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diff --git a/36690.txt b/36690.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6fa74d --- /dev/null +++ b/36690.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12942 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anarchism, by Paul Eltzbacher + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Anarchism + +Author: Paul Eltzbacher + +Translator: Steven T. Byington + +Release Date: July 10, 2011 [EBook #36690] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANARCHISM *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +ANARCHISM + +BY +DR. PAUL ELTZBACHER +Gerichtsassessor and Privatdozent in Halle an der Saale + +Translated by +STEVEN T. BYINGTON + +Je ne propose rien, je ne suppose rien, j'expose + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK: BENJ. R. TUCKER. +LONDON: A. C. FIFIELD. +1908. + + +Copyright, 1907, by +Benjamin R. Tucker + + +_Gratefully dedicated to the memory of my father_ + +DR. SALOMON ELTZBACHER + +1832-1889 + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE vii + +BOOKS REFERRED TO xvii + +INTRODUCTION 3 + +CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM + 1. General 6 + 2. The Starting-point 10 + 3. The Goal 13 + 4. The Way to the Goal 15 + +CHAPTER II. LAW, THE STATE, PROPERTY + 1. General 18 + 2. Law 24 + 3. The State 31 + 4. Property 36 + +CHAPTER III. GODWIN'S TEACHING + 1. General 40 + 2. Basis 41 + 3. Law 42 + 4. The State 45 + 5. Property 53 + 6. Realization 58 + +CHAPTER IV. PROUDHON'S TEACHING + 1. General 65 + 2. Basis 67 + 3. Law 69 + 4. The State 72 + 5. Property 80 + 6. Realization 86 + +CHAPTER V. STIRNER'S TEACHING + 1. General 93 + 2. Basis 96 + 3. Law 97 + 4. The State 100 + 5. Property 106 + 6. Realization 109 + +CHAPTER VI. BAKUNIN'S TEACHING + 1. General 115 + 2. Basis 117 + 3. Law 119 + 4. The State 121 + 5. Property 127 + 6. Realization 132 + +CHAPTER VII. KROPOTKIN'S TEACHING + 1. General 139 + 2. Basis 141 + 3. Law 145 + 4. The State 149 + 5. Property 159 + 6. Realization 171 + +CHAPTER VIII. TUCKER'S TEACHING + 1. General 182 + 2. Basis 183 + 3. Law 187 + 4. The State 190 + 5. Property 201 + 6. Realization 209 + +CHAPTER IX. TOLSTOI'S TEACHING + 1. General 219 + 2. Basis 220 + 3. Law 230 + 4. The State 234 + 5. Property 249 + 6. Realization 260 + +CHAPTER X. THE ANARCHISTIC TEACHINGS + 1. General 270 + 2. Basis 270 + 3. Law 272 + 4. The State 276 + 5. Property 280 + 6. Realization 284 + +CHAPTER XI. ANARCHISM AND ITS SPECIES + 1. Errors about Anarchism and its Species 288 + 2. The Concepts of Anarchism and its Species 292 + +CONCLUSION 303 + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE + + +Every person who examines this book at all will speedily divide its +contents into Eltzbacher's own discussion and his seven chapters of +classified quotations from Anarchist leaders; and, if he buys the book, +he will buy it for the sake of the quotations. I do not mean that the +book might not have a sale if it consisted exclusively of Eltzbacher's +own words, but simply that among ten thousand people who may value +Eltzbacher's discussion there will not be found ten who will not value +still more highly the conveniently-arranged reprint of what the +Anarchists themselves have said on the cardinal points of Anarchistic +thought. Nor do I feel that I am saying anything uncomplimentary to +Eltzbacher when I say that the part of his work to which he has devoted +most of his space is the part that the public will value most. + +And yet there is much to be valued in the chapters that are of +Eltzbacher's own writing,--even if one is reminded of Sir Arthur Helps's +satirical description of English lawyers as a class of men, found in a +certain island, who make it their business to write highly important +documents in closely-crowded lines on such excessively wide pages that +the eye is bound to skip a line now and then, but who make up for this +by invariably repeating in another part of the document whatever they +have said, so that whatever the reader may miss in one place he will +certainly catch in another. The fact is that Eltzbacher's work is an +admirable model of what should be the mental processes of an +investigator trying to determine the definition of a term which he finds +to be confusedly conceived. Not only is his method for determining the +definition of Anarchism flawless, but his subsidiary investigation of +the definitions of law, the State, and property is conducted as such +things ought to be, and (a good test of clearness of thought) his +illustrations are always so exactly pertinent that they go far to redeem +his style from dullness, if one is reading for the sense and therefore +cares for pertinence. The only weak point in this part of the book is +that he thinks it necessary to repeat in print his previous statements +wherever it is necessary to the investigation that the previous +statement be mentally renewed. But, however tiresome this may be, one +gets a steady progress of thought, and the introductory part of the book +is not very long at worst. + +The collection of quotations, which form three-fourths of the book both +in bulk and in importance, is as much the best part as it is the +biggest. Here the prime necessity is impartiality, and Eltzbacher has +attained this as perfectly as can be expected of any man. Positively, +one comes to the end of all this without feeling sure whether Eltzbacher +is himself an Anarchist or not; it is not until we come to the last +dozen pages of the book that he lets his opposition to Anarchism become +evident. To be sure, one feels that he is more journalistic than +scientific in selecting for special mention the more sensational points +of the schemes proposed (the journalistic temper certainly shows itself +in his habit of picking out for his German public the references to +Germany in Anarchist writers). Yet it is hard to deny that there is +legitimate scientific importance in ascertaining how much of the +sensational is involved in Anarchism; and, on the other hand, Eltzbacher +recognizes his duty to present the strongest points of the Anarchist +side, and does this so faithfully that one often wonders if the man can +repeat these words without feeling their cogency. So far as any bias is +really felt in this part of the book it is the bias of +over-methodicalness; now and then a quotation is made to go into the +classification at a place where it will not go in without forcing, and +perspective is distorted when some _obiter dictum_ that had never seemed +to its author to be worth repeating a second time is made to serve as +illuminant now for this division of the "teaching," now for that, till +it seems to the reader like a favorite topic of the Anarchist. However, +the bias of methodicalness is as nearly non-partisan as any bias can be, +and its effect is to put the matter into a most convenient form for +consultation and comparison. + +Next to impartiality, if not even before it, we need intelligence in our +compiler; and we have it. Few men, even inside the movement, would have +been more successful than Eltzbacher in picking out the important parts +of the Anarchist doctrines, and the quotations that will show these +important parts as they are. I do not mean that this accuracy has not +exceptions--many exceptions, if you count such things as the failure to +give due weight to some clause which might restrict or modify the +application of the words used; a few serious exceptions, of which we +reap the fruit in his final summary. But in admitting these errors I do +not retract my statement that Eltzbacher has made his compilation as +accurate as any man could be expected to. More than this, it may well be +said that he has, except in three or four points, made it as accurate as +is even useful for ordinary reading; he has overlooked nothing but what +his readers would have been sure to overlook if he had presented it. As +a gun is advertised to shoot "as straight as any man can hold," so +Eltzbacher has, with three or four exceptions, told his story as +straight as any man with ordinary attention can read. The net result is +that we have here, without doubt, the most complete and accurate +presentation of Anarchism that ever has been given or ever will be given +in so short a space. If any one wants a fuller and more trustworthy +account, he will positively have to go direct to the writings of the +Anarchists themselves; nowhere else can he find anything so good as +Eltzbacher. Withal, this main part of the book is decidedly readable. +Eltzbacher's repetitiousness has no opportunity to become prominent +here, and the man is not at all dull in choosing and translating his +quotations. On the contrary, his fondness for apt illustrations is a +great help toward making the compilation constantly readable, as well as +toward making the reader's impressions of the Anarchistic teachings +vivid and definite. + +I do not mean to say that this book can take the place of a +consultation of the original sources. For instance, the Bakunin chapter +follows next after the Stirner chapter; but the exquisite contrariness +of almost every word of Bakunin to Stirner's teaching can be appreciated +only by those who have read Stirner's book--Eltzbacher's quotations are +on a different aspect of Stirner's teaching from that which applies +against Bakunin. (Stirner and Bakunin, it will be noted, are the only +Anarchist leaders against whom Eltzbacher permits himself a +disrespectful word before he has presented their doctrines.) It is to be +hoped that many who read this book will go on to examine the sources +themselves. Meanwhile, here is an excellent introduction, and the +chronological arrangement makes it easy to watch the historical +development and see whether the later schools of Anarchism assail the +State more effectively than the earlier. + +I have not reserved any expressions of praise for the small part of the +book which comes after the compiled chapters, because it calls for none. +All Eltzbacher's weak points come out in this concluding summary; the +best that can be said for it is that it deserves careful attention, and +that the author continues to be oftener right than wrong. But now that +he has gathered all his knowledge he wants it to amount to omniscience, +and most imprudently shuts his eyes to the places where there is nothing +under his feet. He charges men with error for not using in his sense a +term whose definition he has not undertaken to determine. He accepts all +too unquestioningly such statements as fit most conveniently into his +scheme of method. His most glaring offence in this direction is his +classification of the Anarchist-Communist doctrines as mere prediction +and not the expression of a will or demand or approval or disapproval of +anything, simply because the fashionableness of evolutionism and of +fatalism has led the leaders of that school to prefer to state their +doctrine in terms of prediction. Eltzbacher has forgotten to compare his +judgment with the actions of the men he judges; _solvitur ambulando_; if +Kropotkin's proposition were merely predictive and not pragmatic, it +would have less trouble with the police than it has. Again, he does one +of the most indiscreet things that are possible to a votary of strict +method when he asserts repeatedly that he has listed not merely all that +is to be found but all that could possibly exist under a certain +category. For instance, he declares that every possible affirmative +doctrine of property must be either private property, or common property +in the wherewithal for production and private property in the +wherewithal for consumption, or common property. Why should not a scheme +of common property in the things that are wanted by all men and private +property in the things that are wanted only by some men have as high a +rank in the classification as has Eltzbacher's second class? A look at +the quotations from Kropotkin will show that I have not drawn much on my +own ingenuity in conceiving such a scheme as supposable. He claims to +have listed all the standpoints from which Anarchism has been or can be +propounded or judged, yet he has omitted legitimism, the doctrine that a +political authority which is to claim our respect and obedience must +appear to have originated by a legitimate foundation and not by +usurpation. The great part that legitimism has played in history is +notorious; and it lends itself very readily to the Anarchist's purpose, +since some governments are so well known to have originated in +usurpation and others are so easily suspected of it. Nay, legitimism is +in fact a potent factor in shaping the most up-to-date Anarchism of our +time; for it is largely concerned in Lysander Spooner's doctrine of +juries, of which some slight account is given in Eltzbacher's quotations +from Tucker. And he claims to have recited all the important arguments +that sustain Anarchism: where has he mentioned the argument from the +evil that the State does in interfering with social and economic +experimentation? or the argument from the fact that reforms in the State +are necessarily in a democracy, and ordinarily in a monarchy, very slow +in coming to pass, and when they do come to pass they necessarily come +with all-disturbing suddenness? or the argument from the evil of +separating people by the boundary lines which the State involves? or the +fact that war would be almost inconceivable if the States were replaced +by voluntary and non-monopolistic organizations, since such +organizations could have no "jurisdiction" or control of territory to +fight for, and war for any other cause has long been unknown among +civilized nations? By these and other such unwarranted claims of +absolute completeness, and by the conclusions based on these pasteboard +premises, Eltzbacher makes it necessary to read his final chapters with +all possible independence of judgment. + +It remains for me to say something of my own work on this book. I have +consulted the originals of some of the works cited--such as +circumstances have permitted--and given the quotations not by +translation from Eltzbacher's German but direct from the originals. The +particulars are as follows: + +Of Godwin's "Political Justice" I used an American reprint of the second +British edition. This second edition is greatly revised and altered from +the first, which Eltzbacher used. Godwin calls our attention to this, +and especially informs us that the first edition did not in some +important respects represent the views which he held at the time of its +publication, since the earlier pages were printed before the later were +written, and during the writing of the book he changed his mind about +some of the principles he had asserted in the earlier chapters. In the +second edition, he says, the views presented in the first part of the +book have been made consistent with those in the last part, and all +parts have been thoroughly revised. It will astonish nobody, therefore, +that I found it now and then impossible to identify in my copy the +passages translated by Eltzbacher from the first edition. In particular, +I got the impression that what Eltzbacher quotes about promises, from +the first part of the book, is one of those sections which Godwin says +he retracts and no longer believed in even at the time he wrote the +later chapters of the first edition. If so, a bit of the foundation for +Eltzbacher's ultimate classification disappears. Besides giving the +pages of the first edition as in Eltzbacher, I have added in brackets +the page numbers of the copy I used, wherever I could identify them. +Throughout the book brackets distinguish footnotes added by me from +Eltzbacher's own, and in a few places I have used them in the text to +indicate Eltzbacher's deviations from the wording of his original, of +which matter I will speak again in a moment. + +The passages from Proudhon's works I translated from the original French +as given in the collected edition of his "_OEuvres completes_." In this +edition some of the works differ only in pagination from the editions +which Eltzbacher used, while others have been extensively revised. I +know of no changes of essential doctrine. + +Since in Stirner's case German is the original language, I have accepted +as my original the quotations given by Eltzbacher. It is probable that +they are occasionally condensed; but a fairly faithful memory, and the +fact that it is less than a year since I was reading the proofs of my +translation of Stirner's book, enable me to be confident that there is +no change amounting to distortion. I have here made no use of that +translation of mine[1] except from memory, because I well knew that in +dealing with Stirner there is no assurance that the best possible +translation of the continuous whole will be made up of the best possible +translations of the individual parts. Neither have I used the extant +English translations of Bakunin's "God and the State," Kropotkin's +"Conquest of Bread," Tolstoi's works, or any of the other books cited. I +have not had at hand any originals of Bakunin or Tolstoi, nor any of +Kropotkin except "Anarchist Communism." Of this I had the first edition, +and Eltzbacher, contrary to his habit, the second; but I judge that the +two are from the same plates, for all the page-numbers cited agree. + +Toward the Tucker chapter I have taken a special attitude. I am myself +one of Tucker's followers and collaborators; I may claim to be an +"authority" on the exposition of his doctrine-- + + + _Nennt man die besten Namen, + So wird auch der meine genannt_-- + + +and I have tried to have an eye to the precise correctness of everything +in that chapter. That I used the original of "Instead of a Book" is a +matter of course; and I have not only taken Tucker's words where +Eltzbacher had translated the whole, but have had an eye to all points +where Eltzbacher had condensed anything in a way that could affect the +sense, and have restored the words that made the passage mean something +a little bit different from what Eltzbacher made it mean. (I did about +the same in this respect with Kropotkin's "Anarchist Communism"; and +indeed something of the kind is inevitable if one is to consult +originals at all.) On the other hand, I have not, in general, drawn +attention to passages where Eltzbacher makes merely formal changes for +the purpose of inserting in a sentence of a certain grammatical +structure what Tucker had said in a sentence of different structure. + +The renderings of Tolstoi's biblical quotations are taken from the +"Corrected English New Testament," a conservative version which is now +spoken of as the best English New Testament extant. It fits well into +Tolstoi, at least so far as the present quotations go. + +I have spoken above of Eltzbacher's qualities as compiler; it here +becomes necessary to say something of his work as translator. His +translation is that of a very intelligent man, trusting to his +intelligence to justify him in translating quite freely. He is confident +that he knows what the idea to be presented is, and his main concern is +to express that in the language best suited to the purpose. He even +avows, as will be seen, that he has "cautiously revised" other people's +translations from the Russian, without himself claiming to be familiar +with the Russian language. I would as soon entrust this extremely +delicate task to Eltzbacher as to anybody I know, for he is in general +remarkably correct in his re-wordings. The justification of his +confidence in his knowledge of the author's thought may be seen in the +fact that in passages which happen not to affect the main thought he +makes a few such slips as _zahlen mit ihrer Vergiftung_ for "pay to be +poisoned," _Willkuer_ for "arbitrament," and even _eine blutige +Revolution ruecksichtslos niederwuerfe_ for "would do anything in his +power to precipitate a bloody revolution" (can he have been misled by +the chemist's use of "precipitate"?), but in passages where these +blunders would do real harm he keeps clear of them, being safeguarded by +his knowledge of the sense. But it makes a difference whom you translate +in this way. Tucker is a man who uses language with especial precision: +every phrase in a sentence of his may be presumed to contribute +something definite to the thought; and Eltzbacher treats him as if the +less conspicuous phrases were merely ornamental work which might safely +be omitted or amended when they seemed not to be advantageous for +ornamental purposes. I must confess that I have little faith in the +Eltzbacher method of translation for the rendering of any author; but it +works especially ill with an author like Tucker. + +Of course all defects of translation are cured, silently, by +substituting the original English. Therefore, at the expense of slightly +increasing the bulk of the Tucker chapter, this edition gives American +readers a much more accurate presentation of the utterances of the +American champion of Anarchism than can be had in Eltzbacher's German; +and, since I have the same advantage as regards Godwin, I think I may +claim in general terms that mine is the best edition of Eltzbacher for +those who read both English and German. + +Besides looking out for the accurate presentation of the passages quoted +from Tucker, I have kept watch of the correctness of the subject-matter. +Whatever seemed to me to represent Tucker's book unfairly, either by +misrepresenting his doctrine or by misapplying the quotations, has been +corrected by a note. This will be useful to the reader not only by +giving him a better Tucker, but also by giving a sample from which he +may judge what amount of fault the followers of Kropotkin or Tolstoi or +the rest would be likely to find with the chapters devoted to them. The +merely popular reader will probably get the impression that Eltzbacher +is really a rather unreliable man. The competent student, who knows what +must be looked out for in all work of this sort, will have his +confidence in Eltzbacher increased by seeing how little of serious fault +appears in such a search. + +The index is compiled independently for this translation. Omitting such +entries as merely duplicate the utility of the table of contents, and +making an effort to head every entry with the word under which the +reader will actually seek it, I hope I have bettered Eltzbacher's index; +and I hope the index will be not only a place-finder but a help toward +the appreciation of the Anarchistic teachings. + +I have not in general undertaken to criticise those features of the book +which embody Eltzbacher's own opinions. Whether it was in fact right to +select these seven men as the touchstone of Anarchism,--whether +Eltzbacher is right in discussing the definition of the State as he +does, or whether he might better simply have taken as authoritative that +definition which has legal force in international law,--whether he ought +to have added any other feature to his book,--are points on which the +reader does not care for my judgment, nor am I eager to express a +judgment. Having had to work over the book very carefully in detail, I +have felt entitled to express an opinion as to how well Eltzbacher has +done the work that he did choose to do; I have also told what work I as +translator claim to have done; and it is time this preface ended. + +STEVEN T. BYINGTON. +_Ballardvale, Mass., August 28, 1907._ + + + + +BOOKS REFERRED TO BY ABBREVIATED TITLES + + +Adler, "Handwoerterbuch" = GEORG ADLER, "Anarchismus," in +_Handwoerterbuch der Staatswissenschaften_, 2d ed. (Jena 1898), vol. 1 +pp. 296-327. + +Adler, "Nord und Sued" = GEORG ADLER, "Die Lehren der Anarchisten," in +_Nord und Sued_ (Breslau) vol. 32 (1885) pp. 371-83. + +Ba. "Articles" = "Articles ecrits par Bakounine dans l'Egalite de 1869," +in _Memoire presente par la federation jurassienne de l'Association +internationale des travailleurs a toutes les federations de +l'Internationale_ (Sonvillier, n. d.), "Pieces justificatives" pp. +68-114. + +Ba. "Briefe" = "Briefe Bakunins," in Dragomanoff (see below) pp. 1-272. + +Ba. "Dieu" = MICHEL BAKOUNINE, _Dieu et l'Etat_, 2d ed. (Paris 1892). + +Ba. "Dieu" OEuvres = "Dieu et l'Etat," in MICHEL BAKOUNINE, _OEuvres_, +3d ed. (Paris 1895), pp. 261-326. + +Ba. "Discours" = "Discours de Bakounine au congres de Berne," in +_Memoire presente par la federation jurassienne de l'Association +internationale des travailleurs a toutes les federations de +l'Internationale_ (Sonvillier, n. d.), "Pieces justificatives" pp. +20-38. + +Ba. "Programme" = BAKOUNINE, "Programme de la section slave a Zurich," +in Dragomanoff (see below) pp. 381-3. + +Ba. "Proposition" = "Federalisme, socialisme et antitheologisme. +Proposition motivee au Comite central de la Ligue de la paix et de la +liberte," in MICHEL BAKOUNINE, _OEuvres_, 3d ed. (Paris 1895), pp. +1-205. + +Ba. "Statuts" = "Statuts secrets de l'Alliance" and "Programme et +reglement de l'Alliance publique," in "L'Alliance" (see below) pp. +118-35. + +Ba. "Volkssache" = M. BAKUNIN, "Die Volkssache. Romanow, Pugatschew oder +Pestel?" in Dragomanoff (see below) pp. 303-9. + +Bernatzik = BERNATZIK, "Der Anarchismus," in _Jahrbuch fuer +Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich_ +(Leipzig) vol. 19 (1895) pp. 1-20. + +Bernstein = EDUARD BERNSTEIN, "Die soziale Doktrin des Anarchismus," in +_Die Neue Zeit_ (Stuttgart) year 10 (1891-2) vol. 1 pp. 358-65, 421-8; +vol. 2 pp. 589-96, 618-26, 657-66, 772-8, 813-19. + +Crispi = FRANCESCO CRISPI, "The Antidote for Anarchy," in _Daily Mail_ +(London) no. 807 (1898) p. 4. + +"Der Anarchismus und seine Traeger" = _Der Anarchismus und seine +Traeger. Enthuellungen aus dem Lager der Anarchisten von [**symbol: +circle in triangle], Verfasser der Londoner Briefe in der Koelnischen +Zeitung_ (Berlin 1887). + +"Die historische Entwickelung des Anarchismus" = _Die historische +Entwickelung des Anarchismus_ (New York 1894). + +Diehl = KARL DIEHL, _P.-J. Proudhon_. _Seine Lehre und sein Leben._ (3 +vol., Jena 1888-96.) + +Dragomanoff = MICHAIL DRAGOMANOW, _Michail Bakunins sozial-politischer +Briefwechsel mit Alexander Iw. Herzen und Ogarjow, deutsch von Boris +Minzes_ (Stuttgart 1895). + +Dubois = FELIX DUBOIS, _Le Peril anarchiste_ (Paris 1894). + +Ferri = "Discours de FERRI" in _Congres international d'anthropologie +criminelle, compte rendu des travaux de la quatrieme session, tenue a +Geneve du 24 au 29 aout 1896_ (Geneve 1897) pp. 254-7. + +Garraud = R. GARRAUD, _L'Anarchie et la Repression_ (Paris 1895). + +Godwin = WILLIAM GODWIN, _An Enquiry concerning Political Justice and +its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness_ (2 vol., London 1793). +[Bracketed references are to the "First American from the second London +edition, corrected," Philadelphia, 1796.] + +"Hintermaenner" = _Die Hintermaenner der Sozialdemokratie. Von einem +Eingeweihten_ (Berlin 1890). + +Kr. "Anarchist Communism" = PETER KROPOTKINE, _Anarchist Communism: its +Basis and Principles_, 2d ed. (London 1895). [Reprinted from the +_Nineteenth Century_.] + +Kr. "Conquete" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _La Conquete du pain_, 5th ed. +(Paris 1895). + +Kr. "L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, +_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_ (Paris 1892). + +Kr. "L'Anarchie. Sa philosophie--son ideal" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, +_L'Anarchie. Sa philosophie--son ideal_ (Paris 1896). + +Kr. "Morale" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _La Morale anarchiste_ (Paris 1891). + +Kr. "Paroles" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _Paroles d'un revolte, ouvrage publie +par Elisee Reclus, nouv. ed_. (Paris, n. d.) + +Kr. "Prisons" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _Les Prisons_ (Paris 1890). + +Kr. "Siecle" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _Un siecle d'attente. 1789-1889_ +(Paris 1893). + +Kr. "Studies" = _Revolutionary Studies, translated from "La Revolte" and +reprinted from "The Commonweal"_ (London 1892). + +Kr. "Temps nouveaux" = PIERRE KROPOTKINE, _Les Temps nouveaux +(conference faite a Londres)_ (Paris 1894). + +"L'Alliance" = _L'Alliance de la democratie socialiste et l'Association +internationale des travailleurs_ (Londres et Hambourg 1873). + +Lenz = ADOLF LENZ, _Der Anarchismus und das Strafrecht. Sonderabdruck +aus der Zeitschrift fuer die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft, Bd. 16, +Heft 1_ (Berlin, n. d.). + +Lombroso = C. LOMBROSO, _Gli Anarchici_, 2d ed. (Torino 1895). + +Mackay, "Anarchisten" = JOHN HENRY MACKAY, _Die Anarchisten. +Kulturgemaelde aus dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts_. Volksausgabe (Berlin +1893). + +Mackay, "Magazin" = JOHN HENRY MACKAY, "Der individualistische +Anarchismus: ein Gegner der Propaganda der That," in _Das Magazin fuer +Litteratur_ (Berlin und Weimar) vol. 67 (1898) pp. 913-15. + +Mackay, "Stirner" = JOHN HENRY MACKAY, _Max Stirner. Sein Leben und sein +Werk_ (Berlin 1898). + +Merlino = F. S. MERLINO, _L'Individualismo nell'anarchismo_ (Roma 1895). + +Pfau = "Proudhon und die Franzosen," in LUDWIG PFAU, _Kunst und Kritik_, +vol. 6 of _Aesthetische Schriften_, 2d ed. (Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, +1888), pp. 183-236. + +Plechanow = GEORG PLECHANOW, _Anarchismus und Sozialismus_ (Berlin +1894). + +Pr. "Banque" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Banque du peuple, suivie du rapport de +la commission des delegues du Luxembourg_ (Paris 1849). (In Proudhon's +_OEuvres completes_, Paris 1866-83, this forms part of the volume +"Solution.") + +Pr. "Contradictions" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Systeme des contradictions +economiques, ou philosophie de la misere_ (2 vol., Paris 1846). + +Pr. "Confessions" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Les Confessions d'un +revolutionnaire, pour servir a l'histoire de la revolution de fevrier_ +(Paris 1849). + +Pr. "Droit" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Le Droit au travail et le Droit de +propriete_ (Paris 1848). (In the _OEuvres_ this forms part of the volume +"La Revolution sociale.") + +Pr. "Idee" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Idee generate de la revolution au XIXe +siecle (choix d'etudes sur la pratique revolutionnaire et industrielle)_ +(Paris 1851). + +Pr. "Justice" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _De la justice dans la revolution et +dans l'Eglise. Nouveaux principes de philosophie pratique_ (3 vol., +Paris 1858). + +Pr. "Organisation" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Organisation du credit et de la +circulation, et solution du probleme social_ (Paris 1848). (In the +_OEuvres_ this forms part of the volume "Solution.") + +Pr. "Principe" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Du principe federatif et de la +necessite de reconstituer le parti de la revolution_ (Paris 1863). + +Pr. "Propriete" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Qu'est-ce que la propriete? ou +recherches sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement. Premier memoire_ +(Paris 1841). + +Pr. "Solution" = P.-J. PROUDHON, _Solution du probleme social_ (Paris +1848). + +Proal = LOUIS PROAL, _La Criminalite politique_ (Paris 1895). + +Reichesberg = NAUM REICHESBERG, _Sozialismus und Anarchismus_ (Bern und +Leipzig 1895). + +Rienzi = RIENZI, _L'Anarchisme, traduit du neerlandais par August +Dewinne_ (Bruxelles 1893). + +Sernicoli = E. SERNICOLI, _L'Anarchia e gli Anarchici. Studio storico e +politico di E. Sernicoli_ (2 vol., Milano 1894). + +Shaw = GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, _The Impossibilities of Anarchism_ (London +1895). + +Silio = CESAR SILIO, "El Anarquismo y la Defensa Social," in _La Espana +Moderna_ (Madrid) vol. 61 (1894) pp. 141-8. + +Stammler = RUDOLF STAMMLER, _Die Theorie des Anarchismus_ (Berlin 1894). + +Stirner = MAX STIRNER, _Der Einzige und sein Eigentum_ (Leipzig 1845). + +Stirner "Vierteljahrsschrift" = M. St., "Rezensenten Stirners," in +_Wigands Vierteljahrsschrift_ (Leipzig) vol. 3 (1845) pp. 147-94. + +To. "Confession" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Bekenntnisse. Was sollen wir denn +thun? deutsch von H. von Samson-Himmelstjerna_ (Leipzig 1886), pp. +1-102. + +To. "Gospel" = GRAF LEO N. TOLSTOJ, _Kurze Darlegung des Evangeliums, +deutsch von Paul Lauterbach_ (Leipzig, n. d.). + +To. "Kernel" = "Das Korn," in GRAF LEO N. TOLSTOJ, _Volkserzaehlungen, +deutsch von Wilhelm Goldschmidt_ (Leipzig, n. d.), pp. 87-9. + +To. "Kingdom" = LEO N. TOLSTOJ, _Das Reich Gottes ist in euch, oder das +Christentum als eine neue Lebensauffassung, nicht als mystische Lehre, +deutsch von R. Loewenfeld_ (Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Wien, 1894). + +To. "Linen-Measurer" = "Leinwandmesser. Die Geschichte eines Pferdes," +in _Leo N. Tolstoj_, _Gesammelte Werke, deutsch herausgegeben von +Raphael Loewenfeld_, vol. 3 (Berlin 1893) pp. 573-631. + +To. "Money" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Geld! Soziale Betrachtungen, deutsch +von August Scholz_ (Berlin 1891). + +To. "Morning" = "Der Morgen des Gutsherrn," in LEO N. TOLSTOJ, +_Gesammelte Werke, deutsch herausgegeben von Raphael Loewenfeld_, vol. +2, 2d ed. (Leipzig, n. d.), pp. 1-81. + +To. "On Life" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Ueber das Leben, deutsch von Sophie +Behr_ (Leipzig 1889). + +To. "Patriotism" = GRAF LEO N. TOLSTOJ, _Christentum und +Vaterlandsliebe, deutsch von L. A. Hauff_ (Berlin n. d.). + +To. "Persecutions" = _Russische Christenverfolgungen im Kaukasus. Mit +einem Vor- und Nachwort von Leo Tolstoj_ (Dresden und Leipzig 1896) pp. +7-8, 38-48. + +To. "Reason and Dogma" = GRAF LEO N. TOLSTOJ, _Vernunft und Dogma. Eine +Kritik der Glaubenslehre, deutsch von L. A. Hauff_ (Berlin n. d.). + +To. "Religion and Morality" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Religion und Moral. +Antwort auf eine in der "Ethischen Kultur" gestellte Frage, deutsch von +Sophie Behr_ (Berlin 1894). + +To. "What I Believe" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Worin besteht mein Glaube? +Eine Studie, deutsch von Sophie Behr_ (Leipzig 1885). + +To. "What Shall We Do" = GRAF LEO TOLSTOJ, _Was sollen wir also thun? +deutsch von August Scholz_ (Berlin 1891). + +Tripels = "Discours de Tripels," in _Congres international +d'anthropologie criminelle, compte rendu des travaux de la quatrieme +session, tenue a Geneve du 24 au 29 aout 1896_ (Geneve 1897) pp. 253-4. + +Tucker = BENJ. R. TUCKER, _Instead of a Book. By a Man Too Busy to Write +One. A fragmentary exposition of philosophical Anarchism_ (New York +1893). + +Van Hamel = VAN HAMEL, "L'Anarchisme et le Combat contre l'anarchisme au +point de vue de l'anthropologie criminelle," in _Congres international +d'anthropologie criminelle, compte rendu des travaux de la quatrieme +session, tenue a Geneve du 24 au 29 aout 1896_ (Geneve 1897) pp. 254-7. + +Zenker = E. V. ZENKER, _Der Anarchismus. Kritische Geschichte der +anarchistischen Theorie_ (Jena 1895). + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Entitled "The Ego and His Own." N. Y., Benj. R. Tucker, 1907. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +1. We want to know Anarchism scientifically, for reasons both personal +and external. + +We wish to penetrate the essence of a movement that dares to question +what is undoubted and to deny what is venerable, and nevertheless takes +hold of wider and wider circles. + +Besides, we wish to make up our minds whether it is not necessary to +meet such a movement with force, to protect the established order or at +least its quiet progressive development, and, by ruthless measures, to +guard against greater evils. + +2. At present there is the greatest lack of clear ideas about Anarchism, +and that not only among the masses but among scholars and statesmen. + +Now it is a historic law of evolution[2] that is described as the +supreme law of Anarchism, now it is the happiness of the individual,[3] +now justice.[4] + +Now they say that Anarchism culminates in the negation of every +programme,[5] that it has only a negative aim;[6] now, again, that its +negating and destroying side is balanced by a side that is affirmative +and creative;[7] now, to conclude, that what is original in Anarchism is +to be found exclusively in its utterances about the ideal society,[8] +that its real, true essence consists in its positive efforts.[9] + +Now it is said that Anarchism rejects law,[10] now that it rejects +society,[11] now that it rejects only the State.[12] + +Now it is declared that in the future society of Anarchism there is no +tie of contract binding persons together;[13] now, again, that Anarchism +aims to have all public affairs arranged for by contracts between +federally constituted communes and societies.[14] + +Now it is said in general that Anarchism rejects property,[15] or at +least private property;[16] now a distinction is made between +Communistic and Individualistic,[17] or even between Communistic, +Collectivistic, and Individualistic Anarchism.[18] + +Now it is asserted that Anarchism conceives of its realization as taking +place through crime,[19] especially through a violent revolution[20] and +by the help of the propaganda of deed;[21] now, again, that Anarchism +rejects violent tactics and the propaganda of deed,[22] or that these +are at least not necessary constituents of Anarchism.[23] + +3. Two demands must be made of everybody who undertakes to produce a +scientific work on Anarchism. + +First, he must be acquainted with the most important Anarchistic +writings. Here, to be sure, one meets great difficulties. Anarchistic +writings are very scantily represented in our public libraries. They are +in part so rare that it is extremely difficult for an individual to +acquire even the most prominent of them. So it is not strange that of +all works on Anarchism only one is based on a comprehensive knowledge of +the sources. This is a pamphlet which appeared anonymously in New York +in 1894, "_Die historische Entwickelung des Anarchismus_" which in +sixteen pages gives a concise presentation that attests an astonishing +acquaintance with the most various Anarchistic writings. The two large +works, _"L'anarchia e gli anarchici, studio storico e politico di E. +Sernicoli_" 2 vol., Milano, 1894, and "_Der Anarchismus, kritische +Geschichte der anarchistischen Theorie von E. V. Zenker_," Jena, 1895, +are at least in part founded on a knowledge of Anarchistic writings. + +Second, he who would produce a scientific work on Anarchism must be +equally at home in jurisprudence, in economics, and in philosophy. +Anarchism judges juridical institutions with reference to their economic +effects, and from the standpoint of some philosophy or other. Therefore, +to penetrate its essence and not fall a victim to all possible +misunderstandings, one must be familiar with those concepts of +philosophy, jurisprudence, and economics which it applies or has a +relation to. This demand is best met, among all works on Anarchism, by +Rudolf Stammler's pamphlet, "_Die Theorie des Anarchismus_," Berlin, +1894. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] "_Der Anarchismus und seine Traeger_" pp. 124, 125, 127; Reichesberg +p. 27. + +[3] Lenz p. 3. + +[4] Bernatzik pp. 2, 3. + +[5] Lenz p. 5. + +[6] Crispi. + +[7] Van Hamel p. 112. + +[8] Adler p. 321. + +[9] Reichesberg p. 13. + +[10] Stammler pp. 2, 4, 34, 36; Lenz pp. 1, 4. + +[11] Silio p. 145; Garraud p. 12; Reichesberg p. 16; Tripels p. 253. + +[12] Bernstein p. 359; Bernatzik p. 3. + +[13] Reichesberg p. 30. + +[14] Lombroso p. 31. + +[15] Silio p. 145; Dubois p. 213. + +[16] Lombroso p. 31; Proal p. 50. + +[17] Rienzi p. 9; Stammler pp. 28-31; Merlino pp. 18, 27; Shaw p. 23. + +[18] "_Die historische Entwickelung des Anarchismus_" p. 16; Zenker p. +161. + +[19] Garraud p. 6; Lenz p. 5. + +[20] Sernicoli vol. 2 p. 116; Garraud p. 2; Reichesberg p. 38; Van Hamel +p. 113. + +[21] Garraud pp. 10, 11; Lombroso p. 34; Ferri p. 257. + +[22] Mackay "_Magazin_" pp. 913-915; "_Anarchisten_" pp. 239-243. + +[23] Zenker pp. 203, 204. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PROBLEM + + +1.--GENERAL + +The problem for our study is, to get determinate concepts of Anarchism +and its species. As soon as such determinate concepts are attained, +Anarchism is scientifically known. For their determination is not only +conditioned on a comprehensive view of all the individual phenomena of +Anarchism; it also brings together the results of this comprehensive +view, and assigns to them a place in the totality of our knowledge. + +The problem of getting determinate concepts of Anarchism and its species +seems at a first glance perfectly clear. But the apparent clearness +vanishes on closer examination. + +For there rises first the question, what shall be the starting-point of +our study? The answer will be given, "Anarchistic teachings." But there +is by no means an agreement as to what teachings are Anarchistic; one +man designates as "Anarchistic" these teachings, another those; and of +the teachings themselves a part designate themselves as Anarchistic, a +part do not. How can one take any of them as Anarchistic teachings for a +starting-point, without applying that very concept of Anarchism which he +has yet to determine? + +Then rises the further question, what is the goal of the study? The +answer will be given, "the concepts of Anarchism and its species." But +we see daily that different men define in quite different ways the +concept of an object which they yet conceive in the same way. One says +that law is the general will; another, that it is a mass of precepts +which limit a man's natural liberty for other men's sake; a third, that +it is the ordering of the life of the nation (or of the community of +nations) to maintain God's order of the world. They all know that a +definition should state the proximate genus and the distinctive marks of +the species, but this knowledge does them little good. So it seems that +the goal of the study does still require elucidation. + +Lastly rises the question, what is the way to this goal? Any one who has +ever observed the conflict of opinions in the intellectual sciences +knows well, on the one hand, how utterly we lack a recognized method for +the solution of problems; and, on the other hand, how necessary it is in +any study to get clearly in mind the method that is to be used. + +2. Our study can come to a more precise specification of its problem. +The problem is to put concepts in the place of non-conceptual notions of +Anarchism and its species. + +Every concept-determining study faces the problem of comprehending +conceptually an object that was first comprehended non-conceptually, and +therefore of putting a concept in the place of non-conceptual notions of +an object. This problem finds a specially clear expression in the +concept-determining judgment (the definition), which puts in immediate +juxtaposition, in its subject some non-conceptual notion of an object, +and in its predicate a conceptual notion of the same object. + +Accordingly, the study that is to determine the concepts of Anarchism +and its species has for its problem to comprehend conceptually objects +that are first comprehended in non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and +its species; and therefore, to put concepts in the place of these +non-conceptual notions. + +3. But our study may specify its problem still more precisely, though at +first only on the negative side. The problem is not to put concepts in +the place of all notions that appear as non-conceptual notions of +Anarchism and its species. + +Any concept can comprehend conceptually only one object, not another +object together with this. The concept of health cannot be at the same +time the concept of life, nor the concept of the horse that of the +mammal. + +But in the non-conceptual notions that appear as notions of Anarchism +and its species there are comprehended very different objects. To be +sure, the object of all these notions is on the one hand a genus that is +formed by the common qualities of certain teachings, and on the other +hand the species of this genus, which are formed by the addition of +sundry peculiarities to these common qualities. But still these notions +have in view very different groups of teachings with their common and +special qualities, some perhaps only the teachings of Kropotkin and +Most, others only the teachings of Stirner, Tucker, and Mackay, others +again the teachings of both sets of authors. + +If one proposed to put concepts in the place of all the non-conceptual +notions which appear as notions of Anarchism and its species, these +concepts would have to comprehend at once the common and special +qualities of quite different groups of teachings, of which groups one +might embrace only the teachings of Kropotkin and Most, another only +those of Stirner, Tucker, and Mackay, a third both. But this is +impossible: the concepts of Anarchism and its species can comprehend +only the common and special qualities of a single group of teachings; +therefore our study cannot put concepts in the place of all the notions +that appear as notions of Anarchism and its species. + +4. By completing on the affirmative side this negative specification of +its problem, our study can arrive at a still more precise specification +of this problem. The problem is to put concepts in the place of those +non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and its species, having in view one +and the same group of teachings, which are most widely diffused among +the men who at present are scientifically concerned with Anarchism. + +Because the only possible problem for our study is to put concepts in +the place of part of the notions that appear as non-conceptual notions +of Anarchism and its species,--to wit, only in the place of such notions +as have in view one and the same group of teachings with its common and +special qualities,--therefore we must divide into classes, according to +the groups of teachings that they severally have in view, the notions +that appear as notions of Anarchism and its species, and we must choose +the class whose notions are to be replaced by concepts. + +The choice of the class must depend on the kind of men for whom the +study is meant. For the study of a concept is of value only for those +who non-conceptually apprehend the object of the concept, since the +concept takes the place of their notions only. For those who form a +non-conceptual notion of space, the concept of morality is so far +meaningless; and just as meaningless, for those who mean by Anarchism +what the teachings of Proudhon and Stirner have in common, is the +concept of what is common to the teachings of Proudhon, Stirner, +Bakunin, and Kropotkin. + +But the men for whom this study is meant are those who at present are +scientifically concerned with Anarchism. If all these, in their notions +of Anarchism and its species, had in view one and the same group of +teachings, then the problem for our study would be to put concepts in +the place of this set of notions. Since this is not the case, the only +possible problem for our study is to put concepts in the place of that +set of notions which has in view a group of teachings that the greatest +possible number of the men at present scientifically concerned with +Anarchism have in view in their non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and +its species. + + +2.--THE STARTING-POINT + +In accordance with what has been said, the starting-point of our study +must be those non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and its species, +having in view one and the same group of teachings, which are most +widely diffused among the men who at present are scientifically +concerned with Anarchism. + +1. How can it be known what group of teachings the non-conceptual +notions of Anarchism and its species most widely diffused among the men +at present scientifically concerned with Anarchism have in view? + +First and foremost, this may be seen from utterances regarding +particular Anarchistic teachings, and from lists and descriptions of +such teachings. + +We may assume that a man regards as Anarchistic those teachings which he +designates as Anarchistic, and, further, those teachings which are +likewise characterized by the common qualities of these. We may further +assume that a man does not regard as Anarchistic those teachings which +he in any form contrasts with the Anarchistic teachings, nor, if he +undertakes to catalogue or describe the whole body of Anarchistic +teachings, those teachings unknown to him which are not characterized by +the common qualities of the teachings he catalogues or describes. + +What group of teachings those non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and +its species which are most widely diffused among the men at present +scientifically concerned with Anarchism have in view, may be seen +secondly from the definitions of Anarchism and from other utterances +about it. We may doubtingly assume that a man regards as Anarchistic +those teachings which come under his definition of Anarchism, or for +which his utterances about Anarchism hold good; and, on the contrary, +that he does not regard as Anarchistic those teachings which do not come +under that definition, or for which these utterances do not hold good. + +When these two means of knowledge lead to contradictions, the former +must be decisive. For, if a man so defines Anarchism, or so speaks of +Anarchism, that on this basis teachings which he declares +non-Anarchistic manifest themselves to be Anarchistic,--and perhaps +other teachings, which he counts among the Anarchistic, to be +non-Anarchistic,--this can be due only to his not being conscious of the +scope of his general pronouncements; therefore it is only from his +treatment of the individual teachings that one can find out his opinion +of these. + +2. These means of knowledge inform us what group of teachings the +non-conceptual notions of Anarchism and its species most widely diffused +among the men at present scientifically concerned with Anarchism have in +view. + +We learn, first, that the teachings of certain particular men are +recognized as Anarchistic teachings by the greater part of those who at +present are scientifically concerned with Anarchism. + +We learn, second, that by the greater part of those who at present are +scientifically concerned with Anarchism the teachings of these men are +recognized as Anarchistic teachings only in so far as they relate to +law, the State, and property; but not in so far as they may be concerned +with the law, State, or property of a particular legal system or a +particular group of legal systems, nor in so far as they regard other +objects, such as religion, the family, art. + +Among the recognized Anarchistic teachings seven are particularly +prominent: to wit, the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Bakunin, +Kropotkin, Tucker, and Tolstoi. They all manifest themselves to be +Anarchistic teachings according to the greater part of the definitions +of Anarchism, and of other scientific utterances about it. They all +display the qualities that are common to the doctrines treated of in +most descriptions of Anarchism. Some of them, be it one or another, are +put in the foreground in almost every work on Anarchism. Of no one of +them is it denied, to an extent worth mentioning, that it is an +Anarchistic teaching. + + +3.--THE GOAL + +In accordance with what has been said, the goal of our study must be to +determine, first, the concept of the genus which is constituted by the +common qualities of those teachings which the greater part of the men at +present scientifically concerned with Anarchism recognize as Anarchistic +teachings; second, the concepts of the species of this genus, which are +formed by the accession of any specialties to those common qualities. + +1. The first thing toward a concept is that an object be apprehended as +clearly and purely as possible. + +In non-conceptual notions an object is not apprehended with all possible +clearness. In our non-conceptual notions of gold we most commonly make +clear to ourselves only a few qualities of gold; one of us, perhaps, +thinks mainly of the color and the lustre, another of the color and +malleability, a third of some other qualities. But in the concept of +gold color, lustre, malleability, hardness, solubility, fusibility, +specific gravity, atomic weight, and all other qualities of gold, must +be apprehended as clearly as possible. + +Nor is an object apprehended in all possible purity in our +non-conceptual notions. We introduce into our non-conceptual notions of +gold many things that do not belong among the qualities of gold; one, +perhaps, thinks of the present value of gold, another of golden dishes, +a third of some sort of gold coin. But all these alien adjuncts must be +kept away from the concept of gold. + +So the first goal of our study is to describe as clearly as possible on +the one side, and as purely as possible on the other, the common +qualities of those teachings which the greater part of the men at +present scientifically concerned with Anarchism recognize as Anarchistic +teachings, and the specialties of all the teachings which display these +common qualities. + +2. It is further requisite for a concept that an object should have its +place assigned as well as possible in the total realm of our +experience,--that is, in a system of species and genera which embraces +our total experience. + +In non-conceptual notions an object does not have its place assigned in +the total realm of our experience, but arbitrarily in one of the many +genera in which it can be placed according to its various qualities. One +of us, perhaps, thinks of gold as a species of the genus "yellow +bodies," another as a species of the genus "malleable bodies," a third +as a species of some other genus. But the concept of gold must assign it +a place in a system of species and genera that embraces our whole +experience,--a place in the genus "metals." + +So a further goal of our study is to assign a place as well as possible +in the total realm of our experience (that is, in a system of species +and genera which embraces our total experience) for the common qualities +of those teachings which the greater part of the men at present +scientifically concerned with Anarchism recognize as Anarchistic +teachings, and for the specialties of all the teachings that display +these common qualities. + + +4.--THE WAY TO THE GOAL + +In accordance with what has been said, the way that our study must take +to go from its starting-point to its goal will be in three parts. First, +the concepts of law, the State, and property must be determined. Next, +it must be ascertained what the Anarchistic teachings assert about law, +the State, and property. Finally, after removing some errors, we must +get determinate concepts of Anarchism and its species. + +1. First, we must get determinate concepts of law, the State, and +property; and this must be of law, the State, and property in general, +not of the law, State, or property of a particular legal system or a +particular family of legal systems. + +Law, the State, and property, in this sense, are the objects about which +the doctrines which are to be examined in their common and special +qualities make assertions. Before the fact of any assertions about an +object can be ascertained,--not to say, before the common and special +qualities of these assertions can be brought out and assigned to a place +in the total realm of our experience,--we must get a determinate concept +of this object itself. Hence the first thing that must be done is to +determine the concepts of law, the State, and property (chapter II). + +2. Next, it must be ascertained what the Anarchistic teachings assert +about law, the State, and property;--that is, the recognized Anarchistic +teachings, and also those teachings which likewise display the qualities +common to these. + +What the recognized Anarchistic teachings say, must be ascertained in +order to determine the concept of Anarchism. What all the teachings that +display the common qualities of the recognized Anarchistic teachings +say, must be ascertained in order that we may get determinate concepts +of the species of Anarchism. + +So each of these teachings must be questioned regarding its relation to +law, the State, and property. These questions must be preceded by the +question on what foundation the teaching rests, and must be followed by +the question how it conceives the process of its realization. + +It is impossible to present here all recognized Anarchistic teachings, +not to say all Anarchistic teachings. Therefore our study limits itself +to the presentation of seven especially prominent teachings (chapters +III to IX), and then, from this standpoint, seeks to get a view of the +totality of recognized Anarchistic teachings and of all Anarchistic +teachings (chapter X). + +The teachings presented are presented in their own words,[24] but +according to a uniform system: the first, for security against the +importation of alien thoughts; the second, to avoid the uncomparable +juxtaposition of fundamentally different courses of thought. They have +been compelled to give definite replies to definite questions; it was +indeed necessary in many cases to bring the answers together in tiny +fragments from the most various writings, to sift them so far as they +contradicted each other, and to explain them so far as they deviated +from ordinary language. Thus Tolstoi's strictly logical structure of +thought and Bakunin's confused talk, Kropotkin's discussions full of +glowing philanthropy and Stirner's self-pleasing smartness, come before +our eyes directly and yet in comparable form. + +3. Finally, after removing widely diffused errors, we are to get +determinate concepts of Anarchism and its species. + +We must, therefore, on the basis of that knowledge of the Anarchistic +teachings which we have acquired, clear away the most important errors +about Anarchism and its species; and then we must determine what the +Anarchistic teachings have in common, and what specialties are +represented among them, and assign to both a place in the total realm of +our experience. Then we have the concepts of Anarchism and its species +(chapter XI). + +FOOTNOTE: + +[24] Russian writings are cited from translations, which are cautiously +revised where they seem too harsh. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LAW, THE STATE, PROPERTY + + +1.--GENERAL + +_In this discussion we are to get determinate concepts of law, the +State, and property in general, not of the law, State, and property of a +particular legal system or of a particular family of legal systems. The +concepts of law, State, and property are therefore to be determined as +concepts of general jurisprudence, not as concepts of any particular +jurisprudence._ + +1. By the concepts of law, State, and property one may understand, +first, the concepts of law, State, and property in the science of a +particular legal system. + +These concepts of law, State, and property contain all the +characteristics that belong to the substance of a particular legal +system. They embrace only the substance of this system. They may, +therefore, be called concepts of the science of this system. For we may +designate as the science of a particular legal system that part of +jurisprudence which concerns itself exclusively with the norms of a +particular legal system. + +The concepts of law, State, and property in the science of a legal +system are distinguished from the concepts of law, State, and property +in the sciences of other legal systems by this characteristic,--that +they are concepts of norms of this particular system. From this +characteristic we may deduce all the characteristics that result from +the special substance of this system of law in contrast to other such +systems. The concepts of property in the present laws of the German +empire, of France, and of England are distinguished by the fact that +they are concepts of norms of these three different legal systems. +Consequently they are as different as are the norms of the present +imperial-German, French, and English law on the subject of property. The +concepts of law, State, and property in different legal systems are to +each other as species-concepts which are subordinate to one and the same +generic concept. + +2. Second, one may understand by the concepts of law, State, and +property the concepts of law, State, and property in the science of a +particular family of laws. + +These concepts of law, State, and property contain all the +characteristics that belong to the common substance of the different +legal systems of this family. They embrace only the common substance of +the different systems of this family. They may, therefore, be called +concepts of the science of this family of laws. For we may designate as +the science of a particular family of laws that part of jurisprudence +which deals exclusively with the norms of a particular family of legal +systems, so far as these are not already dealt with by the sciences of +the particular legal systems of this family. + +The concepts of law, State, and property in the science of a family of +laws are distinguished from the concepts of law, State, and property in +the sciences of the legal systems that form the family by lacking the +characteristic of being concepts of norms of these systems, and +consequently lacking also all the characteristics which may be deduced +from this characteristic according to the special substance of one or +another legal system. The concept of the State in the science of present +European law is distinguished from the concepts of the State in the +sciences of present German, Russian, and Belgian law by not being a +concept of norms of any one of these systems, and consequently by +lacking all the characteristics that result from the special substance +of the constitutional norms in force in Germany, Russia, and Belgium. +Its relation to the concepts of the State in the science of these +systems is that of a generic concept to subordinate species-concepts. + +The concepts of law, State, and property in the science of a family of +laws are distinguished from the concepts of law, State, and property in +the sciences of other such families by this characteristic,--that they +are concepts of norms of this particular family. From this +characteristic we may deduce all the characteristics that are peculiar +to the common substance of the different legal systems of this family in +contrast to the common substance of the different legal systems of other +families. The concept of the State in the science of present European +law and the concept of the State in the science of European law in the +year 1000 are distinguished by the fact that the one is a concept of +constitutional norms that are in force in Europe to-day, the other of +such as were in force in Europe then; consequently they are different in +the same way as what the constitutional norms in force in Europe to-day +have in common is different from what was common to the constitutional +norms in force in Europe then. These concepts are to each other as +species-concepts which are subordinate to one and the same generic +concept. + +3. Third, one may understand by the concepts of law, State, and property +the concepts of law, State, and property in general jurisprudence. + +These concepts of law, State, and property contain all the +characteristics that belong to the common substance of the most +different systems and families of laws. They embrace only what the norms +of the most different systems and families of laws have in common. They +may, therefore, be called concepts of general jurisprudence. For that +part of jurisprudence which treats of legal norms without limitation to +any particular system or family of laws, so far as these norms are not +already treated by the sciences of the particular systems and families, +may be designated as general jurisprudence. + +The concepts of law, State, and property in general jurisprudence are +distinguished from the concepts of law, State, and property in the +particular jurisprudences by lacking the characteristic of being +concepts of norms of one of these systems or at least one of these +families of systems, and consequently lacking also all the +characteristics which may be deduced from this characteristic according +to the special substance of some system or family of laws. The concept +of law _per se_ is distinguished from the concept of law in present +European law and from the concept of law in the present law of the +German empire by not being a concept of norms of that family of laws, +not to say that particular system, and consequently by lacking all the +characteristics that might belong to any peculiarities which might be +common to all legal norms at present in force in Europe or in Germany. +Its relation to the concepts of law in these particular jurisprudences +is that of a generic concept to subordinate species-concepts. + +4. In which of the senses here distinguished the concepts of law, State, +and property should be defined in a particular case, and what matters +should accordingly be taken into consideration in defining them, depends +on the purpose of one's study. + +If, for example, the point is to describe scientifically the +constitutional norms of the present law of the German empire, then the +concept of the State as defined on this occasion must be a concept of +the science of this particular legal system. For scientific work on the +norms of a particular legal system requires that concepts be formed of +the norms of just this system. Consequently the material to be taken +into consideration will be only the constitutional norms of the present +law of the German empire.