselves, for the self-management it implies means "people 56 Equality for anarchists means social equality, or, to use Murray Bookchin's term, the "equality of unequals" (some like Malatesta used the term "equality of conditions" to express the same idea). By this he means that an anarchist society recognises the differ- ences in ability and need of individuals but does not allow these differences to be turned into power. Individual differences, inother words, "would be of no consequence, because inequality in fact is lost in the collectivity when it cannot cling to some legal fiction or insti- tution." [Michael Bakunin, God and the State, p. 53] If hierarchical social relationships, and the forces that create them, are abolished in favour of ones that encourage participation and are based on the principle of "one person, one vote" then natural differences would not be able to be turned into hierarchical power. For example, without capitalist property rights there would not be means by which a minority could monopolise the means of life (machinery and land) and enrich themselves by the work of others via the wages system and usury (profits, rent and interest). Similarly, if workers manage their own work, there is no class of capitalists to grow rich off their labour. Thus Proudhon: "Now, what can be the origin of this inequality? "As we see it, . that origin is the realisation within soci- ety of this triple abstraction: capital, labour and talent. "It is because society has divided itself into three cate- gories of citizen corresponding to the three terms of the formula. that caste distinctions have always been ar- rived at, and one half of the human race enslaved to the other. socialism thus consists of reducing the aristo- cratic formula of capital-labour-talent into the simpler formula of labour!. in order to make every citizen si- multaneously, equally and to the same extent capitalist, labourer and expert or artist." [No Gods, No Masters, vol. 1, pp. 57-8] 55 outcome" are related. Under capitalism, for example, the opportu- nities each generation face are dependent on the outcomes of the previous ones. This means that under capitalism "equality ofop- portunity" without a rough "equality of outcome" (in the sense of income and resources) becomes meaningless, as there is no real Contents equality of opportunity for the off-spring of a millionaire and that of a road sweeper. Those who argue for "equality of opportunity" while ignoring the barriers created by previous outcomes indicate Section A: What is Anarchism? 5 that they do not know what they are talking about – opportunity in a hierarchical society depends not only on an open road but also A.1 What is anarchism? 10 upon an equal start. From this obvious fact springs the misconcep- A.1.1 What does "anarchy" mean? . 12 tion that anarchists desire "equality of outcome" – but this applies A.1.2 What does "anarchism" mean? . 16 to a hierarchical system, in a free society this would not the case A.1.3 Why is anarchism also called libertarian socialism? 21 (as we will see). A.1.4 Are anarchists socialists? . 24 Equality, in anarchist theory, does not mean denying individual A.1.5 Where does anarchism come from? . 30 diversity or uniqueness. As Bakunin observes: A.2 What does anarchism stand for? 35 "once equality has triumphed and is well established, A.2.1 What is the essence of anarchism? . 38 will various individuals' abilities and their levels of A.2.2 Why do anarchists emphasise liberty? . 41 energy cease to differ? Some will exist, perhaps notso A.2.3 Are anarchists in favour of organisation? . 45 many as now, but certainly some will always exist. It is A.2.4 Are anarchists in favour of "absolute" liberty? . 50 proverbial that the same tree never bears two identical A.2.5 Why are anarchists in favour of equality? . 51 leaves, and this will probably be always be true. And it A.2.6 Why is solidarity important to anarchists? . 57 is even more truer with regard to human beings, who A.2.7 Why do anarchists argue for self-liberation? . 61 are much more complex than leaves. But this diversity is A.2.8 Is it possible to be an anarchist without opposing hardly an evil. On the contrary. it is a resource of the hierarchy? ....................... 67 human race. Thanks to this diversity, humanity is acol- A.2.9 What sort of society do anarchists want? . 72 lective whole in which the one individual complements A.2.10 What will abolishing hierarchy mean and achieve? 78 all the others and needs them. As a result, this infinite A.2.11 Why are most anarchists in favour of direct diversity of human individuals is the fundamental cause democracy? ...................... 81 and the very basis of their solidarity. It is all-powerful A.2.12 Is consensus an alternative to direct democracy? . 88 argument for equality." ["All-Round Education", The A.2.13 Are anarchists individualists or collectivists? . 91 Basic Bakunin, pp. 117-8] A.2.14 Why is voluntarism not enough? . 96 A.2.15 What about "human nature"? . 100 54 3 A.2.16 Does anarchism require "perfect" people to work? 107 Anarchists, therefore, have little to desire to make this "common A.2.17 Aren't most people too stupid for a free society to grove" even deeper. Rather, we desire to destroy it and every social work? . 113 relationship and institution that creates it in the first place. A.2.18 Do anarchists support terrorism? . 118 "Equality of outcome" can only be introduced and maintained A.2.19 What ethical views do anarchists hold? . 127 by force, which would not be equality anyway, as some would A.2.20 Why are most anarchists atheists? . 135 have more power than others! "Equality of outcome" is particularly hated by anarchists, as we recognise that every individual has dif- A.3 What types of anarchism are there? 142 ferent needs, abilities, desires and interests. To make all consume A.3.1 What are the differences between individualist and the same would be tyranny. Obviously, if one person needs medi- social anarchists? . 146 cal treatment and another does not, they do not receive an "equal" A.3.2 Are there different types of social anarchism? . 157 amount of medical care. The same is true of other human needs. As A.3.3 What kinds of green anarchism are there? . 164 Alexander Berkman put it: A.3.4 Is anarchism pacifistic? . 171 A.3.5 What is anarcha-feminism? . 177 "equality does not mean an equal amount but equal op- A.3.6 What is Cultural Anarchism? . 190 portunity. Do not make the mistake of identifying A.3.7 Are there religious anarchists? . 192 equality in liberty with the forced equality of the con- A.3.8 What is "anarchism without adjectives"? . 201 vict camp. True anarchist equality implies freedom, not A.3.9 What is anarcho-primitivism? . 205 quantity. It does not mean that every one must eat, drink, or wear the same things, do the same work, or live in the A.4 Who are the major anarchist thinkers? 221 same manner. Far from it: the very reverse in fact." A.4.1 Are there any thinkers close to anarchism? . 235 A.4.2 Are there any liberal thinkers close to anarchism? . 240 "Individual needs and tastes differ, as appetites differ.