--That the concepts defined in the scientific +description of a system of law are in fact concepts of the science of +this system may indeed seem obscure. For every concept of the science of +any particular system of law may be defined as the concept of a species +under the corresponding generic concept of general jurisprudence. We +define this generic concept, say the concept of the State in general +jurisprudence, and add the distinctive characteristic of the +species-concept, that it is a concept of norms of this particular system +of law, say of the present law of the German empire. And then we often +leave this additional characteristic unexpressed, where we think we may +assume (as is the case in the scientific description of the norms of any +particular system of law) that everybody will regard it as tacitly +added. The consequence is that the definition given in the scientific +description of a particular system of law looks, at a superficial +glance, like the definition of a concept of general jurisprudence. + +Or, if the point is to compare scientifically the norms of present +European law regarding property, the concept of property as defined on +this occasion must be a concept of the science of this particular family +of laws. For the scientific comparison of norms of different legal +systems demands that concepts of the sciences of these different legal +systems be subordinately arranged under the corresponding concept of the +science of the family of laws which is made up of these systems. +Consequently the material to be taken into consideration will be only +the norms of this family of laws.--Here again, indeed, it may seem +obscure that the concepts defined are really concepts of the science of +this family of laws. For the concepts that belong to the science of a +family of laws may likewise be defined by defining the corresponding +concepts of general jurisprudence and tacitly adding the characteristic +of being concepts of norms of this particular family of laws. + +Finally, if it comes to pass that the point is to compare scientifically +what the norms of the most diverse systems of law have in common, the +concept of law as defined on this occasion must be a concept of general +jurisprudence. For the scientific comparison of norms of the most +diverse systems and families of laws demands that concepts which belong +to the sciences of the most diverse systems and families of laws be +subordinately arranged under the corresponding concept of general +jurisprudence. Consequently the material to be taken into consideration +will be the norms of the most diverse systems and families of laws. + +Here,--where the point is to take the first step toward a scientific +comprehension of teachings which pass judgment on law, the State, and +property in general, not only on the law, State, or property of a +particular system or family of laws,--the concepts of law, State, and +property must necessarily be defined as concepts of general +jurisprudence. For a scientific comprehension of teachings which deal +with the common substance of the most diverse systems and families of +laws demands that concepts of this common substance--consequently +concepts belonging to general jurisprudence--be formed. Therefore we +have to take into consideration, as our material, the norms (especially +regarding the State and property) of the most diverse systems and +families of laws. + + +2.--LAW + +_Law is the body of legal norms. A legal norm is a norm which is based +on the fact that men have the will to see a certain procedure generally +observed within a circle which includes themselves._ + +1. A legal norm is a norm. + +A norm is the idea of a correct procedure. A correct procedure means one +that corresponds either to the final purpose of all human procedure +(unconditionally correct procedure,--for instance, respect for another's +life), or at any rate to some accidental purpose (conditionally correct +procedure,--for instance, the skilled handling of a picklock). And the +idea of a correct procedure means that the unconditionally or +conditionally correct procedure is to be thought of not as a fact but as +a task, not as something real but as something to be realized; it does +not mean that I shall in fact spare my enemy's life, but that I am to +spare it--not how the thief really did use the picklock, but how he +should have used it. The idea of a correct procedure is what we +designate as an "ought": when I think of an "ought," I think of what has +to be done in order to realize either the final purpose of all human +procedure or some accidental personal purpose. All passing of judgment +on past procedure is conditioned upon the idea of a correct +procedure--only with regard to this idea can past procedure be described +as good or bad, expedient or inexpedient; and so is all deliberation on +future procedure--only with regard to this idea does one inquire whether +it will be right, or at any rate expedient, to proceed in a given +manner. + +Every legal norm represents a procedure as correct, declares that it +corresponds to a particular purpose. And it represents this correct +procedure as an idea, designates it not as a fact but as a task, does +not say that any one does proceed so but that one is to proceed so. +Hence a legal norm is a norm. + +2. A legal norm is a norm based on a human will. + +A norm based on a human will is a norm by virtue of which one must +proceed in a certain way in order that he may not put himself in +opposition to the will of some particular men, and so be apprehended by +the power which is at the service of these men. Such a norm, therefore, +represents a procedure only as conditionally correct; to wit, as a means +to the end (which we are perhaps pursuing or perhaps despising) of +remaining in harmony with the will of certain men, and so being spared +by the power which serves this will. + +Every legal norm tells us that we must proceed in a certain way in order +that we may not contravene the will of some particular men and then +suffer under their power. Therefore it represents a procedure only as +conditionally correct, and instructs us not as to what is good but only +as to what is prescribed. Hence a legal norm is a norm based on a human +will. + +3. A legal norm is a norm based on the fact that men will to have a +certain procedure for themselves and others. + +A norm is based on the fact that men will to have a certain procedure +for themselves and others when the will on which the norm is based has +reference not only to others who do not will, but also, at the same +time, to the willers themselves also; when, therefore, these not only +will that others be subject to the norm but also will to be subject to +it themselves. + +Every legal norm, and of all norms only the legal norm, has the +characteristic that the will on which it is based reaches beyond those +whose will it is, and yet embraces them too. The rule, "Whoever takes +from another a movable thing that is not his own, with the intent to +appropriate it illegally, is punished with imprisonment for theft," is +not only based on the will of men, but each of these men is also +conscious that, while on the one hand the rule applies to other men, on +the other hand it applies to himself. + +Here it might be alleged that, after all, the mere fact of men's will to +have a certain procedure for themselves and others does not always +establish law; for example, the efforts of the Bonapartists do not +establish the empire in France. But it is not when this bare will exists +that law is established, but only when a norm is based on this will; +that is, when it has in its service so great a power that it is +competent to affect the behavior of the men to whom it relates. As soon +as Bonapartism spreads so widely and in such circles that this takes +place, the republic will fall and the empire will indeed become law in +France. + +One might further appeal to the fact that in unlimited monarchies (in +Russia, for instance) the law is based solely on the will of one man, +who is not himself subject to it. But Russian law is not based on the +czar's will at all; the czar is a weak individual man, and his will in +itself is totally unqualified to affect many millions of Russians in +their procedure. Russian law is based rather on the will of all those +Russians--peasants, soldiers, officials--who, for the most various +reasons--patriotism, self-interest, superstition--will that what the +czar wills shall be law in Russia. Their will is qualified to affect the +procedure of the Russians; and, if they should ever grow so few that it +would no longer have this qualification, then the czar's will would no +longer be law in Russia, as the history of revolutions proves. + +4. It has been asserted that legal norms have still other qualities. + +It has been said, first, that it belongs to the essence of a legal norm +to be enforceable, or even to be enforceable in a particular way, by +judicial procedure, governmental force. + +If by this we are to understand that conformity can always be enforced, +we are met at once by the great number of cases in which this cannot be +done. When a debtor is insolvent, or a murder has been committed, +conformity to the violated legal norms cannot now be enforced after the +fact, but their validity is not impaired by this. + +If by enforceability we mean that conformity to a legal norm must be +insured by other legal norms providing for the case of its violation, we +need only go on from the insured to the insuring norms for a while, to +come to norms for which conformity is not insured by any further legal +norms. If one refuses to recognize these norms as legal norms, then +neither can the norms which are insured by them rank as legal norms, and +so, going back along the series, one has at last no legal norms left. + +Only if one would understand by the enforceability of the legal norm +that a will must have at its disposal a certain power in order that a +legal norm may be based on it, one might certainly say in this sense +that enforceability belongs to the essence of a legal norm. But this +quality of the legal norm would be only such a quality as would be +derivable from its quality of being a norm, and would therefore have no +claim to be added as a further quality. + +Again, it has been named an essential quality of a legal norm that it +should be based on the will of a State. But even where we cannot speak +of a State at all, among nomads for instance, there are yet legal norms. +Besides, every State is itself a legal relation, established by legal +norms, which consequently cannot be based on its will. And lastly, the +norms of international law, which are intended to bind the will of +States, cannot be based on the will of a State. + +Finally, it has been asserted that it was essential to a legal norm that +it should correspond to the moral law. If this were so, then among the +different legal norms which to-day are in force one directly after the +other in the same territory, or at the same time in different +territories under the same circumstances, only one could in each case be +regarded as a legal norm; for under the same circumstances there is only +one moral right. Nor could one speak then of unrighteous legal norms, +for if they were unrighteous they would not be legal norms. But in +reality, even when legal norms determine conduct quite differently under +the same circumstances, they are all nevertheless recognized as legal +norms; nor is it doubted that there are bad legal norms as well as good. + +5. As a norm based on the fact that men have the will to see a certain +procedure generally observed within a circle which includes themselves, +the legal norm is distinguished from all other objects, even from those +that most resemble it. + +By being based on the will of men it is distinguished from the moral law +(the commandment of morality); this is not based on men's willing a +certain procedure, but on the fact that this procedure corresponds to +the final purpose of all human procedure. The maxim, "Love your enemies, +bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those +who abuse and persecute you," is a moral law; so is the maxim, "Act so +that the maxims of your will might at all times serve as the principles +of a general legislation." For the correctness of such a procedure is +not founded on the fact that other men will have it, but on the fact +that it corresponds to the final purpose of all human procedure. + +By being based on the will of men the legal norm is distinguished also +from good manners; these are not based on the fact that men will a +certain procedure, but on the fact that they themselves proceed in a +certain way. It is manners that one goes to a ball in a dress coat and +white gloves, uses his knife at table only for cutting, begs the +daughter of the house for a dance or at least one round, takes leave of +the master and mistress of the house, and lastly presses a tip into the +servant's hand; for the correctness of such a behavior is not based on +the fact that other men ask this of us,--to those who start a new +fashion it is often actually unpleasant to find that the fashion is +spreading to more extensive circles,--but solely on the fact that other +men themselves behave so, and that we want "not to be peculiar," "not to +make ourselves conspicuous," "to do like the rest," etc. + +By being based on a will which relates at once to those whose will it is +and to others whose will it is not, it is distinguished on the one hand +from an arbitrary command, in which one's will applies only to others, +and on the other from a resolution, in which it applies only to himself. +It is an arbitrary command when Cortes with his Spaniards commands the +Mexicans to bring out their gold, or when a band of robbers forbids a +frightened peasantry to betray their hiding-place; here a human will +decides, indeed, but a will that relates only to other men, and not at +the same time to those whose will it is. A resolution is presented when +I have decided to get up at six every morning, or to leave off smoking, +or to finish a piece of work within a specified time--here a human will +is indeed the standard, but it relates only to him whose will it is, not +at all to others. + +6. What is briefly summed up in the definition of the legal norm may, if +one takes into account the explanations which have been given with this +definition, be expanded as follows: + +Men will that a given procedure be generally observed within a circle +which includes themselves, and their power is so great that their will +is competent to affect the men of this circle in their procedure. When +such is the condition of things, a legal norm exists. + + +3.--THE STATE + +_The State is a legal relation by virtue of which a supreme authority +exists in a certain territory._ + +1. The State is a legal relation. + +A legal relation is the relation, determined by legal norms, of an +obligated party, one to whom a procedure is prescribed, to an entitled +party, one for whose sake it is prescribed. Thus, for instance, the +legal relation of a loan is a relation of the borrower, who is bound by +the legal norms concerning loans, to the lender, for whose sake he is +bound. + +The State is the legal relation of all the men who by legal norms are +subjected to a supreme territorial authority, to all those for whose +sake they are subjected to it. Here the circle of the entitled and the +obligated is one and the same; the State is a bond upon all in favor of +all. + +To this it might perhaps be objected that the State is not a legal +relation but a person. But the two propositions, that an association of +men is a person in the legal sense and that it is a legal relation, are +quite compatible; nay, its attribute of personality is based mainly on +its attribute of being a legal relation of a particular kind; law, in +viewing the association in its outward relationships as a person, starts +from the fact that men are bound together by a particular legal +relation. A joint-stock corporation is a person not although, but +because, it is a legal relation of a peculiar kind. And similarly, the +fact that the State is a person is not only reconcilable with its being +a legal relation, but is founded on its being a peculiar legal relation. + +2. As to the conditions of its existence, this legal relation is +involuntary. + +A voluntary legal relation exists when legal norms make entrance into +the relation conditional on actions of the obligated party, of which +actions the purpose is to bring about the legal relation; for instance, +entrance into the relation of tenancy is conditioned on agreeing to a +lease. _Per contra_, an involuntary legal relation exists when legal +norms do not make entrance into the relation conditional on any such +actions of the obligated party, as, for instance, a patent is not +conditioned on any action of those who are bound by it, and the sentence +of a criminal is at least not conditioned on any action whereby he +intended to bring it about. + +If the State were a voluntary legal relation, a supreme authority could +exist only for those inhabitants of a territory who had acknowledged it. +But the supreme authority exists for all inhabitants of the territory, +whether they have acknowledged it or not; the legal relation is +therefore involuntary. + +3. The substance of this legal relation is, that a supreme authority +exists in a territory. + +An authority exists in a territory by virtue of a legal relation when, +according to the legal norms which found the relation, the will of some +men--or even merely of a man--is regulative for the inhabitants of this +territory. A supreme authority exists in a territory by virtue of a +legal relation when according to those norms the will of some men is +finally regulative for the inhabitants of the territory,--that is, is +decisive when authorities disagree. What we here designate as a supreme +authority, therefore, is not the men on whose will the legal norms in +force in a territory are based, but rather their highest agents, whose +will they would have finally regulative within the territory. + +What men it is whose will is finally regulative for the inhabitants of a +territory by virtue of a legal relation--for instance, members of a +royal family according to a certain order of inheritance, or persons +elected according to a certain election law--depends on the legal norms +by which the legal relation is determined. On these legal norms, too, +depends the question within what limits the will of these men is +regulative. But this limited nature of the authority does not stand in +the way of its being a supreme authority; the highest agent need not be +an agent with unrestricted powers. + +Here one might perhaps object that in federal States, in the German +empire for instance, the individual States have not supreme authority. +But in reality they have it. For, even if there are a multitude of +subjects in reference to which the highest authority of the individual +States of the German empire has to bow to the imperial authority, yet +there are also subjects enough about which the highest authority of the +individual States gives a final decision. As long as there are such +subjects, a supreme authority exists in the individual States; if some +day there should no longer be such, one could no longer speak of +individual States. + +4. As a legal relation, by virtue of which a supreme authority exists in +a territory, the State is distinguished from all other objects, even +from those that most resemble it. + +By being a legal relation it is distinguished on the one hand from +institutions such as would exist in a conceivable kingdom of God or of +reason, on the basis of the moral law, and on the other hand from the +dominion of a conqueror in the conquered country, which can never be +anything but an arbitrary dominion. + +Being an involuntary legal relation, the State is distinguished from a +conceivable association of men who should set up a supreme authority +among themselves by an agreement, as well as from leagues under +international law, in which a supreme authority exists on the basis of +an agreement. + +The fact that by virtue of a legal relation an authority over a +territory is given distinguishes the State from the tribal community of +nomads and from the Church; for in the former there is given an +authority over people of a certain descent, in the latter over people of +a certain faith, but in neither over people of a certain territory. And +finally, in the fact that this territorial authority is a supreme +authority lies the difference between the State and towns, counties, or +provinces; in the latter there is indeed a territorial authority +instituted, but one that by the very intent of its institution must bow +to a higher authority. + +5. What is briefly summed up in the definition of the State may be +expanded as follows, if one takes into consideration on the one hand the +previous definition of a legal norm and on the other hand the above +explanations of the definition of the State: + +Some inhabitants of a territory are so powerful that their will is +competent to affect the inhabitants of this territory in their +procedure, and these men will have it that for all the inhabitants of +the territory, for themselves as well as for the rest, the will of men +picked out in a certain way shall within certain limits be finally +regulative. When such is the condition of things, a State exists. + + +4.--PROPERTY + +_Property is a legal relation, by virtue of which some one has, within a +certain group of men, the exclusive privilege of ultimately disposing of +a thing._ + +1. Property is a legal relation. + +As has already been stated, a legal relation is the relation of an +obligated party, one to whom a procedure is prescribed by legal norms, +to an entitled party, one for whose sake it is prescribed. + +Property is the legal relation of all the members of a group of men who +by legal norms are excluded from ultimately disposing of a thing, to +him--or to those--for whose sake they are excluded from it. Here the +circle of the obligated is much broader than that of the entitled; the +former embraces, say, all the inhabitants of a territory or all who +belong to a tribe, the latter only those among them in whom certain +further conditions (for instance, transfer, prescription, appropriation) +are fulfilled. + +2. As to the conditions of its existence, this legal relation is +involuntary. + +As discussion has already shown, a voluntary legal relation exists when +legal norms make entrance into the relation conditional on actions of +the obligated party, of which actions the purpose is to bring about the +legal relation; _per contra_, an involuntary legal relation exists when +legal norms do not make entrance into the relation conditional on any +such actions of the obligated party. + +If property were a voluntary legal relation, then there could be +excluded from ultimately disposing of a thing only those members of a +group of men who had consented to this exclusion. But all members of the +group--for instance, all the inhabitants of a territory, all who belong +to a tribe--are excluded, whether they have consented or not. + +3. The substance of this legal relation consists in some one's having, +within a certain group of men, the exclusive privilege of ultimately +disposing of a thing. + +Some one's having, within a certain group of men, the exclusive +privilege of ultimately disposing of a thing means that this group is +excluded from the thing in his favor; that is, they must not hinder him +from dealing with the thing according to his will, nor may they +themselves deal with it against his will. Now, the exclusive disposition +of a thing within a certain group of men may by virtue of a legal +relation belong to several, part by part, in this way: that some--or +one--of them have it in this or that particular respect (for instance, +as to the usufruct), and one--or some--in all other respects which are +not individually alienated. Whoever thus has, within a group of men, the +exclusive disposition of a thing in all those respects which are not +individually alienated, to him belongs, within that group, the exclusive +privilege of ultimately disposing of the thing. + +To whom this belongs by virtue of the legal relation--whether, for +instance, it belongs among others to him who by labor has made a thing +into some new thing--depends on the legal norms by which the legal +relation is determined. On them also depends the question, within what +limits this belongs to him: the dispository authority of him to whom the +exclusive disposition of a thing within a group of men ultimately +belongs is limited not only by the dispository authority of those to +whom the exclusive disposition within the group proximately belongs, but +also by the limits within which such dispository authority is at all +allowed to anybody in the group. Especially, it depends on these legal +norms whether a privilege of exclusive ultimate disposition belongs to +individuals as well as to corporations, or only to corporations, and +whether it applies to every kind of things or only to one kind or +another. + +4. As a legal relation by virtue of which some one has, within a certain +group of men, the exclusive privilege of ultimately disposing of a +thing, property is distinguished from all other objects, even from those +which most resemble it. + +By being a legal relation it is distinguished from all the relations in +which one has the exclusive ultimate disposition of a thing guaranteed +to him solely by the reasonableness of the men who surround him, or +solely by his own might, as might be the case in a conceivable kingdom +of God or of reason, and as is often the case in a conquered country. + +Being an involuntary legal relation, it is distinguished from those +legal relations by virtue of which the exclusive privilege of ultimately +disposing of a thing belongs to some one solely on the ground of a +contract, and solely as against the other contracting parties. + +That by virtue of this legal relation some one has, within a group of +men, the exclusive privilege of ultimately disposing of a thing, +distinguishes property from copyright, by virtue of which some one has +exclusively, within a group of men, not the disposition of a thing, but +somewhat else; and furthermore from rights in the property of others, by +virtue of which some one has, within a group of men, the exclusive +privilege of disposing of a thing, but not of ultimately disposing of +it. + +5. What is briefly summed up in the definition of property may be +expanded as follows, if one takes into consideration on the one hand the +previously given definition of a legal norm, and on the other the above +explanations of the definition of property. + +Some men are so powerful that their will is able to affect in its +procedure a group of men which embraces them, and these men will have it +that no member of this group shall, within certain limits, hinder a +member picked out in a certain way from dealing with a thing according +to his will, nor, within these limits, himself deal with the thing +against the will of that member, so far as the will of another member is +not already in particular respects regulative with respect to that thing +equally with the will of that member. When such is the condition of +things, property exists. + + * * * * * + + [Distinguishing the State from arbitrary dominion as he here does + (p. 34), and then saying that Anarchism consists solely in the + negation of the State, Eltzbacher implies the unsound conclusion + that Anarchism does not involve the negation of arbitrary dominion. + This is because he incautiously takes the word of the learned + public that the only cardinal points of Anarchism are law, the + State, and property, without making sure that those who say this + are using the term "State" in the precise sense defined by him. But + are not many of his "arbitrary commands" law and State by his + definitions? Every robber in his band (p. 31) is as much required + to keep the secret as are the peasantry, and under the same + penalties. In restraining a subject population I restrict my + liberty of emigration or investment, and forbid myself to be an + accomplice in certain things.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GODWIN'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +1. William Godwin was born in 1756 at Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire. He +studied theology at Hoxton, beginning in 1773. In 1778 he became +preacher at Ware, Hertfordshire; in 1780, preacher at Stowmarket, +Suffolk. In 1782 he gave up this position. From this time on he lived in +London as an author. He died there in 1836. + +Godwin published numerous works in the departments of philosophy, +economics, and history; also stories, tragedies, and juvenile books. + +2. Godwin's teaching about law, the State, and property is contained +mainly in the two-volume work "An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice +and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness" (1793). + +"The printing of this treatise," says Godwin himself, "was commenced +long before the composition was finished. The ideas of the author became +more perspicuous and digested as his inquiries advanced. This +circumstance has led him into some inaccuracies of language and +reasoning, particularly in the earlier part of the work. He did not +enter upon the subject without being aware that government by its very +nature counteracts the improvement of individual intellect; but he +understood the proposition more completely as he proceeded, and saw more +distinctly into the nature of the remedy."[25] Godwin's teaching is +here presented exclusively in the developed form which it shows in the +second part of the work. + +3. Godwin does not call his teaching about law, the State, and property +"Anarchism." Yet this word causes him no terror. "Anarchy is a horrible +calamity, but it is less horrible than despotism. Where anarchy has +slain its hundreds, despotism has sacrificed millions upon millions, +with this only effect, to perpetuate the ignorance, the vices, and the +misery of mankind. Anarchy is a short-lived mischief, while despotism is +all but immortal. It is unquestionably a dreadful remedy, for the people +to yield to all their furious passions, till the spectacle of their +effects gives strength to recovering reason: but, though it be a +dreadful remedy, it is a sure one."[26] + + +2.--BASIS + +_According to Godwin, our supreme law is the general welfare._ + +What is the general welfare? "Its nature is defined by the nature of +mind."[27] It is unchangeable; as long as men are men it remains the +same.[28] "That will most contribute to it which expands the +understanding, supplies incitements to virtue, fills us with a generous +consciousness of our independence, and carefully removes whatever can +impede our exertions."[29] + +The general welfare is our supreme law. "Duty is that mode of action on +the part of the individual, which constitutes the best possible +application of his capacity to the general benefit."[30] "Justice is the +sum of all moral duty;"[31] "if there be such a thing, I am bound to do +for the general weal everything in my power."[32] "Virtue is a desire to +promote the benefit of intelligent beings in general, the quantity of +virtue being as the quantity of desire;"[33] "the last perfection of +this feeling consists in that state of mind which bids us rejoice as +fully in the good that is done by others, as if it were done by +ourselves."[34] + +"The truly wise man"[35] strives only for the welfare of the whole. He +is "actuated neither by interest nor ambition, the love of honor nor the +love of fame. [He knows no jealousy. He is not disquieted by the +comparison of what he has attained with what others have attained, but +by the comparison with what ought to be attained.] He has a duty indeed +obliging him to seek the good of the whole; but that good is his only +object. If that good be effected by another hand, he feels no +disappointment. All men are his fellow laborers, but he is the rival of +no man."[36] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _Looking to the general good, Godwin rejects law, not only for +particular local and temporary conditions, but altogether._ + +"Law is an institution of the most pernicious tendency."[37] "The +institution once begun, can never be brought to a close. No action of +any man was ever the same as any other action, had ever the same degree +of utility or injury. As new cases occur, the law is perpetually found +deficient. It is therefore perpetually necessary to make new laws. The +volume in which justice records her prescriptions is for ever +increasing, and the world would not contain the books that might be +written."[38] "The consequence of the infinitude of law is its +uncertainty. Law was made that a plain man might know what he had to +expect, and yet the most skilful practitioners differ about the event of +my suit."[39] "A farther consideration is that it is of the nature of +prophecy. Its task is to describe what will be the actions of mankind, +and to dictate decisions respecting them."[40] + +"Law we sometimes call the wisdom of our ancestors. But this is a +strange imposition. It was as frequently the dictate of their passion, +of timidity, jealousy, a monopolizing spirit, and a lust of power that +knew no bounds. Are we not obliged perpetually to revise and remodel +this misnamed wisdom of our ancestors? to correct it by a detection of +their ignorance, and a censure of their intolerance?"[41] "Legislation, +as it has been usually understood, is not an affair of human competence. +Reason is [our sole legislator, and her decrees are unchangeable and +everywhere the same.]"[42] "Men cannot do more than declare and +interpret law; nor can there be an authority so paramount, as to have +the prerogative of making that to be law, which abstract and immutable +justice had not made to be law previously to that interposition."[43] + +To be sure, "it must be admitted that we are imperfect, ignorant, and +slaves of appearances."[44] But "whatever inconveniences may arise from +the passions of men, the introduction of fixed laws cannot be the +genuine remedy."[45] "As long as a man is held in the trammels of +obedience, and habituated to look to some foreign guidance for the +direction of his conduct, his understanding and the vigor of his mind +will sleep. Do I desire to raise him to the energy of which he is +capable? I must teach him to feel himself, to bow to no authority, to +examine the principles he entertains, and render to his mind the reason +of his conduct."[46] + +II. _The general welfare requires that in future it itself should be +men's rule of action in place of the law._ + +"If every shilling of our property, [every hour of our time,] and every +faculty of our mind, have received their destination from the principles +of unalterable justice,"[47] that is, of the general good,[48] then no +other decree can any longer control it. "The true principle which ought +to be substituted in the room of law, is that of reason exercising an +uncontrolled jurisdiction upon the circumstances of the case."[49] + +"To this principle no objection can arise on the score of wisdom. It is +not to be supposed that there are not men now existing, whose +intellectual accomplishments rise to the level of law. But, if men can +be found among us whose wisdom is equal to the wisdom of law, it will +scarcely be maintained, that the truths they have to communicate will +be the worse for having no authority, but that which they derive from +the reasons that support them."[50] + +"The juridical decisions that were made immediately after the abolition +of law, would differ little from those during its empire. They would be +the decisions of prejudice and habit. But habit, having lost the centre +about which it revolved, would diminish in the regularity of its +operations. Those to whom the arbitration of any question was entrusted +would frequently recollect that the whole case was committed to their +deliberation, and they could not fail occasionally to examine +themselves, respecting the reason of those principles which had hitherto +passed uncontroverted. Their understandings would grow enlarged, in +proportion as they felt the importance of their trust, and the unbounded +freedom of their investigation. Here then would commence an auspicious +order of things, of which no understanding man at present in existence +can foretell the result, the dethronement of implicit faith, and the +inauguration of unclouded justice."[51] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. _Since Godwin unconditionally rejects law, he necessarily has to +reject the State as unconditionally. Nay, he regards it as a legal +institution peculiarly repugnant to the general welfare._ + +Some base the State on force, others on divine right, others on +contract.[52] But "the hypothesis of force appears to proceed upon the +total negation of abstract and immutable justice, affirming every +government to be right, that is possessed of power sufficient to enforce +its decrees. It puts a violent termination upon all political science, +and is calculated for nothing farther than to persuade men, to sit down +quietly under their present disadvantages, whatever they may be, and not +exert themselves to discover a remedy for the evils they suffer. The +second hypothesis is of an equivocal nature. It either coincides with +the first, and affirms all existing power to be alike of divine +derivation; or it must remain totally useless, till a criterion can be +found, to distinguish those governments which are approved by God, from +those which cannot lay claim to that sanction."[53] The third hypothesis +would mean that one "should make over to another the control of his +conscience and the judging of his duties."[54] "But we cannot renounce +our moral independence; it is a property that we can neither sell nor +give away; and consequently no government can derive its authority from +an original contract."[55] + +"All government corresponds in a certain degree to what the Greeks +denominated a tyranny. The difference is, that in despotic countries +mind is depressed by a uniform usurpation; while in republics it +preserves a greater portion of its activity, and the usurpation more +easily conforms itself to the fluctuations of opinion."[56] "By its very +nature positive institution has a tendency to suspend the elasticity and +progress of mind."[57] "We should not forget that government is, +abstractedly taken, an evil, a usurpation upon the private judgment and +individual conscience of mankind."[58] + +II. _The general welfare demands that a social human life based solely +on its precepts should take the place of the State._ + +1. Men are to live together in society even after the abolition of the +State. "A fundamental distinction exists between society and government. +Men associated at first for the sake of mutual assistance."[59] It was +not till later that restraint appeared in these associations, in +consequence of the errors and perverseness of a few. "Society and +government are different in themselves, and have different origins. +Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness. +Society is in every state a blessing; government even in its best state +but a necessary evil."[60] + +But what is to hold men together in "society without government"?[61] +Not a promise,[62] at any rate. No promise can bind me; for either what +I have promised is good, then I must do it even if there had been no +promise; or it is bad, then not even the promise can make it my +duty.[63] "The fact that I have committed an error does not oblige me to +make myself guilty of a second also."[64] "Suppose I had promised a sum +of money for a good and worthy object. In the interval between the +promise and its fulfilment a greater and nobler object presents itself +to me, and imperiously demands my co-operation. To which shall I give +the preference? To the one that deserves it. My promise can make no +difference. I must be guided by the value of things, not by an external +and alien point of view. But the value of things is not affected by my +having taken upon me an obligation."[65] + +"Common deliberation regarding the general good"[66] is to hold men +together in societies hereafter. This is highly in harmony with the +general welfare. "That a nation should exercise undiminished its +function of common deliberation, is a step gained, and a step that +inevitably leads to an improvement of the character of individuals. That +men should agree in the assertion of truth, is no unpleasing evidence of +their virtue. Lastly, that an individual, however great may be his +imaginary elevation, should be obliged to yield his personal pretensions +to the sense of the community, at least bears the appearance of a +practical confirmation of the great principle, that all private +considerations must yield to the general good."[67] + +2. The societies are to be small, and to have as little intercourse with +each other as possible. + +Small territories are everywhere to administer their affairs +independently.[68] "No association of men, so long as they adhered to +the principles of reason, could possibly have any interest in extending +their territory."[69] "Whatever evils are included in the abstract idea +of government, are all of them extremely aggravated by the +extensiveness of its jurisdiction, and softened under circumstances of +an opposite species. Ambition, which may be no less formidable than a +pestilence in the former, has no room to unfold itself in the latter. +Popular commotion is like the waves of the sea, capable where the +surface is large of producing the most tragical effects, but mild and +innocuous when confined within the circuit of a humble lake. Sobriety +and equity are the obvious characteristics of a limited +circle."[70]--"The desire to gain a more extensive territory, to conquer +or to hold in awe our neighboring States, to surpass them in arts or +arms, is a desire founded in prejudice and error. Power is not +happiness. Security and peace are more to be desired than a name at +which nations tremble. Mankind are brethren. We associate in a +particular district or under a particular climate, because association +is necessary to our internal tranquillity, or to defend us against the +wanton attacks of a common enemy. But the rivalship of nations is a +creature of the imagination."[71] + +The little independently-administered territories are to have as little +to do with each other as possible. "Individuals cannot have too frequent +or unlimited intercourse with each other; but societies of men have no +interests to explain and adjust, except so far as error and violence may +render explanation necessary. This consideration annihilates at once the +principal objects of that mysterious and crooked policy which has +hitherto occupied the attention of governments. Before this principle +officers of the army and the navy, ambassadors and negotiators, and all +the train of artifices that has been invented to hold other nations at +bay, to penetrate their secrets, to traverse their machinations, to form +alliances and counter-alliances, sink into nothing."[72] + +3. But how are the functions that the State performs at present to be +performed in the future societies? "Government can have no more than two +legitimate purposes, the suppression of injustice against individuals +within the community" (which includes the settling of controversies +between different districts[73]), "and the common defence against +external invasion."[74] + +"The first of these purposes, which alone can have an uninterrupted +claim upon us, is sufficiently answered by an association of such an +extent as to afford room for the institution of a jury, to decide upon +the offences of individuals within the community, and upon the questions +and controversies respecting property which may chance to arise."[75] +This jury would decide not according to any system of law, but according +to reason.[76]--"It might be easy indeed for an offender to escape from +the limits of so petty a jurisdiction; and it might seem necessary at +first that the neighboring parishes or jurisdictions should be governed +in a similar manner, or at least should be willing, whatever was their +form of government, to co-operate with us in the removal or reformation +of an offender whose present habits were alike injurious to us and to +them. But there will be no need of any express compact, and still less +of any common centre of authority, for this purpose. General justice and +mutual interest are found more capable of binding men than signatures +and seals."[77] + +The second function would present itself to us only from time to time. +"However irrational might be the controversy of parish with parish in +such a state of society, it would not be the less possible. Such +emergencies can only be provided against by the concert of several +districts, declaring and, if needful, enforcing the dictates of +justice."[78] Foreign invasions too would make such a concert necessary, +and would to this extent resemble those controversies.[79] Therefore it +would be "necessary upon certain occasions to have recourse to national +assemblies, or in other words assemblies instituted for the joint +purpose of adjusting the differences between district and district, and +of consulting respecting the best mode of repelling foreign +invasion."[80]--But they "ought to be employed as sparingly as the +nature of the case will admit."[81] For, in the first place, the +decision is given by the number of votes, and "is determined, at best, +by the weakest heads in the assembly, but, as it not less frequently +happens, by the most corrupt and dishonorable intentions."[82] In the +second place, as a rule the members are guided in their decisions by +all sorts of external reasons, and not solely by the results of their +free reflection.[83] In the third place, they are forced to waste their +strength on petty matters, while they cannot possibly let themselves be +quietly influenced by argument.[84] Therefore national assemblies should +"either never be elected but upon extraordinary emergencies, like the +dictator of the ancient Romans, or else sit periodically, one day for +example in a year, with a power of continuing their sessions within a +certain limit. The former is greatly to be preferred."[85] + +But what would be the authority of these national assemblies and those +juries? Mankind is so corrupted by present institutions that at first +the issuing of commands, and some degree of coercion, would be +necessary; but later it would be sufficient for juries to recommend a +certain mode of adjusting controversies, and for national assemblies to +invite their constituencies to co-operate for the common advantage.[86] +"If juries might at length cease to decide and be contented to invite, +if force might gradually be withdrawn and reason trusted alone, shall we +not one day find that juries themselves, and every other species of +public institution, may be laid aside as unnecessary? Will not the +reasonings of one wise man be as effectual as those of twelve? Will not +the competence of one individual to instruct his neighbors be a matter +of sufficient notoriety, without the formality of an election? Will +there be many vices to correct and much obstinacy to conquer? This is +one of the most memorable stages of human improvement. With what +delight must every well-informed friend of mankind look forward to the +auspicious period, the dissolution of political government, of that +brute engine, which has been the only perennial cause of the vices of +mankind, and which has mischiefs of various sorts incorporated with its +substance, and no otherwise to be removed than by its utter +annihilation!"[87] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _In consequence of his unconditional rejection of law, Godwin +necessarily has to reject property also without any limitation. Nay, +property, or, as he expresses himself, "the present system of +property,"_[88]--_that is, the distribution of wealth at present +established by law,--appears to him to be a legal institution that is +peculiarly injurious to the general welfare._ "The wisdom of law-makers +and parliaments has been applied to creating the most wretched and +senseless distribution of property, which mocks alike at human nature +and at the principles of justice."[89] + +The present system of property distributes commodities in the most +unequal and most arbitrary way. "On account of the accident of birth, it +piles upon a single man enormous wealth. If one who has been a beggar +becomes a well-to-do man, we usually know that he has not precisely his +honesty or usefulness to thank for this change. It is often hard enough +for the most diligent and industrious member of society to preserve his +family from starvation."[90] "And if I receive the reward of my work, +they give me a hundred times more food than I can eat, and a hundred +times more clothes than I can wear. Where is the justice in this? If I +am the greatest benefactor of the human race, is that a reason for +giving me what I do not need, especially when my superfluity might be of +the greatest use to thousands?"[91] + +This unequal distribution of commodities is altogether opposed to the +general welfare. It hampers intellectual progress. "Accumulated property +treads the powers of thought in the dust, extinguishes the sparks of +genius, and reduces the great mass of mankind to be immersed in sordid +cares, beside depriving the rich of the most salubrious and effectual +motives to activity."[92] And the rich man can buy with his superfluity +"nothing but glitter and envy, nothing but the dismal pleasure of +restoring to the poor man as alms that to which reason gives him an +undeniable right."[93] + +But the unequal distribution of commodities is also a hindrance to moral +perfection. In the rich it produces ambition, vanity, and ostentation; +in the poor, oppression, servility, and fraud, and, in consequence of +these, envy, malice, and revenge.[94] "The rich man stands forward as +the principal object of general esteem and deference. In vain are +sobriety, integrity, and industry, in vain the sublimest powers of mind +and the most ardent benevolence, if their possessor be narrowed in his +circumstances. To acquire wealth and to display it, is therefore the +universal passion."[95] "Force would have died away as reason and +civilization advanced, but accumulated property has fixed its +empire."[96] "The fruitful source of crimes consists in this +circumstance, one man's possessing in abundance that of which another +man is destitute."[97] + +II. _The general welfare demands that a distribution of commodities +based solely on its precepts should take the place of property._ When +Godwin uses the expression "property" for that portion of commodities +which is assigned to an individual by these precepts, he does so only in +a transferred sense; only a portion assigned by law can be designated as +property in the strict sense. + +Now, according to the decrees of the general welfare, every man should +have the means for a good life. + +1. "How is it to be decided whether an object that may be used for the +benefit of man shall be my property or yours? There is only one answer; +according to justice."[98] "The laws of different countries dispose of +property in a thousand different ways; but only one of them can be most +consonant with justice."[99] + +Justice demands in the first place that every man have the means for +life. "Our animal needs, it is well known, consist in food, clothing, +and shelter. If justice means anything, nothing can be more unjust than +that any man lacks these and at the same time another has too much of +them. But justice does not stop here. So far as the general stock of +commodities holds out, every one has a claim not only to the means for +life, but to the means for a good life. It is unjust that a man works to +the point of destroying his health or his life, while another riots in +superfluity. It is unjust that a man has not leisure to cultivate his +mind, while another does not move a finger for the general +welfare."[100] + +2. Such a "state of equality"[101] would advance the general welfare in +the highest degree. In it labor would become "so light, as rather to +assume the appearance of agreeable relaxation, and gentle +exercise."[102] "Every man would have a frugal, yet wholesome diet; +every man would go forth to that moderate exercise of his corporal +functions that would give hilarity to the spirits; none would be made +torpid with fatigue, but all would have leisure to cultivate the kindly +and philanthropical affections, and to let loose his faculties in the +search of intellectual improvement."[103] + +"How rapid would be the advances of intellect, if all men were admitted +into the field of knowledge! It is to be presumed that the inequality of +mind would in a certain degree be permanent; but it is reasonable to +believe that the geniuses of such an age would far surpass the greatest +exertions of intellect that are at present known."[104] + +And the moral progress would be as great as the intellectual. The vices +which are inseparably joined to the present system of property "would +inevitably expire in a state of society where men lived in the midst of +plenty, and where all shared alike the bounties of nature. The narrow +principle of selfishness would vanish. No man being obliged to guard his +little store, or provide with anxiety and pain for his restless wants, +each would lose his individual existence in the thought of the general +good. No man would be an enemy to his neighbor, for they would have no +subject of contention; and of consequence philanthropy would resume the +empire which reason assigns her."[105] + +3. But how could such a distribution of commodities be effected in a +particular case? + +"As soon as law was abolished, men would begin to inquire after equity. +In this situation let us suppose a litigated succession brought before +them, to which there were five heirs, and that the sentence of their old +legislation had directed the division of this property into five equal +shares. They would begin to inquire into the wants and situation of the +claimants. The first we will suppose to have a fair character and be +prosperous in the world: he is a respectable member of society, but +farther wealth would add little either to his usefulness or his +enjoyments. The second is a miserable object, perishing with want, and +overwhelmed with calamity. The third, though poor, is yet tranquil; but +there is a situation to which his virtue leads him to aspire and in +which he may be of uncommon service, but which he cannot with propriety +accept, without a capital equal to two-fifths of the whole succession. +One of the claimants is an unmarried woman past the age of +child-bearing. Another is a widow, unprovided, and with a numerous +family depending on her succor. The first question that would suggest +itself to unprejudiced persons having the allotment of this succession +referred to their unlimited decision, would be, what justice is there in +the indiscriminate partition which has hitherto prevailed?"[106] And +their answer could not be doubtful. + + +6.--REALIZATION. + +_The change which is called for by the general welfare should, according +to Godwin, be effected by those who have recognized the truth persuading +others how necessary the change is for the general welfare, so that law, +the State, and property would spontaneously disappear and the new +condition would take their place._ + +I. The sole requirement is to convince men that the general welfare +demands the change. + +1. Every other way is to be rejected. "Our judgment will always suspect +those weapons that can be used with equal prospect of success on both +sides. Therefore we should regard all force with aversion. When we enter +the lists of battle, we quit the sure domain of truth and leave the +decision to the caprice of chance. The phalanx of reason is +invulnerable; it moves forward with calm, sure step, and nothing can +withstand it. But, when we lay aside arguments, and have recourse to the +sword, the case is altered. Amidst the clamorous din of civil war, who +shall tell whether the event will be prosperous or adverse? We must +therefore distinguish carefully between instructing the people and +exciting them. We must refuse indignation, rage, and passion, and desire +only sober reflection, clear judgment, and fearless discussion."[107] + +2. The point is to convince men as generally as possible. Only when this +is accomplished can acts of violence be avoided. "Why did the revolution +in France and America find all sorts and conditions of men almost +unanimous, while the resistance to Charles the First divided our nation +into two equal parties? Because the latter occurred in the seventeenth +century, the former at the end of the eighteenth. Because at the time of +the revolutions in France and America philosophy had already developed +some of the great truths of political science, and under the influence +of Sydney and Locke, of Montesquieu and Rousseau, a number of strong and +thoughtful minds had perceived what an evil force is. If these +revolutions had taken place still later, not a drop of civic blood would +have been shed by civic hands, not in a single case would force have +been used against persons or things."[108] + +3. The means to convince men as generally as possible of the necessity +of a change consist in "proof and persuasion. The best warrant of a +happy outcome lies in free, unrestricted discussion. In this arena truth +must always be victor. If, therefore, we would improve the social +institutions of mankind, we must seek to convince by spoken and written +words. This activity has no limits; this endeavor admits of no +interruption. Every means must be used, not so much to draw men's +attention and bring them over to our opinion by persuasion, as rather to +remove every barrier to thought and to open to everybody the temple of +science and the field of study."[109] + +"Therefore the man who has at heart the regeneration of his species +should always bear in mind two principles, to regard hourly progress in +the discovery and dissemination of truth as essential, and calmly to let +years pass before he urges the carrying into effect of his teaching. +With all his prudence, it may be that the boisterous multitude will +hurry ahead of the calm, quiet progress of reason; then he will not +condemn the revolution that takes place some years before the time set +by wisdom. But if he is ruled by strict prudence he can without doubt +frustrate many over-hasty attempts, and considerably prolong the general +quietness."[110] + +"This does not mean, as one might think, that the changing of our +conditions lies at an immeasurable distance. It is the nature of human +affairs that great alterations take place suddenly, and great +discoveries are made unexpectedly, as it were accidentally. When I +cultivate a young person's mind, when I exert myself to influence that +of an older person, it will long seem as if I had accomplished little, +and the fruits will show themselves when I least expect them. The +kingdom of truth comes quietly. The seed of virtue may spring up when it +was fancied to be lost."[111] "If the true philanthropist but tirelessly +proclaims the truth and vigilantly opposes all that hinders its +progress, he may look forward, with heart at rest, to a speedy and +favorable outcome."[112] + +II. As soon as the conviction that the general welfare demands a change +in our condition has made itself generally felt, law, the State, and +property will disappear spontaneously and give way to the new condition. +"Reform, under this meaning of the term, can scarcely be considered as +of the nature of action. [It is a general enlightenment.] Men feel their +situation; and the restraints that shackled them before, vanish like a +deception. When such a crisis has arrived, not a sword will need to be +drawn, not a finger to be lifted up in purposes of violence. The +adversaries will be too few and too feeble, to be able to entertain a +serious thought of resistance against the universal sense of +mankind."[113] + +In what way may the change of our conditions take place? + +1. "The opinion most popular in France at the time that the national +convention entered upon its functions, was that the business of the +convention extended only to the presenting a draft of a constitution, to +be submitted in the sequel to the approbation of the districts, and then +only to be considered as law."[114] + +"The first idea that suggests itself respecting this opinion is, that, +if constitutional laws ought to be subjected to the revision of the +districts, then all laws ought to undergo the same process. [But if the +approbation of the districts to any declarations is not to be delusive, +the discussion of these declarations in the districts must be unlimited. +Then] a transaction will be begun to which it is not easy to foresee a +termination. Some districts will object to certain articles; and, if +these articles be modeled to obtain their approbation, it is possible +that the very alteration introduced to please one part of the community +may render the code less acceptable to another."[115] + +"This principle of a consent of districts has an immediate tendency, by +a salutary gradation perhaps, to lead to the dissolution of all +government."[116] It is indeed "desirable that the most important acts +of the national representatives should be subject to the approbation or +rejection of the districts whose representatives they are, for exactly +the same reason as it is desirable that the acts of the districts +themselves should, as speedily as practicability will admit, be in force +only so far as relates to the individuals by whom those acts are +approved."[117] + +2. This system would have the effect, first, that the constitution would +be very short. The impracticability of obtaining the free approbation of +a great number of districts to an extensive code would speedily manifest +itself; and the whole constitution might consist of a scheme for the +division of the country into parts equal in their population, and the +fixing of stated periods for the election of a national assembly, not to +say that the latter of these articles may very probably be dispensed +with.[118] + +A second effect would be, that it would soon be found a proceeding +unnecessarily circuitous to send laws to the districts for their +revision, unless in cases essential to the general safety, and that in +as many instances as possible the districts would be suffered to make +laws for themselves. "Thus, that which was at first a great empire with +legislative unity would speedily be transformed into a confederacy of +lesser republics, with a general congress or Amphictyonic council, +answering the purpose of a point of co-operation upon extraordinary +occasions."[119] + +A third effect would consist in the gradual cessation of legislation. "A +great assembly collected from the different provinces of an extensive +territory, and constituted the sole legislator of those by whom the +territory is inhabited, immediately conjures up to itself an idea of the +vast multitude of laws that are necessary. A large city, impelled by the +principles of commercial jealousy, is not slow to digest the volume of +its by-laws and exclusive privileges. But the inhabitants of a small +parish, living with some degree of that simplicity which best +corresponds with nature, would soon be led to suspect that general laws +were unnecessary, and would adjudge the causes that came before them, +not according to certain axioms previously written, but according to the +circumstances and demands of each particular cause."[120] + +A fourth effect would be that the abrogation of property would be +favored. "All equalization of rank and station strongly tends toward an +equalization of possessions."[121] So not only the lower orders, but +also the higher, would see the injustice of the present distribution of +property.[122] "The rich and great are far from callous to views of +general felicity, when such views are brought before them with that +evidence and attraction of which they are susceptible."[123] But even so +far as they might think only of their own emolument and ease, it would +not be difficult to show them that it is in vain to fight against truth, +and dangerous to bring upon themselves the hatred of the people, and +that it might be to their own interest to make up their minds to +concessions at least.[124] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] Godwin pp. IX-X [1. VI-VII]. + +[26] _Ib._ pp. 548-9 [2. 132-3]. + +[27] _Ib._ p. 90 [1, 120]. + +[28] _Ib._ p. 150 [1, 164]. + +[29] _Ib._ p. 90 [1, 120-21]. + +[30] Godwin p. 101 [1. 134]. + +[31] _Ib._ pp. 150, 80 [1. 120, 112]. + +[32] _Ib._ p. 81 [1. 117-18?]. + +[33] _Ib._ p. 254 [1. 253]. + +[34] _Ib._ pp. 360-61 [1. ?42]. + +[35] _Ib._ p. 361. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[36] _Ib._ p. 361 [1. 342; bracketed words omitted in ed. 2] + +[37] _Ib._ p. 771 [2. 294]. + +[38] Godwin pp. 766-7 [2. 290-91]. + +[39] _Ib._ p. 768 [2. 291]. + +[40] _Ib._ p. 769 [2. 292]. + +[41] _Ib._ p. 773 [2. 295]. + +[42] _Ib._ p. 166 [1. 182, except bracketed words]. + +[43] _Ib._ p. 381 [2. 3] + +[44] Godwin p. 774 [2. 296]. + +[45] _Ib._ p. 775 [2. 296]. + +[46] _Ib._ p. 776 [2. 297]. + +[47] _Ib._ p. 151 [1. 165, except bracketed words]. + +[48] _Ib._ pp. 121, 81 [1. 145, 118]. + +[49] _Ib._ p. 773 [2. 295]. + +[50] Godwin pp. 773-4 [2. 295]. + +[51] _Ib._ p. 778 [2. 298-9]. + +[52] _Ib._ p. 140-1 [1. 156]. + +[53] Godwin p. 141 [2. 156] + +[54] _Ib._ p. 148. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[55] _Ib._ p. 149. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[56] _Ib._ p. 572 [2. 149-50]. + +[57] _Ib._ p. 185 [1. 200]. + +[58] Godwin p. 380 [2. 2]. + +[59] _Ib._ p. 79 [1. 111]. + +[60] _Ib._ p. 79 [1. 111; credited to Paine's "Common Sense," p. 1]. + +[61] _Ib._ p. 788 [2. 305]. + +[62] _Ib._ p. 163 [1. 174-6? 180?]. + +[63] _Ib._ p. 151 [1. 164-5; but see _per contra_ p. 170]. + +[64] _Ib._ p. 156. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[65] Godwin p. 151. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[66] _Ib._ pp. 161-2 [1. 179]. + +[67] _Ib._ 164-5 [1. 181]. + +[68] _Ib._ p. 561 [2. 142]. + +[69] _Ib._ 566 [2. 145]. + +[70] Godwin p. 562 [2. 142]. + +[71] _Ib._ 559 [2. 140]. + +[72] Godwin p. 561 [2. 141. Obviously Eltzbacher has misunderstood this +passage. His German translation shows that he mistook "interests" for +"interest" in the sense of "incentive." Note also that Godwin expressly +restricts the application of this paragraph, even in its right sense, on +pp. 111, 145]. + +[73] _Ib._ p. 566 [2. 145]. + +[74] _Ib._ p. 564 [2. 144]. + +[75] _Ib._ p. 564-5 [2. 144]. + +[76] _Ib._ pp. 773, 778, 779-80 [2. 295, 298-300] + +[77] Godwin p. 565 [2. 144]. + +[78] _Ib._ p. 566 [2. 145]. + +[79] _Ib._ p. 566 [2. 145]. + +[80] _Ib._ pp. 573-4 [2. 150-51]. + +[81] _Ib._ pp. 573-4 [2. 150-51]. + +[82] _Ib._ pp. 568-9, 571-2 [2. 146, 149]. + +[83] Godwin pp. 569-70 [2. 148]. + +[84] _Ib._ pp. 570-71 [2. 148-49]. + +[85] _Ib._ p. 574 [2. 151] + +[86] _Ib._ pp. 576-8 [2. 152-3]. + +[87] Godwin pp. 578-9 [2. 154] + +[88] _Ib._ p. 794 [2. 326]. + +[89] _Ib._ p. 803. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[90] _Ib._ p. 794. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[91] Godwin p. 795. [Not in ed. 2; cf. 2. 312]. + +[92] _Ib._ p. 806 [2. 335]. + +[93] _Ib._ p. 795. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[94] _Ib._ pp. 811, 810 [2. 339, 338--but the words "in the poor" seem +to be added out of Eltzbacher's head]. + +[95] Godwin p. 802 [2. 332]. + +[96] _Ib._ p. 809 [2. 338] + +[97] _Ib._ p. 809 [2. 337] + +[98] _Ib._ p. 789. [Not in ed. 2; cf. 2. 306-7.] + +[99] _Ib._ p. 790. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[100] Godwin pp. 790-91. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[101] _Ib._ p. 821 [2. 351]. + +[102] _Ib._ p. 821 [2. 352] + +[103] _Ib._ p. 806 [2. 335]. + +[104] _Ib._ p. 807 [2. 336]. + +[105] Godwin p. 810 [2. 338]. + +[106] Godwin pp. 779-80 [2. 299-300]. + +[107] Godwin p. 203 [1, 223, only the two sentences beginning at "But"]. + +[108] _Ib._ pp. 203-4. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[109] Godwin pp. 202-3. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[110] _Ib._ p. 204. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[111] _Ib._ p. 223. [Not in ed. 2; cf. 1. 226.] + +[112] Godwin p. 225. [Not in ed. 2.] + +[113] _Ib._ pp. 222-3 [1. 222, except bracketed words]. + +[114] _Ib._ pp. 657-8 [2. 210]. + +[115] Godwin pp. 658-9 [2. 211-12; bracketed words a paraphrase]. + +[116] _Ib._ pp. 659-60 [2. 212]. + +[117] _Ib._ p. 660 [2. 212]. + +[118] _Ib._ pp. 660-61 [2. 212-13]. + +[119] Godwin pp. 661-2 [2. 213-14]. + +[120] _Ib._ p. 662 [2. 214]. + +[121] Godwin p. 888 [cf. 2. 396]. + +[122] _Ib._ pp. 888-9 [2. 396]. + +[123] _Ib._ pp. 882-3 [2. 392]. + +[124] _Ib._ pp. 883-84 [2. 393]. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROUDHON'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +1. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was born at Besancon in 1809. At first he +followed the occupation of a printer there and in other cities. In 1838 +a stipend of the Academy of Besancon enabled him to go to Paris for +scientific studies. In 1843 he took a mercantile position at Lyons. In +1847 he gave it up and moved to Paris. + +Here, in the years from 1848 to 1850, Proudhon published several +periodicals, one after the other. In 1848 he became a member of the +National Assembly. In 1849 he founded a People's Bank. Soon after this +he was condemned to three years' imprisonment for an offence against the +press laws, and served his time without having to interrupt his activity +as an author. + +In 1852 Proudhon was released from prison. He remained in Paris till, in +1858, he was again condemned to three years' imprisonment for an offence +against the press laws. He fled and settled in Brussels. In 1860 he was +pardoned, and returned to France. Thenceforth he lived at Passy. He died +there in 1865. + +Proudhon published many books and other writings, especially in the +fields of jurisprudence, political economy, and politics. + +2. Of special importance for Proudhon's teaching about law, the State, +and property are, among the writings before 1848, the book "_Qu'est-ce +que la propriete? ou recherches sur le principe du droit et du +gouvernement_" (1840) and the two-volume work "_Systeme des +contradictions economiques, ou philosophie de la misere_" (1846); among +the writings from 1848 to 1851 the "_Confessions d'un revolutionnaire_" +(1849) and the "_Idee generale de la revolution au XIXe siecle_" (1851); +and lastly, among the writings after 1851, the three-volume work "_De la +justice dans la revolution et dans l'Eglise, nouveaux principes de +philosophie pratique_" (1858) and the book "_Du principe federatif et de +la necessite de reconstituer le parti de la revolution_" (1863).[125] + +Proudhon's teaching regarding law, the State, and property underwent +changes in minor points, but remained the same in its essentials; the +opinion that it changed also in essentials is caused by Proudhon's +arbitrary and varying use of language. Since no history of the evolution +of Proudhon's teaching can be given here, I shall present, so far as +concerns such minor points, only the teaching of 1848-51, in which years +Proudhon developed his views with especial clearness and did especially +forcible work for them. + +3. Proudhon calls his teaching about law, the State, and property +"Anarchism." "'What form of government shall we prefer?' 'Can you ask?' +replies one of my younger readers without doubt; 'you are a Republican.' +'Republican, yes; but this word makes nothing definite. _Res publica_ is +"the public thing"; now, whoever wants the public thing, under whatever +form of government, may call himself a Republican. Even kings are +Republicans.' 'Well, you are a Democrat.' 'No.' 'What? can you be a +Monarchist?' 'No.' 'A Constitutionalist?' 'I should hope not.' 'You are +an Aristocrat then?' 'Not a bit.' 'You want a mixed government, then?' +'Still less.' 'What are you then?' 'I am an Anarchist.'"[126] + + +2.--BASIS + +_According to Proudhon the supreme law for us is justice._ + +What is justice? "Justice is respect, spontaneously felt and mutually +guaranteed, for human dignity, in whatever person and under whatever +circumstances we find it compromised, and to whatever risk its defence +may expose us."[127] + +"I ought to respect my neighbor, and make others respect him, as myself; +such is the law of my conscience. In consideration of what do I owe him +this respect? In consideration of his strength, his talent, his wealth? +No, what chance gives is not what makes the human person worthy of +respect. In consideration of the respect which he in turn pays to me? +No, justice assumes reciprocity of respect, but does not wait for it. It +asserts and wills respect for human dignity even in an enemy, which +causes the existence of _laws of war_; even in the murderer whom we kill +as having fallen from his manhood, which causes the existence of _penal +laws_. It is not the gifts of nature or the advantages of fortune that +make me respect my neighbor; it is not his ox, his ass, or his +maid-servant, as the decalogue says; it is not even the welfare that he +owes to me as I owe mine to him; it is his manhood."[128] + +"Justice is at once a reality and an idea."[129] "Justice is a faculty +of the soul, the foremost of all, that which constitutes a social being. +But it is more than a faculty; it is an idea, it indicates a relation, +an equation. As a faculty it may be developed; this development is what +constitutes the education of humanity. As an equation it presents +nothing antinomic; it is absolute and immutable like every law, and, +like every law, very intelligible."[130] + +Justice is for us the supreme law. "Justice is the inviolable yardstick +of all human actions."[131] "By it the facts of social life, by nature +indeterminate and contradictory, become susceptible of definition and +arrangement."[132] + +"Justice is the central star which governs societies, the pole about +which the political world revolves, the principle and rule of all +transactions. Nothing is done among men that is not in the name of +_right_; nothing without invoking justice. Justice is not the work of +the law; on the contrary, the law is never anything but a declaration +and application of what is _just_."[132] "Suppose a society where +justice is outranked, however little, by another principle, say +religion; or in which certain individuals are regarded more highly, by +however little, than others; I say that, justice being virtually +annulled, it is inevitable that the society will perish sooner or +later.[133] + +"It is the privilege of justice that the faith which it inspires is +unshakable, and that it cannot be dogmatically denied or rejected. All +peoples invoke it; reasons of State, even while they violate it, profess +to be based on it; religion exists only for it; skepticism dissembles +before it; irony has power only in its name; crime and hypocrisy do it +homage. [If liberty is not an empty phrase, it acts only in the service +of right; even when it rebels against right, at bottom it does not curse +it.]"[134] "All the most rational teachings of human wisdom about +justice are summed up in this famous adage: _Do to others what you would +have done to you; Do not to others what you would not have done to +you._"[135] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _In the name of justice Proudhon rejects, not law indeed, but almost +all individual legal norms, and the State laws in particular._ + +The State makes laws, and "as many laws as the interests which it meets +with; and, since interests are innumerable, the legislation-machine must +work uninterruptedly. Laws and ordinances fall like hail on the poor +populace. After a while the political soil will be covered with a layer +of paper, and all the geologists will have to do will be to list it, +under the name of _papyraceous formation_, among the epochs of the +earth's history. The Convention, in three years one month and four days, +issued eleven thousand six hundred laws and decrees; the Constituent and +Legislative Assemblies had produced hardly less; the empire and the +later governments have wrought as industriously. At present the +'_Bulletin des Lois_' contains, they say, more than fifty thousand; if +our representatives did their duty this enormous figure would soon be +doubled. Do you believe that the populace, or the government itself, can +keep its sanity in this labyrinth?"[136] + +"But what am I saying? Laws for him who thinks for himself, and is +responsible only for his own acts! laws for him who would be free, and +feels himself destined to become free! I am ready to make terms, but I +will have no laws; I acknowledge none; I protest against every order +which an ostensibly necessary authority shall please to impose on my +free will. Laws! we know what they are and what they are worth. Cobwebs +for the powerful and the rich, chains which no steel can break for the +little and the poor, fishers' nets in the hands of the government."[137] + +"You say they shall make _few_ laws, make them _simple_, make them +_good_. But it is impossible. Must not government adjust all interests, +decide all disputes? Now interests are by the nature of society +innumerable, relationships infinitely variable and mobile; how is it +possible that only a few laws should be made? how can they be simple? +how can the best law escape soon being detestable?"[138] + +II. _Justice requires that only one legal norm be in force: to wit, the +norm that contracts must be lived up to._ + +"What do we mean by a _contract_? A contract, says the civil code, art. +1101, is an agreement whereby one or more persons bind themselves to one +or more others to do or not to do something."[139] "That I may remain +free, that I may be subjected to no law but my own, and that I may +govern myself, the edifice of society must be rebuilt upon the idea of +CONTRACT."[140] "We must start with the idea of contract as the dominant +idea of politics."[141] This norm, that contracts must be lived up to, +is to be based not only on its justice, but at the same time on the fact +that among men who live together there prevails a will to enforce the +keeping of contracts, if necessary, with violence;[142] so it is to be +not only a commandment of morality, but also a legal norm. + +"Several of your fellow-men have agreed to treat each other with good +faith and fair play,--that is, to respect those rules of action which +the nature of things points out to them as being alone capable of +assuring to them, in the fullest measure, prosperity, safety, and peace. +Are you willing to join their league? to form a part of their society? +Do you promise to respect the honor, the liberty, the goods, of your +brothers? Do you promise never to appropriate to yourself, neither by +violence, by fraud, by usury, nor by speculation, another's product or +possession? Do you promise never to lie and deceive, neither in court, +in trade, nor in any of your dealings? You are free to accept or to +refuse. + +"If you refuse, you form a part of the society of savages. Having left +the fellowship of the human race, you come under suspicion. Nothing +protects you. At the least insult anybody you meet may knock you down, +without incurring any other charge than that of cruelty to animals. + +"If you swear to the league, on the contrary, you form a part of the +society of free men. All your brothers enter into an engagement with +you, promising you fidelity, friendship, help, service, commerce. In +case of infraction on their part or on yours, through negligence, hot +blood, or evil intent, you are responsible to one another, for the +damage and also for the scandal and insecurity which you have caused; +this responsibility may extend, according to the seriousness of the +perjury or the repetition of the crime, as far as to excommunication and +death."[143] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. Since Proudhon approves only the single legal norm that contracts +must be lived up to, he can sanction only a single legal relation, that +of parties to a contract. Hence he must necessarily reject the State; +for it is established by particular legal norms, and, as an involuntary +legal relation, it binds even those who have not entered into any +contract at all. _Proudhon does accordingly reject the State +absolutely, without any spatial or temporal limitation; he even regards +it as a legal relation which offends against justice to an unusual +degree._ + +"The government of man by man is slavery."[144] "Whoever lays his hand +on me to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant; I declare him my +enemy."[145] "In a given society the authority of man over man is in +inverse ratio to the intellectual development which this society has +attained, and the probable duration of this authority may be calculated +from the more or less general desire for a true--that is, a +scientific--government."[146] + +"Royalty is never legitimate. Neither heredity, election, universal +suffrage, the excellence of the sovereign, nor the consecration of +religion and time, makes royalty legitimate. In whatever form it may +appear, monarchical, oligarchic, democratic,--royalty, or the government +of man by man, is illegal and absurd."[147] Democracy in particular "is +nothing but a constitutional arbitrary power succeeding another +constitutional arbitrary power; it has no scientific value, and we must +see in it only a preparation for the REPUBLIC, one and +indivisible."[148] + +"Authority was no sooner begun on earth than it became the object of +universal competition. Authority, Government, Power, State,--these words +all denote the same thing,--each man sees in it the means of oppressing +and exploiting his fellows. Absolutists, doctrinaires, demagogues, and +socialists, turned their eyes incessantly to authority as their sole +cynosure."[149] "All parties without exception, in so far as they seek +for power, are varieties of absolutism; and there will be no liberty for +citizens, no order for societies, no union among workingmen, till in the +political catechism the renunciation of authority shall have replaced +faith in authority. _No more parties, no more authority, absolute +liberty of man and citizen_,--there, in three words, is my political and +social confession of faith."[150] + +II. _Justice demands, in place of the State, a social human life on the +basis of the legal norm that contracts must be lived up to._ Proudhon +calls this social life "anarchy"[151] and later "federation"[152] also. + +1. After the abrogation of the State, men are still to live together in +society. As early as 1841 Proudhon says that the point is "to discover a +system of absolute equality, in which all present institutions, minus +property or the sum of the abuses of property, might not only find a +place, but be themselves means to equality; individual liberty, the +division of powers, the cabinet, the jury, the administrative and +judiciary organization."[153] + +But men are not to be kept together in society by any supreme authority, +but only by the legally binding force of contract. "When I bargain for +any object with one or more of my fellow-citizens, it is clear that +then my will alone is my law; it is I myself who, in fulfilling my +obligation, am my government. If then I could make that contract with +all, which I do make with some; if all could renew it with each other; +if every group of citizens, commune, canton, department, corporation, +company, etc., formed by such a contract and considered as a moral +person, could then, always on the same terms, treat with each of the +other groups and with all, it would be exactly as if my will was +repeated _ad infinitum_. I should be sure that the law thus made on all +points that concern the republic, on the various motions of millions of +persons, would never be anything but my law; and, if this new order of +things was called government, that this government would be mine. The +_regime of contracts_, substituted for the _regime of laws_, would +constitute the true government of man and of the citizen, the true +sovereignty of the people, the REPUBLIC."[154] + +"The Republic is the organization by which, all opinions and all +activities remaining free, the People, by the very divergence of +opinions and of wills, thinks and acts as a single man. In the Republic +every citizen, in doing what he wishes and nothing but what he wishes, +participates directly in legislation and government, just as he +participates in the production and circulation of wealth. There every +citizen is king; for he has plenary power, he reigns and governs. The +Republic is a positive anarchy. It is neither liberty subjected TO +order, as in the constitutional monarchy, nor liberty imprisoned IN +order, as the provisional government would have it. It is liberty +delivered from all its hobbles, superstition, prejudice, sophism, +speculation, authority; it is mutual liberty, not self-limiting liberty; +liberty, not the daughter but the MOTHER of order."[155] + +2. Anarchy may easily seem to us "the acme of disorder and the +expression of chaos. They say that when a Parisian burgher of the +seventeenth century once heard that in Venice there was no king, the +good man could not get over his astonishment, and thought he should die +of laughing. Such is our prejudice."[156] As against this, Proudhon +draws a picture of how men's life in society under anarchy might perhaps +shape itself in detail, to execute the functions now belonging to the +State. + +He begins with an example. "For many centuries the spiritual power has +been separated, within traditional limits, from the temporal power. [But +there has never been a complete separation, and therefore, to the great +detriment of the church's authority and of believers, centralization has +never been sufficient.] There would be a complete separation if the +temporal power not only did not concern itself with the celebration of +mysteries, the administration of sacraments, the government of parishes, +etc., but did not intervene in the nomination of bishops either. There +would ensue a greater centralization, and consequently a more regular +government, if in each parish the people had the right to choose for +themselves their vicars and curates, or to have none at all; if in each +diocese the priests elected their bishop; if the assembly of bishops, +or a primate of the Gauls, had sole charge of the regulation of +religious affairs, theological instruction, and worship. By this +separation the clergy would cease to be, in the hands of political +power, an instrument of tyranny over the people; and by this application +of universal suffrage the ecclesiastical government, centralized in +itself, receiving its inspirations from the people and not from the +government or the pope, would be in constant harmony with the needs of +society and with the moral and intellectual condition of the citizens. +We must, then, in order to return to truth, organic, political, +economic, or social (for here all these are one), first, abolish the +constitutional cumulation by taking from the State the nomination of the +bishops, and definitively separating the spiritual from the temporal; +second, centralize the church in itself by a system of graded elections; +third, give to the ecclesiastical power, as we do to all the other +powers in the State, the vote of the citizens as a basis. By this system +what to-day is GOVERNMENT will no longer be anything but +_administration_; all France is centralized, so far as concerns +ecclesiastical functions; the country, by the mere fact of its electoral +initiative, governs itself in matters of eternal life as well as in +those of this world. And one may already see that if it were possible to +organize the entire country in temporal matters on the same bases, the +most perfect order and the most vigorous centralization would exist +without there being anything of what we to-day call constituted +authority or government."[157] + +Proudhon gives a second example in judicial authority. "The judicial +functions, by their different specialties, their hierarchy, [their +permanent tenure of office,] their convergence under a single +departmental head, show an unequivocal tendency to separation and +centralization. But they are in no way dependent on those who are under +their jurisdiction; they are all at the disposal of the executive power, +which is appointed by the people once in four years with authority that +cannot be diminished; they are subordinated not to the country by +election, but to the government, president or prince, by appointment. It +follows that those who are under the jurisdiction of a court are given +over to their 'natural' judges just as are parishioners to their vicars; +that the people belong to the magistrate like an inheritance; that the +litigant is the judge's, not the judge the litigant's. Apply universal +suffrage and graded election to the judicial as well as the +ecclesiastical functions; suppress the permanent tenure of office, which +is an alienation of the electoral right; take away from the State all +action, all influence, on the judicial body; let this body, separately +centralized in itself, no longer depend on any but the people,--and, in +the first place, you will have deprived power of its mightiest +instrument of tyranny; you will have made justice a principle of liberty +as well as of order. And, unless you suppose that the people, from whom +all powers should spring by universal suffrage, is in contradiction with +itself,--that what it wants in religion it does not want in +justice,--you are assured that the separation of powers can beget no +conflict; you may boldly lay it down as a principle that _separation_ +and _equilibrium_ are henceforth synonymous."[158] + +Then Proudhon goes on to the army, the customhouses, the public +departments of agriculture and commerce, public works, public education, +and finance; for each of these administrations he demands independence +and centralization on the basis of general suffrage.[159] + +"That a nation may manifest itself in its unity, it must be centralized +in its religion, centralized in its justice, centralized in its army, +centralized in its agriculture, industry, and commerce, centralized in +its finances,--in a word, centralized in all its functions and +faculties; the centralization must work from the bottom to the top, from +the circumference to the centre; all the functions must be independent +and severally self-governing. + +"Would you then make this invisible unity perceptible by a special +organ, preserve the image of the old government? Group these different +administrations by their heads; you have your cabinet, your _executive_, +which can then very well do without a Council of State. + +"Set up above all this a grand jury, legislature, or national assembly, +appointed directly by the whole country, and charged not with appointing +the cabinet officers,--they have their investiture from their particular +constituents,--but with auditing the accounts, making the laws, settling +the budget, deciding controversies between the administrations, all +after having heard the reports of the Public Department, or Department +of the Interior, to which the whole government will thenceforth be +reduced; and you will have a centralization the stronger the more you +multiply its foci, a responsibility the more real the more clear-cut is +the separation between the powers; you have a constitution at once +political and social."[160] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. Since Proudhon sanctions only the one legal norm that contracts must +be kept, he can approve only one legal relation, that between +contracting parties. Hence he must necessarily reject property as well +as the State, since it is established by particular legal norms, and, as +an involuntary legal relation, binds even such as have in no way entered +into a contract. _And he does reject property[161] absolutely, without +any spatial or temporal limitation; nay, it even appears to him to be a +legal relation which is particularly repugnant to justice._ + +"According to its definition, property is the right of using and +abusing; that is to say, it is the absolute, irresponsible domain of man +over his person and his goods. If property ceased to be the right to +abuse, it would cease to be property. Has not the proprietor the right +to give his goods to whomever he will, to let his neighbor burn without +crying fire, to oppose the public good, to squander his patrimony, to +exploit the laborer and hold him to ransom, to produce bad goods and +sell them badly? Can he be judicially constrained to use his property +well? can he be disturbed in the abuse of it? What am I saying? Is not +property, precisely because it is full of abuse, the most sacred thing +in the world for the legislator? Can one conceive of a property whose +use the police power should determine, whose abuse it should repress? Is +it not clear, in fine, that if one undertook to introduce justice into +property, one would destroy property, just as the law, by introducing +propriety into concubinage, destroyed concubinage?"[162] + +"Men steal: first, by violence on the highway; second, alone or in a +band; third, by burglary; fourth, by embezzlement; fifth, by fraudulent +bankruptcy; sixth, by forgery; seventh, by counterfeiting. Eighth, by +pocket-picking; ninth, by swindling; tenth, by breach of trust; +eleventh, by gambling and lotteries.--Twelfth, by usury. Thirteenth, by +rent-taking.--Fourteenth, by commerce, when the profits are more than +fair wages for the trader's work.--Fifteenth, by selling one's own +product at a profit, and by accepting a sinecure or a fat salary."[163] +"In theft such as the laws forbid, force and fraud are employed alone +and openly; in authorized theft they are disguised under a produced +utility, which they use as a device for plundering their victim. The +direct use of violence and force was early and unanimously rejected; no +nation has yet reached the point of delivering itself from theft when +united with talent, labor, and possession."[164] In this sense property +is "theft,"[165] "the exploitation of the weak by the strong,"[166] +"contrary to right,"[167] "the suicide of society."[168] + +II. _Justice demands, in place of property, a distribution of goods +based on the legal norm that contracts must be lived up to._ + +Proudhon calls that portion of goods which is assigned to the individual +by contract, "property." In 1840 he had demanded that individual +possession be substituted for property; with this one change evil would +disappear from the earth.[169] But in 1841 he is already explaining that +by property he means only its abuses;[170] nay, he even then describes +as necessary the creation of an immediately applicable social system in +which the rights of barter and sale, of direct and collateral +inheritance, of primogeniture and bequest, should find their place.[171] +In 1846 he says, "Some day transformed property will be an idea +positive, complete, social, and true; a property which will abolish the +old property and will become equally effective and beneficent for +all."[172] In 1848 he is declaring that "property, as to its principle +or substance, which is human personality, must never perish; it must +remain in man's heart as a perpetual stimulus to labor, as the +antagonist whose absence would cause labor to fall into idleness and +death."[173] + +And in 1850 he announces: "What I sought for as far back as 1840, in +defining property, what I am wanting now, is not a destruction; I have +said it till I am tired. That would have been to fall with Rousseau, +Plato, Louis Blanc himself, and all the adversaries of property, into +_Communism_, against which I protest with all my might; what I ask for +property is a BALANCE,"[174]--that is, "justice."[175] + +In all these pronouncements property means nothing else than that +portion of goods which falls to the individual on the basis of +contracts, on which society is to be built up.[176] The property which +Proudhon sanctions cannot be a special legal relation, but only a +possible part of the substance of the one legal relation which he +approves, the relation of contract. It can afford no protection against +a group of men whose extent is determined by legal norms, but only +against a group of men who have mutually secured a certain portion of +goods to each other by contract. Proudhon, therefore, is here using the +word "property" in an inexact sense; in the strict sense it can denote +only a portion of goods set apart in an involuntary legal relation by +particular legal norms. + +Accordingly, when in the name of justice Proudhon demands a certain +distribution of property, this means nothing more than that the +contracts on which society is to be built should make a certain sort of +provision with respect to the distribution of goods. And the way in +which they should determine it is this: that every man is to have the +product of his labor. + +"Let us conceive of wealth as a mass whose elements are held together +permanently by a chemical force, and into which new elements incessantly +enter and combine in different proportions, but according to a definite +law: value is the proportion (the measure) in which each of these +elements forms a part of the whole."[177] "I suppose, therefore, a force +which combines the elements of wealth in definite proportions and makes +of them a homogeneous whole."[178] "This force is LABOR. It is labor, +labor alone, that produces all the elements of wealth and combines them, +to the last molecule, according to a variable but definite law of +proportionality."[179] "Every product is a representative sign of +labor."[180] + +"Every product can consequently be exchanged for another."[181] "If then +the tailor, in return for furnishing the value of one day of his work, +consumes ten times the weaver's day, it is as if the weaver gave ten +days of his life for one day of the tailor's. This is precisely what +occurs when a peasant pays a lawyer twelve francs for a document that it +costs one hour to draw up; and this inequality, this iniquity in +exchange, is the mightiest cause of poverty. Every error in commutative +justice is an immolation of the laborer, a transfusion of a man's blood +into another man's body."[182] + +"What I demand with respect to property is a BALANCE. It is not for +nothing that the genius of nations has equipped Justice with this +instrument of precision. Justice applied to economy is in fact nothing +but a perpetual balance; or, to express myself still more precisely, +justice as regards the distribution of goods is nothing but the +obligation which rests upon every citizen and every State, in their +business relations, to conform to that law of equilibrium which +manifests itself everywhere in economy, and whose violation, accidental +or voluntary, is the fundamental principle of poverty."[183] + +2. That every man should enjoy the product of his labor is possible only +through reciprocity, according to Proudhon; therefore he calls his +doctrine "the theory of _mutuality_ or of the _mutuum_."[184] +"RECIPROCITY is expressed in the precept, 'Do to others what you would +have done to you,' a precept which political economy has translated into +its celebrated formula, 'Products exchange for products.' Now the evil +which is devouring us results from the fact that the law of reciprocity +is unrecognized, violated. The remedy consists altogether in the +promulgation of this law. The organization of our mutual and reciprocal +relations is the whole of social science."[185] + +And so Proudhon, in the solemn declaration which he prefixed to the +constitution of the People's Bank when he first published it, gives the +following assurance: "I protest that in criticising property, or rather +the whole body of institutions of which property is the pivot, I never +meant either to attack the individual rights recognized by previous +laws, or to dispute the legitimacy of acquired possessions, or to +instigate an arbitrary distribution of goods, or to put an obstacle in +the way of the free and regular acquisition of properties by bargain and +sale; or even to prohibit or suppress by sovereign decree land-rent and +interest on capital. I think that all these manifestations of human +activity should remain free and optional for all; I would admit no other +modifications, restrictions, or suppressions of them than naturally and +necessarily result from the universalization of the principle of +reciprocity and of the law of synthesis which I propound. This is my +last will and testament. I allow only him to suspect its sincerity, who +could tell a lie in the moment of death."[186] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_The change which justice calls for is to come about in this way, that +those men who have recognized the truth are to convince others how +necessary the change is for the sake of justice, and that hereby, +spontaneously, law is to transform itself, the State and property to +drop away, and the new condition to appear._ The new condition will +appear "as soon as the idea is popularized";[187] that it may appear, we +must "popularize the idea."[188] + +I. Nothing is requisite but to convince men that justice commands the +change. + +1. Proudhon rejects all other methods. His doctrine is "in accord with +the constitution and the laws."[189] "Accomplish the Revolution, they +say, and after this everything will be cleared up. As if the Revolution +itself could be accomplished without a leading idea!"[190] "To secure +justice to one's self by bloodshed is an extremity to which the +Californians, gathered since yesterday to seek for gold, may be reduced; +but may the luck of France preserve us from it!"[191] + +"Despite the violence which we witness, I do not believe that hereafter +liberty will need to use force to claim its rights and avenge its +wrongs. Reason will serve us better; and patience, like the Revolution, +is invincible."[192] + +2. But how shall we convince men, "how popularize the idea, if the +_bourgeoisie_ remains hostile; if the populace, brutalized by servitude, +full of prejudices and bad instincts, remains plunged in indifference; +if the professors, the academicians, the press, are calumniating you; if +the courts are truculent; if the powers that be muffle your voice? Don't +worry. Just as the lack of ideas makes one lose the most promising +games, war against ideas can only push forward the Revolution. Do you +not see already that the _regime_ of authority, of inequality, of +predestination, of eternal salvation, and of reasons of State, is daily +becoming still more intolerable for the well-to-do classes, whose +conscience and reason it tortures, than for the mass, whose stomach +cries out against it?"[193] + +3. The most effective means for convincing men, according to Proudhon, +is to present to the people, within the State and without violating its +law, "an example of centralization spontaneous, independent, and +social," thus applying even now the principles of the future +constitution of society.[194] "Rouse that collective action without +which the condition of the people will forever be unhappy and its +efforts powerless. Teach it to produce wealth and order with its own +hands, without the help of the authorities."[195] + +Proudhon sought to give such an example by the founding of the People's +Bank.[196] + +The People's Bank was to "insure work and prosperity to all producers by +organizing them as beginning and end of production with regard to one +another,--that is, as capitalists and as consumers."[197] + +"The People's Bank was to be the property of all the citizens who +accepted its services, who for this purpose furnished money to it if +they thought that it could not yet for some time do without a metallic +basis, and who, in every case, promised it their preference in +discounting paper, and received its notes as cash. Accordingly the +People's Bank, working for the profit of its customers themselves, had +no occasion to take interest for its loans nor to charge a discount on +commercial paper; it had only to take a very slight allowance to cover +salaries and expenses. So credit was GRATUITOUS!--The principle being +realized, the consequences unfolded themselves ad _infinitum_."[198] + +"So the People's Bank, giving an example of popular initiative alike in +government and in public economy, which thenceforth were to be +identified in a single synthesis, was becoming for the _proletariat_ at +once the principle and the instrument of their emancipation; it was +creating political and industrial liberty. And, as every philosophy and +every religion is the metaphysical or symbolic expression of social +economy, the People's Bank, changing the material basis of society, was +ushering in the revolution of philosophy and religion; it was thus, at +least, that its founders had conceived of it."[199] + +All this can best be made clear by reproducing some provisions from the +constitution of the People's Bank. + + + Art. 1. By these presents a commercial company is founded under the + name of _Societe de la Banque du Peuple_, consisting of Citizen + Proudhon, here present, and the persons who shall give their assent + to this constitution by becoming stockholders. + + Art. 3.... For the present the company will exist as a partnership + in which Citizen Proudhon shall be general partner, and the other + parties concerned shall be limited partners who shall in no case be + responsible for more than the value of their shares. + + Art. 5.... The firm name shall be P. J. Proudhon & Co. + + Art. 6. Besides the members of the company proper, every citizen is + invited to form a part of the People's Bank as a co-operator. For + this it suffices to assent to the bank's constitution and to accept + its paper. + + Art. 7. The People's Bank Company being capable of indefinite + extension, its virtual duration is endless. However, to conform to + the requirements of the law, it fixes its duration at ninety-nine + years, which shall commence on the day of its definitive + organization. + + Art. 9.... The People's Bank, having as its _basis_ the essential + gratuitousness of credit and exchange, as its _object_ the + circulation, not the production, of values, and as its _means_ the + mutual consent of producers and consumers, can and should work + without capital. + + This end will be reached when the entire mass of producers and + consumers shall have assented to the constitution of the company. + + Till then the People's Bank Company, having to conform to + established custom and the requirements of law, and especially in + order more effectively to invite citizens to join it, will provide + itself with capital. + + Art. 10. The capital of the People's Bank shall be five million + francs, divided into shares of five francs each. + + ... The company shall be definitively organized, and its business + shall begin, when ten thousand shares are taken. + + Art. 12. Stock shall be issued only at par. It shall bear no + interest. + + Art. 15. The principal businesses of the People's Bank are, 1, to + increase its cash on hand by issuing notes; 2, discounting endorsed + commercial paper; 3, discounting accepted orders (_commandes_) and + bills (_factures_); 4, loans on personal property; 5, loans on + personal security; 6, advances on annuities and collateral + security; 7, payments and collections; 8, advances to productive + and industrial enterprises (_la commande_). + + To these departments the People's Bank will add: 9, the functions + of a savings bank and endowment insurance; 10, insurance; 11, safe + deposit vaults; 12, the service of the budget.[200] + + Art. 18. In distinction from ordinary bank notes, payable in + _specie_ to some one's _order_, the paper of the People's Bank is + an order for goods, vested with a social character, rendered + perpetual, and is payable at sight by every stockholder and + co-operator in the _products_ or _services_ of his industry or + profession. + + Art. 21. Every co-operator agrees to trade by preference, for all + goods which the company can offer him, with the co-operators of the + bank, and to reserve his orders exclusively for his fellow + stockholders and fellow co-operators. + + In return, every producer or tradesman co-operating with the bank + agrees to furnish his goods to the other co-operators at a reduced + price. + + Art. 62. The People's Bank has its headquarters in Paris. + + Its aim is, in the course of time, to establish a branch in every + _arrondissement_ and a correspondent in every commune. + + Art. 63. As soon as circumstances permit, the present company shall + be converted into a corporation, since this form allows us to + realize, according to the wish of the founders, the threefold + principle, first, of election; second, of the separation and the + independence of the branches of work; third, of the personal + responsibility of every employee.[201] + + +II. If once men are convinced that justice commands the change, then +will "despotism fall of itself by its very uselessness."[202] The State +and property disappear, law is transformed, and the new condition of +things begins. + +"The Revolution does not act after the fashion of the old governmental, +aristocratic, or dynastic principle. It is Right, the balance of forces, +equality. It has no conquests to pursue, no nations to reduce to +servitude, no frontiers to defend, no fortresses to build, no armies to +feed, no laurels to pluck, no preponderance to maintain. The might of +its economic institutions, the gratuitousness of its credit, the +brilliancy of its thought, are its sufficient means for converting the +universe."[203] "The Revolution has for allies all who suffer oppression +and exploitation; let it appear, and the universe stretches its arms to +it."[204] + +"I want the peaceable revolution. I want you to make the very +institutions which I charge you to abolish, and the principles of law +which you will have to complete, serve toward the realization of my +wishes, so that the new society shall appear as the spontaneous, +natural, and necessary development of the old, and that the Revolution, +while abrogating the old order of things, shall nevertheless be the +progress of that order."[205] "When the people, once enlightened +regarding its true interests, declares its will not to reform the +government but to revolutionize society,"[206] then "the dissolution of +government in the economic organism"[207] will follow in a way about +which one can at present only make guesses.[208] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[125] Not (as stated by Diehl vol. 2 p. 116, Zenker p. 61) 1852. + +[126] Proudhon "_Propriete_" p. 295 [212. Bracketed references under +Proudhon are to the collected edition of his "_OEuvres completes_," +Paris, 1866-83.--The passage quoted above is probably the first case in +history where anybody called himself an Anarchist, though the word had +long been in use as a term of reproach for enemies]. + +[127] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 182-3 [1. 224-5]. + +[128] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 184-5 [1. 227]. + +[129] _Ib._ 1. 73 [132? but there he says _must be_, not _is_]. + +[130] _Ib._ 1. 185 [1. 228]. + +[131] _Ib._ 1. 195 [1. 235]. + +[132] _Ib._ 1. 185 [1. 228]. + +[133] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 195 [1. 235]. + +[134] _Ib._ 3. 45 [3. 276, but with the bracketed sentence much +abridged. For the phrase "rebel against right," remember that in French +_right_ and _common law_ are one and the same word]. + +[135] Pr. "_Propriete_" p. 18 [24-5]. + +[136] Pr. "_Idee_" 147-8 [136-7] + +[137] _Ib._ 149 [138]. + +[138] Pr. "_Idee_" pp. 149-50 [138]. + +[139] Pr. "_Principe_" p. 64 [44]. + +[140] Pr. "_Idee_" p. 235 [215]. + +[141] Pr. "_Principe_" p. 64 [44]. + +[142] Pr. "_Idee_" p. 343 [312]. + +[143] Pr. "_Idee_" pp. 342-3 [311-12]. + +[144] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 8 [29]. + +[145] _Ib._ p. 6 [23]. + +[146] Pr. "_Propriete_" p. 301 [216]. + +[147] _Ib._ pp. 298-9 [214]. + +[148] Pr. "_Solution_" p. 54 [39]. + +[149] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 7 [24]. + +[150] _Ib._ p. 7 [25-6]. + +[151] Pr. "_Propriete_" p. 301 [216], "_Confessions_" p. 68 [192], +"_Solution_" p. 119 [87]. + +[152] Pr. "_Principe_" p. 67 [46].--Proudhon's teaching was not, as +asserted by Diehl vol. 2 p. 116, vol. 3 pp. 166-7, and Zenker p. 61, +Anarchism till 1852 and Federalism thenceforward; his Anarchism was +Federalism from the start, only he later gave it the additional name of +Federalism. + +[153] Pr. "_Propriete_" pp. XIX-XX [10-11]. + +[154] Pr. "_Idee_" pp. 235-6 [215-16]. + +[155] Pr. "_Solution_" p. 119 [87]. + +[156] Pr. "_Propriete_" pp. 301-2 [216]. + +[157] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 65 [180-3; bracketed words a paraphrase.] + +[158] Pr. "_Confessions_" pp. 65-6 [183-4, except bracketed words]. + +[159] _Ib._ pp. 66-8 [185-9]. + +[160] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 68 [191-2]. + +[161] Pfau pp. 227-31, Adler p. 372, Zenker pp. 26, 41, fail to see +this, being influenced by the improper sense in which Proudhon uses the +word "property" for a contractually guaranteed share of goods. +[Eltzbacher's statement, on the other hand, is not so much drawn from +Proudhon himself as deduced from a comparison of Eltzbacher's definition +of property with the statement that Proudhon admits no law but the law +of contract. I do not think this last statement is correct; I think +Proudhon would have his voluntary contractual associations protect their +members in certain definable respects--among others, in the possession +of goods--against those who stood outside the contract as well as +against those within. Then this would be, by Eltzbacher's definitions, +both law and property.] + +[162] Pr. "_Contradictions_" 2. 303-4 [2. 237-8]. + +[163] Pr. "_Propriete_" pp. 285-90 [205-9]. + +[164] Pr. "_Propriete_" p. 293 [211]. + +[165] _Ib._ pp. 1-2 [13]. + +[166] _Ib._ p. 283 [204]. + +[167] _Ib._ p. 311 [223]. + +[168] _Ib._ p. 311 [223]. + +[169] _Ib._ p. 311 [223]. + +[170] _Ib._ pp. XVIII-XIX [10; consult the passage]. + +[171] _Ib._ pp. XIX-XX [11]. + +[172] Pr. "_Contradictions_" 2. 234-5 [2. 184]. + +[173] Pr. "_Droit_" p. 50 [230]. + +[174] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 302-3 [1. 324-5]. + +[175] _Ib._ 303 [1. 325]. + +[176] Pr. "_Idee_" p. 235 [215]; "_Principe_" p. 64 [44]. + +[177] Pr. "_Contradictions_" 1. 51 [1. 74]. + +[178] _Ib._ 1. 53 [1. 75]. + +[179] _Ib._ 1. 55. [1. 76-7]. + +[180] _Ib._ 1. 68 [1. 87]. + +[181] _Ib._ 1. 68 [1. 87]. + +[182] _Ib._ 1. 83 [1. 98-9]. + +[183] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 302-3 [1. 325]. + +[184] Pr. "_Contradictions_" 2. 528 [2. 414]. + +[185] Pr. "_Organisation_" p. 5 [93]. + +[186] Pr. "_Banque_" pp. 3-4 [260]. + +[187] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 515 [2. 133]. + +[188] _Ib._ 1. 515 [2. 133]. + +[189] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 71 [201]. + +[190] Pr. "_Justice_" 1, 515 [2, 133. Eltzbacher finds the sense "all +will be enlightened" where I translate "everything will be cleared up." +Eltzbacher's view of the sense--that to those who say "Enlightenment +must come by the Revolution" Proudhon replies, "No, the Revolution must +come by enlightenment"--correctly gives the thought brought out in the +context]. + +[191] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 466 [2. 90]. + +[192] _Ib._ 1. 470-71 [2. 94]. + +[193] _Ib._ 1. 515 [2. 133-4]. + +[194] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 69 [196]. + +[195] _Ib._ p. 72 [203]. + +[196] _Ib._ p. 69 [196]. + +[197] _Ib._ p. 69 [196]. + +[198] _Ib._ pp. 69-70 [197]. + +[199] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 70 [197-8]. + +[200] [French dictionaries leave us somewhat in the lurch as to +commercial usages which differ from the English. Eltzbacher translates +8, "investment as silent partner"; 12, "balancing accounts."] + +[201] Pr. "_Banque_" pp. 5-20 [261-77]. + +[202] Pr. "_Confessions_" p. 72 [202-3]. + +[203] Pr. "_Justice_" 1. 509 [2. 128-9]. + +[204] _Ib._ 1. 510 [2. 129]. + +[205] Pr. "_Idee_" pp. 196-7 [181]. + +[206] _Ib._ p. 197 [181]. + +[207] _Ib._ p. 277 [253]. + +[208] _Ib._ pp. 195, 197 [180-81]. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +STIRNER'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +1. Johann Kaspar Schmidt was born in 1806, at Bayreuth in Bavaria. He +studied philosophy and theology at Berlin from 1826 to 1828, at Erlangen +from 1828 to 1829. In 1829 he interrupted his studies, made a prolonged +tour through Germany, and then lived alternately at Koenigsberg and Kulm +till 1832. From 1832 to 1834 he studied at Berlin again; in 1835 he +passed his tests there as _Gymnasiallehrer_. He received no government +appointment, however, and in 1839 became teacher in a young ladies' +seminary in Berlin. He gave up this place in 1844, but continued to live +in Berlin, and died there in 1856. + +In part under the pseudonym Max Stirner, in part anonymously, Schmidt +published a small number of works, mostly of a philosophical nature. + +2. Stirner's teaching about law, the State, and property is contained +chiefly in his book "_Der Einzige und sein Eigentum_" (1845). + +--But here arises the question, Can we speak of such a thing as a +"teaching" of Stirner's? + +Stirner recognizes no _ought_. "Men are such as they should be--can be. +What should they be? Surely not more than they can be! And what can they +be? Not more, again, than they--can, _i. e._ than they have the +ability, the strength, to be."[209] "A man is 'called' to nothing, and +has no 'proper business,' no 'function,' as little as a plant or beast +has a 'vocation.' He has not a vocation; but he has powers, which +express themselves where they are, because their being consists only in +their expression, and which can remain idle as little as life, which +would no longer be life if it 'stood still' but for a second. Now one +might cry to man, 'Use your power.' But this imperative would be given +the meaning that it was man's proper business to use his power. It is +not so. Rather, every one really does use his power, without first +regarding this as his vocation; every one uses in every moment as much +power as he possesses."[210] + +Nay, Stirner acknowledges no such thing as truth. "Truths are phrases, +ways of speaking, words (_logos_); brought into connection, or arranged +by ranks and files, they form logic, science, philosophy."[211] "Nor is +there a truth,--not right, not liberty, humanity, etc.,--which could +subsist before me, and to which I would submit."[212] "If there is a +single truth to which man must consecrate his life and his powers +because he is man, then he is subjected to a rule, dominion, law, etc.; +he is a man in service."[213] "As long as you believe in truth, you do +not believe in yourself; you are a--servant, a--religious man. You +alone are truth; or rather, you are more than truth, which is nothing +at all before you."[214] + +If one chose to draw the extreme inference from this, Stirner's book +would be only a self-avowal, an expression of thoughts without any claim +to general validity; in it Stirner would not be informing us what he +thinks to be true, or what in his opinion we ought to do, but only +giving us an opportunity to observe the play of his ideas. Stirner did +not draw this inference,[215] and one should not let the style of the +book, which speaks mostly of Stirner's "I," lead him to think that +Stirner did draw it. He calls that man "blinded, who wants to be only +'Man'."[216] He takes the floor against "the erroneous consciousness of +not being able to entitle myself to as much as I want."[217] He mocks at +our grandmothers' belief in ghosts.[218] He declares that "penalty must +make room for satisfaction,"[219] that man "should defend himself +against man."[220] And he asserts that "over the door of our time stands +not Apollo's 'Know thyself,' but a 'Turn yourself to account!'"[221] So +Stirner intends not only to give us information about his inward +condition at the time he composed his book, but to tell us what he +thinks to be true and what we ought to do; his book is not a mere +self-avowal, but a scientific teaching. + +3. Stirner does not call his teaching about law, the State, and property +"Anarchism." He prefers to use the epithet "anarchic" to designate +political liberalism, which he combats.[222] + + +2.--BASIS + +_According to Stirner the supreme law for each one of us is his own +welfare._ + +What does one's own welfare mean? "Let us seek out the enjoyment of +life!"[223] "Henceforth the question is not how one can acquire life, +but how he can expend it, enjoy it; not how one is to produce in himself +the true ego, but how he is to dissolve himself, to live himself +out."[224] "If the enjoyment of life is to triumph over the longing or +hope for life, it must overcome it in its double significance which +Schiller brings out in 'The Ideal and Life'; it must crush spiritual and +temporal poverty, abolish the ideal and--the want of daily bread. He who +must lay out his life in prolonging life cannot enjoy it, and he who is +still seeking his life does not have it, and can as little enjoy it; +both are poor."[225] + +Our own welfare is our supreme law. Stirner recognizes no duty.[226] +"Whether what I think and do is Christian, what do I care? Whether it is +human, humane, liberal, or unhuman, inhumane, illiberal, what do I ask +about that? If only it aims at what I would have, if only I satisfy +myself in it, then fit it with predicates as you like; it is all one to +me."[227] "So then my relation to the world is this: I no longer do +anything for it 'for God's sake', I do nothing 'for man's sake', but +what I do I do 'for my sake'."[228] "Where the world comes in my +way--and it comes in my way everywhere--I devour it to appease the +hunger of my egoism. You are to me nothing but--my food, just as I also +am fed upon and used up by you. We have only one relation to each other, +that of utility, of usableness, of use."[229] "I too love men, not +merely individuals, but every one. But I love them with the +consciousness of egoism; I love them because love makes me happy, I love +because love is natural to me, because it pleases me. I know no +'commandment of love'."[230] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _Looking to each one's own welfare, Stirner rejects law, and that +without any limitation to particular spatial or temporal conditions._ + +Law[231] exists not by the individual's recognizing it as favorable to +his interests, but by his holding it sacred. "Who can ask about 'right' +if he is not occupying the religious standpoint just like other people? +Is not 'right' a religious concept, _i. e._ something sacred?"[232] +"When the Revolution stamped liberty as a 'right' it took refuge in the +religious sphere, in the region of the sacred, the ideal."[233] "I am to +revere the sultanic law in a sultanate, the popular law in republics, +the canon law in Catholic communities, etc. I am to subordinate myself +to these laws, I am to count them sacred."[234] "The law is sacred, and +he who outrages it is a criminal."[235] "There are no criminals except +against something sacred";[236] crime falls when the sacred +disappears.[237] Punishment has a meaning only in relation to something +sacred.[238] "What does the priest who admonishes the criminal do? He +sets forth to him the great wrong of having by his act desecrated that +which was hallowed by the State, its property (in which, you will see, +the lives of those who belong to the State must be included)."[239] + +But law is no more sacred than it is favorable to the individual's +welfare. "Right--is a delusion, bestowed by a ghost."[240] Men have "not +recovered the mastery over the thought of 'right,' which they themselves +created; their creature is running away with them."[241] "Let the +individual man claim ever so many rights; what do I care for his right +and his claim?"[242] I do not respect them.--"What you have the might to +be you have the right to be. I deduce all right and all entitlement from +myself; I am entitled to everything that I have might over. I am +entitled to overthrow Zeus, Jehovah, God, etc., if I can; if I cannot, +then these gods will always remain in the right and in the might as +against me."[243] + +"Right crumbles into its nothingness when it is swallowed up by +force,"[244] "but with the concept the word too loses its meaning."[245] +"The people will perhaps be against the blasphemer; hence a law against +blasphemy. Shall I therefore not blaspheme? Is this law to be more to me +than an order?"[246] "He who has might 'stands above the law'."[247] +"The earth belongs to him who knows how to take it, or who does not let +it be taken from him, does not let himself be deprived of it. If he +appropriates it, then not merely the earth, but also the right to it, +belongs to him. This is egoistic right; _i. e._, it suits me, therefore +it is right."[248] + +II. _Self-welfare commands that in future it itself should be men's rule +of action in place of the law._ + +Each of us is "unique,"[249] "a world's history for himself,"[250] and, +when he "knows himself as unique,"[251] he is a "self-owner."[252] "God +and mankind have made nothing their object, nothing but themselves. Let +me then likewise make myself my object, who am, as well as God, the +nothing of all else, who am my all, who am the Unique."[253] "Away then +with every business that is not altogether my business! You think at +least the 'good cause' must be my business? What good, what bad? Why, I +myself am my business, and I am neither good nor bad. Neither has +meaning for me. What is divine is God's business, what is human 'Man's.' +My business is neither what is divine nor what is human, it is not what +is true, good, right, free, etc., but only what is mine; and it is no +general business, but is--unique, as I am unique. Nothing is more to me +than myself!"[254] + +"What a difference between freedom and self-ownership! I am free from +what I am rid of; I am owner of what I have in my power."[255] "My +freedom becomes complete only when it is my--might; but by this I cease +to be a mere freeman and become a self-owner."[256] "Each must say to +himself, I am all to myself and I do all for my sake. If it ever became +clear to you that God, the commandments, etc., do you only harm, that +they encroach on you and ruin you, you would certainly cast them from +you just as the Christians once condemned Apollo or Minerva or heathen +morality."[257] "How one acts only from himself, and asks no questions +about anything further, the Christians have made concrete in the idea of +'God.' He acts 'as pleases him'."[258] + +"Might is a fine thing and useful for many things; for 'one gets farther +with a handful of might than with a bagful of right.' You long for +freedom? You fools! If you took might, freedom would come of itself. +See, he who has might 'stands above the law.' How does this prospect +taste to you, you 'law-abiding' people? But you have no taste!"[259] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. _Together with law Stirner necessarily has to reject also, just as +unconditionally, the legal institution which is called State._ Without +law the State is not possible. "'Respect for the statutes!' By this +cement the whole fabric of the State is held together."[260] + +The State as well as the law, then, exists, not by the individual's +recognizing it as favorable to his welfare, but rather by his counting +it sacred, by "our being entangled in the error that it is an I, as +which it applies to itself the name of a 'moral, mystical, or political +person.' I, who really am I, must pull off this lion's skin of the I +from the parading thistle-eater."[261] The same holds good of the State +as of the family. "If each one who belongs to the family is to recognize +and maintain that family in its permanent existence, then to each the +tie of blood must be sacred, and his feeling for it must be that of +family piety, of respect for the ties of blood, whereby every +blood-relative becomes hallowed to him. So, also, to every member of the +State-community this community must be sacred, and the concept which is +supreme to the State must be supreme to him too."[262] The State is "not +only entitled, but compelled, to demand" this.[263] + +But the State is not sacred. "The State's behavior is violence, and it +calls its violence 'law', but that of the individual 'crime'."[264] If I +do not do what it wishes, "then the State turns against me with all the +force of its lion-paws and eagle-talons; for it is the king of beasts, +it is lion and eagle."[265] "Even if you do overpower your opponent as a +power, it does not follow that you are to him a hallowed authority, +unless he is a degenerate. He does not owe you respect, and reverence, +even if he will be wary of your might."[266] + +Nor is the State favorable to the individual's welfare. "I am the mortal +enemy of the State."[267] "The general welfare as such is not my +welfare, but only the extremity of self-denial. The general welfare may +exult aloud while I must lie like a hushed dog; the State may be in +splendor while I starve."[268] "Every State is a despotism, whether the +despot be one or many, or whether, as people usually conceive to be the +case in a republic, all are masters, _i. e._ each tyrannizes over the +others."[269] "Doubtless the State leaves the individuals as free play +as possible, only they must not turn the play to earnest, must not +forget it. The State has never any object but to limit the individual, +to tame him, to subordinate him, to subject him to something general; it +lasts only so long as the individual is not all in all, and is only the +clear-cut limitation of me, my limitedness, my slavery."[270] + +"A State never aims to bring about the free activity of individuals, but +only that activity which is bound to the State's purpose."[271] "The +State seeks to hinder every free activity by its censorship, its +oversight, its police, and counts this hindering as its duty, because it +is in truth a duty of self-preservation."[272] "I am not allowed to do +all the work I can, but only so much as the State permits; I must not +turn my thoughts to account, nor my work, nor, in general, anything +that is mine."[273] "Pauperism is the valuelessness of Me, the +phenomenon of my being unable to turn myself to account. Therefore State +and pauperism are one and the same. The State does not let me attain my +value, and exists only by my valuelessness; its goal is always to get +some benefit out of me, _i. e._ to exploit me, to use me up, even if +this using consisted only in my providing a _proles_ (_proletariat_); it +wants me to be 'its creature'."[274] + +"The State cannot brook man's standing in a direct relation to man; it +must come between as a--mediator, it must--intervene. It tears man from +man, to put itself as 'spirit' in the middle. The laborers who demand a +higher wage are treated as criminals so soon as they want to get it by +compulsion. What are they to do? Without compulsion they don't get it, +and in compulsion the State sees a self-help, a price fixed by the ego, +a real, free turning to account of one's property, which it cannot +permit."[275] + +II. _Every man's own welfare demands that a social human life solely on +the basis of its precepts should take the place of the State._ Stirner +calls this sort of social life "the union of egoists."[276] + +1. Even after the State is abolished men are to live together in +society. "Self-owners will fight for the unity which is their own will, +for union."[277] But what is to keep men together in the union? + +Not a promise, at any rate, "If I were bound to-day and hereafter to my +will of yesterday," my will would "be benumbed. My creature, _viz._, a +particular expression of will, would have become my dominator. Because I +was a fool yesterday I must remain such all my life."[278] "The union is +my own creation, my creature, not sacred, not a spiritual power above my +spirit, as little as any association of whatever sort. As I am not +willing to be a slave to my maxims, but lay them bare to my constant +criticism without any warrant, and admit no bail whatever for their +continuance, so still less do I pledge myself to the union for my future +and swear away my soul to it as men are said to do with the devil, and +as is really the case with the State and all intellectual authority; but +I am and remain more to myself than State, Church, God, and the like, +and, consequently, also infinitely more than the union."[279] + +Rather, men are to be held together in the union by the advantage which +each individual has from the union at every moment. If I can "use" my +fellow-men, "then I am likely to come to an understanding and unite +myself with them, in order to strengthen my power by the agreement, and +to do more by joint force than individual force could accomplish. In +this joinder I see nothing at all else than a multiplication of my +strength, and only so long as it is my multiplied strength do I retain +it."[280] + +Hence the union is something quite different from "that society which +Communism means to found."[281] "You bring into the union your whole +power, your ability, and assert yourself; in society you with your +labor-strength are spent. In the former you live egoistically, in the +latter humanly, _i. e._ religiously, as a 'member in the body of this +Lord'. You owe to society what you have, and are in duty bound to it, +are--possessed by 'social duties'; you utilize the union, and, undutiful +and unfaithful, give it up when you are no longer able to get any use +out of it. If society is more than you, then it is of more consequence +to you than yourself; the union is only your tool, or the sword with +which you sharpen and enlarge your natural strength; the union exists +for you and by you, society contrariwise claims you for itself and +exists even without you; in short, society is sacred, the union is your +own; society uses you up, you use up the union."[282] + +2. But what form may such a social life take in detail? In reply to his +critic, Moses Hess, Stirner gives some examples of unions that already +exist. + +"Perhaps at this moment children are running together under his window +for a comradeship of play; let him look at them, and he will espy merry +egoistic unions. Perhaps Hess has a friend or a sweetheart; then he may +know how heart joins itself to heart, how two of them unite egoistically +in order to have the enjoyment of each other, and how neither 'gets the +worst of the bargain.' Perhaps he meets a few pleasant acquaintances on +the street and is invited to accompany them into a wine-shop; does he go +with them in order to do an act of kindness to them, or does he 'unite' +with them because he promises himself enjoyment from it? Do they have to +give him their best thanks for his 'self-sacrifice' or do they know +that for an hour they formed an 'egoistic union' together?"[283] Stirner +even thinks of a "German Union."[284] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _Together with law Stirner necessarily has to reject also, and just +as unconditionally, the legal institution of property._ This "lives by +grace of the law. It has its guarantee only in the law; it is not a +fact, but a fiction, a thought. This is law-property, legal property, +warranted property. It is mine not by me, but by--law."[285] + +Property in this sense, as well as the law and the State, is based not +on the individual's recognizing it as favorable to his welfare, but on +his counting it sacred. "Property in the civil sense means sacred +property, in such a way that I must respect your property. 'Have respect +for property!' Therefore the political liberals would like every one to +have his bit of property, and have in part brought about an incredible +parcellation by their efforts in this direction. Every one must have his +bone, on which he may find something to bite."[286] + +But property is not sacred. "I do not step timidly back from your +property, be you one or many, but look upon it always as my property, in +which I have no need to 'respect' anything. Now do the like with what +you call my property!"[287] + +Nor is property favorable to the individual's welfare. "Property, as the +civic liberals understand it, is untenable, because the civic +proprietor is really nothing but a propertyless man, a man everywhere +excluded. Instead of the world's belonging to him, as it might, there +belongs to him not even the paltry point on which he turns around."[288] + +II. _Every one's own welfare commands that a distribution of commodities +based solely on its precepts should take the place of property._ When +Stirner designates as "property" the share of commodities assigned to +the individual by these precepts, it is in the improper sense in which +he constantly uses the word property: in the proper sense only a share +of commodities assigned by law can be called property.[289] + +Now, according to the decrees of his own welfare, every man should have +all that he is powerful enough to obtain. + +"What they are not competent to tear from me the power over, that +remains my property: all right, then let power decide about property, +and I will expect everything from my power! Alien power, power that I +leave to another, makes me a slave; then let own power make me an +owner."[290] "To what property am I entitled? To any to which I--empower +myself. I give myself the right of property in taking property to +myself, or giving myself the proprietor's power, plenary power, +empowerment."[291] "What I am competent to have is my +'competence.'"[292] "The sick, children, the aged, are still competent +for a great deal; _e. g._ to receive their living instead of taking it. +If they are competent to control you to the extent of having you desire +their continued existence, then they have a power over you."[293] "What +competence the child possesses in its smile, its play, its crying,--in +short, in its mere existence! Are you capable of resisting its demand? +or do you not hold out to it, as a mother, your breast,--as a father, so +much of your belongings as it needs? It puts you under constraint, and +therefore possesses what you call yours."[294] + +"Property, therefore, should not and cannot be done away with; rather, +it must be torn from ghostly hands and become my property; then will the +erroneous consciousness that I cannot entitle myself to as much as I +want vanish.--'But what cannot a man want?' Well, he who wants much, and +knows how to get it, has in all times taken it to him, as Napoleon did +the continent, and the French Algeria. Therefore the only point is just +that the respectful 'lower classes' should at length learn to take to +themselves what they want. If they reach their hands too far for you, +why, defend yourselves."[295] "What 'man' wants does not by any means +furnish a scale for me and my needs; for I may have a use for more, or +for less. Rather, I must have as much as I am competent to appropriate +to myself."[296] + +2. "In this matter, as well as in others, unions will multiply the +individual's means and make secure his assailed property."[297] "When it +is our will no longer to leave the land to the land-owners, but to +appropriate it to ourselves, we unite ourselves for this purpose; we +form a union, a _societe_, which makes itself owner; if we are +successful, they cease to be land-owners. And, as we chase them out from +land and soil, so we can also from many another property, to make it our +own, the property of the--conquerors. The conquerors form a society, +which one may conceive of as so great that by degrees it embraces all +mankind; but so-called mankind is also, as such, only a thought (ghost); +its reality is the individuals. And these individuals as a collective +mass will deal not less arbitrarily with land and soil than does an +isolated individual."[298] + +"What all want to have a share in will be withdrawn from that individual +who wants to have it for himself alone; it is made a common possession. +As a common possession every one has a share in it, and this share is +his property. Just so, even in our old relations, a house which belongs +to five heirs is their common possession; but the fifth part of the +proceeds is each one's property. The property which for the present is +still withheld from us can be better made use of when it is in the hands +of us all. Let us therefore associate ourselves for the purpose of this +robbery."[299] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_According to Stirner the change which every one's own welfare requires +is to come about in this way,--that men in sufficient number first +undergo an inward change and recognize their own welfare as their +highest law, and that these men then bring to pass by force the outward +change also: to wit, the abrogation of law, State, and property, and +the introduction of the new condition._ + +I. The first and most important thing is the inward change of men. + +"Revolution and insurrection must not be regarded as synonymous. The +former consists in an overturning of conditions, of the existing +condition or state, the State or society, and so is a political or +social act; the latter has indeed a transformation of conditions as its +inevitable consequence, but starts not from this but from men's +discontent with themselves, is not a lifting of shields but a lifting of +individuals, a coming up, without regard to the arrangements that spring +from it. The Revolution aimed at new arrangements: the Insurrection +leads to no longer having ourselves arranged but arranging ourselves, +and sets no brilliant hope on 'institutions.' It is not a fight against +the existing order, since, if it prospers, the existing order collapses +of itself; it is only a working my way out of the existing order. If I +leave the existing order, it is dead and passes into decay. Now, since +my purpose is not the upsetting of an existing order but the lifting of +myself above it, my aim and act are not political or social, but, as +directed upon myself and my ownness alone, egoistic."[300] + +Why was the founder of Christianity "not a revolutionist, not a +demagogue as the Jews would have liked to see him; why was he not a +Liberal? Because he expected no salvation from a change of _conditions_, +and this whole business was indifferent to him. He was not a +revolutionist, like Caesar for instance, but an insurgent; not an +overturner of the State, but one who straightened _himself_ up. He waged +no Liberal or political war against the existing authorities, but wanted +to go his own way regardless of these authorities and undisturbed by +them."[301] + +"Everything sacred is a bond, a fetter. Everything sacred will be, must +be, perverted by perverters of law; therefore our present time has such +perverters by the quantity in all spheres. They are preparing for the +break of the law, for lawlessness."[302] "Regard yourself as more +powerful than they allege you to be, and you have more power; regard +yourself as more, and you are more."[303] "The poor become free and +proprietors only when they--'rise'."[304] "Only from egoism can the +lower classes get help, and this help they must give to themselves +and--will give to themselves. If they do not let themselves be +constrained into fear, they are a power."[305] + +II. Furthermore, in order to bring about the "transformation of +conditions"[306] and put the new condition in the place of law, State, +and property, violent insurrection against the condition that has +hitherto existed is requisite. + +1. "The State can be overcome only by a violent arbitrariness."[307] +"The individual's violence [_Gewalt_] is called crime [_Verbrechen_], +and only by crime does he break [_brechen_] the State's authority +[_Gewalt_] when he opines that the State is not above him, but he above +the State."[308] "Here too the result is that the thinkers' combat +against the government is wrong, _viz._ in impotence, so far as it +cannot bring into the field anything but thoughts against a personal +power (the egoistic power stops the mouths of the thinkers). The +theoretical combat cannot complete the victory, and the sacred power of +thought succumbs to the might of egoism. It is only the egoistic combat, +the combat of egoists on both sides, that clears up everything."[309] + +"The property question cannot be solved so gently as the Socialists, +even the Communists, dream. It is solved only by the war of all against +all."[310] "Let me then retract the might which I have conceded to +others out of ignorance regarding the strength of my own might! Let me +say to myself, 'Whatever my might reaches to is my property,' and then +claim as property all that I feel myself strong enough to attain; and +let me make my real property extend as far as I entitle (_i. e._ +empower) myself to take."[311] "In order to extirpate the unpossessing +rabble, egoism does not say, 'Wait and see what the Board of Equity +will--donate to you in the name of the collectivity', but 'Put your hand +to it and take what you need!'"[312] + +In this combat Stirner agrees to all methods. "I will not draw back with +a shudder from any act because there dwells in it a spirit of +godlessness, immorality, wrongfulness, as little as St. Boniface was +disposed to abstain from chopping down the heathens' sacred oak on +account of religious scruples."[313] "The power over life and death, +which Church and State reserved to themselves, this too I +call--mine."[314] "The life of the individual man I rate only at what it +is worth. His goods, the material and the spiritual alike, are mine, and +I dispose of them as proprietor to the extent of my--might."[315] + +2. Stirner depicts for us a single event in this violent transformation +of conditions. He assumes that certain men come to realize that they +occupy a disproportionately unfavorable position in the State as +compared with others who receive the preference. + +"Those who are in the unfavorable position take courage to ask the +question, 'By what, then, is your property secure, you favored ones?' +and give themselves the answer, 'By our refraining from interference! By +our protection, therefore! And what do you give us for it? Kicks and +contempt you give the "common people"; police oversight, and a catechism +with the chief sentence "Respect what is not yours, what belongs to +others! respect others, and especially superiors!" But we reply, "If you +want our respect, buy it for a price that shall be acceptable to us." We +will leave you your property, if you pay duly for this leaving. With +what, indeed, does the general in time of peace pay for the many +thousands of his yearly income? or Another for the sheer +hundred-thousands and millions? With what do you pay us for chewing +potatoes and looking quietly on while you swallow oysters? Only buy the +oysters from us as dear as we have to buy the potatoes from you, and +you may go on eating them. Or do you suppose the oysters do not belong +to us as much as to you? You will make an outcry about violence if we +take hold and help eat them, and you are right. Without violence we do +not get them, as you no less have them by doing violence to us. + +"'But take the oysters and done with it, and let us come to what is in a +closer way our property (for this other is only possession)--to labor. +We toil twelve hours in the sweat of our foreheads, and you offer us a +few groschen for it. Then take the like for your labor too. We will come +to terms all right if only we have first agreed on the point that +neither any longer needs to--donate anything to the other. For centuries +we have offered you alms in our kindly--stupidity, have given the mite +of the poor and rendered to the masters what is--not the masters'; now +just open your bags, for henceforth there is a tremendous rise in the +price of our ware. We will take nothing away from you, nothing at all, +only you shall pay better for what you want to have. What have you then? +"I have an estate of a thousand acres." And I am your plowman, and will +hereafter do your plowing only for a thaler a day wages. "Then I'll get +another." You will not find one, for we plowmen are no longer doing +anything different, and if one presents himself who takes less, let him +beware of us.'"[316] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[209] Stirner p. 439. [The page-numbers of Stirner's first edition, here +cited, agree almost exactly with those of the English translation under +the title "The Ego and His Own." Any passage quoted here will in general +be found in the English translation either on the page whose number is +given or on the preceding page; for the early pages, subtract two or +three from the number.] + +[210] _Ib._ pp. 435-6. + +[211] _Ib._ p. 465. + +[212] _Ib._ p. 464. + +[213] _Ib._ p. 466. + +[214] Stirner p. 473. + +[215] No more do his adherents, _e. g._ Mackay, "Stirner" pp. 164-5. + +[216] Stirner p. 322. + +[217] _Ib._ p. 343. + +[218] _Ib._ p. 45. + +[219] _Ib._ p. 318. + +[220] _Ib._ p. 318. + +[221] _Ib._ p. 420. + +[222] _Ib._ pp. 189-90. + +[223] Stirner p. 427. + +[224] _Ib._ p. 428. + +[225] _Ib._ p. 429. + +[226] _Ib._ p. 258. + +[227] _Ib._ p. 478. + +[228] _Ib._ p. 426. + +[229] Stirner p. 395. + +[230] _Ib._ p. 387. + +[231] [To understand some of the following citations it is necessary to +remember that in German "law" (in the sense of common law, or including +this) and "right" are one and the same word.--While it is probably not +fair to say that these assaults of Stirner are directed only against +some laws, it does seem fair to say that they deny to the laws only some +sorts of validity. We have very little material for compiling the +constructive side of Stirner's teaching, for he avoided specifying what +things the Egoists or their unions were to do in his future social +order; he said explicitly that the only way to know what a slave will do +when he breaks his fetters is to wait and see. But, while he may nowhere +have stated a law which is to obtain in the good time coming, neither +has he said anything which authorizes us to declare that none of his +unions will ever make laws on such a basis as (for instance) the rules +of the Stock Exchange. On page 114 below is quoted a passage where he +distinctly and approvingly contemplates the possibility that a union of +his followers may fix a minimum wage, and may threaten violence to any +person who consents to work below the scale. This would be law, and +might easily be the germ of a State. On pages 108 and 109 are quoted +passages which strongly suggest that the Egoistic union would undertake +to defend its member against all interference with his possession of +certain goods; this would be both law and property.] + +[232] Stirner p. 247. + +[233] Stirner p. 248. + +[234] _Ib._ p. 246. + +[235] _Ib._ p. 314. + +[236] _Ib._ p. 268. + +[237] _Ib._ p. 317. + +[238] _Ib._ pp. 317, 316. + +[239] _Ib._ pp. 265-6. + +[240] _Ib._ p. 276. + +[241] _Ib._ p. 270. + +[242] _Ib._ pp. 326-7. + +[243] _Ib._ pp. 248-9. + +[244] Stirner p. 275. + +[245] _Ib._ p. 275. + +[246] _Ib._ pp. 259, 256. + +[247] _Ib._ p. 220. + +[248] _Ib._ p. 251. [The German idiom for "it suits me" is "it is right +to me"]. + +[249] _Ib._ p. 8. + +[250] _Ib._ p. 490. + +[251] _Ib._ p. 491. + +[252] _Ib._ p. 491. + +[253] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[254] Stirner p. 8. + +[255] _Ib._ p. 207. + +[256] _Ib._ p. 219. + +[257] _Ib._ p. 214. + +[258] _Ib._ p. 212. + +[259] _Ib._ p. 220. + +[260] Stirner p. 314. + +[261] _Ib._ p. 295. + +[262] _Ib._ pp. 231-2. + +[263] _Ib._ p. 231. + +[264] _Ib._ p. 259. + +[265] _Ib._ p. 337. + +[266] Stirner p. 258. + +[267] _Ib._ p. 339. + +[268] _Ib._ p. 280. + +[269] _Ib._ p. 257. + +[270] _Ib._ p. 298. + +[271] _Ib._ p. 298. + +[272] _Ib._ p. 299. + +[273] Stirner p. 298. + +[274] _Ib._ p. 336. + +[275] _Ib._ pp. 337-8. + +[276] _Ib._ p. 235; Stirner "_Vierteljahrsschrift_" p. 192. + +[277] Stirner p. 304. + +[278] Stirner p. 258. + +[279] _Ib._ p 411. + +[280] _Ib._ p. 416. + +[281] _Ib._ p. 411. + +[282] Stirner pp. 417-18. + +[283] Stirner "_Vierteljahrsschrift_" pp. 193-4. + +[284] Stirner p. 305. + +[285] _Ib._ p. 332. + +[286] _Ib._ pp. 327-8. + +[287] _Ib._ pp. 328, 326. + +[288] Stirner pp. 328-9. + +[289] Zenker fails to recognize this when he asserts (p. 80) that +Stirner demands property based on the right of occupation + +[290] Stirner p. 340. + +[291] _Ib._ p. 339. + +[292] _Ib._ p. 351. + +[293] Stirner p. 351. + +[294] _Ib._ pp. 351-2. + +[295] _Ib._ pp. 343-4. + +[296] _Ib._ p. 349. + +[297] _Ib._ p. 342. + +[298] Stirner pp. 329-30. [See footnote on page 97.] + +[299] _Ib._ p. 330. + +[300] Stirner pp. 421-2. + +[301] Stirner p. 423. + +[302] _Ib._ p. 284. + +[303] _Ib._ p. 483. + +[304] _Ib._ p. 344. + +[305] _Ib._ p. 343. + +[306] _Ib._ p. 422. + +[307] _Ib._ p. 199. + +[308] _Ib._ 259. + +[309] Stirner pp. 198-9. + +[310] _Ib._ p. 344. [But Stirner does not mean that all are to fight +against all; they are merely to declare themselves no longer bound by +the obligations of peace, and then those who are able to agree with each +other can at once make terms to suit themselves.] + +[311] _Ib._ p. 340. + +[312] _Ib._ p. 341. + +[313] Stirner p. 479. + +[314] _Ib._ p. 424. + +[315] _Ib._ pp. 326-7. + +[316] Stirner pp. 359-60. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BAKUNIN'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +1. Mikhail Alexandrovitch Bakunin was born in 1814 at Pryamukhino, +district of Torshok, government of Tver. In 1834 he entered the +Artillery School at St. Petersburg; in 1835 he became an officer, but +resigned his commission in the same year. He then lived alternately in +Pryamukhino and in Moscow. + +In 1840 Bakunin left Russia. In the following years revolutionary plans +took him now to this part of Europe, now to that; in Paris he associated +much with Proudhon. In 1849 he was condemned to death in Saxony, but was +pardoned; in 1850 he was handed over to Austria and was condemned to +death there also; in 1851 he was handed over to Russia and was there +kept a prisoner first at St. Petersburg, then at Schluesselburg; in 1857 +he was sent to Siberia. + +From Siberia Bakunin escaped to London in 1865, by way of Japan and +California. He took up his revolutionary activities again at once, and +thereafter lived by turns in the most various parts of Europe. In 1868 +he became a member of the _Association internationale des travailleurs_, +and soon afterward he founded the _Alliance internationale de la +democratie socialiste_. In 1869 he came into intimate relations with the +fanatic Nechayeff, but broke away from him in the next year. In 1872 he +was expelled from the _Association internationale des travailleurs_ on +the ground that his aims were different from those of the Association. +He died at Berne in 1876. + +Bakunin wrote a number of works of a philosophical and political nature. + +2. Bakunin's teaching about law, the State, and property finds its +expression especially in the "_Proposition motivee au comite central de +la Ligue de la paix et de la liberte_"[317] offered by him in 1868; in +the principles[318] of the _Alliance internationale de la democratie +socialiste_, drawn up by him in 1868; and in his work "_Dieu et +l'Etat_"[319] (1871). + +Writings which cannot with certainty be assigned to Bakunin are here +disregarded. Among such we may name especially the two works "The +Principles of the Revolution"[320] and "Catechism of the +Revolution,"[321] in which Nechayeff's views are set forth. They are +indeed ascribed to Bakunin by some,[322] but their matter is in +contradiction to his other utterances as well as to his deeds; he even +used vehement language on several occasions against Nechayeff's +"Machiavellianism and Jesuitism."[323] Even on the assumption that they +are by Bakunin, they would at any rate express only a very insignificant +chapter in his development. + +3. Bakunin designates his teaching about law, the State, and property as +"Anarchism." "In a word, we reject all legislation, all authority, all +privileged, chartered, official, and legal influence,--even if it were +created by universal suffrage,--in the conviction that such things can +but redound always to the advantage of a ruling minority of exploiters +and to the disadvantage of the vast enslaved majority. In this sense we +are in truth Anarchists."[324] + + +2.--BASIS + +_Bakunin regards the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a +less perfect existence to the most perfect possible existence as the law +which has supreme validity for man._ + +"Science has no other task than the careful intellectual reproduction, +in the most systematic form possible, of the natural laws of corporeal, +mental, and moral life, alike in the physical and in the social world, +which two worlds constitute in fact only a single natural world."[325] + +Now "science--that is, true, unselfish science"[326]--teaches us the +following: "Every evolution signifies the negation of its +starting-point. Since according to the materialists the basis or +starting-point is material, the negation must necessarily be +ideal."[327] That is, "everything that lives makes the effort to +perfect itself as fully as possible."[328] + +Thus, "according to the conception of materialists, man's historical +evolution also moves in a constantly ascending line."[329] "It is an +altogether natural movement from the simple to the compound, from down +to up, from the lower to the higher."[330] "History consists in the +progressive negation of man's original bestiality by the evolution of +his humanity."[331] + +"Man is originally a wild beast, a cousin of the gorilla. But he has +already come out of the deep night of bestial impulses to make his way +to the light of the mind. This explains all his former missteps in the +most natural way, and comforts us somewhat with regard to his present +aberrations. He has turned his back on bestial slavery, and is now +moving toward freedom through the realm of slavery to God, which lies +between his bestial and his human existence. Behind us, therefore, lies +our bestial existence, before us our human; the light of humanity, which +alone can light us and warm us, deliver us and exalt us, make us free, +happy, and brothers, stands never at the beginning of history, but +always only at its end."[332] + +This "historical negation of the past takes place now slowly, +sluggishly, sleepily, but now again passionately and violently."[333] It +always takes place with the inevitable certainty of natural law: "we +believe in the final triumph of humanity on earth."[G] "We yearn for the +coming of this triumph, and seek to hasten it with united effort";[334] +"we must never look back, always forward alone; before us is our sun, +before us our bliss."[335] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _In the progress of mankind from its bestial existence to a human +existence, one of the next steps, according to Bakunin, will be the +disappearance--not indeed of law, but--of enacted law._ + +Enacted law belongs to a low stage of evolution. "A political +legislation, whether it is based on a ruler's will or on the votes of +representatives chosen by universal suffrage, can never correspond to +the laws of nature, and is always baleful, hostile to the liberty of the +masses, if only because it forces upon them a system of external and +consequently despotic laws."[336] No legislation has ever "had another +aim than that of confirming, and exalting into a system, the +exploitation of the laboring populace by the ruling classes."[337] Thus +every legislation "has for its consequence at once the enslavement of +society and the depravation of the legislators."[338] + +But mankind will soon leave behind it the stage of evolution to which +law belongs. Enacted law is indissolubly connected with the State: "the +State is a historically necessary evil,"[339] "a transitory form of +society";[340] "with the State, law in the jurists' sense, the so-called +legal regulation of popular life from above downward by legislation, +must necessarily fall."[341] Everybody feels already that this moment is +approaching,[342] the transformation is at hand,[343] it is to be +expected within the nineteenth century.[344] + +II. _In the next stage of evolution, which mankind must speedily reach, +there will be no enacted law to be sure, but there will be law even +there._ What Bakunin predicts with regard to this next stage of +evolution enables us to perceive that according to his expectation norms +will then prevail which "are based on a general will,"[345] and which +even secure obedience by forcible compulsion if necessary,[346] so that +they are legal norms. + +Among such legal norms of our next stage of evolution Bakunin mentions +that by virtue of which there exists a "right to independence."[347] For +me as an individual this means "that I as a man am entitled to obey no +other man, and to act only in accordance with my own judgment."[348] +But, furthermore, "every nation, every province, and every commune has +the unlimited right to complete independence, provided that its internal +constitution does not threaten the independence and liberty of the +adjoining territories."[349] + +Likewise Bakunin regards it as a legal norm of the next stage of +evolution that contracts must be lived up to. To be sure, the obligation +of contracts has its limits. "Human justice cannot recognize anything as +creating an obligation in perpetuity. All rights and duties are founded +on liberty. The right of freely uniting and separating is the first and +most important of all political rights."[350] + +Another legal norm mentioned by Bakunin as belonging to the next stage +of evolution is that by virtue of which "the land, the instruments of +labor, and all other capital, as the collective property of the whole of +society, will exclusively serve for the use of the agricultural and +industrial associations."[351] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. _In the progress of mankind from its bestial existence to a human +existence the State will shortly, according to Bakunin, disappear._ "The +State is a historically temporary arrangement, a transitory form of +society."[352] + +1. The State belongs to a low stage of evolution. + +"Man takes the first step from his bestial existence to a human +existence by religion; but so long as he remains religious he will never +reach his goal; for every religion condemns him to absurdity, guides him +into a wrong course, and makes him seek the divine in place of the +human."[353] "All religions, with their gods, demigods, and prophets, +their Messiahs and saints, are products of the credulous fancy of men +who had not yet come to the full development and entire possession of +their intellectual powers."[354] This holds good also, and particularly, +of Christianity: it is "the complete inversion of common-sense and +reason."[355] + +The State is a product of religion. "In all lands it is born of a +marriage of violence, robbery, spoliation,--in short, of war and +conquest,--with the gods whom the religious enthusiasm of the nations +had gradually created."[356] "He who speaks of revelation speaks thereby +of revealers enlightened by God, of Messiahs, prophets, priests, and +lawgivers; and, if once these are recognized on earth as representatives +of the Deity, as sacred teachers of mankind chosen by God himself, then +of course they have unlimited authority. All men owe them blind +obedience; for no human reason, no human justice, is valid against the +divine reason and justice. As slaves of God, men must be also slaves of +the Church, and of the State so far as the Church hallows the +State."[357] + +"No State is without religion, and none can be without religion. Take +the freest States in the world,--for instance, the United States of +America or the Swiss Confederacy,--and see what an important part divine +providence plays in all public utterances there."[358] "It is not +without good reason that governments hold the belief in God to be an +essential condition of their power."[359] "There is a class of people +who, even if they do not believe, must necessarily act as if they +believed. This class embraces all mankind's tormentors, oppressors, and +exploiters. Priests, monarchs, statesmen, soldiers, financiers, +office-holders of all sorts; policemen, _gendarmes_, jailers, and +executioners; capitalists, usurers, heads of business, and house-owners; +lawyers, economists, politicians of all shades,--all of them, down to +the smallest grocer, will always repeat in chorus the words of Voltaire, +that, if there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him; 'for +must not the populace have its religion?' It is the very +safety-valve."[360] + +2. The characteristics of the State correspond to the low stage of +evolution to which it belongs. + +The State enslaves the governed. "The State is force; nay, it is the +silly parading of force. It does not propose to win love or to make +converts; if it puts its finger into anything, it does so only in an +unfriendly way; for its essence consists not in persuasion, but in +command and compulsion. However much pains it may take, it cannot +conceal the fact that it is the legal maimer of our will, the constant +negation of our liberty. Even when it commands the good, it makes this +valueless by commanding it; for every command slaps liberty in the face; +as soon as the good is commanded, it is transformed into the evil in the +eyes of true (that is, human, by no means divine) morality, of the +dignity of man, of liberty; for man's liberty, morality, and dignity +consist precisely in doing the good not because he is commanded to but +because he recognizes it, wills it, and loves it."[361] + +At the same time the State depraves those who govern. "It is +characteristic of privilege, and of every privileged position, that they +poison the minds and hearts of men. He who is politically or +economically privileged has his mind and heart depraved. This is a law +of social life, which admits of no exceptions and is applicable to +entire nations as well as to classes, corporations, and individuals. It +is the law of equality, the foremost of the conditions of liberty and +humanity."[362] + +"Powerful States can maintain themselves only by crime, little States +are virtuous only from weakness."[363] "We abhor monarchy with all our +hearts; but at the same time we are convinced that a great republic too, +with army, bureaucracy, and political centralization, will make a +business of conquest without and oppression within, and will be +incapable of guaranteeing happiness and liberty to its subjects even if +it calls them citizens."[364] "Even in the purest democracies, such as +the United States and Switzerland, a privileged minority faces the vast +enslaved majority."[365] + +3. But the stage of mankind's evolution to which the State belongs will +soon be left behind. + +"From the beginning of historic society to this day, there has always +been oppression of the nations by the State. Is it to be inferred that +this oppression is inseparably connected with the existence of human +society?"[366] Certainly not! "The great, true goal of history, the only +one for which there is justification, is our humanization and +deliverance, the genuine liberty and prosperity of all socially-living +men."[367] "In the triumph of humanity is at the same time the goal and +the essential meaning of history, and this triumph can be brought about +only by liberty."[368] "As in the past the State was historically +necessary evil, it must just as necessarily, sooner or later, disappear +altogether."[369] Everybody feels already that this moment is +approaching,[370] the transformation is at hand,[371] it is to be +expected within the nineteenth century.[372] + +II. _In the next stage of evolution, which mankind must speedily reach, +the place of the State will be taken by a social human life on the basis +of the legal norm that contracts must be lived up to._ + +1. Even after the State is done away, men will live together socially. +The goal of human evolution, "complete humanity,"[373] can be attained +only in a society. "Man becomes man, and his humanity becomes conscious +and real, only in society and by the joint activity of society. He frees +himself from the yoke of external nature only by joint--that is, +societary--labor: it alone is capable of making the surface of the earth +fit for the evolution of mankind; but without such external liberation +neither intellectual nor moral liberation is possible. Furthermore, man +gets free from the yoke of his own nature only by education and +instruction: they alone make it possible for him to subordinate the +impulses and motions of his body to the guidance of his more and more +developed mind; but education and instruction are of an exclusively +societary nature. Outside of society man would have remained forever a +wild beast, or, what comes to about the same thing, a saint. Finally, in +his isolation man cannot have the consciousness of liberty. What liberty +means for man is that he is recognized as free, and treated as free, by +those who surround him; liberty is not a matter of isolation, therefore, +but of mutuality--not of separateness, but of combination; for every man +it is only the mirroring of his humanity (that is, of his human rights) +in the consciousness of his brothers."[374] + +But men will be held together in society no longer by a supreme +authority, but by the legally binding force of contract. Complete +humanity can be attained only in a free society. "My liberty, or, what +means the same, my human dignity, consists in my being entitled, as man, +to obey no other man and to act only on my own judgment."[375] "I myself +am a free man only so far as I recognize the humanity and liberty of all +the men who surround me. In respecting their humanity I respect my own. +A cannibal, who treats his prisoner as a wild beast and eats him, is +himself not a man, but a beast. A slaveholder is not a man, but a +master."[376] "The more free men surround me, and the deeper and broader +their freedom is, so much deeper, broader, and more powerful is my +freedom too. On the other hand, every enslavement of men is at the same +time a limitation of my freedom, or, what is the same thing, a negation +of my human existence by its bestial existence."[377] But a free society +cannot be held together by authority,[378] but only by contract.[379] + +2. How will the future society shape itself in detail? + +"Unity is the goal toward which mankind ceaselessly moves."[380] +Therefore men will unite with the utmost amplitude. But "the place of +the old organization, built from above downward upon force and +authority, will be taken by a new one which has no other basis than the +natural needs, inclinations, and endeavors of men."[381] Thus we come to +a "free union of individuals into communes, of communes into provinces, +of provinces into nations, and finally of nations into the United States +of Europe and later of the whole world."[382] + +"Every nation,--be it great or small, strong or weak,--every province, +and every commune has the unlimited right to complete independence, +provided that its internal constitution does not threaten the +independence and liberty of the adjoining territories."[383] + +"All of what are known as the historic rights of nations are totally +done away; all questions regarding natural, political, strategic, and +economic boundaries are henceforth to be classed as ancient history and +resolutely disallowed."[384] + +"By the fact that a territory has once belonged to a State, even by a +voluntary adhesion, it is in no wise bound to remain always united with +this State. Human justice, the only justice that means anything to us, +cannot recognize anything as creating an obligation in perpetuity. All +rights and duties are founded on liberty. The right of freely uniting +and separating is the first and most important of all political rights. +Without this right the League would be merely a concealed centralization +still."[385] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _In the progress of mankind from its bestial existence to a human +existence, according to Bakunin, we must shortly come to the +disappearance--not indeed of property, but--of property's present form, +unlimited private property._ + +1. Private property, so far as it fastens upon all things without +distinction, belongs to the same low stage of evolution as the State. + +"Private property is at once the consequence and the basis of the +State."[386] "Every government is necessarily based on exploitation on +the one hand, and on the other hand has exploitation for its goal and +bestows upon exploitation protection and legality."[387] In every State +there exist "two kinds of relationship,--to wit, government and +exploitation. If really governing means sacrificing one's self for the +good of the governed, then indeed the second relationship is in direct +contradiction to the first. But let us only understand our point +rightly! From the ideal standpoint, be it theological or metaphysical, +the good of the masses can of course not mean their temporal welfare: +what are a few decades of earthly life in comparison to eternity? Hence +one must govern the masses with regard not to this coarse earthly +happiness, but to their eternal good. Outward sufferings and privations +may even be welcomed from the educator's standpoint, since an excess of +sensual enjoyment kills the immortal soul. But now the contradiction +disappears. Exploiting and governing mean the same; the one completes +the other, and serves as its means and its end."[388] + +2. Private property, when it exists in all things without distinction, +has such characteristics as correspond to the low stage of evolution to +which it belongs. + +"On the privileged representatives of head-work (who at present are +called to be the representatives of society, not because they have more +sense, but only because they were born in the privileged class) such +property bestows all the blessings and also all the debasement of our +civilization: wealth, luxury, profuse expenditure, comfort, the +pleasures of family life, the exclusive enjoyment of political liberty, +and hence the possibility of exploiting millions of laborers and +governing them at discretion in one's own interest. What is there left +for the representatives of handwork, these numberless millions of +proletarians or of small farmers? Hopeless misery, not even the joys of +the family (for the family soon becomes a burden to the poor man), +ignorance, barbarism, an almost bestial existence, and this for +consolation with it all, that they are serving as pedestal for the +culture, liberty, and depravity of a minority."[389] + +The freer and more highly developed trade and industry are in any place, +"the more complete is the demoralization of the privileged few on the +one hand, and the greater are the misery, the complaints, and the just +indignation of the laboring masses on the other. England, Belgium, +France, Germany, are certainly the countries of Europe in which trade +and industry enjoy greatest freedom and have made most progress. In +these very countries the most cruel pauperism prevails, the gulf between +capitalists and landlords on the one hand and the laboring class on the +other is greater than in any other country. In Russia, in the +Scandinavian countries, in Italy, in Spain, where trade and industry are +still embryonic, people but seldom die of hunger except on extraordinary +occasions. In England starvation is an every-day thing. And not only +individuals starve, but thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of +thousands."[390] + +3. But mankind will soon have passed the low stage of evolution to which +private property belongs. + +As there has at all times been oppression of the nations by the State, +so has there also always been "exploitation of the masses of slaves, +serfs, wage-workers, by a ruling minority."[391] But this exploitation +is no more "inseparably united with the existence of human society"[392] +than is that oppression. "By the force of things themselves"[393] +unlimited private property will be done away. Everybody feels already +that this moment is approaching,[394] the transformation is already at +hand,[395] it is to be expected within the nineteenth century.[396] + +II. _In the next stage of evolution, which mankind must speedily reach, +property will be so constituted that there will indeed be private +property in the objects of consumption, but in land, instruments of +labor, and all other capital, there will be only social property. The +future society will be collectivist._ + +In this way every laborer has the product of his labor guaranteed to +him. + +1. "Justice must serve as basis for the new world: without it, no +liberty, no living together, no prosperity, no peace."[397] "Justice, +not that of jurists, nor yet that of theologians, nor yet that of +metaphysicians, but simple human justice, commands"[398] that "in future +every man's enjoyment corresponds to the quantity of goods produced by +him."[399] The thing is, then, to find a means "which makes it +impossible for any one, whoever he may be, to exploit the labor of +another, and permits each to share in the enjoyment of society's stock +of goods (which is solely a product of labor) only so far as he has, by +his labor, directly contributed to the production of this stock of +goods."[400] + +This means consists in the principle "that the land, the instruments of +labor, and all other capital, as the collective property of the whole of +society, shall exclusively serve for the use of the laborers,--that is, +of their agricultural and industrial associations."[401] "I am not a +Communist, but a Collectivist."[402] + +2. The collectivism of the future society "by no means demands the +setting up of any supreme authority. In the name of liberty, on which +alone an economic or a political organization can be founded, we shall +always protest against everything that looks even remotely similar to +Communism or State Socialism."[403] "I would have the organization of +society, and of the collective or social property, from below upward by +the voice of free union, not from above downward by means of any +authority."[404] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_The change that is promptly to be expected in the course of mankind's +progress from its bestial existence to a human existence,--the +disappearance of the State, the transformation of law and property, and +the appearance of the new condition,--will come to pass, according to +Bakunin, by a social revolution; that is, by a violent subversion of the +old order, which will be automatically brought about by the power of +things, but which those who foresee the course of evolution have the +task of hastening and facilitating._ + +I. "To escape its wretched lot the populace has three ways, two +imaginary and one real. The two first are the rum-shop and the church, +the third is the social revolution."[405] "A cure is possible only +through the social revolution,"[406]--that is, through "the destruction +of all institutions of inequality, and the establishment of economic and +social equality."[407] The revolution will not be made by anybody. +"Revolutions are never made, neither by individuals nor yet by secret +societies. They come about automatically, in a measure; the power of +things, the current of events and facts, produces them. They are long +preparing in the depth of the obscure consciousness of the masses--then +they break out suddenly, not seldom on apparently slight occasion."[408] +The revolution is already at hand to-day;[409] everybody feels its +approach;[410] we are to expect it within the nineteenth century.[411] + +1. "By the revolution we understand the unchaining of everything that +is to-day called 'evil passions,' and the destruction of everything that +in the same language is called 'public order'."[412] + +The revolution will rage not against men, but against relations and +things.[413] "Bloody revolutions are often necessary, thanks to human +stupidity; yet they are always an evil, a monstrous evil and a great +disaster, not only with regard to the victims, but also for the sake of +the purity and perfection of the purpose in whose name they take +place."[414] "One must not wonder if in the first moment of their +uprising the people kill many oppressors and exploiters--this +misfortune, which is of no more importance anyhow than the damage done +by a thunderstorm, can perhaps not be avoided. But this natural fact +will be neither moral nor even useful. Political massacres have never +killed parties; particularly have they always shown themselves impotent +against the privileged classes; for authority is vested far less in men +than in the position which the privileged acquire by any institutions, +particularly by the State and private property. If one would make a +thorough revolution, therefore, one must attack things and +relationships, destroy property and the State: then there is no need of +destroying men and exposing one's self to the inevitable reaction which +the slaughtering of men always has provoked and always will provoke in +every society. But, in order to have the right to deal humanely with men +without danger to the revolution, one must be inexorable toward things +and relationships, destroy everything, and first and foremost property +and its inevitable consequence the State. This is the whole secret of +the revolution."[415] + +"The revolution, as the power of things to-day necessarily presents it +before us, will not be national, but international,--that is, universal. +In view of the threatened league of all privileged interests and all +reactionary powers in Europe, in view of the terrible instrumentalities +that a shrewd organization puts at their disposal, in view of the deep +chasm that to-day yawns between the _bourgeoisie_ and the laborers +everywhere, no revolution can count on success if it does not speedily +extend itself beyond the individual nation to all other nations. But the +revolution can never cross the frontiers and become general unless it +has in it the foundations for this generality; that is, unless it is +pronouncedly socialistic, and, by equality and justice, destroys the +State and establishes liberty. For nothing can better inspire and uplift +the sole true power of the century, the laborers, than the complete +liberation of labor and the shattering of all institutions for the +protection of hereditary property and of capital."[416] "A political and +national revolution cannot win, therefore, unless the political +revolution becomes social, and the national revolution, by the very fact +of its fundamentally socialistic and State-destroying character, becomes +a universal revolution."[417] + +2. "The revolution, as we understand it, must on its very first day +completely and fundamentally destroy the State and all State +institutions. This destruction will have the following natural and +necessary effects. (a) The bankruptcy of the State. (b) The cessation +of State collection of private debts, whose payment is thenceforth left +to the debtor's pleasure. (c) The cessation of the payment of taxes, and +of the levying of direct or indirect imposts. (d) The dissolution of the +army, the courts, the corps of office-holders, the police, and the +clergy. (e) The stoppage of the official administration of justice, the +abolition of all that is called juristic law and of its exercise. Hence, +the valuelessness, and the consignment to an _auto-da-fe_, of all titles +to property, testamentary dispositions, bills of sale, deeds of gift, +judgments of courts--in short, of the whole mass of papers relating to +private law. Everywhere, and in regard to everything, the revolutionary +fact in place of the law created and guaranteed by the State. (f) The +confiscation of all productive capital and instruments of labor in favor +of the associations of laborers, which will use them for collective +production. (g) The confiscation of all Church and State property, as +well as of the bullion in private hands, for the benefit of the commune +formed by the league of the associations of laborers. In return for the +confiscated goods, those who are affected by the confiscation receive +from the commune their absolute necessities; they are free to acquire +more afterward by their labor."[418] + +The destruction will be followed by the reshaping. Hence, (h) "The +organization of the commune by the permanent association of the +barricades and by its organ, the council of the revolutionary commune, +to which every barricade, every street, every quarter, sends one or two +responsible and revocable representatives with binding instructions. The +council of the commune can appoint executive committees out of its +membership for the various branches of the revolutionary administration. +(i) The declaration of the capital, insurgent and organized as a +commune, that, after the righteous destruction of the State of authority +and guardianship, it renounces the right (or rather the usurpation) of +governing the provinces and setting a standard for them. (k) The summons +to all provinces, communities, and associations, to follow the example +given by the capital, first to organize themselves in revolutionary +form, then to send to a specified meeting-place responsible and +revocable representatives with binding instructions, and so to +constitute the league of the insurgent associations, communities, and +provinces, and to organize a revolutionary power capable of defeating +the reaction. The sending, not of official commissioners of the +revolution with some sort of badges, but of agitators for the +revolution, to all the provinces and communities--especially to the +peasants, who cannot be revolutionized by scientific principles nor yet +by the edicts of any dictatorship, but only by the revolutionary fact +itself: that is, by the inevitable effects of the complete cessation of +official State activity in all the communities. The abolition of the +national State, not only in other senses, but in this,--that all foreign +countries, provinces, communities, associations, nay, all individuals +who have risen in the name of the same principles, without regard to the +present State boundaries, are accepted as part of the new political +system and nationality; and that, on the other hand, it shall exclude +from membership those provinces, communities, associations, or +personages, of the same country, who take the side of the reaction. Thus +must the universal revolution, by the very fact of its binding the +insurgent countries together for joint defence, march on unchecked over +the abolished boundaries and the ruins of the formerly existing States +to its triumph."[419] + +II. "To serve, to organize, and to hasten"[420] "the revolution, which +must everywhere be the work of the people"[421]--this alone is the task +of those who foresee the course of evolution. We have to perform +"midwife's services"[422] for the new time, "to help on the birth of the +revolution."[423] + +To this end we must, "first, spread among the masses thoughts that +correspond to the instincts of the masses."[424] "What keeps the +salvation-bringing thought from going through the laboring masses with a +rush? Their ignorance; and particularly the political and religious +prejudices which, thanks to the exertions of the ruling classes, to this +day obscure the laborer's natural thought and healthy feelings."[425] +"Hence the aim must consist in making him completely conscious of what +he wants, evoking in him the thought that corresponds to his impulses. +If once the thoughts of the laboring masses have mounted to the level +of their impulses, then will their will be soon determined and their +power irresistible."[426] + +Furthermore, we must "form, not indeed the army of the revolution,--the +army can never be anything but the people,--but yet a sort of staff for +the revolutionary army. These must be devoted, energetic, talented men, +who, above all, love the people without ambition and vanity, and who +have the faculty of mediating between the revolutionary thought and the +instincts of the people. No very great number of such men is requisite. +A hundred revolutionists firmly and seriously bound together are enough +for the international organization of all Europe. Two or three hundred +revolutionists are enough for the organization of the largest +country."[427] + +Here, especially, is the field for the activity of secret +societies.[428] "In order to serve, organize, and hasten the general +revolution"[429] Bakunin founded the _Alliance internationale de la +democratie socialiste_. It was to pursue a double purpose: "(a) The +spreading of correct views about politics, economics, and philosophical +questions of every kind, among the masses in all countries; an active +propaganda by newspapers, pamphlets, and books, as well as by the +founding of public associations. (b) The winning of all wise, energetic, +silent, well-disposed men who are sincerely devoted to the idea; the +covering of Europe, and America too so far as possible, with a network +of self-sacrificing revolutionists, strong by unity."[430] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[317] Printed in "_OEuvres de Michel Bakounine_" (1895) pp. 1-205, under +the title "_Federalisme, socialisme et antitheologisme_." + +[318] Printed in "_L'Alliance de la democratie socialiste et +l'Association internationale des travailleurs_" (1873) pp. 118-35. + +[319] Only fragments have been printed: one under the title "_L'Empire +knoutogermanique et la Revolution sociale_" (1871), a second under the +title "_Dieu et l'Etat_" (1882), a third under the same title in +"_OEuvres de Michel Bakounine_" (1895) pp. 261-326. + +[320] Printed in Dragomanoff, "_Michail Bakunins sozial-politischer +Briefwechsel mit Alexander Iw. Herzen und Ogarjow_," German translation +by Minzes (1895) pp. 358-64. + +[321] A part is printed in French translation, in "_L'Alliance de la +democratie socialiste et l'Association internationale des travailleurs_" +(1873) pp. 90-95, the rest in Dragomanoff pp. 371-83. + +[322] "_L'Alliance de la democratie socialiste et l'Association +internationale des travailleurs_" p. 89; Dragomanoff p. IX. + +[323] Ba. "_Briefe_" pp. 223, 233, 266, 272. + +[324] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 34. + +[325] _Ib._ p. 33. + +[326] _Ib._ p. 3. + +[327] _Ib._ p. 52. + +[328] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 104. + +[329] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 52. + +[330] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[331] _Ib._ p. 16. + +[332] _Ib._ p. 16. + +[333] _Ib._ p. 16. + +[334] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 155. + +[335] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 16. + +[336] _Ib._ pp. 27-8. + +[337] Ba. "_Programme_" p. 382. + +[338] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 30. + +[339] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 287. + +[340] _Ib._ p. 285. + +[341] Ba. "_Programme_" p. 382. + +[342] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 113. + +[343] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 125. + +[344] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[345] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 281. + +[346] Ba. "_Statuts_" pp. 129-31. + +[347] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 17-18. + +[348] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 281. + +[349] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 17-18. + +[350] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 18. + +[351] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 133. + +[352] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 285. + +[353] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 134. + +[354] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 19. + +[355] _Ib._ p. 87. + +[356] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 287. + +[357] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 20. + +[358] _Ib._ p. 97. + +[359] _Ib._ p. 9. + +[360] _Ib._ p. 11. + +[361] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 288. + +[362] Ba. "_Dieu_" pp. 29-30. + +[363] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 154 + +[364] _Ib._ p. 10. + +[365] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ pp. 287-8. + +[366] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 14. + +[367] _Ib._ p. 65. + +[368] _Ib._ p. 53 + +[369] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 287. + +[370] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 113. + +[371] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 125. + +[372] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 125. + +[373] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 11. + +[374] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ pp. 277-8. + +[375] _Ib._ p. 281. + +[376] _Ib._ p. 279. + +[377] _Ib._ p. 281. + +[378] _Ib._ p. 283. + +[379] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 16-18. + +[380] _Ib._ p. 20. + +[381] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 16. + +[382] _Ib._ pp. 16-17. + +[383] _Ib._ pp. 17-18. + +[384] _Ib._ p. 17. + +[385] _Ib._ p. 18. + +[386] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 128. + +[387] Ba. "_Dieu_" _OEuvres_ p. 324. + +[388] _Ib._ pp. 323-4. + +[389] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 32-3. + +[390] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 26-7. + +[391] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 14. + +[392] _Ib._ p. 14. + +[393] Ba. "_Programme_" p. 382. + +[394] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 113. + +[395] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 125. + +[396] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[397] Ba. "_Proposition_" pp. 54-5. + +[398] _Ib._ p. 59. + +[399] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 133. + +[400] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 55. + +[401] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 133. + +[402] Ba. "_Discours_" p. 27. + +[403] Ba. "_Proposition_" p. 56. + +[404] Ba. "_Discours_" p. 28. + +[405] Ba. "_Dieu_" p. 10. + +[406] _Ib._ p. 18. + +[407] _Ib._ p. 45. + +[408] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 132. + +[409] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[410] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 113. + +[411] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 125. + +[412] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 129. + +[413] _Ib._ p. 126. + +[414] Ba. "_Volkssache_" p. 309. + +[415] Ba. "_Statuts_" pp. 127-8. + +[416] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[417] _Ib._ p. 131. + +[418] Ba. "_Statuts_" pp. 129-30. [Bakunin is writing in a world where +the Church is everywhere part of the State machine. Would his words +about Church property apply equally, according to him, in the United +States, where the Church property is in general made up of the free +gifts of individual believers? Perhaps; for he would have no love for +the Church even here, and he is obviously hostile to anything in the +nature of mortmain. If so, how about college property?] + +[419] Ba. "_Statuts_" pp. 130-31. + +[420] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[421] _Ib._ p. 131. + +[422] Ba. "_Volkssache_" p. 309. + +[423] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 132. + +[424] _Ib._ p. 132. + +[425] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 103. + +[426] Ba. "_Articles_" p. 103. + +[427] Ba. "_Statuts_" p. 132. + +[428] _Ib._ p. 132. + +[429] _Ib._ p. 125. + +[430] _Ib._ pp. 125-6. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +KROPOTKIN'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +1. Prince Peter Alexeyevitch Kropotkin was born at Moscow in 1842. From +1862 to 1867 he was an officer of the Cossacks of the Amur; during this +time he traveled over a great part of Siberia and Manchuria. From 1867 +to 1871 he studied mathematics at St. Petersburg; at this time he was +also secretary of the Geographical Society; under its commission he +explored the glaciers of Finland and Sweden in 1871. + +In 1872 Kropotkin visited Belgium and Switzerland, where he joined the +_Association internationale des travailleurs_. In the same year he +returned to St. Petersburg and became a prominent member of the +Tchaikoffski secret society. This was found out in 1874. He was arrested +and kept in prison until in 1876 he succeeded in escaping to England. + +From England Kropotkin went to Switzerland in 1877, but was expelled +from that country in 1881. Thenceforth he resided alternately in England +and France. In France, in 1883, he was condemned to five years' +imprisonment for membership in a prohibited association; he was kept in +prison till 1886, and then pardoned. Since then he has lived in England. + +Kropotkin has published geographical works and accounts of travel, and +also writings in the spheres of economics, politics, and the philosophy +of law. + +2. For Kropotkin's teaching about law, the State, and property, the most +important sources are his many short works, newspaper articles, and +lectures. The articles that he published from 1879 to 1882 in "_Le +Revolte_" of Geneva, appeared in 1885 as a book under the title +"_Paroles d'un revolte_." The only large work in which he develops his +teaching is "_La conquete du pain_" (1892). + +3. Kropotkin calls his teaching "Anarchism." "When in the bosom of the +International there was formed a party which no more acknowledged an +authority inside that association than any other authority, this party +called itself at first federalist, then anti-authoritarian or hostile to +the State. At that time it avoided describing itself as Anarchistic. The +word _an-archie_ (it was so written at that time) seemed to identify the +party too much with the adherents of Proudhon, whose reform ideas the +International was opposing. But for this very reason its opponents +delighted in using this designation in order to produce confusion; +besides, the name made the assertion possible that from the very name of +the Anarchists it was evident that they aimed merely at disorder and +chaos, without thinking any farther. The Anarchistic party was not slow +to adopt the designation that was given to it. At first it still +insisted on the hyphen between _an_ and _archie_, with the explanation +that in this form the word _an-archie_, being of Greek origin, denoted +absence of dominion and not 'disorder'; but it soon decided to spare the +proof-reader his useless trouble and the reader his lesson in Greek, and +used the name as it stood."[431] And in fact "the word _anarchie_, +which negates the whole of this so-called order and reminds us of the +fairest moments in the lives of the nations, is well chosen for a party +that looks forward to conquering a better future."[432] + + +2.--BASIS + +_According to Kropotkin, the law which has supreme validity for man is +the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a less happy +existence to an existence as happy as possible; from this law he derives +the commandment of justice and the commandment of energy._ + +1. The supreme law for man is the evolutionary law of the progress of +mankind from a less happy existence to an existence as happy as +possible. + +There is "only one scientific method, the method of the natural +sciences,"[433] and we apply this method also "in the sciences that +relate to man,"[434] particularly in the "science of society."[435] Now, +a mighty revolution is at present taking place[436] in the entire realm +of science; it is the result of the "philosophy of evolution."[437] "The +idea hitherto prevalent, that everything in nature stands fast, is +fallen, destroyed, annihilated. Everything in nature changes; nothing +remains: neither the rock which appears to us to be immovable and the +continent which we call _terra firma_, nor the inhabitants, their +customs, habits, and thoughts. All that we see about us is a transitory +phenomenon, and must change, because motionlessness would be +death."[438] In the case of organisms this evolution is progress, in +consequence of "their admirable adaptivity to their conditions of life. +They develop such faculties as render more complete both the adaptations +of the aggregates to their surroundings and those of each of the +constituent parts of the aggregate to the needs of free +co-operation."[439] "This is the 'struggle for existence,' which, +therefore, must not be conceived merely in its restricted sense of a +struggle between individuals for the means of subsistence."[440] + +"Evolution never advances so slowly and evenly as has been asserted. +Evolution and revolution alternate, and the revolutions--that is, the +times of accelerated evolution--belong to the unity of nature just as +much as do the times in which evolution takes place more slowly."[441] +"Order is the free equilibrium of all forces that operate upon the same +point; if any of these forces are interfered with in their operation by +a human will, they operate none the less, but their effects accumulate +till some day they break the artificial dam and provoke a +revolution."[442] + +Kropotkin applies these general propositions to the social life of +men.[443] "A society is an aggregation of organisms trying to combine +the wants of the individual with those of co-operation for the welfare +of the species";[444] it is "a whole which serves toward the purpose of +attaining the largest possible amount of happiness at the least possible +expense of human force."[445] Now human societies evolve,[446] and one +may try to determine the direction of this evolution.[447] Societies +advance from lower to higher forms of organization;[448] but the goal of +this evolution--that is, the point towards which it directs +itself--consists in "establishing the best conditions for realizing the +greatest happiness of humanity."[449] What we call progress is the right +path to this goal;[450] humanity may for the time err from this path, +but will always be brought back to it at last.[451] + +But not even here does evolution take place without revolutions. What is +true of a man's views, of the climate of a country, of the +characteristics of a species, is true also of societies: "they evolve +slowly, but there are also times of the quickest transformation."[452] +For circumstances of many kinds may oppose themselves to the effort of +human associations to attain to the greatest possible measure of +happiness.[453] "New thoughts germinate everywhere, try to get to the +light, try to get themselves applied in life; but they are kept back by +the inertia of those who have an interest in keeping up the old +conditions, they are stifled under long-established prejudices and +traditions."[454] "Political, economic, and social institutions fall in +ruins, and the building which has become uninhabitable hinders the +development of what is sprouting in its crevices and around it."[455] +Then there is need of "great events which rudely break the thread of +history and hurl mankind out of its ruts into new roads";[456] "the +Revolution becomes a peremptory necessity."[457]--"Man has recognized +his place in nature; he has recognized that his institutions are his +work and can be refashioned by him alone."[458] "What has not the +engineer's art dared, and what do not literature, painting, music, the +drama dare to-day?"[459] Thus must we also, where any institutions +hinder the progress of society, "dare the fight, to make a rich and +overflowing life possible to all."[460] + +2. From the evolutionary law of the progress of mankind from a less +happy existence to the happiest existence possible Kropotkin derives the +commandment of justice and the commandment of energy. + +In the struggle for existence human societies evolve toward a condition +in which there are given the best conditions for the attainment of the +greatest happiness of mankind.[461] When we describe anything as "good," +we mean by this that it favors the attainment of the goal; that is, it +is beneficial to the society in which we live; and we call that "evil" +which in our opinion hinders the attainment of the goal, that is, is +harmful to the society we live in.[462] + +Now, men's views as to what favors and what hinders the establishment of +the best conditions for the attainment of mankind's greatest happiness, +and hence as to what is beneficial or harmful to society, may certainly +change.[463] But one fundamental requisite for the attainment of the +goal will always have to be recognized as such, whatever the diversity +of opinions. It "may be summed up in the sentence 'Do to others as you +would have it done to you in the like case'."[464] But this sentence "is +nothing else than the principle of equality";[465] and equality, in +turn, "means the same as equity,"[466] "solidarity,"[467] +"justice."[468] + +But there is indisputably yet another fundamental requisite for the +attainment of the goal. This is "something greater, finer, and mightier +than mere equality";[469] it may be expressed in the sentence "Be +strong; overflow with the passion of thought and action: so shall your +understanding, your love, your energy, pour itself into others."[470] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _In mankind's progress from a less happy existence to an existence as +happy as possible, one of the next steps, according to Kropotkin, will +be the disappearance--not indeed of law, but--of enacted law._ + +1. Enacted law has become a hindrance to mankind's progress toward an +existence as happy as possible. + +"For thousands of years those who govern have been repeating again and +again, 'Respect the law!'";[471] "in the States of to-day a new law is +regarded as the cure for all evils."[472] But "the law has no claim to +men's respect."[473] "It is an adroit mixture of such customs as are +beneficial to society, and would be observed even without a law, with +others which are to the advantage only of a ruling minority, but are +harmful to the masses and can be upheld only by terror."[474] "The law, +which first made its appearance as a collection of customs which serve +for the maintenance of society, is now merely an instrument to keep up +the exploitation and domination of the industrious masses by wealthy +idlers. It has now no longer any civilizing mission; its only mission is +to protect exploitation."[475] "It puts rigid immobility in the place of +progressive development,"[476] "it seeks to confirm permanently the +customs that are advantageous to the ruling minority."[477] + +"If one looks over the millions of laws which mankind obeys, one can +distinguish three great classes: protection of property, protection of +government, protection of persons. But in examining these three classes +one comes in every case to the necessary conclusion that the law is +valueless and harmful. What the protection of property is worth, the +Socialists know only too well. The laws about property do not exist to +secure to individuals or to society the product of their labor. On the +contrary, they exist to rob the producer of a part of his product, and +to protect a few in the enjoyment of what they have stolen from the +producer or from the whole of society."[478] And as regards the laws for +the protection of government, "we know well that all governments, +without exception, have it for their mission to uphold by force the +privileges of the propertied classes--the nobility, the clergy, and the +_bourgeoisie_. A man has only to examine all these laws, only to observe +their every-day working, and he will be convinced that not one is worth +keeping."[479] Equally "superfluous and harmful, finally, are the laws +for the protection of persons, for the punishment and prevention of +'crimes'. The fear of punishment never yet restrained a murderer. He who +would kill his neighbor, for revenge or for necessity, does not beat his +brains about the consequences; and every murderer hitherto has had the +firm conviction that he would escape prosecution. If murder were +declared not punishable, the number of murders would not increase even +by one; rather it would decrease to the extent that murders are at +present committed by habitual criminals who have been corrupted in +prison."[480] + +2. The stage of evolution to which enacted law belongs will soon be left +behind by man. + +"The law is a comparatively young formation. Mankind lived for ages +without any written law. At that time the relations of men to each other +were regulated by mere habits, by customs and usages, which age made +venerable, and which every one learned from his childhood in the same +way as he learned hunting, cattle-raising, or agriculture."[481] "But +when society came to be more and more split into two hostile classes, of +which the one wanted to rule and the other to escape from rule, the +victor of the moment sought to give permanence to the accomplished fact +and to hallow it by all that was venerable to the defeated. Consecrated +by the priest and protected by the strong hand of the warrior, law +appeared."[482] + +But its days are already numbered. "Everywhere we find insurgents who +will no longer obey the law till they know where it comes from, what it +is good for, by what right it demands obedience, and for what reason it +is held in honor. They bring under their criticism everything that has +until now been respected as the foundation of society, but first and +foremost the fetish, law."[483] The moment of its disappearance, for the +hastening of which we must fight,[484] is close at hand,[485] perhaps +even at the end of the nineteenth century.[486] + +II. _In the next stage of evolution, which, as has been shown, mankind +must soon reach, there will indeed be no enacted law, but there will be +law even there._ "The laws will be totally abrogated;"[487] "unwritten +customs,"[488] "'customary law,' as jurists say,"[489] will "suffice to +maintain a good understanding."[490] These norms of the next stage of +evolution will be based on a general will;[491] and conformity to them +will be adequately assured "by the necessity, which every one feels, of +finding co-operation, support, and sympathy"[492] and by the fear of +expulsion from the fellowship,[493] but also, if necessary, by the +intervention of the individual citizen[494] or of the masses;[495] they +will therefore be legal norms. + +Of legal norms of the next stage of evolution Kropotkin mentions in the +first place this,--that contracts must be lived up to.[496] + +Furthermore, according to Kropotkin there will obtain in the next stage +of evolution a legal norm by virtue of which not only the means of +production, but all things, are common property.[497] + +An additional legal norm in the next stage of evolution will, according +to Kropotkin, be that by virtue of which "every one who co-operates in +production to a certain extent has, for one thing, the right to live; +for another, the right to live comfortably."[498] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. _According to Kropotkin, in mankind's progress from a less happy +existence to an existence as happy as possible the State will shortly +disappear._ + +1. The State has become a hindrance to mankind's evolution toward a +happiness as great as possible. + +"What does this monstrous engine serve for, that we call 'State'? For +preventing the exploitation of the laborer by the capitalist, of the +peasant by the landlord? or for assuring us of work? for providing us +food when the mother has nothing but water left for her child? No, a +thousand times no."[499] But instead of this the State "meddles in all +our affairs, pinions us from cradle to grave. It prescribes all our +actions, it piles up mountains of laws and ordinances that bewilder the +shrewdest lawyer. It creates an army of office-holders who sit like +spiders in their webs and have never seen the world except through the +dingy panes of their office-window. The immense and ever-increasing sums +that the State collects from the people are never sufficient: it lives +at the expense of future generations, and steers with all its might +toward bankruptcy. 'State' is tantamount to 'war'; one State seeks to +weaken and ruin another in order to force upon the latter its law, its +policy, its commercial treaties, and to enrich itself at its expense; +war is to-day the usual condition in Europe, there is a thirty years' +supply of causes of war on hand. And civil war rages at the same time +with foreign war; the State, which was originally to be a protection for +all and especially for the weak, has to-day become a weapon of the rich +against the exploited, of the propertied against the propertyless."[500] + +In these respects there is no distinction to be made between the +different forms of the State. "Toward the end of the last century the +French people overthrew the monarchy, and the last absolute king +expiated on the scaffold his own crimes and those of his +predecessors."[501] "Later all the countries of the Continent went +through the same evolution: they overthrew their absolute monarchies and +flung themselves into the arms of parliamentarism."[502] "Now it is +being perceived that parliamentarism, which was entered upon with such +great hopes, has everywhere become a tool for intrigue and personal +enrichment, for efforts hostile to the people and to evolution."[503] +"Precisely like any despot, the body of representatives of the +people--be it called Parliament, Convention, or anything else; be it +appointed by the prefects of a Bonaparte or elected with all conceivable +freedom by an insurgent city--will always try to enlarge its competence, +to strengthen its power by all sorts of meddling, and to displace the +activity of the individual and the group by the law."[504] "It was only +a forty years' movement, which occasionally even set fire to +grain-fields, that could bring the English Parliament to secure to the +tenant the value of the improvements made by him. But if it is a +question of protecting the capitalist's interest, threatened by a +disturbance or even by agitation,--ah, then every representative of the +people is on hand, then it acts with more recklessness and cowardice +than any despot. The six-hundred-headed beast without a name has outdone +Louis IX and Ivan IV."[505] "Parliamentarism is nauseating to any one +who has seen it near at hand."[506] + +"The dominion of men, which calls itself 'government,' is incompatible +with a morality founded on solidarity."[507] This is best shown by "the +so-called civil rights, whose value and importance the _bourgeois_ press +is daily praising to us in every key."[508] "Are they made for those who +alone need them? Certainly not. Universal suffrage may under some +circumstances afford to the _bourgeoisie_ a certain protection against +encroachments by the central authority, it may establish a balance +between two authorities without its being necessary for the rivals to +draw the knife on each other as formerly; but it is valueless when the +object is to overthrow authority or even to set bounds to it. For the +rulers it is an excellent means of deciding their disputes; but of what +use is it to the ruled? Just so with the freedom of the press. To the +mind of the _bourgeoisie_, what is the best thing that has been alleged +in its favor? Its impotence. 'Look at England, Switzerland, the United +States,' they say. 'There the press is free and yet the dominion of +capital is more assured than in any other country.' Just so they think +about the right of association. 'Why should we not grant full right of +association?' says the _bourgeoisie_. 'It will not impair our +privileges. What we have to fear is secret societies; public unions are +the best means to cripple them.' 'The inviolability of the home? Yes, +this we must proclaim aloud, this we must inscribe in the +statute-books,' say the sly _bourgeois_, 'the police certainly must not +be looking into our pots and kettles. If things go wrong some day, we +will snap our fingers at a man's right to his own house, rummage +everything, and, if necessary, arrest people in their beds.' 'The +secrecy of letters? Yes, just proclaim its inviolability aloud +everywhere, our little privacies certainly must not come to the light. +If we scent a plot against our privileges, we shall not stand much on +ceremony. And if anybody objects, we shall say what an English minister +lately said among the applause of Parliament: "Yes, gentlemen, it is +with a heavy heart and with the deepest reluctance that we are having +letters opened, but the country (that is, the aristocracy and +_bourgeoisie_) is in danger!"' That is what political rights are. +Freedom of the press and freedom of association, the inviolability of +the home, and all the rest, are respected only so long as the people +make no use of them against the privileged classes. But on the day when +the people begin to use them for the undermining of privileges all these +'rights' are thrown overboard."[509] + +2. The stage of evolution to which the State belongs will soon be left +behind by man. The State is doomed.[510] + +It is "of a relatively modern origin."[511] "The State is a historic +formation which, in the life of all nations, has at a certain time +gradually taken the place of free associations. Church, law, military +power, and wealth acquired by plunder, have for centuries made common +cause, have in slow labor piled stone on stone, encroachment on +encroachment, and thus created the monstrous institution which has +finally fixed itself in every corner of social life--nay, in the brains +and hearts of men--and which we call the State."[512] + +It has now begun to decompose. "The peoples--especially those of the +Latin races--are bent on destroying its authority, which merely hampers +their free development; they want the independence of provinces, +communes, and groups of laborers; they want not to submit to any +dominion, but to league themselves together freely."[513] "The +dissolution of the States is advancing at frightful speed. They have +become decrepit graybeards, with wrinkled skins and tottering feet, +gnawed by internal diseases and without understanding for the new +thoughts; they are squandering the little strength that they still had +left, living at the expense of their numbered years, and hastening their +end by falling foul of each other like old women."[514] The moment of +the State's disappearance is therefore close at hand.[515] Kropotkin +says now that it will come in a few years,[516] now that it will come at +the end of the nineteenth century.[517] + +II. _In the next stage of evolution, which, as has been shown, mankind +must soon reach, the place of the State will be taken by a social human +life on the basis of the legal norm that contracts must be lived up to._ +Anarchism is the "inevitable"[518] "next phase,"[519] "higher +form,"[520] of society. + +1. Even after the State is done away men will live together socially; +but they will no longer be held together in society by a governmental +authority, but by the legally binding force of contract. "Free expansion +of individuals into groups and of groups into associations, free +organization from the simple to the complex as need and inclination are +felt,"[521] will be the future form of society. + +We can at present perceive a growing Anarchistic movement; that is, "a +movement towards limiting more and more the sphere of action of +government. After having tried all kinds of government, humanity is +trying now to free itself from the bonds of any government whatever, and +to respond to its needs of organization by the free understanding +between individuals prosecuting the same common aims."[522] "Free +associations are beginning to take to themselves the entire field of +human activity."[523] "The large organizations resulting merely and +simply from free agreement have grown recently. The railway net of +Europe--a confederation of so many scores of separate societies--is an +instance; the Dutch _Beurden_, or associations of ship and boat owners, +are extending now their organizations over the rivers of Germany, and +even to the shipping trade of the Baltic; the numberless amalgamated +manufacturers' associations, and the _syndicats_ of France, are so many +instances in point. But there also is no lack of free organizations for +nobler pursuits: the Lifeboat Association, the Hospitals Association, +and hundreds of like organizations. One of the most remarkable societies +which has[524] recently arisen is the Red Cross Society. To slaughter +men on the battle-fields, that remains the duty of the State; but these +very States recognize their inability to take care of their own wounded; +they abandon the task, to a great extent, to private initiative."[525] +"These endeavors will attain to free play, will find a new and vast +field for their application, and will form the foundation of the future +society."[526] + +"The agreement between the hundreds of companies to which the European +railroads belong has been entered into directly, without the meddling of +any central authority that prescribed laws to the several companies. It +has been kept up by conventions at which delegates met to consult +together and then to lay before their principals plans, not laws. This +is a new procedure, utterly different from any government whether +monarchical or republican, absolute or constitutional. It is an +innovation which at first makes its way into European manners only by +hesitating steps, but to which the future belongs."[527] + +2. "To rack our brains to-day about the details of the form which public +life shall take in the future society, would be silly. Yet we must come +to an agreement now about the main outlines."[528] "We must not forget +that perhaps in a year or two we shall be called on to decide all +questions of the organization of society."[529] + +Communes will continue to exist; but "these communes are not +agglomerations of men in a territory, and know neither walls nor +boundaries; the commune is a clustering of like-minded persons, not a +closed integer. The various groups in one commune will feel themselves +drawn to similar groups in other communes; they will unite themselves +with these as firmly as with their fellow-citizens; and thus there will +come about communities of interest whose members are scattered over a +thousand cities and villages."[530] + +Men will join themselves together by "contracts"[531] to form such +communes. They will "take upon themselves duties to society,"[532] which +on its part engages to do certain things for them.[533] It will not be +necessary to compel the fulfilment of these contracts,[534] there will +be no need of penalties and judges.[535] Fulfilment will be sufficiently +assured by "the necessity, which every one feels, of finding +co-operation, support, and sympathy among his neighbors;"[536] he who +does not live up to his obligations can of course be expelled from +fellowship.[537] + +In the commune every one will "do what is necessary himself, without +waiting for a government's orders."[538] "The commune will not first +destroy the State and then set it up again."[539] "People will see that +they are freest and happiest when they have no plenipotentiary agents +and depend as little on the wisdom of representatives as on that of +Providence."[540] Nor will there be prisons or other penal +institutions;[541] "for the few anti-social acts that may still take +place the best remedy will consist in loving treatment, moral influence, +and liberty."[542] + +The communes on their part will join themselves together by +contracts[543] quite in the same way as do the members of the individual +communes. "The commune will recognize nothing above it except the +interests of the league that it has of its own accord made with other +communes."[544] "Owing to the multiplicity of our needs, a single league +will soon not be enough; the commune will feel the necessity of entering +into other connections also, joining this or that other league. For the +purpose of obtaining food it is already a member of one group; now it +must join a second in order to obtain other objects that it +needs,--metal, for instance,--and then a third and fourth too, that will +supply it with cloth and works of art. If one takes up an economic atlas +of any country, one sees that there are no economic boundaries: the +areas of production and exchange for the different objects are blended, +interlaced, superimposed. Thus the combinations of the communes also, if +they followed their natural development, would soon intertwine in the +same way and form an infinitely denser network and a far more consummate +'unity' than the States, whose individual parts, after all, only lie +side by side like the rods around the lictor's axe."[545] + +3. The future society will be able easily to accomplish the tasks that +the State accomplishes at present. + +"Suppose there is need of a street. Well, then let the inhabitants of +the neighboring communes come to an understanding about it, and they +will do their business better than the Minister of Public Works would do +it. Or a railroad is needed. Here too the communes that are concerned +will produce something very different from the work of the promoters who +only build bad pieces of track and make millions by it. Or schools are +required. People can fit them up for themselves at least as well as the +gentlemen at Paris. Or the enemy invades the country. Then we defend +ourselves instead of relying on generals who would merely betray us. Or +the farmer must have tools and machines. Then he comes to an +understanding with the city workingmen, these supply him with them at +cost in return for his products, and the middleman, who now robs both +the farmer and the workingman, is superfluous."[546] "Or there comes up +a little dispute, or a stronger man tries to push down a weaker. In the +first case the people will know enough to create a court of arbitration, +and in the second every citizen will regard it as his duty to interfere +himself and not wait for the police; there will be as little need of +constables as of judges and turnkeys."[547] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _According to Kropotkin, the progress of mankind from a less happy +existence to an existence as happy as possible will shortly bring us to +the disappearance not indeed of property, but of its present form, +private property._ + +1. Private property has become a hindrance to the evolution of mankind +toward a happiness as great as possible. + +What are the effects of private property to-day? "The crisis, which was +formerly acute, has become chronic; the crisis in the cotton trade, the +crisis in the production of metals, the crisis in watchmaking, all the +crises, rage concurrently now and do not come to an end. The unemployed +in Europe to-day are estimated at several million; those who beg their +way from city to city, or gather in mobs to demand 'work or bread' with +threats, are estimated at tens of thousands. Great branches of industry +are destroyed; great cities, like Sheffield, forsaken. Everything is at +a standstill, want and misery prevail everywhere: the children are pale, +the wife has grown five years older in one winter, disease and death are +rife among the workingmen--and people talk of over-production!"[548] One +might reply that in peasant ownership of land, at least, private +property has good effects.[549] "But the golden age is over for the +small farmer. To-day he hardly knows how to make both ends meet. He gets +into debt, becomes a victim of the cattle-dealer, the real-estate +jobber, the usurer; notes and mortgages ruin whole villages, even more +than the frightful taxes imposed by State and commune. Small +proprietorship is in a desperate condition; and even if the small farmer +is still owner in name, he is in fact nothing more than a tenant paying +rent to money-dealers and usurers."[550] + +But private property has still more sweeping indirect effects. "So long +as we have a caste of idlers who have us feed them under the pretext +that they must lead us, so long these idlers will always be a focus of +pestilence to general morality. He who lives his life in dull laziness, +who is always bent merely on getting new pleasures, who by the very +basis of his existence can know no solidarity, and who by his course of +life cultivates the vilest self-seeking,--he will always pursue the +coarsest sensual pleasures and debase everything around him. With his +bag full of dollars and his bestial impulses he will go and dishonor +women and children, degrade art, the drama, the press, sell his country +and its defenders, and, because he is too cowardly to murder with his +own hands, will have his proxies murder the choicest of his nation when, +some day, he is afraid for his darling money-bag."[551] "Year by year +thousands of children grow up in the physical and moral filth of our +great cities, among a population corrupted by the struggle for daily +bread, and at the same time they daily see the immorality, idleness, +prodigality, and ostentation of which these same cities are full."[552] +"Thus society is incessantly bringing forth beings who are incapable of +an honorable and industrious life, and who are full of anti-social +feelings. It does homage to them when success crowns their crimes, and +sends them to the penitentiary when they are unlucky."[553] + +Private property offends against justice. "The labor of all has produced +the entire accumulated mass of wealth, that of the present generation as +well as that of all that went before. The house in which we happen to be +together has value only by its being in Paris, this glorious city in +which the labor of twenty generations is piled layer upon layer. If it +were removed to the snow-fields of Siberia, it would be worth +substantially nothing. This machine, invented and patented by you, has +in it the labor of five or six generations; it has a value only as a +part of the vast whole that we call nineteenth-century industry. Take +your lace-making machine to the Papuans in New Guinea, and it is +valueless."[554] "Science and industry; theory and practice; the +invention and the putting the invention in operation, which leads to new +inventions again; head work and hand work,--all is connected. Every +discovery, every progress, every increase in our wealth, has its origin +in the total bodily and mental activity of the past and present. Then by +what right can any one appropriate to himself the smallest fraction of +this vast total and say 'this belongs to me and not to you'?"[555]--But +this unjust appropriation of what belongs to all has nevertheless taken +place. "Among the changes of time a few have taken possession of all +that is made possible to man by the production of goods and the increase +of his productive power. To-day the land, though it owes its value to +the needs of a ceaselessly increasing population, belongs to a minority +which can hinder the people from cultivating it, and which does so--or +at least does not permit the people to cultivate it in a manner +accordant with modern needs. The mines, which represent the toil of +centuries, and whose value is based solely on the needs of industry and +the necessities of population, belong likewise to a few, and these few +limit the mining of coal, or entirely forbid it when they find a better +investment for their money. The machines, too, are the property of a +handful of men; and, even if a machine has indubitably been brought to +its present perfection by three generations of workers, it nevertheless +belongs to a few givers of work. The roads, which would be scrap-iron +but for Europe's dense population, industry, trade, and travel, are in +the possession of a few shareholders who perhaps do not even know the +location of the lines from which they draw princely incomes."[556] + +2. Mankind will soon have passed the stage of evolution to which private +property belongs. Private property is doomed.[557] + +Private property is a historic formation: it "has developed +parasitically amidst the free institutions of our earliest +ancestors,"[558] and this in the closest connection with the State. "The +political constitution of a society is always the expression, and at the +same time the consecration, of its economic constitution."[559] "The +origin of the State, and its reason for existence, lie in the fact that +it interferes in favor of the propertied and to the disadvantage of the +propertyless."[560] "The omnipotence of the State constitutes the +foundation of the strength of the _bourgeoisie_."[561] + +But private property is already on the way to dissolution. "The economic +chaos can last no longer. The people are tired of the crises which the +greed of the ruling classes provokes. They want to work and live, not +first drudge a few years for scanty wages and then become for many years +victims of want and objects of charity. The workingman sees the +incapacity of the ruling classes: he sees how unable they are either to +understand his efforts or to manage the production and exchange of +goods."[562] Hence "one of the leading features of our century is the +growth of Socialism and the rapid spreading of Socialist views among the +working classes."[563] The moment when private property is to disappear +is near, therefore: be it in a few years,[564] be it at the end of the +nineteenth century,[565] in any case it will come soon.[566] + +II. _In mankind's next stage of evolution, which, as has been shown, +must soon be attained, property will take such form that only property +of society shall exist._ The "next phase of evolution,"[567] "higher +form of social organization,"[568] will "inevitably"[569] be not only +Anarchism, but "Anarchistic Communism."[570] "The tendencies towards +economical and political freedom are two different manifestations of the +very same need of equality which constitutes the very essence of all +struggles mentioned by history";[571] "these two powerful currents of +thought characterize our century."[572] + +In this way a comfortable life will be guaranteed to every person who +co-operates in production to a certain extent. + +1. Mankind's next stage of evolution will no longer know any but the +property of society. + +"In our century the Communist tendency is continually reasserting +itself. The penny bridge disappears before the public bridge; and the +turnpike road before the free road. The same spirit pervades thousands +of other institutions. Museums, free libraries, and free public schools; +parks and pleasure grounds; paved and lighted streets, free for +everybody's use; water supplied to private dwellings, with a growing +tendency towards disregarding the exact amount of it used by the +individual; tramways and railways which have already begun to introduce +the season ticket or the uniform tax, and will surely go much further on +this line when they are no longer private property: all these are tokens +showing in what direction further progress is to be expected."[573] + +So will the future society be Communistic. "The first act of the +nineteenth-century commune will consist in laying hands on the entire +capital accumulated in its bosom."[574] This applies "to the materials +for consumption as well as to those for production."[575] "People have +tried to make a distinction between the capital that serves for the +production of goods and that which satisfies the wants of life, and have +said that machines, factories, raw materials, the means of +transportation, and the land are destined to become the property of the +community; while dwellings, finished products, clothing, and provisions +will remain private property. This distinction is erroneous and +impracticable. The house that shelters us, the coal and gas that we +burn, the nutriment that our body burns up, the clothing that covers us, +and the book from which we draw instruction, are all essential to our +existence and are just as necessary for successful production and for +the further development of mankind as are machines, factories, raw +materials, and other factors of production. With private property in the +former goods, there would still remain inequality, oppression, and +exploitation; a half-way abolition of private property would have its +effectiveness crippled in advance."[576] + +There is no fear that the Communistic communes will isolate +themselves.[577] "If to-day a great city transforms itself into a +Communistic commune, and introduces community of the materials for both +work and enjoyment, then in a very few days, if it is not shut in by +hostile armies, trains of wagons will appear in its markets, and raw +materials will arrive from distant ports; and the city's industrial +products, when once the wants of the population are satisfied, will go +to the ends of the earth seeking purchasers; throngs of strangers will +stream in from near and far, and will afterward tell at home of the +marvelous life of the free city where everybody works, where there are +neither poor nor oppressed, where every one enjoys the fruit of his +toil, and no one interferes with another's doing so."[578] + +2. The Communism of the future society will "not be the Communism of the +convent or the barrack, such as was formerly preached, but a free +Communism which puts the joint products at the disposal of all while +leaving to every one the liberty of using them at home."[579] To get an +entirely clear idea of every detail of it, indeed, is not as yet +possible; "nevertheless we must come to an agreement about the +fundamental features at least."[580] + +What form will production take? + +That must first be produced which is requisite "for the satisfaction of +man's most urgent wants."[581] For this it suffices "that all adults, +with the exception of those women who are occupied with the education of +children, engage to do five hours a day, from the age of twenty or +twenty-two to the age of forty-five or fifty, of any one (at their +option) of the labors that are regarded as necessary."[582] "For +instance, a society would enter into the following contract with each of +its members: 'We will guarantee to you the enjoyment of our houses, +stores of goods, streets, conveyances, schools, museums, etc., on +condition that from your twentieth year to your forty-fifth or fiftieth +you apply five hours every day to one of the labors necessary to life. +Every moment you will have your choice of the groups you will join, or +you may found a new one provided that it proposes to do necessary +service. For the rest of your time you may associate yourself with whom +you like for the purpose of scientific or artistic recreation at your +pleasure. We ask of you, therefore, nothing but twelve or fifteen +hundred hours' work annually in one of the groups which produce food, +clothing, and shelter, or which care for health, transportation, etc.; +and in return we insure to you all that these groups produce or have +produced'."[583] + +There will be time enough, therefore, to produce what is requisite for +the satisfaction of less urgent wants. "When one has done in the field +or the factory the work that he is under obligation to do for society, +he can devote the other half of his day, his week, or his year, to the +satisfaction of artistic or scientific wants."[584] "The lover of music +who wishes a piano will enter the association of instrument-makers; he +will devote part of his half-days, and will soon possess the longed-for +piano. Or the enthusiast in astronomy will join the astronomers' +association with its philosophers, observers, calculators, and +opticians, its scholars and amateurs; and he will obtain the telescope +he wishes, if only he dedicates some work to the common cause--for there +is a deal of rough work necessary for an observatory, masons' work, +carpenters' work, founders' work, machinists' work--the final polish, to +be sure, can be given to the instrument of precision by none but the +artist. In a word, the five to seven hours that every one has left, +after he has first devoted some hours to the production of the +necessary, are quite sufficient to render possible for him every kind of +luxury."[585] + +"The separation of agriculture from manufactures will pass away. The +factory workmen will be at the same time field workmen."[586] "As an +eminently periodic industry, which at certain times (and even more in +the making of improvements than in harvest) needs a large additional +force, agriculture will form the link between village and city."[587] +And "the separation of mental from bodily labor will come to an +end"[588] too. "Poets and scientists will no longer find poor devils +who will sell their energies to them for a plate of soup; they will have +to get together and print their writings themselves. Then the authors, +and their admirers of both sexes, will soon acquire the art of handling +the type-case and composing-stick; they will learn the pleasure of +producing jointly, with their own hands, a work that they value."[589] +"Every labor will be agreeable."[590] "If there is still work which is +really disagreeable in itself, it is only because our scientific men +have never cared to consider the means of rendering it less so: they +have always known that there were plenty of starving men who would do it +for a few pence a day."[591] "Factories, smelters, mines, can be as +sanitary and as splendid as the best laboratories of our universities; +and the more perfectly they are fitted up the more they will +produce."[592] And the product of such labor will be "infinitely better, +and considerably greater, than the mass of goods hitherto produced under +the goad of slavery, serfdom, and wage-slavery."[593] + +How will distribution take place? + +Every one who contributes his part to production will also have his +share in the product. But it must not be assumed that this share in the +product will correspond to that share in the production. "Each according +to his powers; to each according to his wants."[594] "Need will be put +above service; it will be recognized that every one who co-operates in +production to a certain extent has in the first place the right to +live, and in the second place the right to live comfortably."[595] +"Every one, no matter how strong or weak, how competent or incompetent +he may be, will have the right to live,"[596] and "to have a comfortable +life; he will furthermore have the right to decide for himself what +belongs to a comfortable life."[597] + +Society's stock of goods will quite permit this. "If one considers on +the one hand the rapidity with which the productive power of civilized +nations is increasing, and on the other hand the limits that are +directly or indirectly set to its production by present conditions, one +comes to the conclusion that even a moderately sensible economic +constitution would permit the civilized nations to heap up in a few +years so many useful things that we should have to cry out 'Enough! +enough coal! enough bread! enough clothes! Let us rest, take recreation, +put our strength to a better use, spend our time in a better way!'"[598] + +However, what if the stock should in fact not suffice for all wants? +"The solution is--free taking of everything that exists in superfluity, +and rations of that in which there is a possibility of dearth: rations +according to needs, with preference to children, the aged, and the weak +in general. That is what is done even now in the country. What commune +thinks of limiting the use of the meadows so long as there are enough of +them? what commune, so long as there are chestnuts and brushwood enough, +hinders those who belong to it from taking as much as they please? And +what does the peasant introduce when there is a prospect that firewood +will give out? Rationing."[599] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_The change that is promptly to be expected in the course of mankind's +progress from a less happy existence to an existence as happy as +possible,--the disappearance of the State, the transformation of law and +property, and the appearance of the new condition,--will be +accomplished, according to Kropotkin, by a social revolution; that is, +by a violent subversion of the old order, which will come to pass of +itself, but for which it is the function of those who foresee the course +of evolution to prepare men's minds._ + +I. We know that we shall not reach the future condition "without intense +perturbations."[600] "That justice may be victorious, and the new +thoughts become reality, there is need of a frightful storm to sweep +away all this rottenness, to vivify torpid souls with its breath, and to +restore self-sacrifice, self-denial, and heroism to our senile, +decrepit, crumbling society."[601] There is need of "social revolution: +that is, the people's taking possession of society's total stock of +goods, and the abolition of all authorities."[602] "The social +revolution is at the door,"[603] "it stands before us at the end of this +century,"[604] "it will be here in a few years."[605] It is "the task +which history sets for us,"[606] but "whether we will or not, it will +be accomplished independently of our will."[607] + +1. "The social revolution will be no uprising of a few days: we shall +have to go through a period of three, four, or five years of revolution, +till the transformation of the social and economic situation is +completed."[608] "During this time what we have sown to-day will be +coming up and bearing fruit; and he who now is yet indifferent will +become a convinced adherent of the new doctrine."[609] Nor will the +social revolution be limited to a narrow area. "We must not assume, to +be sure, that it will break out in all Europe at once."[610] "Germany is +nearer the revolution than people think";[611] "but whether it start +from France, Germany, Spain, or Russia, it will anyhow be a European +revolution in the end. It will spread as rapidly as that of our +predecessors the heroes of 1848, and set Europe afire."[612] + +2. The first act of the social revolution will be a work of +destruction.[613] "The impulse to destruction, which is so natural and +justifiable because it is at the same time an impulse to renovation, +will find its full satisfaction. How much old trash there is to clear +away! Does not everything have to be transformed, the houses, the +cities, the businesses of manufacturing and farming,--in short, all the +arrangements of society?"[614] "Everything that it is necessary to +abolish should be destroyed without delay: the penitentiaries and +prisons, the forts that threaten cities, the slums whose disease-laden +air people have breathed so long."[615] + +Yet the social revolution will not be a reign of terror. "Naturally the +fight will demand victims. One can understand how it was that the people +of Paris, before they hurried to the frontiers, killed the aristocrats +in the prisons, who had planned with the enemy for the annihilation of +the revolution. He who would blame the people for this should be asked, +'Have you suffered with them and like them? if not, blush and be +still.'"[616] But yet the people will never, like the kings and czars, +exalt terror into a system. "They have sympathy for the victims; they +are too good-hearted not to feel a speedy repugnance at cruelty. The +public prosecutor, the corpse-cart, the guillotine, speedily become +repulsive. After a little while it is recognized that such a reign of +terror is merely preparing the way for a dictatorship, and the +guillotine is abolished."[617] + +The government will be overthrown first. "There is no need of fearing +its strength. Governments only seem terrible; the first collision with +the insurgent people lays them prostrate; many have collapsed in a few +hours before now."[618] "The people rise, and the State machine is +already at a standstill; the officials are in confusion and know not +what to do; the army has lost confidence in its leaders."[619] + +But it cannot stop with this. "On the day when the people has swept away +the governments, it will also, without waiting for any directions from +above, abolish private property by forcible expropriation."[620] "The +peasants will drive out the great landlords and declare their estates +common property; they will annul the mortgages and proclaim general +release from debt";[621] and in the cities "the people will seize on the +entire wealth accumulated there, turn out the factory-owners, and +undertake the management themselves."[622] "The expropriation will be +general; nothing but an expropriation of the broadest kind can initiate +the re-shaping of society--expropriation on a small scale would appear +like ordinary plunder."[623] It will extend not only to the materials of +production, but also to those of consumption: "the first thing that the +people do after the overthrow of the governments will be to provide +itself with sanitary dwellings and with sufficient food and +clothing."[624]--Yet expropriation will "have its limits."[625] "Suppose +by pinching, a poor devil has got himself a house that will hold him and +his family. Will he be thrown on the street? Certainly not! If the house +is just big enough for him and his family, he shall keep it, and he +shall also continue to work the garden under his window. Our young men +will even lend him a hand in case of need. But, if he has rented a room +to somebody else, the people will say to this one, 'You know, friend, +don't you, that you no longer owe the old fellow anything? Keep your +room gratis; you need no longer fear the officer of the court, we have +the new society!"[626] "Expropriation will extend just to that which +makes it possible for any one to exploit another's labor."[627] + +3. "The work of destruction will be followed by a work of +re-shaping."[628] + +Most people conceive of revolution as with "a 'revolutionary +government'"[629]--this in two ways. Some understand by this an elective +government. "It is proposed to summon the people to elections, to elect +a government as quickly as possible, and entrust to it the work which +each of us ought to be doing of his own accord."[630] "But any +government which an insurgent people attains by elections must +necessarily be a leaden weight on its feet, especially in so immense an +economic, political, and moral reorganization as the social +revolution."[631] This is perceived by others; "therefore they give up +the thought of a 'legal' government, at least for the time of +insurrection against all laws, and preach the 'revolutionary +dictatorship.' 'The party which has overthrown the government,' say +they, 'will forcibly put itself in the government's place. It will seize +the authority and adopt a revolutionary procedure. For every one who +does not recognize it--the guillotine; for every one who refuses +obedience to it--the guillotine likewise.' So talk the little +Robespierres. But we Anarchists know that this thought is nothing but an +unwholesome fruit of government fetishism, and that any dictatorship, +even the best disposed, is the death of the revolution."[632] + +"We will do what is needful ourselves, without waiting for the orders +of a government."[633] "If the dissolution of the State is once started, +if once the oppression-machine begins to give out, free associations +will be formed quite automatically. Just remember the voluntary +combinations of the armed _bourgeoisie_ during the great Revolution. +Remember the societies which were voluntarily formed in Spain, and which +defended the independence of the country, when the State was shaken to +its foundations by Napoleon's armies. As soon as the State no longer +compels any co-operation, natural wants bring about a voluntary +co-operation quite automatically. If the State be but overthrown, free +society will rise up at once on its ruins."[634] + +"The reorganization of production will not be possible in a few +days,"[635] especially as the revolution will presumably not break out +in all Europe at a time.[636] The people will consequently have to take +temporary measures to assure themselves, first of all, of food, +clothing, and shelter. First the populace of the insurgent cities will +take possession of the dealers' stocks of food, and of the grain +warehouses and the slaughter-houses. Volunteers make an inventory of the +provisions found, and distribute printed tabular statements by the +million. Henceforth free taking of all that is present in abundance; +rations of what has to be measured out, with preference to the sick and +the weak; a supply for deficiencies by importation from the country +(which will come in plenty if we produce things that the farmer needs +and put them at his disposal) and also by the inhabitants of the city +entering upon the cultivation of the royal parks and meadows in the +vicinity.[637] The people will take possession of the dwelling-houses in +like manner. Again volunteers make lists of the available dwellings and +distribute them. People come together by streets, quarters, districts, +and agree about the allotment of the dwellings. But the evils that will +at first still have to be borne are soon to be done away: the artisans +of the building trades need only work a few hours a day, and soon the +over-spacious dwellings that were on hand will be sensibly altered, and +model houses, entirely new, will be built.[638] The same procedure will +be followed with regard to clothing. The people take possession of the +great clothiers' establishments, and volunteers list the stocks. People +take freely what is on hand in abundance, in rations what is limited in +quantity. What is lacking is supplied in the shortest of time by the +factories with their perfected machines.[639] + +II. "To prepare men's minds"[640] for the approaching revolution is the +task of those who foresee the course of evolution. This is especially +"the task of the secret societies and revolutionary organizations."[641] +It is the task of "the Anarchist party."[642] The Anarchists "are to-day +as yet a minority, but their number is daily growing, will grow more and +more, and will on the eve of the revolution become a majority."[643] +"What a dismal sight France presented a few years before the great +Revolution, and how weak was the minority of those who thought of the +abolition of royalty and feudalism; but what a change three or four +years later! the minority had begun the revolution and had carried the +masses with it."[644]--But how are men's minds to be prepared for the +revolution? + +1. First and foremost, the aim of the revolution is to be made generally +known. "It is to be proclaimed by word and deed till it is thoroughly +popularized, so that on the day of the rising it is in everybody's +mouth. This task is greater and more serious than is generally assumed; +for, if some few do have the aim clearly before their eyes, it is quite +otherwise with the masses, constantly worked upon as they are by the +_bourgeois_ press."[645] + +But this does not suffice. "The spirit of insurrection must be aroused; +the sense of independence and the wild boldness without which no +revolution comes about must awake."[646] "Between the peaceable +discussion of evils and tumult, insurrection, lies a chasm--the same +chasm that in the greater part of mankind separates reflection from act, +thought from will."[647] + +2. The way to obtain these two results is "action--constant, incessant +action by minorities. Courage, devotion, self-sacrifice are as +contagious as cowardice, servility, and apprehension."[648] + +"What forms is the propaganda to take? Every form that is prescribed by +the situation, by opportunity, and propensity. It may be now serious, +now jocular; but it must always be bold. It must never leave a means +unused, never leave a fact of public life unobserved, to keep minds +alert, to give aliment and expression to discontent, to stir hate +against exploiters, to make the government ridiculous, and to +demonstrate its impotence. But above all, to arouse boldness and the +spirit of insurrection, it must continually preach by example."[649] + +"Men of courage, willing not only to speak but to act; pure characters +who prefer prison, exile, and death to a life that contradicts their +principles; bold natures who know that in order to win one must +dare,--these are the advance-guard who open the fight long before the +masses are ripe to lift the banner of insurrection openly and to seek +their rights arms in hand. In the midst of the complaining, talking, +discussing, comes a mutinous deed by one or more persons, which +incarnates the longings of all."[650] + +"Perhaps at first the masses remain indifferent and believe the wise +ones who regard the act as 'crazy', but soon they are privately +applauding the crazy and imitating them. While the first of them are +filling the penitentiaries, others are already continuing their work. +The declarations of war against present-day society, the mutinous deeds, +the acts of revenge, multiply. General attention is aroused; the new +thought makes its way into men's heads and wins their hearts. A single +deed makes more propaganda in a few days than a thousand pamphlets. The +government defends itself, it rages pitilessly; but by this it only +causes further deeds to be committed by one or more persons, and drives +the insurgents to heroism. One deed brings forth another; opponents +join the mutiny; the government splits into factions; harshness +intensifies the conflict; concessions come too late; the revolution +breaks out."[651] + +3. To make still clearer the means by which the aim of the revolution is +to be made generally known and the spirit of insurrection is to be +aroused, Kropotkin tells some of the history of what preceded the +Revolution of 1789. + +He tells how at that time thousands of lampoons acquainted the people +with the vices of the court, and how a multitude of satirical songs +flagellated crowned heads and stirred hatred against the nobility and +clergy. He sets before us how in placards the king, the queen, the +farmers-general, were threatened, reviled, and jeered at; how enemies of +the people were hanged or burned or quartered in effigy. He describes to +us the way in which the insurrectionists got the people used to the +streets and taught them to defy the police, the military, the cavalry. +We learn how in the villages secret organizations, the jacques, set fire +to the barns of the lord of the manor, destroyed his crops or his game, +murdered him himself, threatened the collection or payment of rent with +death. He sets forth to us how then, one day, the storehouses were +broken into, the trains of wagons were stopped on the highway, the +toll-gates were burned and the officials killed, the tax-lists and the +account-books and the city archives went up in flames, and the +revolution broke out on all sides.[652] + +"What conclusions are to be drawn from this"[653] Kropotkin does not +think it necessary to explain. He contents himself with characterizing +as "a precious instruction for us"[654] the facts which he reports. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[431] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 99. + +[432] _Ib._ p. 104. + +[433] Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" p. 39. + +[434] _Ib._ p. 39. + +[435] _Ib._ pp. 8, 39. + +[436] _Ib._ p. 5. + +[437] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[438] Kr. "Studies" p. 9. + +[439] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" pp. 8-9. + +[440] _Ib._ p. 9. + +[441] Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" p. 13. + +[442] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[443] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[444] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[445] Kr. "Studies" p. 24. + +[446] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 7. + +[447] _Ib._ p. 4. + +[448] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[449] _Ib._ p. 4. + +[450] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 28. + +[451] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 17. + +[452] Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" p. 59. + +[453] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[454] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 275-6. + +[455] _Ib._ pp. 277-8. + +[456] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 17. + +[457] _Ib._ p. 275. + +[458] Kr. "Studies" p. 9. + +[459] _Ib._ p. 10. + +[460] Kr. "_Morale_" p. 74. + +[461] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[462] Kr. "_Morale_" pp. 24, 31. + +[463] _Ib._ p. 30. + +[464] Kr. "_Morale_" pp. 30-31. + +[465] _Ib._ p. 41. + +[466] _Ib._ p. 42. + +[467] _Ib._ p. 38; Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 296. + +[468] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 342, 129. + +[469] Kr. "_Morale_" p. 57. + +[470] _Ib._ pp. 61-2. + +[471] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 215. [In Eltzbacher's general discussions, and +his summaries of the different writers' views on law, the word +translated "law" is everywhere _Recht_, French _droit_, Latin _jus_, law +as a body of rights and duties. But in the quotations from Kropotkin +under the heading "Law" the word is everywhere (with the single +exception of the phrase "customary law") _Gesetz_, French _loi_, Latin +_lex_, a law as an enacted formula to describe men's actions; and the +same is the word translated "law" in Eltzbacher's summaries under the +heading "Basis" in the different chapters.] + +[472] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 214. + +[473] _Ib._ p. 227. + +[474] _Ib._ p. 227. + +[475] _Ib._ p. 235. + +[476] _Ib._ p. 219. + +[477] _Ib._ p. 226. + +[478] _Ib._ p. 236. + +[479] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 239. + +[480] _Ib._ pp. 240-42. + +[481] _Ib._ p. 221. + +[482] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 226. + +[483] _Ib._ pp. 218-19. + +[484] Kr. "_Morale_" p. 74. + +[485] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 264-5. + +[486] _Ib._ p. 235; Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" pp. +28-9. + +[487] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 227, 235. + +[488] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 29. + +[489] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 221. + +[490] _Ib._ p. 221. + +[491] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 229, 109. + +[492] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 24. + +[493] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 202. + +[494] Kr. "Studies" p. 30. + +[495] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 110, 134-5, "_Conquete_" p. 109. + +[496] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 169, 128-9, 203-5. + +[497] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 136-7. + +[498] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 229. + +[499] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 14. + +[500] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 11-14. + +[501] _Ib._ p. 172. + +[502] _Ib._ p. 173. + +[503] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 175. + +[504] _Ib._ pp. 181-2. + +[505] _Ib._ pp. 183-4. + +[506] _Ib._ p. 190. + +[507] _Ib._ p. 19. + +[508] _Ib._ p. 33. + +[509] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 35-9. + +[510] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 30. + +[511] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 7. + +[512] Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" pp. 49-50. + +[513] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 10. + +[514] _Ib._ pp 9-10. + +[515] _Ib._ pp. 264-5. + +[516] _Ib._ p. 139. + +[517] _Ib._ p. 235; Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" pp. +28-9. + +[518] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 30. + +[519] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[520] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[521] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 26. + +[522] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 23. + +[523] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 117-18. + +[524] [_Sic_, edition of 1891]. + +[525] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" pp. 25-7. + +[526] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 118. + +[527] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 174. + +[528] Kr. "Studies" p. 25. + +[529] _Ib._ p. 26. + +[530] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 117. + +[531] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 169, 203. + +[532] _Ib._ pp. 145, 136, 128-9. + +[533] _Ib._ pp. 203-5. + +[534] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" pp. 29-30, "_Conquete_" p. 188. + +[535] Kr. "_Prisons_" p. 49. + +[536] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 24. [Kropotkin prefixes "his own +social habits and."] + +[537] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 202. + +[538] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 139. + +[539] _Ib._ p. 111. + +[540] _Ib._ p. 175. + +[541] Kr. "_Prisons_" p. 49. + +[542] _Ib._ pp. 58-9. + +[543] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 44-5. + +[544] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 108. + +[545] _Ib._ pp. 115-16. + +[546] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 166. + +[547] Kr. "_Studies_" p. 30. + +[548] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 5-6. + +[549] _Ib._ pp. 322-3. + +[550] _Ib._ p. 326. + +[551] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 24. + +[552] Kr. "_Prisons_" p. 47. + +[553] _Ib._ p. 49. + +[554] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 10. + +[555] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 8-9. + +[556] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 9-10. + +[557] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 30. + +[558] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 11. + +[559] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 169. + +[560] Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" p. 45. + +[561] Kr. "Studies" p. 17. + +[562] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 7-8. + +[563] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[564] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 139, "_L'Anarchie--sa philosophie son ideal_" +p. 25. + +[565] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 235, "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" +pp. 28-9. + +[566] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 264-5. + +[567] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 4. + +[568] _Ib._ p. 7. + +[569] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 30. + +[570] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 88, "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" +p. 30. + +[571] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 8. + +[572] _Ib._ p. 8. + +[573] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 21. + +[574] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 110. + +[575] _Ib._ p. 137. + +[576] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 136. + +[577] _Ib._ p. 114. + +[578] _Ib._ pp. 113-14. + +[579] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 12. + +[580] Kr. "Studies" p. 25. + +[581] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 239. + +[582] _Ib._ pp. 128-9. + +[583] _Ib._ pp. 203-4. + +[584] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 136. + +[585] _Ib._ pp. 150-51. + +[586] _Ib._ p. 96. + +[587] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 330-1. + +[588] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 195-6. + +[589] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 137. + +[590] _Ib._ p. 153. + +[591] Kr. "Anarchist Communism" p. 31. + +[592] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 156. + +[593] _Ib._ p. 193. + +[594] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 12. + +[595] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 229. + +[596] _Ib._ p. 26. + +[597] _Ib._ p. 28. + +[598] _Ib._ p. 20. + +[599] Kr. "L'_Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 13. + +[600] _Ib._ p. 28. + +[601] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 280. + +[602] _Ib._ p. 261. + +[603] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 22. + +[604] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 28. [The +nineteenth century, of course, is meant.] + +[605] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 139. + +[606] Kr. "_Siecle_" p. 32. + +[607] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" p. 29. + +[608] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 90, "Studies" p. 23. + +[609] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 90-91. + +[610] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 85. + +[611] Kr. "_L'Anarchie. Sa philosophie--son ideal_" p. 26. + +[612] Kr. "_L'Anarchie dans l'evolution socialiste_" pp. 28-9. + +[613] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 263. + +[614] _Ib._ p. 342. + +[615] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 342. + +[616] Kr. "_Prisons_" p. 57. + +[617] Kr. "_Studies_" p. 16. + +[618] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 166. + +[619] _Ib._ p. 246. + +[620] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 134-5. + +[621] _Ib._ p. 167. + +[622] _Ib._ p. 135. + +[623] _Ib._ p. 337. + +[624] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 63. + +[625] _Ib._ p. 56. + +[626] _Ib._ p. 109. + +[627] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 56. + +[628] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 263. + +[629] _Ib._ p. 246. + +[630] _Ib._ pp. 248-9. + +[631] _Ib._ p. 253. + +[632] _Ib._ pp. 253-5. + +[633] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 139. + +[634] _Ib._ pp. 116-17. + +[635] Kr. "_Conquete_" p. 75. + +[636] _Ib._ p. 85. + +[637] Kr. "_Conquete_" pp. 76-96. + +[638] _Ib._ pp. 104-7. + +[639] _Ib._ pp. 114-16. + +[640] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 260. + +[641] _Ib._ p. 260. + +[642] _Ib._ pp. 99, 254; Kr. "_Temps nouveaux_" p. 54. + +[643] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 90. + +[644] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 92-5. + +[645] _Ib._ p. 312. + +[646] _Ib._ p. 285. + +[647] _Ib._ p. 283. + +[648] _Ib._ p. 284. + +[649] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 284. + +[650] _Ib._ p. 285. + +[651] Kr. "_Paroles_" pp. 285-8. + +[652] _Ib._ pp. 293-304. + +[653] _Ib._ p. 292. + +[654] Kr. "_Paroles_" p. 304. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TUCKER'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +Benjamin R. Tucker was born in 1854 at South Dartmouth, near New +Bedford, Massachusetts. From 1870 to 1872 he studied technology in +Boston; there he made the acquaintance of Josiah Warren[655] in 1872. In +1874 he traveled in England, France, and Italy. + +In 1877 Tucker took the temporary editorship of the "Word," published at +Princeton, Massachusetts. In 1878 he published the quarterly "The +Radical Review" in New Bedford; but only four numbers appeared. In 1881, +in Boston, he founded the semi-monthly paper "Liberty," of which there +also appeared for a short time a German edition under the title +"Libertas"; in Boston, also, he was for ten years one of the editorial +staff of the "Globe." Since 1892 he has lived in New York, and "Liberty" +has appeared there as a weekly.[656] + +2. Tucker's teaching about law, the State, and property is contained +mainly in his articles in "Liberty." He has published a collection[657] +of these articles under the title "Instead of a Book. By a Man Too Busy +to Write One. A fragmentary exposition of philosophical Anarchism" +(1893). + +[Illustration] + +3. Tucker calls his teaching "Anarchism." "Circumstances have combined +to make me somewhat conspicuous as an exponent of the theory of Modern +Anarchism."[658] "Anarchy does not mean simply opposed to the _archos_, +or political leader. It means opposed to _arch[=e]_. Now, _arch[=e]_, in +the first instance, means _beginning_, _origin_. From this it comes to +mean _a first principle_, _an element_; then _first place_, _supreme +power_, _sovereignty_, _dominion_, _command_, _authority_; and finally +_a sovereignty_, _an empire_, _a realm_, _a magistracy_, _a governmental +office_. Etymologically, then, the word anarchy may have several +meanings. But the word Anarchy as a philosophical term and the word +Anarchist as the name of a philosophical sect were first appropriated in +the sense of opposition to dominion, to authority, and are so held by +right of occupancy, which fact makes any other philosophical use of them +improper and confusing."[659] + + +2.--BASIS + +_Tucker considers that the law which has supreme validity for every one +of us is self-interest; and from this he derives the law of equal +liberty._ + +1. For every man self-interest is the supreme law. "The Anarchists are +not only utilitarians, but egoists in the farthest and fullest +sense."[660] + +What does self-interest mean? My interest is everything that serves my +purposes.[661] It takes in not only the lowest but also "the higher +forms of selfishness."[662] Thus, in particular, the interest of society +is at the same time that of every individual: "its life is inseparable +from the lives of individuals; it is impossible to destroy one without +destroying the other."[663] + +Self-interest is the supreme law for man. "The Anarchists totally +discard the idea of moral obligation, of inherent rights and +duties."[664] "So far as inherent right is concerned, might is its only +measure. Any man, be his name Bill Sykes or Alexander Romanoff, and any +set of men, whether the Chinese highbinders or the Congress of the +United States, have the right, if they have the power, to kill or coerce +other men and to make the entire world subservient to their ends."[665] +"The Anarchism of to-day affirms the right of society to coerce the +individual and of the individual to coerce society so far as either has +the requisite power."[666] + +2. From this supreme law Tucker derives "the law of equal liberty."[667] +The law of equal liberty is based on every individual's self-interest. +For "liberty is the chief essential to man's happiness, and therefore +the most important thing in the world, and I want as much of it as I can +get."[668] On the other hand, "human equality is a necessity of stable +society,"[669] and the life of society "is inseparable from the lives +of individuals."[670] Consequently every individual's self-interest +demands the equal liberty of all. + +"Equal liberty means the largest amount of liberty compatible with +equality and mutuality of respect, on the part of individuals living in +society, for their respective spheres of action."[671] "'Mind your own +business' is the only moral law of the Anarchistic scheme."[672] "It is +our duty to respect others' rights, assuming the word 'right' to be used +in the sense of the limit which the principle of equal liberty logically +places upon might."[673]--On the law of equal liberty is founded "the +distinction between invasion and resistance, between government and +defence. This distinction is vital: without it there can be no valid +philosophy of politics."[674] + +"By 'invasion' I mean the invasion of the individual sphere, which is +bounded by the line inside of which liberty of action does not conflict +with others' liberty of action."[675] This boundary-line is in part +unmistakable; for instance, a threat is not an invasion if the +threatened act is not an invasion, "a man has a right to threaten what +he has a right to execute."[676] But the boundary-line may also be +dubious; for instance, "we cannot clearly identify the maltreatment of +child by parent as either invasive or non-invasive of the liberty of +third parties."[677] "Additional experience is continually sharpening +our sense of what constitutes invasion. Though we still draw the line by +rule of thumb, we are drawing it more clearly every day."[678] "The +nature of such invasion is not changed, whether it is made by one man +upon another man, after the manner of the ordinary criminal, or by one +man upon all other men, after the manner of an absolute monarch, or by +all other men upon one man, after the manner of a modern +democracy."[679] + +"On the other hand, he who resists another's attempt to control is not +an aggressor, an invader, a governor, but simply a defender, a +protector."[680] "The individual has the right to repel invasion of his +sphere of action."[681] "Anarchism justifies the application of force to +invasive men,"[682] "violence is advisable when it will accomplish the +desired end and inadvisable when it will not."[683] And "defensive +associations acting on the Anarchistic principle would not only demand +redress for, but would prohibit, all clearly invasive acts. They would +not, however, prohibit non-invasive acts, even though these acts create +additional opportunity for invasive persons to act invasively: for +instance, the selling of liquor."[684] "And the nature of such +resistance is not changed whether it be offered by one man to another +man, as when one repels a criminal's onslaught, or by one man to all +other men, as when one declines to obey an oppressive law, or by all +other men to one man, as when a subject people rises against a despot, +or as when the members of a community voluntarily unite to restrain a +criminal."[685] + + +3.--LAW + +_According to Tucker, from the standpoint of every one's self-interest +and the equal liberty of all there is no objection to law._ Legal norms +are to obtain: that is, norms that are based on a general will[686] and +to which obedience is enforced, if necessary, by every means,[687] even +by prison, torture, and capital punishment.[688] But the law is to be +"so flexible that it will shape itself to every emergency and need no +alteration. And it will then be regarded as _just_ in proportion to its +flexibility, instead of as now in proportion to its rigidity."[689] The +means to this end is that "juries will judge not only the facts, but the +law";[690] machinery for altering the law is then unnecessary.[691]--In +particular, there are to be recognized the following legal norms, whose +correctness Tucker tries to deduce from the law of equal liberty: + +First, a legal norm by which the person is secured against hurt. "We are +the sternest enemies of invasion of the person, and, although chiefly +busy in destroying the causes thereof, have no scruples against such +heroic treatment of its immediate manifestations as circumstances and +wisdom may dictate."[692] Capital punishment is quite compatible with +the protection of the person against hurt, for its essence is not that +of an act of hurting, but of an act of defence.[693] + +Next, there is to be recognized a legal norm by virtue of which +"ownership on a basis of labor"[694] exists. "This form of property +secures each in the possession of his own products, or of such products +of others as he may have obtained unconditionally without the use of +fraud or force."[695] "It will be seen from this definition that +Anarchistic property concerns only products. But anything is a product +upon which human labor has been expended. It should be stated, however, +that in the case of land, or of any other material the supply of which +is so limited that all cannot hold it in unlimited quantities, Anarchism +undertakes to protect no titles except such as are based on actual +occupancy and use."[696] Against injury to property, as well as against +injury to the person, Anarchism has no scruples against "such heroic +treatment as circumstances and wisdom may dictate."[697] + +Furthermore, there is to be recognized the legal norm that contracts +must be lived up to. Obligation comes into existence when obligations +are "consciously and voluntarily assumed";[698] and the other party thus +acquires "a right."[699] To be sure, the obligatory force of contract is +not without bounds. "Contract is a very serviceable and most important +tool, but its usefulness has its limits; no man can employ it for the +abdication of his manhood";[700] therefore "the constituting of an +association in which each member waives the right of secession would be +a mere _form_."[701] Furthermore, no one can employ it for the invasion +of third parties; therefore a promise "whose fulfilment would invade +third parties"[702] would be invalid.--"I deem the keeping of promises +such an important matter that only in the extremest cases would I +approve their violation. It is of such vital consequence that associates +should be able to rely upon each other that it is better never to do +anything to weaken this confidence except when it can be maintained only +at the expense of some consideration of even greater importance."[703] +"The man who has received a promise is defrauded by its non-fulfilment, +invaded, deprived of a portion of his liberty against his will."[704] "I +have no doubt of the right of any man to whom, for a consideration, a +promise has been made, to insist, even by force, upon the fulfilment of +that promise, provided the promise be not one whose fulfilment would +invade third parties. And, if the promisee has a right to use force +himself for such a purpose, he has a right to secure such co-operative +force from others as they are willing to extend. These others, in turn, +have a right to decide what sort of promises, if any, they will help him +to enforce. When it comes to the determination of this point, the +question is one of policy solely; and very likely it will be found that +the best way to secure the fulfilment of promises is to have it +understood in advance that the fulfilment is not to be enforced."[705] + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. _With regard to every man's self-interest, especially on the basis of +the law of equal liberty, Tucker rejects the State; and that +universally, not merely for special circumstances determined by place +and time._ For the State is "the embodiment of the principle of +invasion."[706] + +1. "Two elements are common to all the institutions to which the name +'State' has been applied: first, aggression."[707] "Aggression, +invasion, government, are interconvertible terms."[708] "This is the +Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive +individual to an external will."[709] And "second, the assumption of +authority over a given area and all within it, exercised generally for +the double purpose of more complete oppression of its subjects and +extension of its boundaries."[710] Therefore "this is the Anarchistic +definition of the State: the embodiment of the principle of invasion in +an individual, or a band of individuals, assuming to act as +representatives or masters of the entire people within a given +area."[711] + +"Rule is evil, and it is none the better for being majority rule."[712] +"The theocratic despotism of kings or the democratic despotism of +majorities"[713] are alike condemnable. "What is the ballot? It is +neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the +billy, and the bullet. It is a labor-saving device for ascertaining on +which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable. The voice of the +majority saves bloodshed, but it is no less the arbitrament of force +than is the decree of the most absolute of despots backed by the most +powerful of armies."[714] + +2. "In the first place, all the acts of governments are indirectly +invasive, because dependent upon the primary invasion called +taxation."[715] "The very first act of the State, the compulsory +assessment and collection of taxes, is itself an aggression, a violation +of equal liberty, and, as such, vitiates every subsequent act, even +those acts which would be purely defensive if paid for out of a treasury +filled by voluntary contributions. How is it possible to sanction, under +the law of equal liberty, the confiscation of a man's earnings to pay +for protection which he has not sought and does not desire?"[716] + +"And, if this is an outrage, what name shall we give to such +confiscation when the victim is given, instead of bread, a stone, +instead of protection, oppression? To force a man to pay for the +violation of his own liberty is indeed an addition of insult to injury. +But that is exactly what the State is doing."[717] For "in the second +place, by far the greater number of their acts are directly invasive, +because directed, not to the restraint of invaders, but to the denial of +freedom to the people in their industrial, commercial, social, domestic, +and individual lives."[718] + +"How thoughtless, then, to assert that the existing political order is +of a purely defensive character!"[719] "Defence is a service, like any +other service. It is labor both useful and desired, and therefore an +economic commodity subject to the law of supply and demand. In a free +market this commodity would be furnished at the cost of production. The +production and sale of this commodity are now monopolized by the State. +The State, like almost all monopolists, charges exorbitant prices. Like +almost all monopolists, it supplies a worthless, or nearly worthless, +article. Just as the monopolist of a food product often furnishes poison +instead of nutriment, so the State takes advantage of its monopoly of +defence to furnish invasion instead of protection. Just as the patrons +of the one pay to be poisoned, so the patrons of the other pay to be +enslaved. And the State exceeds all its fellow-monopolists in the extent +of its villany because it enjoys the unique privilege of compelling all +people to buy its product whether they want it or not."[720] + +3. It cannot be alleged in favor of the State that it is necessary as a +means for combating crime.[721] "The State is itself the most gigantic +criminal extant. It manufactures criminals much faster than it punishes +them."[722] "Our prisons are filled with criminals which our virtuous +State has made what they are by its iniquitous laws, its grinding +monopolies, and the horrible social conditions that result from them. We +enact many laws that manufacture criminals, and then a few that punish +them."[723] + +No more can the State be defended on the ground that it is wanted for +the relief of suffering. "The State is rendering assistance to the +suffering and starving victims of the Mississippi inundation. Well, such +work is better than forging new chains to keep the people in subjection, +we allow; but is not worth the price that is paid for it. The people +cannot afford to be enslaved for the sake of being insured. If there +were no other alternative, they would do better, on the whole, to take +Nature's risks and pay her penalties as best they might. But Liberty +supplies another alternative, and furnishes better insurance at cheaper +rates. Mutual insurance, by the organization of risk, will do the utmost +that can be done to mitigate and equalize the suffering arising from the +accidental destruction of wealth."[724] + +II. _Every man's self-interest, and equal liberty particularly, demands, +in place of the State, a social human life on the basis of the legal +norm that contracts must be lived up to._ The "voluntary association of +contracting individuals"[725] is to take the place of the State. + +1. "The Anarchists have no intention or desire to abolish society. They +know that its life is inseparable from the lives of individuals; that it +is impossible to destroy one without destroying the other."[726] +"Society has come to be man's dearest possession. Pure air is good, but +no one wants to breathe it long alone. Independence is good, but +isolation is too heavy a price to pay for it."[727] + +But men are not to be held together in society by a concrete supreme +authority, but solely by the legally binding force of contract.[728] The +form of society is to be "voluntary association,"[729] whose +"constitution"[730] is nothing but a contract. + +2. But what is to be the nature of the voluntary association in detail? + +In the first place, it cannot bind its members for life. "The +constituting of an association in which each member waives the right of +secession would be a mere _form_, which every decent man who was a party +to it would hasten to violate and tread under foot as soon as he +appreciated the enormity of his folly. To indefinitely waive one's right +of secession is to make one's self a slave. Now, no man can make himself +so much a slave as to forfeit the right to issue his own emancipation +proclamation."[731] + +In the next place, the voluntary association, as such, can have no +dominion over a territory. "Certainly such voluntary association would +be entitled to enforce whatever regulations the contracting parties +might agree upon within the limits of whatever territory, or divisions +of territory, had been brought into the association by these parties as +individual occupiers thereof, and no non-contracting party would have a +right to enter or remain in this domain except upon such terms as the +association might impose. But if, somewhere between these divisions of +territory, had lived, prior to the formation of the association, some +individual on his homestead, who for any reason, wise or foolish, had +declined to join in forming the association, the contracting parties +would have had no right to evict him, compel him to join, make him pay +for any incidental benefits that he might derive from proximity to their +association, or restrict him in the exercise of any previously-enjoyed +right to prevent him from reaping these benefits. Now, voluntary +association necessarily involving the right of secession, any seceding +member would naturally fall back into the position and upon the rights +of the individual above described, who refused to join at all. So much, +then, for the attitude of the individual toward any voluntary +association surrounding him, his support thereof evidently depending +upon his approval or disapproval of its objects, his view of its +efficiency in attaining them, and his estimate of the advantages and +disadvantages involved in joining, seceding, or abstaining."[732] + +For the members of the voluntary association numerous obligations arise +from their membership. The association may require, as a condition of +membership, the agreement to perform certain services,--for instance, +"jury service."[733] And "inasmuch as Anarchistic associations recognize +the right of secession, they may utilize the ballot, if they see fit to +do so. If the question decided by ballot is so vital that the minority +thinks it more important to carry out its own views than to preserve +common action, the minority can withdraw. In no case can a minority, +however small, be governed without its consent."[734] The voluntary +association is entitled to compel its members to live up to their +obligations. "If a man makes an agreement with men, the latter may +combine to hold him to his agreement";[735] therefore a voluntary +association is "entitled to enforce whatever regulations the contracting +parties may agree upon."[736] To be sure, one must bear in mind that +"very likely the best way to secure the fulfilment of promises is to +have it understood in advance that the fulfilment is not to be +enforced."[737] + +Of especial importance among the obligations of the members of a +voluntary association is the duty of paying taxes; but the tax is +voluntary by virtue of the fact that it is based on contract.[738] +"Voluntary taxation, far from impairing the association's credit, would +strengthen it";[739] for, in the first place, because of the simplicity +of its functions, the association seldom or never has to borrow; in the +second place, it cannot, like the present State upon its basis of +compulsory taxation, repudiate its debts and still continue business; +and, in the third place, it will necessarily be more intent on +maintaining its credit by paying its debts than is the State which +enforces taxation.[740] And furthermore, the voluntariness of the tax +has this advantage, that "the defensive institution will be steadily +deterred from becoming an invasive institution through fear that the +voluntary contributions will fall off; it will have this constant motive +to keep itself trimmed down to the popular demand."[741] + +"Ireland's true order: the wonderful Land League, the nearest approach, +on a large scale, to perfect Anarchistic organization that the world has +yet seen. An immense number of local groups, scattered over large +sections of two continents separated by three thousand miles of ocean; +each group autonomous, each free; each composed of varying numbers of +individuals of all ages, sexes, races, equally autonomous and free; each +inspired by a common, central purpose; each supported entirely by +voluntary contributions; each obeying its own judgment; each guided in +the formation of its judgment and the choice of its conduct by the +advice of a central council of picked men, having no power to enforce +its orders except that inherent in the convincing logic of the reasons +on which the orders are based; all co-ordinated and federated, with a +minimum of machinery and without sacrifice of spontaneity, into a vast +working unit, whose unparalleled power makes tyrants tremble and armies +of no avail."[742] + +3. Among the prominent associations of the new society are mutual +insurance societies and mutual banks,[743] and, especially, defensive +associations. + +"The abolition of the State will leave in existence a defensive +association"[744] which will give protection against those "who violate +the social law by invading their neighbors."[745] To be sure, this need +will be only transitory. "We look forward to the ultimate disappearance +of the necessity of force even for the purpose of repressing +crime."[746] "The necessity for defence against individual invaders is +largely and perhaps, in the end, wholly due to the oppressions of the +invasive State. When the State falls, criminals will begin to +disappear."[747] + +A number of defensive associations may exist side by side. "There are +many more than five or six insurance companies in England, and it is by +no means uncommon for members of the same family to insure their lives +and goods against accident or fire in different companies. Why should +there not be a considerable number of defensive associations in England, +in which people, even members of the same family, might insure their +lives and goods against murderers or thieves? Defence is a service, like +any other service."[748] "Under the influence of competition the best +and cheapest protector, like the best and cheapest tailor, would +doubtless get the greater part of the business. It is conceivable even +that he might get the whole of it. But, if he should, it would be by his +virtue as a protector, not by his power as a tyrant. He would be kept at +his best by the possibility of competition and the fear of it; and the +source of power would always remain, not with him, but with his patrons, +who would exercise it, not by voting him down or by forcibly putting +another in his place, but by withdrawing their patronage."[749] But, if +invader and invaded belong to different defensive associations, will not +a conflict of associations result? "Anticipations of such conflicts +would probably result in treaties, and even in the establishment of +federal tribunals, as courts of last resort, by the co-operation of the +various associations, on the same voluntary principle in accordance with +which the associations themselves were organized."[750] + +"Voluntary defensive associations acting on the Anarchistic principle +would not only demand redress for, but would prohibit, all clearly +invasive acts."[751] To fulfil this function they may choose any +appropriate means, without thereby exercising a government. "Government +is the subjection of the _non-invasive_ individual to a will not his +own. The subjection of the _invasive_ individual is not government, but +resistance to and protection from government."[752]--"Anarchism +recognizes the right to arrest, try, convict, and punish for wrong +doing."[753] "Anarchism will take enough of the invader's property from +him to repair the damage done by his invasion."[754] "If it can find no +better instrument of resistance to invasion, Anarchism will use +prisons."[755] It admits even capital punishment. "The society which +inflicts capital punishment does not commit murder. Murder is an +offensive act. The term cannot be applied legitimately to any defensive +act. There is nothing sacred in the life of an invader, and there is no +valid principle of human society that forbids the invaded to protect +themselves in whatever way they can."[756] "It is allowable to punish +invaders by torture. But, if the 'good' people are not fiends, they are +not likely to defend themselves by torture until the penalties of death +and tolerable confinement have shown themselves destitute of +efficacy."[757]--"All disputes will be submitted to juries."[758] +"Speaking for myself, I think the jury should be selected by drawing +twelve names by lot from a wheel containing the names of all the +citizens in the community."[759] "The juries will judge not only the +facts, but the law, the justice of the law, its applicability to the +given circumstances, and the penalty or damage to be inflicted because +of its infraction."[760] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _According to Tucker, from the standpoint of every one's +self-interest and the equal liberty of all there is no objection to +property._ Tucker rejects only the distribution of property on the basis +of monopoly, as it everywhere and always exists in the State. That the +State is essentially invasion appears in the laws which "not only +prescribe personal habits, but, worse still, create and sustain +monopolies"[761] and thereby make usury possible.[762] + +1. Usury is the taking of surplus value.[763] "A laborer's product is +such portion of the value of that which he delivers to the consumer as +his own labor has contributed."[764] The laborer does not get this +product, "at least not as laborer; he gains a bare subsistence by his +work."[765] But, "somebody gets the surplus wealth. Who is the +somebody?"[766] "The usurer."[767] + +"There are three forms of usury: interest on money, rent of land and +houses, and profit in exchange. Whoever is in receipt of any of these is +a usurer. And who is not? Scarcely any one. The banker is a usurer; the +manufacturer is a usurer; the merchant is a usurer; the landlord is a +usurer; and the workingman who puts his savings, if he has any, out at +interest, or takes rent for his house or lot, if he owns one, or +exchanges his labor for more than an equivalent,--he too is a usurer. +The sin of usury is one under which all are concluded, and for which all +are responsible. But all do not benefit by it. The vast majority suffer. +Only the chief usurers accumulate: in agricultural and thickly settled +countries, the landlords; in industrial and commercial countries, the +bankers. Those are the Somebodies who swallow up the surplus +wealth."[768] + +2. "And where do they get their power? From monopoly maintained by the +State. Usury rests on this."[769] And "of the various monopolies that +now prevail, four are of principal importance."[770] + +"First in the importance of its evil influence they [the founders of +Anarchism] considered the money monopoly, which consists of the +privilege given by the government to certain individuals, or to +individuals holding certain kinds of property, of issuing the +circulating medium, a privilege which is now enforced in this country by +a national tax of ten per cent. upon all other persons who attempt to +furnish a circulating medium, and by State laws making it a criminal +offence to issue notes as currency. It is claimed that holders of this +privilege control the rate of interest, the rate of rent of houses and +buildings, and the prices of goods,--the first directly, and the second +and third indirectly. For, if the business of banking were made free to +all, more and more persons would enter into it until the competition +should become sharp enough to reduce the price of lending money to the +labor cost, which statistics show to be less than three-fourths of one +per cent."[771] "Then down will go house-rent. For no one who can borrow +capital at one per cent. with which to build a house of his own will +consent to pay rent to a landlord at a higher rate than that."[772] +Finally, "down will go profits also. For merchants, instead of buying at +high prices on credit, will borrow money of the banks at less than one +per cent., buy at low prices for cash, and correspondingly reduce the +prices of their goods to their customers."[773] + +"Second in importance comes the land monopoly, the evil effects of which +are seen principally in exclusively agricultural countries, like +Ireland. This monopoly consists in the enforcement by government of +land-titles which do not rest upon personal occupancy and +cultivation."[774] "Ground-rent exists only because the State stands by +to collect it and to protect land-titles rooted in force or fraud."[775] +"As soon as individuals should no longer be protected in anything but +personal occupancy and cultivation of land, ground-rent would disappear, +and so usury have one less leg to stand on."[776] + +The third and fourth places are occupied by the tariff and patent +monopolies.[777] "The tariff monopoly consists in fostering production +at high prices and under unfavorable conditions by visiting with the +penalty of taxation those who patronize production at low prices and +under favorable conditions. The evil to which this monopoly gives rise +might more properly be called _mis_usury than usury, because it compels +labor to pay, not exactly for the use of capital, but rather for the +misuse of capital."[778] "The patent monopoly protects inventors and +authors against competition for a period long enough to enable them to +extort from the people a reward enormously in excess of the labor +measure of their services,--in other words, it gives certain people a +right of property for a term of years in laws and facts of nature, and +the power to exact tribute from others for the use of this natural +wealth, which should be open to all."[779] It is on the tariff and +patent monopolies, next to the money monopoly, that profit in exchange +is based. If they were done away along with the money monopoly, it would +disappear.[780] + +II. _Every one's self-interest, and particularly the equal liberty of +all, demands a distribution of property in which every one is guaranteed +the product of his labor._[781] + +1. "Equal liberty, in the property sphere, is such a balance between the +liberty to take and the liberty to keep that the two liberties may +coexist without conflict or invasion."[782] "Nearly all Anarchists +consider labor to be the only basis of the right of ownership in harmony +with that law";[783] "the laborers, instead of having only a small +fraction of the wealth in the world, should have all the wealth."[784] +This form of property "secures each in the possession of his own +products, or of such products of others as he may have obtained +unconditionally without the use of fraud or force, and in the +realization of all titles to such products which he may hold by virtue +of free contract with others."[785] + +"It will be seen from this definition that Anarchistic property concerns +only products. But anything is a product upon which human labor has been +expended, whether it be a piece of iron or a piece of land. (It should +be stated, however, that in the case of land, or of any other material +the supply of which is so limited that all cannot hold it in unlimited +quantities, Anarchism undertakes to protect no titles except such as are +based on actual occupancy and use.)"[786] + +2. A distribution of property in which every one is guaranteed the +product of his labor presupposes merely that equal liberty be applied in +those spheres which are as yet dominated by State monopoly.[787] + +"Free money first."[788] "I mean by free money the utter absence of +restriction upon the issue of all money not fraudulent";[789] "making +the issue of money as free as the manufacture of shoes."[790] + +Money is here understood in the broadest sense, it means both +"commodity money and credit money,"[791] by no means coin alone; "if the +idea of the royalty of gold and silver could once be knocked out of the +people's heads, and they could once understand that no particular kind +of merchandise is created by nature for monetary purposes, they would +settle this question in a trice."[792] "If they only had the liberty to +do so, there are enough large and small property-holders willing and +anxious to issue money, to provide a far greater amount than is +needed."[793] "Does the law of England allow citizens to form a bank for +the issue of paper money against any property that they may see fit to +accept as security; said bank perhaps owning no specie whatever; the +paper money not redeemable in specie except at the option of the bank; +the customers of the bank mutually pledging themselves to accept the +bank's paper in lieu of gold or silver coin of the same face value; the +paper being redeemable only at the maturity of the mortgage notes, and +then simply by a return of said notes and a release of the mortgaged +property,--is such an institution, I ask, allowed by the law of England? +If it is, then I have only to say that the working people of England are +very great fools not to take advantage of this inestimable +liberty."[794] Then "competition would reduce the rate of interest on +capital to the mere cost of banking, which is much less than one per +cent.,"[795] for "capitalists will not be able to lend their capital at +interest when people can get money at the bank without interest with +which to buy capital outright."[796] Likewise the charge of rent on +buildings "would be almost entirely and directly abolished,"[797] and +"profits fall to the level of the manufacturer's or merchant's proper +wage,"[798] "except in business protected by tariff or patent +laws."[799] "This facility of acquiring capital will give an unheard-of +impetus to business";[800] "if free banking were only a picayunish +attempt to distribute more equitably the small amount of wealth now +produced, I would not waste a moment's energy on it."[801] + +Free land is needed in the second place.[802] "'The land for the +people,' according to 'Liberty', means the protection of all people who +desire to cultivate land in the possession of whatever land they +personally cultivate, without distinction between the existing classes +of landlords, tenants, and laborers, and the positive refusal of the +protecting power to lend its aid to the collection of any rent +whatsoever."[803] This "system of occupying ownership, accompanied by no +legal power to collect rent, but coupled with the abolition of the +State-guaranteed monopoly of money, thus making capital readily +available,"[804] would "abolish ground-rent"[805] and "distribute the +increment naturally and quietly among its rightful owners."[806] + +In the third and fourth place, free trade and freedom of intellectual +products are necessary.[807] If they were added to freedom in money, +"profit on merchandise would become merely the wages of mercantile +labor."[808] Free trade "would result in a great reduction in the prices +of all articles taxed."[809] And "the abolition of the patent monopoly +would fill its beneficiaries with a wholesome fear of competition which +would cause them to be satisfied with pay for their services equal to +that which other laborers get for theirs."[810] + +If equal liberty is realized in these four spheres, its realization in +the sphere of property follows of itself: that is, a distribution of +property in which every one is guaranteed the product of his labor.[811] +"Economic privilege must disappear as a result of the abolition of +political tyranny."[812] In a society in which there is no more +government of man by man, there can be no such things as interest, rent, +and profits;[813] every one is guaranteed the ownership of the product +of his labor. "Socialism does not say: 'Thou shalt not steal!' It says: +'When all men have Liberty, thou wilt not steal.'"[814] + +3. "Liberty will abolish all means whereby any laborer can be deprived +of any of his product; but it will not abolish the limited inequality +between one laborer's product and another's."[815] "There will remain +the slight disparity of products due to superiority of soil and skill. +But even this disparity will soon develop a tendency to decrease. Under +the new economic conditions and enlarged opportunities resulting from +freedom of credit and land classes will tend to disappear; great +capacities will not be developed in a few at the expense of stunting +those of the many; freedom of locomotion will be vastly increased; the +toilers will no longer be anchored in such large numbers in the present +commercial centres, and thus made subservient to the city landlords; +territories and resources never before utilized will become easy of +access and development; and under all these influences the disparity +above mentioned will decrease to a minimum."[816] + +"Probably it will never disappear entirely."[817] "Now, because liberty +has not the power to bring this about, there are people who say: We will +have no liberty, for we must have absolute equality. I am not of them. +If I can go through life free and rich, I shall not cry because my +neighbor, equally free, is richer. Liberty will ultimately make all men +rich; it will not make all men equally rich. Authority may (and may not) +make all men equally rich in purse; it certainly will make them equally +poor in all that makes life best worth living."[818] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_According to Tucker, the manner in which the change called for by every +one's self-interest takes place is to be that those who have recognized +the truth shall first convince a sufficient number of people how +necessary the change is to their own interests, and that then they all +of them, by refusing obedience, abolish the State, transform law and +property, and thus bring about the new condition._ + +I. First a sufficient number of men are to be convinced that their own +interests demand the change. + +1. "A system of Anarchy in actual operation implies a previous education +of the people in the principles of Anarchy."[819] "The individual must +be penetrated with the Anarchistic idea and taught to rebel."[820] +"Persistent inculcation of the doctrine of equality of liberty, whereby +finally the majority will be made to see in regard to existing forms of +invasion what they have already been made to see in regard to its +obsolete forms,--namely, that they are not seeking equality of liberty +at all, but simply the subjection of all others to themselves."[821] +"The Irish Land League failed because the peasants were acting, not +intelligently in obedience to their wisdom, but blindly in obedience to +leaders who betrayed them at the critical moment. Had the people +realized the power they were exercising and understood the economic +situation, they would not have resumed the payment of rent at Parnell's +bidding, and to-day they might have been free. The Anarchists do not +propose to repeat their mistake. That is why they are devoting +themselves entirely to the inculcation of principles, especially of +economic principles. In steadfastly pursuing this course regardless of +clamor, they alone are laying a sure foundation for the success of the +revolution."[822] + +2. In particular, according to Tucker, appropriate means for the +inculcation of the Anarchistic idea are "speech and the +press."[823]--But what if the freedom of speech and of the press be +suppressed? Then force is justifiable.[824] + +But force is to be used only as a "last resort."[825] "When a physician +sees that his patient's strength is being exhausted so rapidly by the +intensity of his agony that he will die of exhaustion before the medical +processes inaugurated have a chance to do their curative work, he +administers an opiate. But a good physician is always loth to do so, +knowing that one of the influences of the opiate is to interfere with +and defeat the medical processes themselves. It is the same with the use +of force, whether of the mob or of the State, upon diseased society; and +not only those who prescribe its indiscriminate use as a sovereign +remedy and a permanent tonic, but all who ever propose it as a cure, and +even all who would lightly and unnecessarily resort to it, not as a +cure, but as an expedient, _are social quacks_."[826] + +Therefore violence "should be used against the oppressors of mankind +only when they have succeeded in hopelessly repressing all peaceful +methods of agitation."[827] "Bloodshed in itself is pure loss. When we +must have freedom of agitation, and when nothing but bloodshed will +secure it, then bloodshed is wise."[828] "As long as freedom of speech +and of the press is not struck down, there should be no resort to +physical force in the struggle against oppression. It must not be +inferred that, because 'Libertas' thinks it may become advisable to use +force to secure free speech, it would therefore sanction a bloody deluge +as soon as free speech had been struck down in one, a dozen, or a +hundred instances. Not until the gag had become completely efficacious +would 'Libertas' advise that last resort, the use of force."[829] +"Terrorism is expedient in Russia and inexpedient in Germany and +England."[830]--In what form is violence to be used? "The days of armed +revolution have gone by. It is too easily put down."[831] "Terrorism and +assassination"[832] are necessary, but they "will have to consist of a +series of acts of individual dynamiters."[833] + +3. But, besides speech and the press, there are yet other methods of +"propagandism."[834] + +Such a method is "isolated individual resistance to taxation."[835] +"Some year, when an Anarchist feels exceptionally strong and +independent, when his conduct can impair no serious personal +obligations, when on the whole he would a little rather go to jail than +not, and when his property is in such shape that he can successfully +conceal it, let him declare to the assessor property of a certain value, +and then defy the collector to collect. Or, if he have no property, let +him decline to pay his poll tax. The State will then be put to its +trumps. Of two things one,--either it will let him alone, and then he +will tell his neighbors all about it, resulting the next year in an +alarming disposition on their part to keep their own money in their own +pockets; or else it will imprison him, and then by the requisite legal +processes he will demand and secure all the rights of a civil prisoner +and live thus a decently comfortable life until the State shall get +tired of supporting him and the increasing number of persons who will +follow his example. Unless, indeed, the State, in desperation, shall see +fit to make its laws regarding imprisonment for taxes more rigorous, and +then, if our Anarchist be a determined man, we shall find out how far a +republican government, 'deriving its just powers from the consent of the +governed,' is ready to go to procure that 'consent,'--whether it will +stop at solitary confinement in a dark cell or join with the czar of +Russia in administering torture by electricity. The farther it shall go +the better it will be for Anarchy, as every student of the history of +reform well knows. Who shall estimate the power for propagandism of a +few cases of this kind, backed by a well-organized force of agitators +outside the prison walls?"[836] + +Another method of propaganda consists in "a practical test of +Anarchistic principles."[837] But this cannot take place in isolated +communities, but only "in the very heart of existing industrial and +social life."[838] "In some large city fairly representative of the +varied interests and characteristics of our heterogeneous civilization +let a sufficiently large number of earnest and intelligent Anarchists, +engaged in nearly all the different trades and professions, combine to +carry on their production and distribution on the cost principle, +and,"[839] "setting at defiance the national and State banking +prohibitions,"[840] "to start a bank through which they can obtain a +non-interest-bearing currency for the conduct of their commerce and +dispose their steadily accumulating capital in new enterprises, the +advantages of this system of affairs being open to all who should choose +to offer their patronage,--what would be the result? Why, soon the whole +composite population, wise and unwise, good, bad, and indifferent, would +become interested in what was going on under their very eyes, more and +more of them would actually take part in it, and in a few years, each +man reaping the fruit of his labor and no man able to live in idleness +on an income from capital, the whole city would become a great hive of +Anarchistic workers, prosperous and free individuals."[841] + +II. If a sufficient number of persons are convinced that their +self-interest demands the change, then the time is come to abolish the +State, transform law and property, and bring about the new condition, by +"the Social Revolution,"[842] _i. e._ by as general a refusal of +obedience as possible. The State "is sheer tyranny, and has no rights +which any individual is bound to respect; on the contrary, every +individual who understands his rights and values his liberties will do +his best to overthrow it."[843] + +1. Many believe "that the State cannot disappear until the individual is +perfected. + +"In saying which, Mr. Appleton joins hands with those wise persons who +admit that Anarchy will be practicable when the millennium arrives. No +doubt it is true that, if the individual could perfect himself while +the barriers to his perfection are standing, the State would afterwards +disappear. Perhaps, too, he could go to heaven, if he could lift himself +by his boot-straps."[844] "'Bullion' thinks that 'civilization consists +in teaching men to govern themselves and then letting them do it.' A +very slight change suffices to make this stupid statement an entirely +accurate one, after which it would read: 'Civilization consists in +teaching men to govern themselves by letting them do it.'"[845] +Therefore it is necessary to "abolish the State"[846] by "the impending +social revolution."[847] + +2. Others have the "fallacious idea that Anarchy can be inaugurated by +force."[848] + +In what way it is to be inaugurated is solely a question of +"expediency."[849] "To brand the policy of terrorism and assassination +as immoral is ridiculously weak. 'Liberty' does not assume to set any +limit on the right of an invaded individual to choose his own methods of +defence. The invader, whether an individual or a government, forfeits +all claim to consideration from the invaded. This truth is independent +of the character of the invasion. It makes no difference in what +direction the individual finds his freedom arbitrarily limited; he has a +right to vindicate it in any case, and he will be justified in +vindicating it by whatever means are available."[850] + +"The right to resist oppression by violence is beyond doubt. But its +exercise would be unwise unless the suppression of free thought, free +speech, and a free press were enforced so stringently that all other +means of throwing it off had become hopeless."[851] "If government +should be abruptly and entirely abolished to-morrow, there would +probably ensue a series of physical conflicts about land and many other +things, ending in reaction and a revival of the old tyranny. But, if the +abolition of government shall take place gradually, it will be +accompanied by a constant acquisition and steady spreading of social +truth."[852] + +3. The social revolution is to come about by passive resistance; that +is, refusal of obedience.[853] + +"Passive resistance is the most potent weapon ever wielded by man +against oppression."[854] "'Passive resistance,' said Ferdinand +Lassalle, with an obtuseness thoroughly German, 'is the resistance which +does not resist.' Never was there a greater mistake. It is the only +resistance which in these days of military discipline meets with any +result. There is not a tyrant in the civilized world to-day who would +not do anything in his power to precipitate a bloody revolution rather +than see himself confronted by any large fraction of his subjects +determined not to obey. An insurrection is easily quelled, but no army +is willing or able to train its guns on inoffensive people who do not +even gather in the street but stay at home and stand back on their +rights."[855] + +"Power feeds on its spoils, and dies when its victims refuse to be +despoiled. They can't persuade it to death; they can't vote it to death; +they can't shoot it to death; but they can always starve it to death. +When a determined body of people, sufficiently strong in numbers and +force of character to command respect and make it unsafe to imprison +them, shall agree to quietly close their doors in the faces of the +tax-collector and the rent-collector, and shall, by issuing their own +money in defiance of legal prohibition, at the same time cease paying +tribute to the money-lord, government, with all the privileges which it +grants and the monopolies which it sustains, will go by the board."[856] + +Consider "the enormous and utterly irresistible power of a large and +intelligent minority, comprising say one-fifth of the population in any +given locality," refusing to pay taxes.[857] "I need do no more than +call attention to the wonderfully instructive history of the Land League +movement in Ireland, the most potent and instantly effective +revolutionary force the world has ever known so long as it stood by its +original policy of 'Pay No Rent,' and which lost nearly all its strength +the day it abandoned that policy. But it was pursued far enough to show +that the British government was utterly powerless before it; and it is +scarcely too much to say, in my opinion, that, had it been persisted in, +there would not to-day be a landlord in Ireland. It is easier to resist +taxes in this country than it is to resist rent in Ireland; and such a +policy would be as much more potent here than there as the intelligence +of the people is greater, providing always that you can enlist in it a +sufficient number of earnest and determined men and women. If one-fifth +of the people were to resist taxation, it would cost more to collect +their taxes, or try to collect them, than the other four-fifths would +consent to pay into the treasury."[858] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[655] [Recognized by Tucker as the originator of Anarchism, so far as +any man can claim this title. See Bailie's life of Warren.] + +[656] [At present (1908) a bi-monthly magazine.] + +[657] [Or rather a selection.] + +[658] Tucker p. 21. + +[659] _Ib._ p. 112. + +[660] _Ib._ p. 24. + +[661] _Ib._ pp. 24, 64. + +[662] _Ib._ p. 64. + +[663] Tucker p. 35. [This passage refers merely to what it mentions, the +alleged intent utterly to destroy society. As to identity of interests, +I believe Tucker's position is that the interest of society is that of +_almost_ every individual.] + +[664] _Ib._ p. 24. + +[665] _Ib._ p. 24. + +[666] _Ib._ p. 132. + +[667] _Ib._ p. 42. [Eltzbacher does not seem to perceive that Tucker +uses this as a ready-made phrase, coined by Herbert Spencer and +designating Spencer's well-known formula that in justice "every man has +freedom to do all that he wills, provided he infringes not the equal +freedom of any other man."] + +[668] _Ib._ p. 41. + +[669] _Ib._ p. 64. + +[670] Tucker p. 35. [This citation is again irrelevant, but Eltzbacher's +misapplication of it does not misrepresent Tucker's views.] + +[671] _Ib._ p. 65. + +[672] _Ib._ p. 15. + +[673] _Ib._ p. 59. [It should be understood that a great part of +"Instead of a Book" is made up of the reprints of discussions with +various opponents whose language is quoted and alluded to.] + +[674] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[675] _Ib._ p. 67. + +[676] _Ib._ p. 153. + +[677] _Ib._ p. 135. [Since the publication of "Instead of a Book" Tucker +has had a notable discussion of the child question in "Liberty," which, +while developing much disagreement on this point among Tucker's friends, +has at least brought definiteness into the judgments passed upon it.] + +[678] Tucker p. 78. + +[679] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[680] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[681] _Ib._ p. 59. [The wording of this clause is so thoroughly +Eltzbacher's own that his quotation-marks appear unjustifiable; but the +doctrine is Tucker's.] + +[682] _Ib._ p. 81. + +[683] _Ib._ p. 80. + +[684] _Ib._ p. 167. + +[685] Tucker p. 23. + +[686] _Ib._ pp. 60, 52, 158, 104, 167. + +[687] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[688] _Ib._ p. 60. [But see below, page 200, where Tucker's page 60 is +quoted _verbatim_.] + +[689] _Ib._ p. 312. + +[690] _Ib._ p. 312. [Tucker is not likely to think that he is fairly +represented without a fuller quotation: "not only the facts, but the +law, the justice of the law, its applicability to the given +circumstances, and the penalty or damage to be inflicted because of its +infraction." He would emphasize "the justice of the law"--a juryman will +disregard a law that he disapproves. Tucker here prefixes "All rules and +laws will be little more than suggestions for the guidance of juries." +Nevertheless the juryman is to be guided by norm and not by caprice: see +"Liberty" Sept. 7, 1895, where he says: "I am asked by a correspondent +if I would 'passively see a woman throw her baby into the fire as a man +throws his newspaper'. It is highly probable that I would interfere in +such a case. But it is as probable, and perhaps more so, that I would +personally interfere to prevent the owner of a masterpiece by Titian +from applying the torch to the canvas. My interference in the former +case no more invalidates the mother's property right in her child than +my interference in the latter case would invalidate the property right +of the owner of the painting. If I interfere in either case, I am an +invader, acting in obedience to my injured feelings. As such I deserve +to be punished. I consider that it would be the duty of a policeman in +the service of the defence association to arrest me for assault. On my +arraignment I should plead guilty, and it would be the duty of the jury +to impose a penalty on me. I might ask for a light sentence on the +strength of the extenuating circumstances, and I believe that my prayer +would be heeded. But, if such invasions as mine were persisted in, it +would become the duty of the jury to impose penalties sufficiently +severe to put a stop to them."] + +[691] Tucker p. 312. + +[692] _Ib._ p. 52. + +[693] _Ib._ pp. 156-7. [Compare the exact words of this passage as +quoted on page 200 below.] + +[694] _Ib._ p. 131. [Not _verbatim_.] + +[695] _Ib._ p. 60. + +[696] _Ib._ p. 61. + +[697] Tucker p. 52. + +[698] _Ib._ p. 24. + +[699] _Ib._ pp. 146, 350. + +[700] _Ib._ p. 48. + +[701] _Ib._ p. 48. + +[702] _Ib._ p. 158. + +[703] _Ib._ p. 51. + +[704] _Ib._ p. 158. + +[705] Tucker pp. 157-8. + +[706] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[707] _Ib._ p. 22. + +[708] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[709] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[710] Tucker p. 22. + +[711] _Ib._ p. 23. + +[712] _Ib._ p. 169. + +[713] _Ib._ p. 115. [The words are Lucien V. Pinney's, but Tucker quotes +them approvingly.] + +[714] _Ib._ pp. 426-7. + +[715] _Ib._ p. 57. + +[716] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[717] Tucker pp. 25-6. + +[718] _Ib._ p. 57. + +[719] _Ib._ p. 26. + +[720] _Ib._ p. [32-]33. + +[721] Tucker p. 54. + +[722] _Ib._ p. 53. + +[723] _Ib._ pp. 26-7. + +[724] _Ib._ pp. 158-9. + +[725] Tucker p. 44. [See my note below, page 195.] + +[726] _Ib._ p. 35. + +[727] _Ib._ p. 321. + +[728] _Ib._ p. 32. + +[729] _Ib._ p. 44. [Or rather p. 167, and sundry other passages; on p. +44 see my note below, page 195.] + +[730] _Ib._ p. 342. + +[731] _Ib._ p. 48. + +[732] Tucker pp. 44-5. [All this is a discussion of the characteristics +which the State of to-day would have to possess if it were to deserve to +be characterized as a voluntary association. The same conditions must of +course be fulfilled by any future voluntary association; but it does not +follow that all the points mentioned are such as Anarchistic +associations would have most occasion to contemplate.] + +[733] Tucker p. 56. + +[734] _Ib._ pp. 56-7. + +[735] _Ib._ p. 24. + +[736] _Ib._ p. 44. [For context and limitations see page 195 of the +present book.] + +[737] _Ib._ p. 158. + +[738] _Ib._ p. 32. [It is not necessary that taxation exist, though it +may be altogether presumable that it will. Still less is it necessary +that the taxation be considerable in amount.] + +[739] Tucker pp. 36-7. + +[740] _Ib._ p. 37. + +[741] _Ib._ p. 43. + +[742] Tucker p. 414. + +[743] _Ib._ p. 159. [Tucker himself would assuredly have given the +emphasis of "especially" to the mutual banks. The defensive associations +receive especially frequent mention because of the need of incessantly +answering the objection "If we lose the State, who will protect us +against ruffians?" but Tucker certainly expects that the defensive +association will from the start fill a much smaller sphere in every +respect than the present police. See _e. g._ "Instead of a Book" p. 40.] + +[744] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[745] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[746] _Ib._ p. 52. + +[747] _Ib._ p. 40. + +[748] Tucker p. 32. + +[749] _Ib._ pp. 326-7. + +[750] _Ib._ p. 36. + +[751] _Ib._ p. 167. [But the restraint of aggressions against those with +whom the association has no contract, and also the possible refusal to +pay any attention to some particular class of aggressions which it may +be thought best to let alone, are optional; in these respects the +association will do what seems best to serve the interests (including +the pleasure, altruistic or other) of its members; those who do not +approve the policy adopted may quit the association if they like.] + +[752] Tucker p. 39. + +[753] _Ib._ p. 55 [where Tucker explicitly refuses to approve this +statement unless he is allowed to add the caveat "if by the words wrong +doing is meant invasion"]. + +[754] _Ib._ p. 56. + +[755] _Ib._ p. 56. + +[756] _Ib._ pp. 156-7. [But accompanied by a disapproval of the ordinary +practice of capital punishment.] + +[757] _Ib._ p. 60 [where the particular torture under discussion is +failure to "feed, clothe, and make comfortable" the prisoners]. + +[758] _Ib._ p. 312. [But "Anarchism, as such, neither believes nor +disbelieves in jury trial; it is a matter of expediency," pp. 55-6.] + +[759] Tucker p. 56. + +[760] _Ib._ p. 312. + +[761] _Ib._ p. 26. + +[762] _Ib._ p. 178. + +[763] _Ib._ pp. 178, 177. + +[764] _Ib._ p. 241. + +[765] _Ib._ p. 177. [This is given as an answer to the question here +quoted next, about "surplus wealth."] + +[766] _Ib._ p. 177. [Quoted from N. Y. "Truth."] + +[767] _Ib._ p. 178. + +[768] Tucker p. 178. + +[769] _Ib._ p. 178. [Not _verbatim_.] + +[770] _Ib._ p. 11. + +[771] Tucker p. 11. + +[772] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[773] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[774] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[775] _Ib._ p. 178. + +[776] _Ib._ p. 12. [This is given as the view of Proudhon and Warren; +the next sentence states Tucker's belief that for perfect correctness it +should be modified by admitting that a small fraction of ground-rent, +tending constantly to a minimum, would persist even then, but would be +no cause for "serious alarm."] + +[777] Tucker pp. 12-13. + +[778] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[779] _Ib._ p. 13. + +[780] _Ib._ pp. 12-13, 178. + +[781] _Ib._ pp. 59-60. + +[782] Tucker p. 67. + +[783] _Ib._ p. 131. + +[784] _Ib._ p. 185. [Quoted, with express approval, from A. B. Brown.] + +[785] _Ib._ p. 60. + +[786] _Ib._ p. 61. + +[787] _Ib._ p. 178. + +[788] _Ib._ p. 273. + +[789] _Ib._ p. 274. + +[790] _Ib._ p. 374. + +[791] Tucker p. 272. + +[792] _Ib._ p. 198. + +[793] _Ib._ p. 248. + +[794] _Ib._ p. 226. + +[795] _Ib._ p. 474. + +[796] Tucker p. 287. + +[797] _Ib._ pp. 274-5. + +[798] _Ib._ p. 287. + +[799] _Ib._ p. 178. + +[800] _Ib._ p. 11. + +[801] _Ib._ p. 243. + +[802] _Ib._ p. 275. + +[803] _Ib._ p. 299. + +[804] _Ib._ p. 325. + +[805] _Ib._ p. 275. + +[806] _Ib._ p. 325. [Meaning, of course, John Stuart Mill's "unearned +increment" in the value of land.] + +[807] _Ib._ pp. 12-13. + +[808] Tucker pp. 474, 178. + +[809] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[810] _Ib._ p. 13. + +[811] _Ib._ p. 403. + +[812] _Ib._ p. 403. + +[813] _Ib._ p. 470. + +[814] _Ib._ p. 362. ["Socialism" is here used as including Anarchism; +and Tucker prefers so to use the word.] + +[815] _Ib._ p. [347-]348. + +[816] Tucker pp. 332-3. + +[817] _Ib._ p. 333. + +[818] _Ib._ p. 348. + +[819] Tucker p. 104. + +[820] _Ib._ p. 114. + +[821] _Ib._ pp. 77-8. + +[822] _Ib._ p. 416. + +[823] Tucker pp. 397, 413. + +[824] _Ib._ p. 413. + +[825] _Ib._ p. 397. + +[826] _Ib._ p. 428. + +[827] _Ib._ p. 428 [where the subject is not "violence" of all sorts +great and small, but "terrorism and assassination"]. + +[828] _Ib._ p. 439. + +[829] Tucker p. 397. + +[830] _Ib._ p. 428. + +[831] _Ib._ p. 440. + +[832] _Ib._ p. 428 [with limiting context quoted above, page 211]. + +[833] _Ib._ p. 440. + +[834] _Ib._ p. 45. + +[835] _Ib._ p. 45 [where nothing is said as to whether the work is the +better or the worse for being "isolated"]. + +[836] Tucker p. 412. + +[837] _Ib._ p. 423. + +[838] _Ib._ p. 423. + +[839] _Ib._ p. 423. + +[840] Tucker p. 27. + +[841] _Ib._ pp. 423-4. + +[842] _Ib._ pp. 416, 439. + +[843] _Ib._ p. 45. + +[844] Tucker p. 114. + +[845] _Ib._ p. 158. + +[846] _Ib._ p. 114. + +[847] _Ib._ p. 487. + +[848] _Ib._ p. 427. + +[849] _Ib._ p. 429. + +[850] _Ib._ pp. 428-9. + +[851] Tucker p. 439. + +[852] _Ib._ p. 329 [where the course it must take is somewhat more +precisely described]. + +[853] _Ib._ p. 413. + +[854] _Ib._ p. 415. + +[855] _Ib._ p. 413. + +[856] Tucker pp. 415-16. + +[857] _Ib._ p. 412. + +[858] Tucker pp. 412-13. [This chapter should be completed by a mention +of Tucker's doctrine that we must expect Anarchy to be established by +gradually getting rid of one oppression after another till at last all +the domination of violence shall have disappeared. See, for instance, +"Liberty" for December, 1900: "The fact is that Anarchist society was +started thousands of years ago, when the first glimmer of the idea of +liberty dawned upon the human mind, and has been advancing ever +since,--not steadily advancing, to be sure, but fitfully, with an +occasional reversal of the current. Mr. Byington looks upon the time +when a jury of Anarchists shall sit, as a point not far from the +beginning of the history of Anarchy's growth, whereas I look upon that +time as a point very near the end of that history. The introduction of +more Anarchy into our economic life will have made marriage a thing of +the past long before the first drawing of a jury of Anarchists to pass +upon any contract whatever." Also "Instead of a Book" p. 104: +"Anarchists work for the abolition of the State, but by this they mean +not its overthrow, but, as Proudhon put it, its dissolution in the +economic organism. This being the case, the question before us is not, +as Mr. Donisthorpe supposes, what measures and means of interference we +are justified in instituting, but which ones of those already existing +we should first lop off." Tucker has lately been laying more emphasis on +this view than on the more programme-like propositions cited by +Eltzbacher, which date from the first six years of the publication of +"Liberty." Indeed, I am sure I remember that somewhere lately, being +challenged as to the feasibility of some of the latter, he admitted that +those precise forms of action might perhaps not be adequate to bring the +State to its end, and added that the end of the State is at present too +remote to allow us to specify the processes by which it must ultimately +be brought about. All this, however, does not mean that Tucker's faith +in passive resistance as the most potent instrument discoverable both +for propaganda and for the practical winning of liberty has grown +weaker; he has no more given up this principle than he has given up the +plan of propaganda by discussion.] + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TOLSTOI'S TEACHING + + +1.--GENERAL + +I. Lef Nikolayevitch Tolstoi was born in 1828 at Yasnaya Polyana, +district of Krapivna, government of Tula. From 1843 to 1846 he studied +in Kazan at first oriental languages, then jurisprudence; from 1847 to +1848, in St. Petersburg, jurisprudence. After a lengthy stay at Yasnaya +Polyana, he entered an artillery regiment in the Caucasus, in 1851; he +became an officer, remained in the Caucasus till 1853, then served in +the Crimean war, and left the army in 1855. + +Tolstoi now lived at first in St. Petersburg. In 1857 he took a lengthy +tour in Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. After his return he +lived mostly in Moscow till 1860. In 1860-1861 he traveled in Germany, +France, Italy, England, and Belgium; in Brussels he made the +acquaintance of Proudhon. + +Since 1861 Tolstoi has lived almost uninterruptedly at Yasnaya Polyana, +as at once agriculturist and author. + +Tolstoi has published numerous works; his works up to 1878 are mostly +stories, among which the two novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" +are notable; his later works are mostly of a philosophical nature. + +2. Of special importance for Tolstoi's teaching about law, the State, +and property are his works "My Confession" (1879), "The Gospel in Brief" +(1880), "What I Believe" (1884) [also known in English as "My +Religion"], "What Shall We Do Then?" (1885), "On Life" (1887), "The +Kingdom of God is Within You; or, Christianity not a mystical doctrine, +but a new life-conception" (1893). + +3. Tolstoi does not call his teaching about law, the State, and property +"Anarchism." He designates as "Anarchism" the teaching which sets up as +its goal a life without government and wishes to see this realized by +the application of force.[859] + + +2.--BASIS + +_According to Tolstoi our supreme law is love; from this he derives the +commandment not to resist evil by force._ + +1. Tolstoi designates "Christianity"[860] as his basis; but by +Christianity he means not the doctrine of one of the Christian churches, +neither the Orthodox nor the Catholic nor that of any of the Protestant +bodies,[861] but the pure teaching of Christ.[862] + +"Strange as it may sound, the churches have always been not merely alien +but downright hostile to the teaching of Christ, and they must needs be +so. The churches are not, as many think, institutions that are based on +a Christian origin and have only erred a little from the right way; the +churches as such, as associations that assert their infallibility, are +anti-Christian institutions. The Christian churches and Christianity +have no fellowship except in name; nay, the two are utterly opposite and +hostile elements. The churches are arrogance, violence, usurpation, +rigidity, death; Christianity is humility, penitence, submissiveness, +progress, life."[863] The church has "so transformed Christ's teaching +to suit the world that there no longer resulted from it any demands, and +that men could go on living as they had hitherto lived. The church +yielded to the world, and, having yielded, followed it. The world did +everything that it chose, and left the church to hobble after as well as +it could with its teachings about the meaning of life. The world led its +life, contrary to Christ's teaching in each and every point, and the +church contrived subtleties to demonstrate that in living contrary to +Christ's law men were living in harmony with it. And it ended in the +world's beginning to lead a life worse than the life of the heathen, and +the church's daring not only to justify such a life but even to assert +that this was precisely what corresponded to Christ's teaching."[864] + +Particularly different from Christ's teaching is the church +"creed,"[865]--that is, the totality of the utterly incomprehensible and +therefore useless "dogmas."[866] "Of a God, external creator, origin of +all origins, we know nothing";[867] "God is the spirit in man,"[868] +"his conscience,"[869] "the knowledge of life";[870] "every man +recognizes in himself a free rational spirit independent of the flesh: +this spirit is what we call God."[871] Christ was a man,[872] "the son +of an unknown father; as he did not know his father, in his childhood he +called God his father";[873] and he was a son of God as to his spirit, +as every man is a son of God,[874] he embodied "Man confessing his +sonship of God."[875] Those who "assert that Christ professed to redeem +with his blood mankind fallen by Adam, that God is a trinity, that the +Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and that it passes to the priest +by the laying on of hands, that seven mysteries are necessary to +salvation, and so forth,"[876] "preach doctrines utterly alien to +Christ."[877] "Never did Christ with a single word attest the personal +resurrection and the immortality of man beyond the grave,"[878] which +indeed is "a very low and coarse idea";[879] the Ascension and the +Resurrection are to be counted among "the most objectionable +miracles."[880] + +Tolstoi accepts Christ's teaching as valid not on the ground of faith in +a revelation, but solely for its rationality. Faith in a revelation "was +the main reason why the teaching was at first misunderstood and later +mutilated outright."[881] Faith in Christ is "not a trusting in +something related to Christ, but the knowledge of the truth."[882] + +"'There is a law of evolution, and therefore one must live only his own +personal life and leave the rest to the law of evolution,' is the last +word of the refined culture of our day, and, at the same time, of that +obscuration of consciousness to which the cultured classes are a +prey."[883] But "human life, from getting up in the morning to going to +bed at night, is an unbroken series of actions; man must daily choose +out from hundreds of actions possible to him those actions which he will +perform; therefore, man cannot live without something to guide the +choice of his actions."[884] Now, reason alone can offer him this guide. +"Reason is that law, recognized by man, according to which his life is +to be accomplished."[885] "If there is no higher reason,--and such there +is not, nor can anything prove its existence,--then my reason is the +supreme judge of my life."[886] "The ever-increasing subjugation"[887] +"of the bestial personality to the rational consciousness"[888] is "the +true life,"[889] is "life"[890] as opposed to mere "existence."[891] + +"It used to be said, 'Do not argue, but believe in the duty that we have +prescribed to you; reason will deceive you; faith alone will bring you +the true happiness of life.' And the man exerted himself to believe, and +he believed. But intercourse with other men showed him that in many +cases these believed something quite different, and asserted that this +other faith bestowed the highest happiness. It has become unavoidable to +decide the question which of the many faiths is the right one; and only +reason can decide this."[892] "If the Buddhist who has learned to know +Islam remains a Buddhist, he is no longer a Buddhist in faith but in +reason. As soon as another faith comes up before him, and with it the +question whether to reject his faith or this other, reason alone can +give him an answer. If he has learned to know Islam and has still +remained a Buddhist, then rational conviction has taken the place of his +former blind faith in Buddha."[893] "Man recognizes truth only by +reason, not by faith."[894] + +"The law of reason reveals itself to men gradually."[895] "Eighteen +hundred years ago there appeared in the midst of the pagan Roman world a +remarkable new teaching, which was not comparable to any that had +preceded it, and which was ascribed to a man called Christ."[896] This +teaching contains "the very strictest, purest, and completest"[897] +apprehension of the law of reason to which "the human mind has hitherto +raised itself."[898] Christ's teaching is "reason itself";[899] it must +be accepted by men because it alone gives those rules of life "without +which no man ever has lived or can live, if he would live as a +man,--that is, with reason."[900] Man has, "on the basis of reason, no +right to refuse allegiance to it."[901] + +2. Christ's teaching sets up love as the supreme law for us. + +What is love? "What men who do not understand life call 'love' is only +the giving to certain conditions of their personal comfort a preference +over any others. When the man who does not understand life says that he +loves his wife or child or friend, he means by this only that his +wife's, child's, or friend's presence in his life heightens his personal +comfort."[902] + +"True love is always renunciation of one's personal comfort"[903] for a +neighbor's sake. True love "is a condition of wishing well to all men, +such as commonly characterizes children but is produced in grown men +only by self-abnegation."[904] "What living man does not know the happy +feeling, even if he has felt it only once and in most cases only in +earliest childhood, of that emotion in which one wishes to love +everybody, neighbors and father and mother and brothers and bad men and +enemies and dog and horse and grass; one wishes only one thing, that it +were well with all, that all were happy; and still more does one wish +that he were himself capable of making all happy, one wishes he might +give himself, give his whole life, that all might be well off and enjoy +themselves. Just this, this alone, is that love in which man's life +consists."[905] + +True love is "an ideal of full, infinite, divine perfection."[906] +"Divine perfection is the asymptote of human life, toward which it +constantly strives, to which it draws nearer and nearer, but which can +be attained only at infinity."[907] "True life, according to previous +teachings, consists in the fulfilling of commandments, the fulfilling of +the law; according to Christ's teaching it consists in the maximum +approach to the divine perfection which has been exhibited, and which is +felt in himself by every man."[908] + +According to the teaching of Christ, love is our highest law. "The +commandment of love is the expression of the inmost heart of the +teaching."[909] There are "three conceptions of life, and only three: +first the personal or bestial, second the social or heathenish,"[910] +"third the Christian or divine."[911] The man of the bestial conception +of life, "the savage, acknowledges life only in himself; the mainspring +of his life is personal enjoyment. The heathenish, social man recognizes +life no longer in himself alone, but in a community of persons, in the +tribe, the family, the race, the State; the mainspring of his life is +reputation. The man of the divine conception of life acknowledges life +no longer in his person, nor yet in a community of persons, but in the +prime source of eternal, never-dying life--in God; the mainspring of his +life is love."[912] + +That love is our supreme law according to Christ's teaching means +nothing else than that it is such according to reason. As early as 1852 +Tolstoi gives utterance to the thought "That love and beneficence are +truth is the only truth on earth,"[913] and much later, in 1887, he +calls love "man's only rational activity,"[914] that which "resolves all +the contradictions of human life."[915] Love abolishes the insensate +activity directed to the filling of the bottomless tub of our bestial +personality,[916] does away with the foolish fight between beings that +strive after their own happiness,[917] gives a meaning independent of +space and time to life, which without it would flow off without meaning +in the face of death.[918] + +3. From the law of love Christ's teaching derives the commandment not to +resist evil by force. "'Resist not evil' means 'never resist the evil +man', that is, 'never do violence to another', that is, 'never commit an +act that is contrary to love'."[919] + +Christ expressly derived this commandment from the law of love. He gave +numerous commandments, among which five in the Sermon on the Mount are +notable; "these commandments do not constitute the teaching, they only +form one of the numberless stages of approach to perfection";[920] they +"are all negative, and only show"[921] what "at mankind's present +age"[922] we "have already the full possibility of not doing, along the +road by which we are striving to reach perfection."[923] The first of +the five commandments of the Sermon on the Mount reads "Keep the peace +with all, and if the peace is broken use every effort to restore +it";[924] the second says "Let the man take only one woman and the woman +only one man, and let neither forsake the other under any pretext";[925] +the third, "make no vows";[926] the fourth, "endure injury, return not +evil for evil";[927] the fifth, "break not the peace to benefit thy +people."[928] Among these commandments the fourth is the most important; +it is enunciated in the fifth chapter of Matthew, verses 38-9: "Ye have +heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I say to +you, Resist not evil."[929] Tolstoi tells how to him this passage +"became the key of the whole."[930] "I needed only to take these words +simply and downrightly, as they were spoken, and at once everything in +Christ's whole teaching that had seemed confused to me, not only in the +Sermon on the Mount but in the Gospels altogether, was comprehensible to +me, and everything that had been contradictory agreed, and the main gist +appeared no longer useless but a necessity; everything formed a whole, +and the one confirmed the other past a doubt, like the pieces of a +shattered column that one has rightly put together."[931] The principle +of non-resistance binds together "the entire teaching into a whole; but +only when it is no mere dictum but a peremptory rule, a law."[932] "It +is really the key that opens everything, but only when it goes into the +inmost of the lock."[933] + +We must necessarily derive the commandment not to resist evil by force +from the law of love. For this demands that either a sure, indisputable +criterion of evil be found, or all violent resistance to evil be +abandoned.[934] "Hitherto it has been the business now of the pope, now +of an emperor or king, now of an assembly of elected representatives, +now of the whole nation, to decide what was to be rated as an evil and +combated by violent resistance. But there have always been men, both +without and within the State, who have not acknowledged as binding upon +them either the decisions that were given out as divine commandments or +the decisions of the men who were clothed with sanctity or the +institutions that were supposed to represent the will of the people; men +who regarded as good what to the powers that be appeared evil, and who, +in opposition to the force of these powers, likewise made use of force. +The men who were clothed with sanctity regarded as an evil what appeared +good to the men and institutions that were clothed with secular +authority, and the combat grew ever sharper and sharper. Thus it came to +what it has come to to-day, to the complete obviousness of the fact that +there is not and cannot be a generally binding external definition of +evil."[935] But from this follows the necessity of accepting the +solution given by Christ.[936] + +According to Tolstoi, the precept of non-resistance must not be taken +"as if it forbade every combat against evil."[937] It forbids only the +combating of evil by force.[938] But this it forbids in the broadest +sense. It refers, therefore, not only to evil practised against +ourselves, but also to evil practised against our fellow-men;[939] when +Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, he was defending +"not himself but his beloved divine Teacher, but Christ forbade him +outright and said 'All who take the sword will perish by the +sword.'"[940] Nor does the precept say that only a part of men are under +obligation "to submit without a contest to what is prescribed to them +by certain authorities,"[941] but it forbids "everybody, therefore even +those in whom power is vested, and these especially, to use force in any +case against anybody."[942] + + +3.--LAW + +I. _For love's sake, particularly on the ground of the commandment not +to resist evil by force, Tolstoi rejects law; not unconditionally, +indeed, but as an institution for the more highly developed peoples of +our time._ To be sure, he speaks only of enacted laws; but he means all +law,[943] for he rejects on principle every norm based on the will of +men,[944] upheld by human force,[945] especially by courts,[946] capable +of deviating from the moral law,[947] of being different in different +territories,[948] and of being at any time arbitrarily changed.[949] + +Perhaps once upon a time law was better than its non-existence. Law is +"upheld by violence";[950] on the other hand, it guards against violence +of individuals to each other;[951] perhaps there was once a time when +the former violence was less than the latter.[952] Now, at any rate, +this time is past for us; manners have grown milder; the men of our time +"acknowledge the commandments of philanthropy, of sympathy with one's +neighbor, and ask only the possibility of quiet, peaceable life."[953] + +Law offends against the commandment not to resist evil by force.[954] +Christ declared this. The words "Judge not, that ye be not judged" +(Matt. 7.1), "Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned" (Luke 6.37), +"mean not only 'do not judge your neighbor in words,' but also 'do not +condemn him by act; do not judge your neighbor according to your human +laws by your courts.'"[955] Christ here speaks not merely "of every +individual's personal relation to the court,"[956] but rejects "the +administration of law itself."[957] "He says, 'You believe that your +laws better the evil; they only make it greater; there is only one way +to check evil, and this consists in returning good for evil, doing good +to all without discrimination.'"[958] And "my heart and my reason"[959] +say to me the same as Christ says. + +But this is not the only objection to be made against law. "Authority +condemns in the rigid form of law only what public opinion has in most +cases long since disallowed and condemned; withal, public opinion +disallows and condemns all actions that are contrary to the moral law, +but the law condemns and prosecutes only the actions included within +certain quite definite and very narrow limits, and thereby, in a +measure, justifies all similar actions that do not come within these +limits. Ever since Moses's day public opinion has regarded selfishness, +sensuality, and cruelty as evils and has condemned it; it has repudiated +and condemned every form of selfishness, not only the appropriation of +others' property by force, fraud, or guile, but exploitation +altogether; it has condemned every sort of unchastity, be it with a +concubine, a slave, a divorced woman, or even with one's own wife; it +has condemned all cruelty, as it finds expression in the ill-treating, +starving, and killing not only of men but of animals too. But the law +prosecutes only particular forms of selfishness, like theft and fraud, +and only particular forms of unchastity and cruelty, like marital +infidelity, murder, and mayhem; therefore, in a measure, it permits all +the forms of selfishness, unchastity, and cruelty that do not come under +its narrow definitions inspired by a false conception."[960] + +"The Jew could easily submit to his laws, for he did not doubt that they +were written by God's finger; likewise the Roman, as he thought they +originated from the nymph Egeria; and man in general so long as he +regarded the princes who gave him laws as God's anointed, or believed +that the legislating assemblies had the wish and the capacity to make +the best laws."[961] But "as early as the time when Christianity made +its appearance men were beginning to comprehend that human laws were +written by men; that men, whatever outward splendor may enshroud them, +cannot be infallible, and that erring men do not become infallible even +by getting together and calling themselves 'Senate' or something +else."[962] "We know how laws are made; we have all been behind the +scenes; we all know that the laws are products of selfishness, +deception, partisanship, that true justice does not and cannot dwell in +them."[963] Therefore "the recognition of any special laws is a sign of +the crassest ignorance."[964] + +II. _Love requires that in place of law it itself be the law for men._ +From this it follows that instead of law Christ's commandments should be +our rule of action.[965] But this is "the Kingdom of God on earth."[966] + +"When the day and the hour of the Kingdom of God appear, depends on men +themselves alone."[967] "Each must only begin to do what we must do, and +cease to do what we must not do, and the near future will bring the +promised Kingdom of God."[968] "If only everybody would bear witness, in +the measure of his strength, to the truth that he knows, or at least not +defend as truth the untruth in which he lives, then in this very year +1893 there would take place such changes toward the setting up of truth +on earth as we dare not dream of for centuries to come."[969] "Only a +little effort more, and the Galilean has won."[970] + +The Kingdom of God is "not outside in the world, but in man's +soul."[971] "The Kingdom of God cometh not with outward show; neither +will men say, 'Lo here!' or, 'There!' for, behold, the kingdom of God is +within you (Luke 17.20)."[972] The Kingdom of God is nothing else than +the following of Christ's commandments, especially the five commandments +of the Sermon on the Mount,[973] which tell us how we must act in our +present stage in order to correspond to the ideal of love as much as +possible,[974] and which command us to keep the peace and do everything +for its restoration when it is broken, to remain true to one another as +man and wife, to make no vows, to forgive injury and not return evil for +evil, and, finally, not to break the peace with anybody for our people's +sake.[975] + +But what form will outward life take in the Kingdom of God? "The +disciple of Christ will be poor; that is, he will not live in the city +but in the country; he will not sit at home, but work in wood and field, +see the sunshine, the earth, the sky, and the beasts; he will not worry +over what he is to eat to tempt his appetite, and what he can do to help +his digestion, but will be hungry three times a day; he will not roll on +soft cushions and think upon deliverance from insomnia, but sleep; he +will be sick, suffer, and die like all men--the poor who are sick and +die seem to have an easier time of it than the rich--";[976] he "will +live in free fellowship with all men";[977] "the Kingdom of God on earth +is the peace of men with each other; thus it appeared to the prophets, +and thus it appears to every human heart."[978] + + +4.--THE STATE + +II. _Together with law Tolstoi necessarily has to reject also, for the +more highly developed nations of our time, the legal institution of the +State._ + +"Perhaps there was once a time when, in a low state of morality with a +general inclination of men to mutual violence, the existence of a power +limiting this violence was advantageous--that is, in which the State +violence was less than that of individuals against each other. But such +an advantage of State violence over its non-existence could not last; +the more the individuals' inclination to violence decreased and manners +grew milder, and the more the governments degenerated by having nothing +to check them, the more worthless did State violence grow. In this +change--in the moral evolution of the masses on the one hand and the +degeneration of the governments on the other--lies the whole history of +the last two thousand years."[979] "I cannot prove either the general +necessity of the State or its general perniciousness,"[980] "I know only +that on the one hand the State is no longer necessary for me, and that +on the other hand I can no longer do the things that are necessary for +the existence of the State."[981] + +"Christianity in its true significance abolishes the State,"[982] +annihilates all government.[983] The State offends against love, +particularly against the commandment not to resist evil by force.[984] +And not only this; in founding a dominion[985] the State furthermore +offends against the principle that for love "all men are God's sons and +there is equality among them all";[986] it is therefore to be rejected +even aside from the violence on which it is based as a legal +institution. "That the Christian teaching has an eye only to the +redemption of the individual, and does not relate to public questions +and State affairs, is a bold and unfounded assertion."[987] "To every +honest, earnest man in our time it must be clear that true +Christianity--the doctrine of humility, forgiveness, love--is +incompatible with the State and its haughtiness, its deeds of violence, +its capital punishments and wars."[988] "The State is an idol";[989] its +objectionableness is independent of its form, be this "absolute +monarchy, the Convention, the Consulate, the empire of a first or third +Napoleon or yet of a Boulanger, constitutional monarchy, the Commune, or +the republic."[990]--Tolstoi carries this out into detail. + +1. The State is the rule of the bad, raised to the highest pitch. + +The State is rule. Government in the State is "an association of men who +do violence to the rest."[991] + +"All governments, the despotic and the liberal alike, have in our time +become what Herzen has so aptly called a Jenghis Khan with +telegraphs."[992] The men in whom the power is vested "practise violence +not in order to overcome evil, but solely for their advantage or from +caprice; and the other men submit to the violence not because they +believe that it is practised for their good,--that is, in order to +liberate them from evil,--but only because they cannot free themselves +from it."[993] "If Nice is united with France, Lorraine with Germany, +Bohemia with Austria, if Poland is divided, if both Ireland and India +are subjected to the English dominion, if people fight with China, kill +the Africans, expel the Chinese from America, and persecute the Jews in +Russia, it is not because this is good or necessary or useful for men +and the opposite would be evil, but only because it so pleases those in +whom the power is vested."[994] + +The State is the rule of the bad.[995] "'If the State power were to be +annihilated, the wicked would rule over the less wicked,' say the +defenders of State rule."[996] But has the power, when it has passed +from some men to some others in the State, really always come to the +better men? "When Louis the Sixteenth, Robespierre, Napoleon, came to +power, who ruled then, the better or the worse? When did the better +rule, when the power was vested in the Versaillese or in the Communards, +when Charles the First or Cromwell stood at the head of the government? +When Peter the Third was czar, and then when after his murder the +authority of czar was exercised in one part of Russia by Catharine and +in another by Pugatcheff, who was wicked then and who was good? All men +who find themselves in power assert that their power is necessary in +order that the wicked may not do violence to the good, and regard it as +self-evident that they are the good and are giving the rest of the good +protection against the bad."[997] But in reality those who grasp and +hold the power cannot possibly be the better.[998] "In order to obtain +and retain power, one must love it. But the effort after power is not +apt to be coupled with goodness, but with the opposite qualities, pride, +craft, and cruelty. Without exalting self and abasing others, without +hypocrisy, lying, prisons, fortresses, penalties, killing, no power can +arise or hold its own."[999] "It is downright ridiculous to speak of +Christians in power."[1000] To this it is to be added "that the +possession of power depraves men."[1001] "The men who have the power +cannot but misuse it; they must infallibly be unsettled by such +frightful authority."[1002] "However many means men have invented to +hinder the possessors of power from subordinating the welfare of the +whole to their own advantage, hitherto not one of these means has +worked. Everybody knows that those in whose hands is the power--be they +emperors, ministers, chiefs of police, or common policemen--are, just +because the power is in their hands, more inclined to immorality, to the +subordinating of the general welfare to their advantage, than those who +have no power; nor can it be otherwise."[1003] + +The State is the rule of the bad, raised to the highest pitch. We shall +always find "that the scheming of the possessors of authority--nay, +their unconscious effort--is directed toward weakening the victims of +their authority as much as possible; for, the weaker the victim is, the +more easily can he be held down."[1004] "To-day there is only one sphere +of human activity left that has not been conquered by the authority of +government: the sphere of the family, of housekeeping, private life, +labor. And even this sphere, thanks to the fighting of the Communists +and Socialists, the governments are already beginning to invade, so that +soon, if the reformers have their way, work and rest, housing, +clothing, and food, will likewise be fixed and regulated by the +governments."[1005] "The most fearful band of robbers is not so horrible +as a State organization. Every robber chief is at any rate limited by +the fact that the men who make up his band retain at least a part of +human liberty, and can refuse to commit acts which are repugnant to +their consciences."[1006] But in the State there is no such limit; "no +crime is so horrible that it will not be committed by the officials and +the army at the will of him--Boulanger, Pugatcheff, Napoleon--who +accidentally stands at the head."[1007] + +2. The rule in the State is based on physical force. + +Every government has for its prop the fact that there are in the State +armed men who are ready to execute the government's will by physical +force, a class "educated to kill those whose killing the authorities +command."[1008] Such men are the police[1009] and especially the +army.[1010] The army is nothing else than a collectivity of "disciplined +murderers",[1011] its training is "instruction in murdering",[1012] its +victories are "deeds of murder."[1013] "The army has always formed the +basis of power, and does to this day. The power is always in the hands +of those who command the army, and, from the Roman Caesars to the Russian +and German emperors, all possessors of power have always cared first and +foremost for their armies."[1014] + +In the first place, the army upholds the government's rule against +external assaults. It protects it against having the rule taken from it +by another government.[1015] War is nothing but a contest of two or more +governments for the rule over their subjects. It is "impossible to +establish international peace in a rational way, by treaty or +arbitration, so long as the insensate and pernicious subjection of +nations to governments continues to exist."[1016] In consequence of this +importance of armies "every State is compelled to increase its army to +face the others, and this increase has the effect of a contagion, as +Montesquieu observed a hundred and fifty years since."[1017] + +But, if one thinks armies are kept by governments only for external +defence, he forgets "that governments need armies particularly to +protect them against their oppressed and enslaved subjects."[1018] "In +the German Reichstag lately, in reply to the question why money was +needed in order to increase the pay of the petty officers, the +chancellor made the direct statement that reliable petty officers were +necessary for the combating of Socialism. Caprivi merely said out loud +what everybody knows, carefully as it is concealed from the +peoples,--the reason why the French kings and the popes kept Swiss and +Scots, why in Russia the recruits are so introduced that the interior +regiments get their contingents from the frontiers and the frontier +regiments theirs from the interior. Caprivi told, by accident, what +everybody knows or at least feels,--to wit, that the existing order +exists not because it must exist or because the people wills its +existence, but because the government's force, the army with its bribed +petty-officers and officers and generals, keeps it up."[1019] + +3. The rule in the State is based on the physical force of the ruled. + +It is peculiar to government that it demands from the citizens the very +force on which it is based, and that consequently in the State "all the +citizens are their own oppressors."[1020] The government demands from +the citizens both force and the supporting of force. Here belongs the +obligation, general in Russia, to take an oath at the czar's accession +to the throne, for by this oath one vows obedience to the +authorities,--that is, to men who are devoted to violence; likewise the +obligation to pay taxes, for the taxes are used for works of violence, +and the compulsory use of passports, for by taking out a passport one +acknowledges his dependence on the State's institution of violence; +withal the obligation to testify in court and to take part in the court +as juryman, for every court is the fulfilment of the commandment of +revenge; furthermore, the obligation to police service which in Russia +rests upon all the country people, for this service demands that we do +violence to our brother and torment him; and above all the general +obligation to military service,--that is, the obligation to be +executioners and to prepare ourselves for service as executioners.[1021] +The unchristianness of the State comes to light most plainly in the +general obligation to military service: "every man has to take in hand +deadly weapons, a gun, a knife; and, if he does not have to kill, at +least he does have to load the gun and sharpen the knife,--that is, be +ready for killing."[1022] + +But how comes it that the citizens fulfil these demands of the +government, though the government is based on this very fulfilment, and +so mutually oppress each other? This is possible only by "a highly +artificial organization, created with the help of scientific progress, +in which all men are bewitched into a circle of violence from which they +cannot free themselves. At present this circle consists of four means of +influence; they are all connected and hold each other, like the links of +a chain."[1023] The first means is "what is best described as the +hypnotization of the people."[1024] This hypnotization leads men to "the +erroneous opinion that the existing order is unchangeable and must be +upheld, while in reality it is unchangeable only by its being +upheld."[1025] The hypnotization is accomplished "by fomenting the two +forms of superstition called religion and patriotism";[1026] it "begins +its influence even in childhood, and continues it till death."[1027] +With reference to this hypnotization one may say that State authority is +based on the fraudulent misleading of public opinion.[1028] The second +means consists in "bribery; that is, in taking from the laboring +populace its wealth, by money taxes, and dividing this among the +officials, who, for this pay, must maintain and strengthen the +enslavement of the people."[1029] The officials "more or less believe in +the unchangeability of the existing order, mainly because it benefits +them."[1030] With reference to this bribery one may say that State +authority is based on the selfishness of those to whom it guarantees +profitable positions.[1031] The third means is "intimidation. It +consists in setting down the present State order--of whatever sort, be +it a free republican order or be it the most grossly despotic--as +something sacred and unchangeable, and imposing the most frightful +penalties upon every attempt to change it."[1032] Finally, the fourth +means is to "separate a certain part of all the men whom they have +stupefied and bewitched by the three first means, and subject these men +to special stronger forms of stupefaction and bestialization, so that +they become will-less tools of every brutality and cruelty that the +government sees fit to resolve upon."[1033] This is done in the army, to +which, at present, all young men belong by virtue of the general +obligation to military service.[1034] "With this the circle of violence +is made complete. Intimidation, bribery, hypnosis, bring men to enlist +as soldiers. The soldiers, in turn, afford the possibility of punishing +men, plundering them in order to bribe officials with the money, +hypnotizing them, and thus bringing them into the ranks of the very +soldiers on whom the power for all this is based."[1035] + +II. _Love requires that a social life based solely on its commandments +take the place of the State._ "To-day every man who thinks, however +little, sees the impossibility of keeping on with the life hitherto +lived, and the necessity of determining new forms of life."[1036] "The +Christian humanity of our time must unconditionally renounce the heathen +forms of life that it condemns, and set up a new life on the Christian +bases that it recognizes."[1037] + +1. Even after the State is done away, men are to live in societies. But +what is to hold them together in these societies? + +Not a promise, at any rate. Christ commands us to make "no vows,"[1038] +to "promise men nothing."[1039] "The Christian cannot promise that he +will do or not do a particular thing at a particular hour, because he +cannot know what the law of love, which it is the meaning of his life to +obey, will demand of him at that hour."[1040] And still less can he +"give his word to fulfil somebody's will, without knowing what the +substance of this will is to be";[1041] by the mere fact of such a +promise he would "make it manifest that the inward divine law is no +longer the sole law of his life";[1042] "one cannot serve two +masters."[1043] + +Men are to be held together in societies in future by the mental +influence which the men who have made progress in knowledge exert upon +the less advanced. "Mental influence is such a way of working upon a man +that by it his wishes change and coincide with what is wanted of him; +the man who yields to a mental influence acts according to his own +wishes."[1044] Now, the force "by which men can live in societies"[1045] +is found in the mental influence which the men who have made progress +in knowledge exert upon the less advanced, in the "characteristic of +little-thinking men, that they subordinate themselves to the directions +of those who stand on a higher level of knowledge."[1046] In consequence +of this characteristic "a body of men put themselves under the same +rational principles, the minority consciously, because the principles +agree with the demands of their reason, and the majority unconsciously, +because the principles have become public opinion."[1047] "In this +subordination there is nothing irrational or self-contradictory."[1048] + +2. But in the future societary condition how shall the functions which +the State at present performs be performed? Here people usually have +three things in mind.[1049] + +First, protection against the bad men in our midst.[1050] "But who are +the bad men among us? If there once were such men three or four +centuries ago, when people still paraded warlike arts and equipments and +looked upon killing as a brilliant deed, they are gone to-day anyhow; +nobody any longer carries weapons, everybody acknowledges the commands +of philanthropy. But, if by the men from whom the State must protect us +we mean the criminals, then we know that they are not special creatures +like the wolf among the sheep, but just such men as all of us, who like +committing crimes as little as we do; we know that the activity of +governments with their cruel forms of punishment, which do not +correspond to the present stage of morality, their prisons, tortures, +gallows, guillotines, contributes more to the barbarizing of the people +than to their culture, and hence rather to the multiplication than to +the diminution of such criminals."[1051] If we are Christians and start +from the principle that "what our life exists for is the serving of +others, then no one will be foolish enough to rob men that serve him of +their means of support or to kill them. Miklucho-Maclay settled among +the wildest so-called 'savages', and they not only left him alive but +loved him and submitted to his authority, solely because he did not fear +them, asked nothing of them, and did them good."[1052] + +Secondly, the question is asked how in the future societary condition we +can find protection against external enemies.[1053] But we do know "that +the nations of Europe profess the principles of liberty and fraternity, +and therefore need no protection against each other; but, if it were a +protection against the barbarians that was meant, a thousandth part of +the armies that are now kept up would suffice. State authority not +merely leaves in existence the danger of hostile attacks, but even +itself provokes this danger."[1054] But, "if there existed a community +of Christians who did evil to nobody and gave to others all the +superfluous products of their labor, then no enemy, neither the German +nor the Turk nor the savage, would kill or vex such men; all one could +do would be to take from them what they were ready to give voluntarily +without distinguishing between Russians, Germans, Turks, and +savages."[1055] + +Thirdly, the question is asked how in the future societary condition +institutions for education, popular culture, religion, commerce, etc. +are to be possible.[1056] "Perhaps there was once a time when men lived +so far apart, when the means for coming together and exchanging thoughts +were so undeveloped, that people could not, without a State centre, +discuss and agree on any matter either of trade and economy or of +culture. But to-day this separation no longer exists; the means of +intercourse have developed extraordinarily; for the forming of +societies, associations, corporations, for the gathering of congresses +and the creation of economic and political institutions, governments are +not needed; nay, in most cases they are rather a hindrance than a help +toward the attainment of such ends."[1057] + +3. But what form will men's life together in the future societary +condition take in detail? "The future will be as circumstances and men +shall make it."[1058] We are not at this moment able to get perfectly +clear ideas of it.[1059] + +"Men say, 'What will the new orders be like, that are to take the place +of the present ones? So long as we do not know what form our life will +take in future, we will not go forward, we will not stir from this +spot.'"[1060] "If Columbus had gone to making such observations, he +would never have weighed anchor. It was insanity to steer across an +ocean that no man had ever yet sailed upon toward a land whose +existence was a question. With this insanity, he discovered the New +World. It would certainly be more convenient if nations had nothing to +do but move out of one ready-furnished mansion into another and a +better; only, by bad luck, there is nobody there to furnish the new +quarters."[1061] + +But what disquiets men in their imagining of the future is "less the +question 'What will be?' They are tormented by the question 'How are we +to live without all the familiar conditions of our existence, that are +called science, art, civilization, culture?'"[1062] "But all these, bear +in mind, are only forms in which truth appears. The change that lies +before us will be an approach to the truth and its realization. How can +the forms in which truth appears be brought to naught by an approach to +the truth? They will be made different, better, higher, but by no means +will they be brought to naught. Only that which was false in the forms +of its appearance hitherto will be brought to naught; what was genuine +will but unfold itself the more splendidly."[1063] + +"If the individual man's life were completely known to him when he +passes from one stage of maturity to another, he would have no reason +for living. So it is with the life of mankind too; if at its entrance +upon a new stage of growth a programme lay before it already drawn up, +this would be the surest sign that it was not alive, not progressing, +but that it was sticking at one point. The details of a new order of +life cannot be known to us, they have to be worked out by us ourselves. +Life consists only in learning to know the unknown, and putting our +action in harmony with the new knowledge. In this consists the life of +the individual, in this the life of human societies and of +humanity."[1064] + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. _Together with law Tolstoi necessarily has to reject also, for the +more highly developed nations of our time, the legal institution of +property._ + +Perhaps there was once a time when the violence necessary to secure the +individual in the possession of a piece of goods against all others was +less than the violence which would have been practised in a general +fight for the possession of the goods, so that the existence of property +was better than its non-existence. But at any rate this time is past, +the existing order has "lived out its time";[1065] among the men of +to-day no wild fight for the possession of goods would break out even if +there were no property; they all "profess allegiance to the commands of +philanthropy,"[1066] each of them "knows that all men have equal rights +in the goods of the world,"[1067] and already we see "many a rich man +renounce his inheritance from a specially delicate sense of germinant +public opinion."[1068] + +Property offends against love, especially against the commandment not to +resist evil by force.[1069] But not only this; in founding a dominion of +possessors over non-possessors it also offends against the principle +that for love "all men are God's sons and there is equality among them +all";[1070] and it is therefore to be rejected, even aside from the +violence on which it is based as a legal institution. The rich are under +"guilt by the very fact that they are rich."[1071] It is "a crime"[1072] +that tens of thousands of "hungry, cold, deeply degraded human beings +are living in Moscow, while I with a few thousand others have tenderloin +and sturgeon for dinner and cover horses and floors with blankets and +carpets."[1073] I shall be "an accomplice in this unending and +uninterrupted crime so long as I still have a superfluous bit of bread +while another has no bread at all, or still possess two garments while +another does not possess even one."[1074]--Tolstoi carries this out into +detail. + +1. Property means the dominion of the possessors over the +non-possessors. + +Property is the exclusive right to use some things, whether one actually +uses them or not.[1075] "Many of the men who called me their horse," +Tolstoi makes the horse Linen-Measurer say, "did not ride me; quite +different men rode me. Nor did they feed me; quite different men fed me. +Nor was it those who called me their horse that did me kindnesses, but +coachmen, veterinary surgeons, strangers altogether. Later, when the +circle of my observations grew wider, I convinced myself that the idea +'mine,' which has no other basis than men's low and bestial propensity +which they call 'sense of ownership' or 'right of property,' finds +application not only with respect to us horses. A man says 'this house +is mine' and never lives in it, he only attends to the building and +repair of the house. A merchant says 'my store, my dry-goods store,' and +his clothing is not of the best fabrics he has in his store. There are +men who call a piece of land 'mine' and have never seen this piece of +land nor set foot on it. What men aim at in life is not to do what they +think good, but to call as many things as possible 'mine.'"[1076] + +But the significance of property consists in the fact that the poor man +who has no property is dependent on the rich man who has property; in +order to come by the things which he needs for his living, but which +belong to another, he must do what this other wills--in particular, he +must work for him. Thus property divides men into "two castes, an +oppressed laboring caste that famishes and suffers and an idle +oppressing caste that enjoys and lives in superfluity."[1077] "We are +all brothers, and yet every morning my brother or my sister carries out +my dishes. We are all brothers, but every morning I have to have my +cigar, my sugar, my mirror, and other such things, in whose production +healthy brothers and sisters, people like me, have sacrificed and are +sacrificing their health."[1078] "I spend my whole life in the following +way: I eat, talk, and listen; eat, write, and read--that is, talk and +listen again; eat and play; eat, talk, and listen again; eat and go to +bed; and so it goes on, one day like another. I cannot do, do not know +how to do, anything beyond this. And, that I may be able to do this, +the porter, the farmer, the cook, the cook's maid, the lackey, the +coachman, the laundress, must work from morning till night, not to speak +of the work of other men which is necessary in order that those +coachmen, cooks, lackeys, and so on may have all that they need when +they work for me--the axes, barrels, brushes, dishes, furniture, +likewise the wax, the blacking, the kerosene, the hay, the wood, the +beef. All of them have to work day by day, early and late, that I may be +able to talk, eat, and sleep."[1079] + +This significance of property makes itself especially felt in the case +of the things that are necessary for the producing of other things, and +so most notably in the case of land and tools.[1080] "There can be no +farmer without land that he tills, without scythes, wagons, and horses; +no shoemaker is possible without a house built on the earth, without +water, air, and tools";[1081] but property means that in many cases "the +farmer possesses no land, no horses, no scythe, the shoemaker no house, +no water, no awl: that somebody is keeping these things back from +them."[1082] This leads to the consequence "that for a large fraction of +the workers the natural conditions of production are deranged, that this +fraction is necessitated to use other people's stock,"[1083] and may by +the owner of the stock be compelled "to work not on their own account, +but for an employer."[1084] Consequently the workman works "not for +himself, to suit his own wish, but under compulsion, to suit the whim of +some idle persons who live in superfluity, for the benefit of some rich +man, the proprietor of a factory or other industrial plant."[1085] Thus +property means the exploitation of the laborer by those to whom the land +and tools belong; it means "that the products of human labor pass more +and more out of the hands of the laboring masses into the hands of the +unlaboring."[1086] + +Furthermore, the significance of property as making the poor dependent +on the rich becomes especially prominent in the case of money. "Money is +a value that remains always equal, that always ranks as correct and +legal."[1087] Consequently, as the saying is, "he who has money has in +his pocket those who have none."[1088] "Money is a new form of slavery, +distinguished from the old solely by its impersonality, by the lack of +any human relation between the master and the slave";[1089] for "the +essence of all slavery consists in drawing the benefit of another's +labor-force by compulsion, and it is quite immaterial whether the +drawing of this benefit is founded upon property in the slave or upon +property in money which is indispensable to the other man."[1090] "Now, +honestly, of what sort is my money, and how have I come by it? I got +part for the land that I inherited from my father. The peasant sold his +last sheep, his last cow, to pay me this money. Another part of my +assets consists of the sums which I have received for my literary +productions, my books. If my books are harmful, then by them I have +seduced the purchasers to evil and have acquired the money by bad +means. If, on the contrary, my books are useful to people, the case is +still worse; I have not given them without ceremony to those who had a +use for them, but have said 'Give me seventeen rubles and you shall have +them,' and, as in the other case the peasant sold his last sheep, so +here the poor student or teacher, and many another poor person, have +denied themselves the plainest necessities to give me the money. And +thus I have piled up a quantity of such money, and what do I do with it? +I bring it to the city and give it to the poor here on condition that +they satisfy all my whims, that they come after me into the city to +clean the sidewalks for me, and to make me lamps, shoes, and so forth, +in the factories. With my money I take all their products to myself, and +I take pains to give them as little as possible and get from them as +much as possible for it. And then all at once, quite unexpectedly, I +begin to distribute to the poor this same money gratis--not to all, but +arbitrarily to any whom I happen to take up at random";[1091] that is, I +take from the poor thousands of rubles with one hand, and with the other +I distribute to some of them a few kopeks.[1092] + +2. The dominion which property involves, of possessors over +non-possessors, is based on physical force. + +"If the vast wealth that the laborers have piled up ranks not as the +property of all, but only as that of an elect few,--if the power of +raising taxes from labor and using them at pleasure is reserved to some +men,--this is not based on the fact that the people want to have it so +or that by nature it must be so, but on the fact that the ruling +classes see their advantage in it and determine it so by virtue of their +power over men's bodies";[1093] it is based on "violence and slaying and +the threat thereof."[1094] "If men hand over the greatest part of the +product of their labor to the capitalist or landlord, though they, as do +all laborers now, hold this to be unjust,"[1095] they do it "only +because they know they will be beaten and killed if they do not."[1096] +"One may even say outright that in our society, in which to every +well-to-do man living an aristocratic life there are ten weary, +ravenous, envious laborers, probably pining away with wife and children +too, all the privileges of the rich, all their luxury and their +abundance, are acquired and secured only by chastisement, imprisonment, +and capital punishment."[1097] + +Property is upheld by the police[1098] and the army.[1099] "We may act +as if we did not see the policeman walking up and down before the window +with loaded revolver to protect us while we eat a savory meal or look at +a new play, and as if we had no inkling of the soldiers who are every +moment ready to go with rifle and cartridges where any one tries to +infringe on our property. Yet we well know, if we can finish our meal +and see the new play in peace, if we can drive out or hunt or attend a +festival or a race undisturbed, we have to thank for this only the +policeman's bullet and the soldier's weapon, which are ready to pierce +the poor victim of hunger who looks upon our enjoyments from his corner +with grumbling stomach, and who would at once disturb them if the +policeman with his revolver went away, or if in the barracks there were +no longer any soldiers standing ready to appear at our first +call."[1100] + +3. The dominion which property involves, of the possessors over the +non-possessors, is based on the physical force of the ruled. + +Those very men of the non-possessing classes who through property are +dependent on the possessing classes must do police duty, serve in the +army, pay the taxes out of which police and army are kept up, and in +these and other ways either themselves exercise or at least support the +physical force by which property is upheld.[1101] "If there did not +exist these men who are ready to discipline or kill any one whatever at +the word of command, no one would dare assert what the non-laboring +landlords now do all of them so confidently assert,--that the soil which +surrounds the peasants who die off for lack of land is the property of a +man who does not work on it";[1102] it would "not come into the head of +the lord of the manor to take from the peasants a forest that has grown +up under their eyes";[1103] nor would any one say "that the stores of +grain accumulated by fraud in the midst of a starving population must +remain unscathed that the merchant may have his profit."[1104] + +II. _Love requires that a distribution based solely on its commandments +take the place of property._ "The impossibility of continuing the life +that has hitherto been led, and the necessity of determining new forms +of life,"[1105] relate to the distribution of goods as well as to other +things. "The abolition of property,"[1106] and its replacement by a new +kind of distribution of goods, is one of the "questions now in +order."[1107] + +According to the law of love, every man who works as he has strength +should have so much--but only so much--as he needs. + +1. That every man who works as he has strength should have so much as he +needs and no more is a corollary from two precepts which follow from the +law of love. + +The first of these precepts says, Man shall "ask no work from others, +but himself devote his whole life to work for others. 'Man lives not to +be served but to serve.'"[1108] Therefore, in particular, he is not to +keep accounts with others about his work, or think that he "has the more +of a living to claim, the greater or more useful his quantum of work +done is."[1109] Following this precept provides every man with what he +needs. This is true primarily of the healthy adult. "If a man works, his +work feeds him. If another makes use of this man's work for himself, he +will feed him for the very reason that he is making use of his +work."[1110] Man assures himself of a living "not by taking it away from +others, but by making himself useful and necessary to others. The more +necessary he is to others, the more assured is his existence."[1111] But +the following of the precept to serve others also provides the sick, the +aged, and children with their living. Men "do not stop feeding an +animal when it falls sick; they do not even kill an old horse, but give +it work appropriate to its strength; they bring up whole families of +little lambs, pigs, and puppies, because they expect benefit from them. +How, then, should they not support the sick man who is necessary to +them? How should they not find appropriate work for old and young, and +bring up human beings who will in turn work for them?"[1112] + +The second precept that follows from the law of love, and of which a +corollary is that every man who works as he has strength should have as +much as he needs and no more, bids us "Share what you have with the +poor; gather no riches."[1113] "To the question of his hearers, what +they were to do, John the Baptist gave the short, clear, simple answer, +'He who hath two coats, let him share with him who hath none; and he who +hath food let him do likewise' (Luke 3.10-11). And Christ too made the +same declaration several times, only still more unambiguously and +clearly. He said, 'Blessed are the poor, woe to the rich.' He said that +one could not serve God and Mammon at once. He not only forbade his +disciples to take money, but also to have two garments. He told the rich +young man that because he was rich he could not enter into the Kingdom +of God, and that a camel should sooner go through a needle's eye than a +rich man come into heaven. He said that he who did not forsake +everything--house, children, lands--to follow him could not be his +disciple. He told his hearers the parable of the rich man who did +nothing bad except that he--like our rich men--clothed himself in costly +apparel and fed himself on savory food and drink, and who plunged his +soul into perdition by this alone, and of the poor Lazarus who did +nothing good and who entered into the Kingdom of Heaven only because he +was a beggar."[1114] + +2. But what form can such a distribution of goods take in detail? + +This is best shown us by "the Russian colonists. These colonists arrive +on the soil, settle, and begin to work, and no one of them takes it into +his head that any one who does not begin to make use of the land can +have any right to it; on the contrary, the colonists regard the ground +_a priori_ as common property, and consider it altogether justifiable +that everybody plows and reaps where he chooses. For working the fields, +for starting gardens, and for building houses, they procure implements; +and here too it does not suggest itself to them that these could of +themselves produce any income--on the contrary, the colonists look upon +any profit from the means of labor, any interest for grain lent, etc., +as an injustice. They work on masterless land with their own means or +with means borrowed free of interest, either each for himself or all +together on joint account."[1115] + +"In talking of such fellowship I am not setting forth fancies, but only +describing what has gone on at all times, what is even at present taking +place not only among the Russian colonists but everywhere where man's +natural condition is not yet deranged by some circumstances or other. I +am describing what seems to everybody natural and rational. The men +settle on the soil and go each one to work, make their implements, and +do their labor. If they think it advantageous to work jointly, they form +a labor company."[1116] But, in individual business as well as in +collective industry, "neither the water nor the ground nor the garments +nor the plow can belong to anybody save him who drinks the water, wears +the garments, and uses the plow; for all these things are necessary only +to him who puts them to use."[1117] One can call "only his labor his +own";[1118] by it one has as much as one needs.[1119] + + +6.--REALIZATION + +_The way in which the change required by love is to take place, +according to Tolstoi, is that those men who have learned to know the +truth are to convince as many others as possible how necessary the +change is for love's sake, and that they, with the help of the refusal +of obedience, are to abolish law, the State, and property, and bring +about the new condition._ + +I. The prime necessity is that the men who have learned to know the +truth should convince as many others as possible that love demands the +change. + +1. "That an order of life corresponding to our knowledge may take the +place of the order contrary to it, the present antiquated public opinion +must first be replaced by a new and living one."[1120] + +It is not deeds of all sorts that bring to pass the grandest and most +significant changes in the life of humanity, "neither the fitting out +of armies a million strong nor the construction of roads and engines, +neither the organization of expositions nor the formation of +trade-unions, neither revolutions, barricades, and explosions nor +inventions in aerial navigation--but the changes of public opinion, and +these alone."[1121] Liberation is possible only "by a change in our +conception of life";[1122] "everything depends on the force with which +each individual man becomes conscious of Christian truth";[1123] "know +the truth and the truth shall make you free."[1124] Our liberation must +necessarily take place by "the Christian's recognizing the law of love, +which his Master has revealed to him, as entirely sufficient for all +human relations, and his perceiving the superfluousness and +illegitimateness of all violence."[1125] + +The bringing about of this revolution in public opinion is in the hands +of the men who have learned to know the truth.[1126] "A public opinion +does not need hundreds and thousands of years to arise and spread; it +has the quality of working by contagion and swiftly seizing a great +number of men."[1127] "As a jarring touch is enough to change a fluid +saturated with salts to crystals in a moment, so now the slightest +effort may perhaps suffice to cause the unveiled truth to seize upon +hundreds, thousands, millions of men so that a public opinion +corresponding to knowledge shall be established and that hereby the +whole order of life shall become other than it is. It is in our hands +to make this effort."[1128] + +2. The best means for bringing about the necessary revolution in public +opinion is that the men who have learned to know the truth should +testify to it by deed. + +"The Christian knows the truth only in order to testify to it before +those who do not know it,"[1129] and that "by deed."[1130] "The truth is +imparted to men by deeds of truth, deeds of truth illuminate every man's +conscience, and thus destroy the force of deceit."[1131] Hence you ought +properly, "if you are a landlord, to give your land at once to the poor, +and, if you are a capitalist, to give your money or your factory to the +workingmen; if you are a prince, a cabinet minister, an official, a +judge, or a general, you ought at once to resign your position, and, if +you are a soldier, you ought to refuse obedience without regard to any +danger."[1132] But, to be sure, "it is very probable that you are not +strong enough to do this; you have connections, dependents, +subordinates, superiors, the temptations are powerful, and your force +gives out."[1133] + +3. But there is still another means, though a less effective one, for +bringing about the necessary revolution in public opinion, and this "you +can always"[1134] employ. It is that the men who have learned to know +the truth should "speak it out frankly."[1135] + +"If men--yes, if even a few men--would do this, the antiquated public +opinion would at once fall of itself, and a new, living, present-day one +would arise."[1136] "Not billions of rubles, not millions of soldiers, +no institutions, wars, or revolutions, have so much power as the simple +declaration of a free man that he considers something to be right or +wrong. If a free man speaks out honestly what he thinks and feels, in +the midst of thousands who in word and act stand for the very contrary, +one might think he must remain isolated. But usually it is otherwise; +all, or most, have long been privately thinking and feeling in the same +way; and then what to-day is still an individual's new opinion will +perhaps to-morrow be already the general opinion of the majority."[1137] +"If we would only stop lying and acting as if we did not see the truth, +if we would only testify to the truth that summons us and boldly confess +it, it would at once turn out that there are hundreds, thousands, +millions, of men in the same situation as ourselves, that they see the +truth like us, are afraid like us of remaining isolated if they confess +it, and are only waiting, like us, for the rest to testify to it."[1138] + +II. To bring about the change and put the new condition in the place of +law, the State, and property, it is further requisite that the men who +have learned to know the truth should conform their lives to their +knowledge, and, in particular, that they should refuse obedience to the +State. + +1. Men are to bring about the change themselves. They are "no longer to +wait for somebody to come and help them, be it Christ in the clouds with +the sound of the trumpet, be it a historic law or a differential or +integral law of forces. Nobody will help us if we do not help +ourselves."[1139] + +"I have been told a story that happened to a courageous commissary of +police. He came into a village where they had applied for soldiers on +account of an outbreak among the peasants. In the spirit of Nicholas the +First he proposed to make an end of the rising by his personal presence +alone. He had a few cart-loads of sticks brought, gathered all the +peasants in a barn, and shut himself in with them. By his shouts he +succeeded in so cowing the peasants that they obeyed him and began to +beat each other at his command. So they beat each other till there was +found a simple-minded peasant who did not obey, and who called out to +his fellows that they should not beat each other either. Only then did +the beating cease, and the official made haste to get away. The advice +of this simple-minded peasant" should be followed by the men of our +time.[1140] + +2. But it is not by violence that men are to bring about the change. +"Revolutionary enemies fight the government from outside; Christianity +does not fight at all, but wrecks its foundations from within."[1141] + +"Some assert that liberation from force, or at least its diminution, can +be effected by the oppressed men's forcibly shaking off the oppressing +government; and many do in fact undertake to act on this doctrine. But +they deceive themselves and others: their activity only enhances the +despotism of governments, and the attempts at liberation are welcomed by +the governments as pretexts for strengthening their power."[1142] + +However, suppose that by the favor of circumstances (as, for instance, +in France in 1870) they succeed in overthrowing a government, the party +which had won by force would be compelled, "in order to remain at the +helm and introduce its order into life, not only to employ all existing +violent methods, but to invent new ones in addition. It would be other +men that would be enslaved, and they would be coerced into other things, +but there would exist not merely the same but a still more cruel +condition of violence and enslavement; for the combat would have fanned +the flames of hatred, strengthened the means of enslavement, and evolved +new ones. Thus it has been after all revolutions, insurrections, and +conspiracies, after all violent changes of government. Every fight only +puts stronger means of enslavement in the hands of the men who at a +given time are in power."[1143] + +3. Men are to bring about the change by conforming their lives to their +knowledge. "The Christian frees himself from all human authority by +recognizing as sole plumb-line for his life and the lives of others the +divine law of love that is implanted in man's soul and has been brought +into consciousness by Christ."[1144] + +This means that one is to return good for evil,[1145] give to one's +neighbor all that one has that is superfluous and take away from him +nothing that one does not need,[1146] especially acquire no money and +get rid of the money one has,[1147] not buy nor rent,[1148] and, without +shrinking from any form of work, satisfy one's needs with one's own +hands;[1149] and particularly does it mean that one is to refuse +obedience to the unchristian demands of State authority.[1150] + +That obedience to these demands is refused we see in many cases in +Russia at present. Men are refusing the payment of taxes, the general +oath, the oath in court, the exercise of police functions, action as +jurymen, and military service.[1151] "The governments find themselves in +a desperate situation as they face the Christians' refusals."[1152] They +"can chastise, put to death, imprison for life, and torture, any one who +tries to overthrow them by force; they can bribe and smother with gold +the half of mankind; they can bring into their service millions of armed +men who are ready to annihilate all their foes. But what can they do +against men who do not destroy anything, do not set up anything either, +but only, each for himself, are unwilling to act contrary to the law of +Christ, and therefore refuse to do what is most necessary for the +governments?"[1153] "Let the State do as it will by such men, inevitably +it will contribute only to its own annihilation,"[1154] and therewith to +the annihilation of law and property and to the bringing in of the new +order of life. "For, if it does not persecute people like the Dukhobors, +the Stundists, etc., the advantages of their peaceable Christian way of +living will induce others to join them--and not only convinced +Christians, but also such as want to get clear of their obligations to +the State under the cloak of Christianity. If, on the other hand, it +deals cruelly with men against whom there is nothing except that they +have endeavored to live morally, this cruelty will only make it still +more enemies, and the moment must at last come when there can no longer +be found any one who is ready to back up the State with +instrumentalities of force."[1155] + +4. In the conforming of life to knowledge the individual must make the +beginning. He must not wait for all or many to do it at the same time +with him. + +The individual must not think it will be useless if he alone conforms +his life to Christ's teaching.[1156] "Men in their present situation are +like bees that have left their hive and are hanging on a twig in a great +mass. The situation of the bees on the twig is a temporary one, and +absolutely must be changed. They must take flight and seek a new abode. +Every bee knows that, and wishes to make an end of its own suffering +condition and that of the others; but this cannot be done by one so long +as the others do not help. But all cannot rise at once, for one hangs +over another and hinders it from letting go; therefore all remain +hanging. One might think that there was no way out of this situation for +the bees";[1157] if and really there would be none, were it not that +each bee is an independent living being. But it is only needful "that +one bee spread its wings, rise and fly, and after it the second, the +third, the tenth, the hundredth, for the immobile hanging mass to become +a freely flying swarm of bees. Thus it is only needful that one man +comprehend life as Christianity teaches it, and take hold of it as +Christianity teaches him to, and then that a second, a third, a +hundredth follow him, and the magic circle from which no escape seemed +possible is destroyed."[1158] + +Neither may the individual let himself be deterred by the fear of +suffering. "'If I alone,' it is commonly said, 'fulfil Christ's teaching +in the midst of a world that does not follow it, give away my +belongings, turn my cheek without resistance, yes, and refuse the oath +and military service, then I shall have the last bit taken from me, and, +if I do not die of hunger, they will beat me to death, and, if they do +not beat me to death, they will jail me or shoot me; and I shall have +given all the happiness of my life, nay, my life itself, for +nothing.'"[1159] Be it so. "I do not ask whether I shall have more +trouble, or die sooner, if I follow Christ's teaching. That question can +be asked only by one who does not see how meaningless and miserable is +his life as an individual life, and who imagines that he shall 'not +die'. But I know that a life for the sake of one's own happiness is the +greatest folly, and that such an aimless life can be followed only by an +aimless death. And therefore I fear nothing. I shall die like everybody, +like even those who do not fulfil Christ's teaching, but my life and my +death will have a meaning for me and for others. My life and my death +will contribute to the rescue and life of others--and that is just what +Christ taught."[1160] + +If once enough individuals have conformed their lives to their +knowledge, the multitude will soon follow. "The passage of men from one +order of life to another does not take place steadily, as the sand in +the hour-glass runs out, one grain after another from the first to the +last, but rather as a vessel that has been sunk into water fills itself. +At first the water gets in only on one side, slowly and uniformly; but +then its weight makes the vessel sink, and now the thing takes in, all +at once, all the water that it can hold."[1161] Thus the impulse given +by individuals will provoke a movement that goes on faster and faster, +wider and wider, avalanche-like, suddenly sweeps along the masses, and +brings about the new order of life.[1162] Then the time is come "when +all men are filled with God, shun war, beat their swords into plowshares +and their spears into pruning-hooks; that is, in our language, when the +prisons and fortresses are empty, when the gallows, rifles, and cannon +are out of use. What seemed a dream has found its fulfilment in a new +form of life."[1163] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[859] To. "Kingdom" pp. 244-5, 280, 315, 325. + +[860] _Ib._ pp. 263, 285-6, To. "Gospel" p. 25, "Religion and Morality" +p. 14. + +[861] To. "What I Believe" p. 251. + +[862] To. "Gospel" pp. 13-14, 16-17. + +[863] To. "Kingdom" p. 96-7. + +[864] To. "What I Believe" pp. 247-8. + +[865] To. "Reason and Dogma" p. 5. + +[866] To. "What I Believe" p. 196. + +[867] To. "Gospel" pp. 51, 29-30. + +[868] _Ib._ p. 47. + +[869] To. "Patriotism" p. 118. + +[870] To. "Gospel" p. 29. + +[871] To. "Gospel" p. 50; To. "Religion and Morality" p. 27. + +[872] To. "On Life" p. 214. + +[873] To. "Gospel" p. 31. + +[874] _Ib._ pp. 32, 31, 40, 112. + +[875] To. "What I Believe" p. 164. + +[876] To. "Gospel" p. 21. + +[877] _Ib._ p. 21. + +[878] To. "What I Believe" pp. 160, 174. + +[879] _Ib._ p. 166. + +[880] To. "Confession" p. 92. + +[881] To. "Kingdom" pp. 75-7, 79. + +[882] To. "What I Believe" pp. 195, 272, "Kingdom" pp. 72-3, "Gospel" p. +5. + +[883] To. "Kingdom" p. 234. + +[884] To. "On Life" p. 48. + +[885] _Ib._ pp. 72, 66. + +[886] To. "Confession" p. 54. + +[887] To. "On Life" p. 101. + +[888] _Ib._ p. 100. + +[889] _Ib._ p. 100. + +[890] _Ib._ pp. 160, 101. + +[891] _Ib._ pp. 160, 101. + +[892] _Ib._ pp. 262-3. + +[893] To. "On Life" p. 263. + +[894] _Ib._ p. 263. + +[895] To. "Religion and Morality" pp. 21-2. + +[896] To. "Kingdom" p. 71. + +[897] To. "Gospel" p. 25. + +[898] _Ib._ p. 25. + +[899] To. "What I Believe" pp. 138-9 + +[900] _Ib._ p. 268. + +[901] _Ib._ p. 148. + +[902] To. "On Life" pp. 159-60. + +[903] _Ib._ p. 165. + +[904] _Ib._ p. 164. + +[905] _Ib._ pp. 170-71. + +[906] To. "Kingdom" p. 140. + +[907] _Ib._ p. 139. + +[908] _Ib._ p. 138. + +[909] To. "Kingdom" p. 142, "What I Believe" p. 17. + +[910] To. "Kingdom" p. 123. + +[911] To. "Religion and Morality" p. 12. + +[912] To. "Kingdom" pp. 124-5. + +[913] To. "Morning" pp. 70-71. + +[914] To. "On Life" p. 148. + +[915] _Ib._ pp. 147, 148. + +[916] _Ib._ pp. 122, 133-5, 174, 176. + +[917] _Ib._ pp. 121, 174. + +[918] To. "On Life" pp. 26, 122-3, 196, 206. + +[919] To. "What I Believe" p. 17. + +[920] To. "Kingdom" p. 144. + +[921] _Ib._ pp. 142-3. + +[922] _Ib._ p. 160. + +[923] _Ib._ p. 144. + +[924] To. "What I Believe" p. 122. + +[925] _Ib._ p. 123. + +[926] _Ib._ p. 123. + +[927] _Ib._ p. 123. + +[928] _Ib._ p. 123. + +[929] To. "What I Believe" p. 12. + +[930] _Ib._ p. 12. + +[931] _Ib._ p. 15. + +[932] _Ib._ pp. 21-2. + +[933] _Ib._ p. 22. + +[934] To. "Kingdom" pp. 68-9. + +[935] To. "Kingdom" pp. 269-70. + +[936] _Ib._ p. 282. + +[937] _Ib._ p. 63. + +[938] To. "What I Believe" pp. 17, 20; "Kingdom" p. 268. [Has Tolstoi +compared in a Greek concordance the other occurrences of the word +translated "resist"?] + +[939] To. "Kingdom" pp. 49-50. + +[940] _Ib._ p. 50. + +[941] To. "Kingdom" pp. 268-9. + +[942] _Ib._ p. 269. + +[943] ["He speaks only of the _Gesetz_, but he means all _Recht_"; see +footnote on page 145 of the present book.] + +[944] To. "Kingdom" pp. 268, 300-301. + +[945] _Ib._ pp. 361-2. + +[946] To. "What I Believe" pp. 29, 32. + +[947] To. "Kingdom" pp. 361-2, 172. + +[948] _Ib._ p. 172. + +[949] _Ib._ p. 300. + +[950] _Ib._ p. 361. + +[951] _Ib._ p. 241. + +[952] _Ib._ p. 240. + +[953] _Ib._ p. 256. + +[954] To. "What I Believe" p. 29. + +[955] _Ib._ pp. 28-9. + +[956] _Ib._ p. 32. + +[957] _Ib._ p. 32. + +[958] _Ib._ pp. 45-6. + +[959] _Ib._ p. 29. + +[960] To. "Kingdom" pp. 361-2. + +[961] _Ib._ p. 172. + +[962] _Ib._ p. 268. + +[963] _Ib._ p. 172. + +[964] To. "What I Believe" p. 120. + +[965] _Ib._ pp. 180, 235. + +[966] _Ib._ pp. 235, 180. + +[967] To. "Kingdom" p. 393, "What I Believe" p. 121. + +[968] To. "Kingdom" pp. 393-4. + +[969] _Ib._ pp. 486-7. + +[970] To. "Persecutions" p. 47. + +[971] To. "Gospel" p. 50. + +[972] To. "Kingdom" p. 526. + +[973] To. "What I Believe" p. 121. + +[974] To. "Kingdom" pp. 142-3, 144. + +[975] To. "What I Believe" pp. 122-3, 179, 124, 219-20; "Gospel" pp. +59-60; "Kingdom" pp. 143-4. + +[976] To. "What I Believe" p. 225. + +[977] _Ib._ p. 225. + +[978] _Ib._ p. 121. + +[979] To. "Kingdom" pp. 240-41. + +[980] _Ib._ p. 336. + +[981] _Ib._ pp. 335-6. + +[982] _Ib._ p. 332. + +[983] _Ib._ p. 211. + +[984] To. "What I Believe" p. 21; "Persecutions" p. 46. + +[985] To. "Kingdom" pp. 209-10. + +[986] _Ib._ pp. 167, 164. + +[987] To. "What I Believe" p. 25. + +[988] To. "Kingdom" p. 332. + +[989] To. "What I Believe" p. 50. + +[990] To. "Kingdom" pp. 429-30, 244. + +[991] _Ib._ pp. 209-10. + +[992] _Ib._ p. 274. + +[993] _Ib._ pp. 271-2. + +[994] To. "Kingdom" p. 271. + +[995] _Ib._ pp. 341, 339. + +[996] _Ib._ p. 340. + +[997] _Ib._ p. 340. + +[998] _Ib._ p. 339. + +[999] To. "Kingdom" pp. 339-40. + +[1000] _Ib._ p. 342. + +[1001] _Ib._ p. 243. + +[1002] To. "Patriotism" p. 91. + +[1003] To. "Kingdom" p. 239. + +[1004] _Ib._ p. 243. + +[1005] To. "Kingdom" p. 281. + +[1006] _Ib._ p. 442. + +[1007] _Ib._ p. 442. + +[1008] To. "Persecutions" p. 41. + +[1009] To. "Kingdom" p. 327. + +[1010] _Ib._ p. 238. + +[1011] To. "Patriotism" p. 120. + +[1012] To. "Kingdom" p. 443. + +[1013] To. "Patriotism" p. 119. + +[1014] To. "Kingdom" p. 238. + +[1015] To. "Kingdom" pp. 248-9. + +[1016] To. "Patriotism" p. 91. + +[1017] To. "Kingdom" p. 249. + +[1018] _Ib._ p. 245. + +[1019] To. "Kingdom" p. 246-7. + +[1020] _Ib._ pp. 250, 423-4. + +[1021] _Ib._ pp. 314-28. + +[1022] To. "What I Believe" pp. 26-7. + +[1023] To. "Kingdom" p. 274. + +[1024] _Ib._ p. 276. + +[1025] _Ib._ p. 422. + +[1026] _Ib._ p. 277. + +[1027] _Ib._ p. 276. + +[1028] To. "Patriotism" pp. 40-41, 100-102; "Kingdom" pp. 429-32. + +[1029] To. "Kingdom" p. 275. + +[1030] To. "Kingdom" p. 422. + +[1031] _Ib._ pp. 275-6, 420-22, 444-5. + +[1032] _Ib._ p. 278. + +[1033] _Ib._ p. 278. + +[1034] _Ib._ p. 279. + +[1035] _Ib._ p. 279. + +[1036] To. "Kingdom" p. 511; "Patriotism" p. 117. + +[1037] To. "Kingdom" p. 189. + +[1038] To. "What I Believe" p. 123. + +[1039] To. "Kingdom" pp. 143-4. + +[1040] _Ib._ pp. 300-301. + +[1041] _Ib._ p. 300. + +[1042] _Ib._ p. 301. + +[1043] _Ib._ p. 301. + +[1044] _Ib._ p. 236. + +[1045] _Ib._ p. 461. + +[1046] To. "Kingdom" p. 461. + +[1047] _Ib._ pp. 461-2. + +[1048] _Ib._ p. 461. + +[1049] _Ib._ p. 255. + +[1050] _Ib._ p. 255. + +[1051] To. "Kingdom" pp. 255-6. + +[1052] To. "What I Believe" p. 290. + +[1053] To. "Kingdom" pp. 255, 258. + +[1054] _Ib._ p. 258. + +[1055] To. "What I Believe" p. 289. + +[1056] To. "Kingdom" pp. 255, 257. + +[1057] _Ib._ p. 257. + +[1058] _Ib._ p. 510. + +[1059] To. "Persecutions" pp. 46-7. + +[1060] To. "Kingdom" p. 372. + +[1061] To. "Kingdom" p. 510. + +[1062] _Ib._ p. 512. + +[1063] _Ib._ pp. 513-14. + +[1064] To. "Kingdom" pp. 372-3. + +[1065] _Ib._ p. 518. + +[1066] _Ib._ p. 256. + +[1067] _Ib._ p. 164. + +[1068] _Ib._ p. 376. + +[1069] To. "What I Believe" p. 21; "What Shall We Do" pp. 157-8. + +[1070] To. "Kingdom" pp. 167, 164. + +[1071] _Ib._ p. 273. + +[1072] To. "What Shall We Do" p. 19. + +[1073] _Ib._ pp. 18-19. + +[1074] _Ib._ p. 19. + +[1075] To. "Money" p. 18. + +[1076] To. "Linen-Measurer" pp. 602-3. + +[1077] To. "Kingdom" p. 164. + +[1078] _Ib._ p. 168. + +[1079] To. "What Shall We Do" p. 143. + +[1080] To. "Money" p. 18. + +[1081] _Ib._ p. 13. + +[1082] _Ib._ p. 13. + +[1083] _Ib._ p. 16. + +[1084] _Ib._ p. 15. + +[1085] To. "Kingdom" p. 166. + +[1086] To. "What Shall We Do" p. 139. + +[1087] _Ib._ p. 152. + +[1088] To. "Money" p. 6. + +[1089] To. "What Shall We Do" pp. 151-2. + +[1090] _Ib._ p. 160. + +[1091] To. "What Shall We Do" pp. 134-5. + +[1092] _Ib._ p. 135. + +[1093] To. "Kingdom" pp. 247-8. + +[1094] _Ib._ p. 406. + +[1095] _Ib._ p. 407. + +[1096] _Ib._ p. 407. + +[1097] _Ib._ p. 409. + +[1098] _Ib._ p. 492. + +[1099] _Ib._ pp. 247, 447. + +[1100] To. "Kingdom" pp. 492-3. + +[1101] _Ib._ pp. 314-28. + +[1102] _Ib._ pp. 424-5. + +[1103] _Ib._ p. 425. + +[1104] _Ib._ p. 425. + +[1105] To. "Kingdom" p. 511. + +[1106] To. "What I Believe" p. 249. + +[1107] _Ib._ p. 249. + +[1108] _Ib._ p. 228. + +[1109] _Ib._ pp. 227-8. + +[1110] _Ib._ p. 227. + +[1111] _Ib._ p. 229. + +[1112] To. "What I Believe" p. 230. + +[1113] To. "Kingdom" p. 520. + +[1114] To. "What Shall We Do" pp. 157-8. + +[1115] To. "Money" p. 10. + +[1116] To. "Money" p. 11. + +[1117] _Ib._ pp. 11-12. + +[1118] "Kernel" p. 89. + +[1119] _Ib._ p. 89. + +[1120] "Patriotism" p. 116. + +[1121] To. "Patriotism" pp. 108-9. + +[1122] To. "Kingdom" p. 301. + +[1123] _Ib._ p. 474. + +[1124] _Ib._ p. 302. + +[1125] _Ib._ p. 301. + +[1126] To. "Patriotism" pp. 116-17. + +[1127] To. "Kingdom" p. 358. + +[1128] To. "Kingdom" p. 508. + +[1129] To. "What I Believe" p. 290. + +[1130] _Ib._ p. 290. + +[1131] _Ib._ p. 293. + +[1132] To. "Kingdom" p. 523. + +[1133] _Ib._ p. 523. + +[1134] _Ib._ p. 523. + +[1135] To. "Patriotism" p. 116. + +[1136] _Ib._ p. 109. + +[1137] To. "Patriotism" pp. 112-13. + +[1138] To. "Kingdom" p. 509. + +[1139] To. "What I Believe" pp. 147-8. + +[1140] To. "Kingdom" pp. 306-7. + +[1141] _Ib._ p. 326. + +[1142] _Ib._ pp. 279-80. + +[1143] To. "Kingdom" pp. 280-81. + +[1144] _Ib._ p. 298. + +[1145] To. "What I Believe" p. 292. + +[1146] To. "What Shall We Do" p. 164; "What I Believe" p. 291. + +[1147] To. "What Shall We Do" p. 162. + +[1148] _Ib._ p. 161. + +[1149] To "What Shall We Do" p. 161. + +[1150] To. "Kingdom" p. 314. + +[1151] _Ib._ pp. 327-8. + +[1152] _Ib._ p. 330. + +[1153] _Ib._ p. 328. + +[1154] To. "Persecutions" p. 44. + +[1155] To. "Persecutions" p. 44. + +[1156] To. "Kingdom" p. 293. + +[1157] _Ib._ pp. 302-3. + +[1158] To. "Kingdom" pp. 303-4. + +[1159] "What I Believe" p. 148. + +[1160] _Ib._ pp. 179-80. + +[1161] To. "Kingdom" p. 353. + +[1162] _Ib._ p. 356. + +[1163] _Ib._ p. 392. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ANARCHISTIC TEACHINGS + + +1.--GENERAL + +We have now gained the standpoint that permits us to view +comprehensively the entire body of Anarchistic teachings. + +This comprehensive view is possible only as follows: first we have to +look and see what the seven recognized Anarchistic teachings here +presented have in common, and what specialties are to be found among +them; next we must consider how far that which is common to the seven +teachings may be equated to that which the entire body of Anarchistic +teachings have in common, and, in addition, how far the specialties +represented among the seven teachings may be equated to the specialties +represented in the entire body of Anarchistic teachings. + +To characterize those qualities of the Anarchistic teachings to which +attention is to be paid, words already existing are here used as far as +has been found practicable. Where such were totally lacking, the need of +a concise formula has of necessity overcome repugnance to neologisms. + + +2.--BASIS + +I. As to their basis the seven teachings here presented have nothing in +common. + +1. In part they recognize as the supreme law of human procedure merely +a natural law, which, as such, does not tell us what ought to take place +but what really will take place; these teachings may be called +_genetic_. The other part of them regard as the supreme law of human +procedure a norm, which, as such, tells us what ought to take place, +even if it never really will take place; these teachings may be +characterized as _critical_. Genetic are the teachings of Bakunin and +Kropotkin: the supreme law of human procedure is for Bakunin the +evolutionary law of mankind's progress from a less perfect existence to +an existence as perfect as possible, and for Kropotkin that of mankind's +progress from a less happy existence to an existence as happy as +possible. Critical are the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, +Tucker, and Tolstoi. + +2. The critical teachings, again, are partly such as set up a duty as +the supreme law of human procedure, the duty being itself the ultimate +purpose,--these teachings may be characterized as _idealistic_,--and +partly such as set up happiness as the supreme law of human procedure, +all duty being only a means to happiness,--these may take the name of +_eudemonistic_. Idealistic are the teachings of Proudhon and Tolstoi: +Proudhon sets up as the supreme law of human procedure the duty of +justice, Tolstoi the duty of love. Eudemonistic are the teachings of +Godwin, Stirner, and Tucker. + +3. The eudemonistic teachings, finally, regard as the supreme law of +human procedure either the happiness of mankind as a whole, which the +individual is accordingly to further without regard to his own +happiness,--these teachings may be characterized as _altruistic_,--or +the happiness of the individual, which he is accordingly to further +without regard to the welfare of mankind as a whole,--these teachings +may be called _egoistic_. Altruistic is Godwin's teaching, egoistic +Stirner's and Tucker's. + +II. With regard to what they have in common in their basis, the seven +recognized Anarchistic teachings here presented may be taken as +equivalent to the entire body of recognized Anarchistic teachings. They +have in their basis nothing in common with each other; all the more is +it impossible, therefore, that the entire body of recognized Anarchistic +teachings should have in their basis anything in common. + +Furthermore, as regards the specialties that they exhibit in respect to +their basis the teachings here presented may be taken as equivalent to +the entire body of Anarchistic teachings without limitation. For the +specialties represented among them can be arranged as a system that has +no room left for any more co-ordinate specialties, but only for +subordinate. No Anarchistic teaching, therefore, can have any specialty +that will not be subordinate to these specialties. + +Therefore, what is true of the seven teachings here presented is true of +Anarchistic teachings altogether. In their basis they have nothing in +common, and are to be divided with respect to its differences as shown +in the table on page 273. + + +3.--LAW + +I. In their relation to law--that is, to those norms which are based on +men's will to have a certain procedure generally observed within a +circle which includes themselves--the seven teachings here presented +have nothing in common. + +1. A part of them negate law for our future; these teachings may be +called _anomistic_. The other part of them affirm it for our future; +these teachings may be characterized as _nomistic_. Anomistic are the +teachings of Godwin, Stirner, Tolstoi; nomistic those of Proudhon, +Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Tucker. + + + ====================================================== + |_Genetic_ | _Critical Teachings_ | + |_Teachings_| | + | |----------------------------------------| + | | _Idealistic_ | _Eudemonistic_ | + | | |-----------------------| + | | | Altruistic | Egoistic | + |===========+================+============+==========| + | Bakunin | Proudhon | Godwin | Stirner | + | Kropotkin | Tolstoi | | Tucker | + + +There cannot be given a more precise definition of what is common to the +anomistic teachings on the one hand and to the nomistic on the other, +and what is peculiar to the one group as against the other, than has +here been given. For both the negation and the affirmation of law for +our future have totally different meanings in the different teachings. + +The negation of law for our future means in the cases of Godwin and +Stirner that they reject law unconditionally, and so for our future as +well as everywhere else: Godwin because it is always and everywhere +contrary to the general happiness, Stirner because it is always and +everywhere contrary to the individual's happiness. + +In Tolstoi's case the meaning of the negation of law for our future is +that he rejects law, though not unconditionally, yet for our future, +because it is, though not at all times and in all places, yet under our +circumstances, in a higher degree repugnant to love than its +non-existence. + +The affirmation of law for our future means in the cases of Proudhon and +Tucker that they approve law as such (though certainly not every +particular form of law) unconditionally, and hence for our future as +well as elsewhere: Proudhon because law as such never and nowhere +offends against justice, Tucker because law as such never and nowhere +impairs the individual's happiness.[1164] + +In the cases of Bakunin and Kropotkin, finally, the affirmation of law +for our future has the meaning that they foresee that the progress of +evolution will in our future leave in existence law as such, even though +not the present particular form of law: Bakunin meaning by this the +progress of mankind from a less perfect existence to an existence as +perfect as possible, and Proudhon its progress from a less happy +existence to an existence as happy as possible. + +2. The anomistic teachings part company again in regard to what they (in +the same different senses in which they negate law for our future) +affirm for our future in contrast to the law. + +According to Godwin, in future the general happiness ought to be men's +controlling principle in the place of law. + +According to Stirner, in future the happiness of self ought to be men's +controlling principle in the place of law. + +According to Tolstoi, in future love ought to be men's controlling +principle in the place of law. + +3. On the other part, the nomistic teachings part company in regard to +the particular form of law that they affirm for our future. + +According to Tucker, even in future there ought to exist enacted law, in +which the will that creates the law is expressly declared,[1165] as well +as unenacted law, in which such an express declaration of this will is +not present. + +According to Bakunin and Kropotkin, in future only unenacted law will +exist. + +According to Proudhon, there ought to exist in future only the single +legal norm that contracts must be lived up to.[1166] + +II. With regard to what they have in common in their relation to law, +the seven recognized Anarchistic teachings here presented may be taken +as equivalent to the entire body of recognized Anarchistic teachings. In +their relation to law they have nothing in common. Much less, therefore, +can the entire body of recognized Anarchistic teachings have anything in +common in their relation to law. + +Furthermore, as regards the specialties that they exhibit in their +relation to law the teachings here presented may be taken as equivalent +to the entire body of Anarchistic teachings without limitation. For the +specialties represented among them can be arranged as a system in which +there is no room left for any more co-ordinate specialties, but only for +subordinate. No Anarchistic teaching, therefore, can have any specialty +that will not be subordinate to these specialties. + +Therefore, what is true of the seven teachings here presented is true of +Anarchistic teachings altogether. In their relation to law they have +nothing in common, and are to be divided as follows with respect to the +differences of this relation: + + + ================================================ + | _Anomistic Teachings_ | _Nomistic Teachings_ | + |=======================+======================| + | Godwin | Proudhon | + | Stirner | Bakunin | + | Tolstoi | Kropotkin | + | | Tucker | + + +4.--THE STATE + +I. In their relation to the State--that is, to the legal relation by +virtue of which a supreme authority exists in a territory--the seven +teachings here presented have something in common. + +1. They have this in common, that they negate the State for our future. + +There cannot be given a more precise definition of what the teachings +here presented have in common in their relation to the State than has +here been given. For the negation of the State for our future has +totally different meanings in them. + +In the cases of Godwin, Stirner, Tucker, and Proudhon, the negation of +the State for our future means that they reject the State +unconditionally, and hence for our future as well as everywhere else: +Godwin because the State always and everywhere impairs the general +happiness, Stirner and Tucker because it always and everywhere impairs +the individual's happiness, Proudhon because at all times and in all +places the State offends against justice. + +In Tolstoi's case the negation of the State for our future means that he +rejects the State, though not unconditionally, yet for our future, +because the State is, though not always and everywhere, yet under our +circumstances, more repugnant to love than its non-existence. + +Finally, in the cases of Bakunin and Kropotkin the negation of the State +for our future has the meaning that they foresee that in our future the +progress of evolution will abolish the State: Bakunin meaning mankind's +progress from a less perfect existence to one as perfect as possible, +Kropotkin its progress from a less happy existence to one as happy as +possible. + +2. As to what they affirm for our future in contrast to the State (in +the same different senses in which they negate the State for our future) +the seven teachings here presented have nothing in common. + +One part of them affirm for our future, in contrast to the State, a +social human life in a voluntary legal relation--to wit, under the +legal norm that contracts must be lived up to; these teachings may take +the name of _federalistic_. The other part of them affirm for our +future, in contrast to the State, a social human life without any legal +relation--to wit, under the same controlling principle that they affirm +for our future in contrast to law; these teachings may be characterized +as _spontanistic_. Federalistic are the teachings of Proudhon, Bakunin, +Kropotkin, and Tucker; spontanistic those of Godwin,[1167] Stirner, and +Tolstoi. + +3. The spontanistic teachings in turn part company in respect to the +non-legal controlling principle which they affirm in contrast to the +State as the basis of the social human life for our future. + +According to Godwin, the place of the State ought to be taken by a +social human life based on the principle that the general happiness +should be every one's rule of action. + +According to Stirner, the place of the State ought to be taken by a +social human life based on the principle that each one's own happiness +should be his rule of action. + +According to Tolstoi, the place of the State ought to be taken by a +social human life based on the principle that love should be every +one's rule of action. + +II. With regard to what they have in common in their relation to the +State, the seven recognized Anarchistic teachings here presented may be +taken as equivalent to the entire body of recognized Anarchistic +teachings. In their relation to the State they have only this one thing +in common, that they negate the State for our future--and in very +different senses at that. But this is common to all recognized +Anarchistic teachings: observation of any recognized Anarchistic +teaching shows that in one sense or another it negates the State for our +future. + +Furthermore, as regards the specialties that they exhibit in their +relation to the State the teachings here presented may be taken as +equivalent to the entire body of Anarchistic teachings without +limitation. For the specialties represented among them can be arranged +as a system which affords no room for any more co-ordinate specialties, +but only for subordinate. No Anarchistic teaching, therefore, can have +any specialty that will not be subordinate to these specialties. + +Therefore, what is true of the seven teachings here presented is true of +the Anarchistic teachings altogether. In their relation to the State +they have in common their negating the State for our future; and with +regard to the differences in what they affirm for our future in contrast +to the State they are to be divided as shown in the table on page +280. + + + ======================================================= + | _Federalistic Teachings_ | _Spontanistic Teachings_ | + |==========================+==========================| + | Proudhon | Godwin | + | Bakunin | Stirner | + | Kropotkin | Tolstoi | + | Tucker | | + + +5.--PROPERTY + +I. In their relation to property--that is, to that legal relation by +virtue of which some one has within a certain group of men the exclusive +privilege of ultimately disposing of a thing--the seven teachings here +presented have nothing in common. + +1. One part of them negate property for our future; these teachings may +be characterized as _indoministic_. The other part affirm it for our +future; these teachings may be called _doministic_. Indoministic are the +teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, and Tolstoi; doministic the +teachings of Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Tucker. + +There cannot be given a more precise definition of what is common to the +indoministic teachings on the one hand and to the doministic on the +other, and what is peculiar to the one group as against the other, than +has here been given. For both the affirmation and the negation of +property for our future have totally different meanings in the different +teachings. + +In the cases of Godwin, Stirner, and Proudhon, the negation of property +for our future means that they reject property unconditionally, and so +for our future as well as elsewhere: Godwin because it is always and +everywhere contrary to the general happiness, Stirner because it is +always and everywhere contrary to the individual's happiness, Proudhon +because it always and everywhere offends against justice. + +In Tolstoi's case the meaning of the negation of property for our future +is that he rejects property, though not absolutely, yet for our future, +because it is, though not at all times and in all places, yet under our +circumstances, in a higher degree repugnant to love than is its +non-existence. + +In Tucker's case the affirmation of property for our future means that +he approves property as such (though certainly not every particular form +of property) unconditionally, and hence for our future as well as +elsewhere, because property as such is never and nowhere contrary to the +individual's happiness.[1168] + +Finally, in the cases of Bakunin and Kropotkin the affirmation of +property for our future is as much as to say that they foresee that in +our future the progress of evolution will leave in existence property as +such, even though not the present particular form of property: Bakunin +meaning mankind's progress from a less perfect existence to one as +perfect as possible, Kropotkin its progress from a less happy existence +to one as happy as possible. + +2. The indoministic teachings part company again as to what they affirm +for our future (in the same different senses in which they negate +property for our future) in contrast to property. + +According to Proudhon, a distribution of goods determined by a voluntary +legal relation, and based on the legal norm that contracts ought to be +lived up to, ought to take the place of property. + +According to Godwin, Stirner, and Tolstoi, the place of property ought +to be taken by a distribution without any legal relation, based rather +on the same rule of action that is affirmed by them in contrast to law. + +According to Godwin, therefore, that distribution of goods which is to +take the place of property ought to be based on what is prescribed to +each one by the general happiness. + +According to Stirner it ought to be based on what is prescribed to each +one by his own happiness. + +According to Tolstoi it ought to be based on what is prescribed to each +one by love. + +3. The doministic teachings on their side part company again as to the +particular form of property that they affirm for our future. + +According to Tucker there ought to exist in future, as at present, both +property of the individual and property of the collectivity, in all +things indiscriminately.[1169] This teaching may be called +_individualistic_. + +According to Bakunin, in future there will exist property of the +individual and of the entire community only in goods for consumption, +indiscriminately, while in the materials and instruments of production +there will be solely property of the collectivity. This teaching may be +characterized as _collectivistic_. + +According to Kropotkin, in future there will exist solely property of +the collectivity in all things indiscriminately. This teaching may be +called _communistic_. + +II. With regard to what they have in common in their relation to +property, the seven Anarchistic teachings here presented may be taken as +equivalent to the entire body of recognized Anarchistic teachings. They +have nothing in common in their relation to property. All the more is it +impossible, therefore, that the entire body of recognized Anarchistic +teachings should in their relation to property have anything in common. + +Furthermore, in regard to the specialties that they exhibit in their +relation to property the teachings here presented may be taken as +equivalent to the entire body of Anarchistic teachings without +limitation. For the specialties represented among them can be arranged +as a system in which there is no room left for any more co-ordinate +specialties, but only for subordinate. No Anarchistic teaching, +therefore, can have any specialty that will not be subordinate to these +specialties. + +Therefore, what is true of the seven teachings here presented is true of +Anarchistic teachings altogether. They have nothing in common in their +relation to property, and are to be divided with respect to the +differences of this relation as shown in the table on page +284. + + + ================================================================= + |_Indoministic_| _Doministic Teachings_ | + | _Teachings_ +-----------------+----------------+-------------+ + | |_Individualistic_|_Collectivistic_|_Communistic_| + |==============+=================+================+=============| + | Godwin | Tucker | Bakunin | Kropotkin | + | Proudhon | | | | + | Stirner | | | | + | Tolstoi | | | | + + +6.--REALIZATION + +I. With regard to the manner in which they conceive their +realization--that is, the transition from the negated condition to the +affirmed condition--as taking place, the seven teachings here presented +have nothing in common. + +1. The one part of them conceive their realization as taking place +without breach of law: they have in mind a transition from the negated +to the affirmed condition merely by the application of legal norms of +the negated condition; these teachings may be characterized as +_reformatory_. Reformatory are the teachings of Godwin and Proudhon. The +other part conceive their realization as a breach of law: they have in +mind a transition from the negated to the affirmed condition with +violation of legal norms of the negated condition; these teachings may +be called _revolutionary_. Revolutionary are the teachings of Stirner, +Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, and Tolstoi. + +There cannot be given a more precise definition of what is common to the +reformatory teachings on the one hand, to the revolutionary on the +other, and what is peculiar to the one group as against the other, than +has here been given. For the conceiving the transition from a negated to +an affirmed condition as taking place in any given way has totally +different meanings in the different teachings. + +If Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Tucker, and Tolstoi conceive the +transition from a negated to an affirmed condition as taking place in +any given way, this is as much as to say that they demand that we should +in a given way first prepare for, and then effect, the transition from a +disapproved to an approved condition. + +If, on the contrary, Bakunin and Kropotkin conceive the transition from +a negated to an affirmed condition as taking place in any given way, +this means that they foresee that in the progress of evolution the +transition from a disappearing to a newly-appearing condition will of +itself take place in a given way, and that they only demand that we +should make a certain sort of preparation for this transition. + +2. The revolutionary teachings part company again as to the fashion in +which they conceive of the breach of law that helps in the transition +from the negated to the affirmed condition. + +Some of them conceive of the breach of law as taking place without the +employment of force; these teachings may be characterized as _renitent_. +Renitent are the teachings of Tucker and Tolstoi: Tucker conceiving the +breach of law chiefly as a refusal to pay taxes and rent and an +infringement of the banking monopoly, Tolstoi especially as a refusal to +do military, police, or jury service, and also to pay taxes. + +The other revolutionary teachings conceive of the breach of law that +helps in the transition from the negated to the affirmed condition as +taking place with the employment of force; these teachings may take the +name of _insurgent_. Insurgent are the teachings of Stirner, Bakunin, +and Kropotkin: Stirner and Bakunin conceiving only of the transition +itself as attended with the use of violence, but Kropotkin also of +preparation for it by such acts (propaganda of deed). + +II. With regard to what they have in common in respect of the conceived +manner of realization, the seven recognized Anarchistic teachings which +have been presented may be taken as equivalent to the entire body of +recognized Anarchistic teachings. In respect of the conceived manner of +realization they have nothing in common. Much less, therefore, can the +entire body of recognized Anarchistic teachings have anything in common +in this respect. + +Furthermore, as regards the specialties that they exhibit in respect of +the conceived manner of realization the teachings here presented may be +taken as equivalent to the entire body of Anarchistic teachings without +limitation. For the specialties represented among them can be arranged +as a system in which there is no room left for any more co-ordinate +specialties, but only for subordinate. No Anarchistic teaching, +therefore, can have any specialty that will not be subordinate to these +specialties. + +Therefore, what is true of the seven teachings here presented is true of +the Anarchistic teachings altogether. In respect of the conceived manner +of realization they have nothing in common, and are to be arranged as +follows with reference to the differences therein: + + + =============================================== + |_Reformatory_ | _Revolutionary Teachings_ | + | _Teachings_ +--------------+---------------| + | | _Renitent_ | _Insurgent_ | + |==============+==============+===============| + | Godwin | Tucker | Stirner | + | Proudhon | Tolstoi | Bakunin | + | | | Kropotkin | + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1164] [I shall not indorse this statement till I understand it, and I +doubt if Tucker will. Perhaps Eltzbacher might have been content with +saying "is in no case more injurious to the happiness of most +individuals than its non-existence."] + +[1165] [This, if interpreted by Eltzbacher's quotations from Tucker, +must refer to the right of a voluntary association of any sort to make +rules for its own members. But in this sense it seems in the highest +degree doubtful whether Eltzbacher is justified in denying the same to +all the other six, who have omitted to mention this point (perhaps +regarding it as self-evident) while they were talking against laws in +the sense of laws compulsorily binding everybody in the land.] + +[1166] [But see on Proudhon and Stirner my notes on pages 80 and 97.] + +[1167] [It will be seen by consulting the footnotes on pages 46, 47, and +48 that the warrants for this statement about Godwin are drawn +exclusively from the first one-fifth of his book, contrary to +Eltzbacher's profession at the top of page 41; that the passages quoted +_verbatim_ are not in Godwin's second edition; and that the quotations +which are not _verbatim_ are of doubtful correctness by the second +edition. This makes it appear that Godwin's sweeping rejection of the +principle of contract was one of those over-hasty propositions about +which he changed his mind even before they were published (see his words +quoted on page 40, and the preface to his second edition). Yet I am not +prepared to assert that Godwin would at any time have made contract the +basis of his civil order.] + +[1168] [On Proudhon, Stirner, Tucker, see my notes on pages 80, 97, +274.] + +[1169] [We are getting into an ambiguity of language here. The +"collectivity" in which Kropotkin vests property is, as I understand, +the entire population; the only "collectivity" which Tucker could +recognize as owning property would be a voluntary association, whose +membership, whether large or small, would in general be limited by the +arbitrary choice of men.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ANARCHISM AND ITS SPECIES + + +I.--ERRORS ABOUT ANARCHISM AND ITS SPECIES + +It has now become possible to set aside some of the numerous errors +about Anarchism and its species. + +I. It is said that Anarchism has abolished morality and bases itself +upon scientific materialism,[1170] that its ideal of society is +determined by its peculiar conception of the way things come to pass in +history.[1171] If this were correct, the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, +Stirner, Tucker, Tolstoi, and very many other recognized Anarchistic +teachings, would have to be regarded as not Anarchistic. + +2. It is asserted that Anarchism sets up the happiness of the individual +as final goal,[1172] that it appraises every human action from the +abstract view-point of the unlimited right of the individual,[1173] that +to it the supreme law is not the general welfare but every individual's +free preference.[1174] Were this really the case, we should have to look +upon the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tolstoi, and +a multitude of other recognized Anarchistic teachings, as not +Anarchistic. + +3. The moral law of justice is set down as Anarchism's supreme +law.[1175] Were this assertion correct, the teachings of Godwin, +Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, Tolstoi, and numerous other +recognized Anarchistic teachings, could not rank as Anarchistic. + +4. It is said that Anarchism culminates in the negation of every +programme,[1176] that it has only a negative goal.[1177] If this were in +accordance with truth, the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, +Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, Tolstoi, and well-nigh all other recognized +Anarchistic teachings, would not admit of being regarded as Anarchistic. + +5. It is asserted that Anarchism rejects law,[1178] the compulsion of +law.[1179] If this were so, the teachings of Proudhon, Bakunin, +Kropotkin, Tucker, and very many other recognized Anarchistic teachings, +could not rank as Anarchistic. + +6. It is declared that Anarchism rejects society,[1180] that its ideal +consists in wiping out society to make a fresh start,[1181] that for it +fellowship exists only to be combated.[1182] Were this correct, we +should have to look upon the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, +Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, Tolstoi, and pretty nearly all other +recognized Anarchistic teachings, as not Anarchistic. + +7. It is said that Anarchism demands the abolition of the State,[1183] +wills to destroy the State off the face of the earth,[1184] wills to +have the State in no form at all,[1185] wills to have no +government.[1186] If this were correct, the teachings of Bakunin and +Kropotkin, and all the other recognized Anarchistic teachings which +only foresee the abolition of the State but do not demand it, could not +rank as Anarchistic. + +8. It is asserted that in Anarchism's future society the individual's +consent binds him only so long as he is disposed to keep it up.[1187] +Were this really so, then the teachings of Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, +Tucker, and very many other recognized Anarchistic teachings, would have +to be looked upon as not Anarchistic. + +9. It is said that Anarchism wills to put a federation in the place of +the State,[1188] that what it is striving for is the ordering of all +public affairs by free contracts among federalistically instituted +communes and societies.[1189] Were this in accordance with truth, the +teachings of Godwin, Stirner, Tolstoi, and very many other recognized +Anarchistic teachings, would not admit of being regarded as Anarchistic, +and no more would the teachings of Bakunin and Kropotkin and the rest of +the recognized Anarchistic teachings that do not demand, but only +foresee, a fellowship of contract. + +10. It is declared that Anarchism rejects property.[1190] If this were +correct, we should have to rate the teachings of Bakunin, Kropotkin, +Tucker, and all the other recognized Anarchistic teachings that affirm +property either unconditionally or at any rate in some particular form, +as not Anarchistic. + +11. It is asserted that Anarchism rejects private property,[1191] +endeavors to establish community of goods,[1192] is necessarily +communistic.[1193] Were Anarchism necessarily communistic, then, in the +first place, the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Tolstoi, and +all the other recognized Anarchistic teachings which negate property in +every form, even as the property of society, could not rank as +Anarchistic; and furthermore, neither could the teachings of Tucker and +Bakunin, and such other recognized Anarchistic teachings as affirm +private property either in all things or at least in goods for direct +consumption. And if in addition to this it were a matter of rejection or +endeavor, then not even Kropotkin's teaching, and the rest of the +recognized Anarchistic teachings which do not demand, but foresee, a +communistic form of property, could be regarded as Anarchistic. + +12. A distinction is made between Communist, Collectivist, and +Individualist Anarchism,[1194] or simply between Communist and +Individualist Anarchism.[1195] Were the first division a complete one, +the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Tolstoi, and all the other +recognized Anarchistic teachings that do not affirm property in any +form, could not rank as Anarchistic; were the second complete, these +again could not, nor yet could Bakunin's teaching and such other +recognized Anarchistic teachings as affirm a property in the means of +production only for society, but in the supplies of consumption for +individuals also. + +13. It is said that Anarchism preaches crime,[1196] looks to a violent +revolution for the initiation of the new condition,[1197] seeks to +attain its goal with the help of all agencies, even theft and +murder.[1198] If Anarchism conceived of its realization as taking place +by crime, we should have to look upon the teachings of Godwin and +Proudhon and very many more recognized Anarchistic teachings as not +Anarchistic; and, if it conceived of its realization as taking place by +criminal acts of violence, the teachings of Tucker and Tolstoi and +numerous other recognized Anarchistic teachings would also have to be +regarded as not Anarchistic. + +14. It is asserted that Anarchism recognizes the propaganda of deed as a +means toward its realization.[1199] If this were correct, the teachings +of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Bakunin, Tucker, Tolstoi, and most of the +other recognized Anarchistic teachings, could not rank as Anarchistic. + + +2.--THE CONCEPTS OF ANARCHISM AND ITS SPECIES + +It is now possible, furthermore, to determine the common and special +qualities of the Anarchistic teachings, to assign them a place in the +total realm of our experience, and thus to define conceptually Anarchism +and its species. + +I. _The common and special qualities of the Anarchistic teachings._ + +1. The Anarchistic teachings have in common only this, that they negate +the State for our future. In the cases of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, and +Tucker, the negation means that they reject the State unconditionally, +and so for our future as well as elsewhere; in the case of Tolstoi it +means that he rejects the State, though not unconditionally, yet for our +future; in the cases of Bakunin and Kropotkin it means that they foresee +that in future the progress of evolution will do away with the State. + +2. As to their basis, the Anarchistic teachings are classifiable as +_genetic_, recognizing as the supreme law of human procedure merely a +law of nature (Bakunin, Kropotkin) and _critical_, regarding a norm as +the supreme law of human procedure. The critical teachings, again, are +classifiable as _idealistic_, whose supreme law is a duty (Proudhon, +Tolstoi), and _eudemonistic_, whose supreme law is happiness. The +eudemonistic teachings, finally, are on their part further classifiable +as _altruistic_, for which the general happiness is supreme law +(Godwin), and _egoistic_, for which the individual's happiness takes +this rank (Stirner, Tucker). + +As to what they affirm for our future in contrast to the State, the +Anarchistic teachings are either _federalistic_--that is, they affirm +for our future a social human life on the basis of the legal norm that +contracts must be lived up to (Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker)--or +_spontanistic_--that is, they affirm for our future a social human life +on the basis of a non-juridical controlling principle (Godwin, Stirner, +Tolstoi). + +As to their relation to law, a part of the Anarchistic teachings are +_anomistic_, negating law for our future (Godwin, Stirner, Tolstoi); the +other part are _nomistic_, affirming it for our future (Proudhon, +Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker). + +As to their relation to property, the Anarchistic teachings are partly +_indoministic_, negating property for our future (Godwin, Proudhon, +Stirner, Tolstoi), partly _doministic_, affirming it for our future. The +doministic teachings, again, are partly _individualistic_, affirming +property, without limitation, for the individual as well as for the +collectivity (Tucker), partly _collectivistic_, affirming as to supplies +for direct consumption a property that will sometimes be the +individual's, but as to the means of production a property that is only +for the collectivity (Bakunin), and, finally, partly _communistic_, +affirming property solely for the collectivity (Kropotkin). + +As to how they conceive their realization, the Anarchistic teachings +divide into the _reformatory_, which conceive the transition from the +negated to the affirmed condition as without breach of law (Godwin, +Proudhon), and _revolutionary_, which conceive this transition as a +breach of law. The revolutionary teachings, again, divide into +_renitent_, which conceive the breach of law as without the use of force +(Tucker, Tolstoi) and _insurgent_, which conceive it as attended by the +use of force (Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin). + +II. _The place of the Anarchistic teachings in the total realm of our +experience._ + +1. There must be distinguished three lines of thought in the philosophy +of law: that is, three fashions of judging law. + +The first is _jurisprudential dogmatism_. It judges whether a legal +institution ought to exist or not, and it judges quite unconditionally, +solely by what the institution consists of, without regard to its +effect under this or that particular set of circumstances. It embraces, +therefore, the doctrines of a _proper law_: that is, the schools that +seek to determine what law--for instance, whether the legal institution +of marriage--is under all circumstances to be approved or to be +disapproved. Its best known form is "natural law." + +The weakness of jurisprudential dogmatism lies in its not taking account +of the fact that our judgment of legal institutions must depend on their +effects, and that one and the same legal institution has under different +circumstances altogether different effects. + +The second line of thought is _jurisprudential skepticism_. In view of +the weakness of jurisprudential dogmatism it foregoes judgment on +whether a legal institution ought to exist or not, and pronounces +judgment only on whether the tendency of evolution gives ground for +expecting that a legal institution will persist or disappear, arise or +remain non-existent. It embraces, therefore, the doctrines of the +_evolution of law_: that is, the schools that undertake to inform us +what sort of law is to be expected in future--for instance, whether the +legal institution of marriage has a prospect of remaining in force among +us. Its best-known forms are the historical school in the science of +law, and Marxism. + +The weakness of jurisprudential skepticism consists in its not meeting +our want of a scientific basis that shall enable us to recognize as +correct or incorrect the incessantly-appearing judgments on the value of +legal institutions, and to approve or disapprove the manifold +propositions for changes in law. + +The third line of thought is _jurisprudential criticism_. In view of +the weakness of jurisprudential dogmatism it foregoes passing judgment, +without regard to the particular circumstances under which a legal +institution operates, on whether that institution ought to exist or not; +but yet in view of the weakness of jurisprudential skepticism it does +not forego answering the question whether a legal institution ought to +exist or not. It therefore sets up a supreme governing principle by +which legal institutions are to be judged with regard to the particular +circumstances under which they operate, the point being whether, under +the particular circumstances under which a legal institution operates, +it fulfils that supreme governing principle as well as is possible under +these circumstances, or at least better than any other legal +institution. It embraces, therefore, the doctrines of _the propriety of +law_: that is, the schools that set up fundamental principles by which +it is to be determined what law--for instance, whether the legal +institution of marriage--ought under any particular circumstances to +exist or not to exist. + +2. With respect to the State these three lines of thought in the +philosophy of law may arrive at different judgments, each one from its +standpoint. + +First, to the _affirmation of the State_. + +So far as the schools of jurisprudential dogmatism affirm the State, +they approve of it unconditionally, and so for our future as well as +elsewhere, without any regard to its effects under this or that +particular set of circumstances. + +Among the numerous affirmative doctrines of the State in the sense of +jurisprudential dogmatism, the teachings of Hobbes, Hegel, and Jhering +may perhaps be selected for emphasis as belonging to different sections +of history. + +So far as the doctrines of jurisprudential skepticism affirm the State, +they foresee, looking to the course evolution is taking, that in our +future the State will continue to exist. + +The most notable representatives of jurisprudential skepticism, such as +Puchta and Merkel, have offered no teaching regarding the State; but +affirmative doctrines of the State in the sense of jurisprudential +skepticism may be found, for instance, in Montaigne and Bernstein. + +Finally, so far as the doctrines of jurisprudential criticism affirm the +State, they commend it for our future in consideration of the particular +circumstances that at present prevail in our case. + +Jurisprudential criticism has thus far been most clearly set forth by +Stammler, who, however, has offered no teaching with regard to the +State; but, for instance, Spencer's teaching may rank as an affirmative +doctrine of the State in the sense of jurisprudential criticism. + +Second, the three lines of thought in the philosophy of law may arrive +at the _negation of the State_, each one from its standpoint. + +So far as the doctrines of jurisprudential dogmatism negate the State, +they reject it unconditionally, and so for our future as well as +elsewhere, without any regard to its effects under this or that +particular set of circumstances. + +Negative doctrines of the State in the sense of jurisprudential +dogmatism are the teachings of Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, and Tucker. + +So far as the doctrines of jurisprudential skepticism negate the State, +they foresee, looking to the course evolution is taking, that in our +future the State will disappear. + +Negative doctrines of the State in the sense of jurisprudential +skepticism are the teachings of Bakunin and Kropotkin. + +So far as the doctrines of jurisprudential criticism negate the State, +they reject it for our future in consideration of the particular +circumstances that at present prevail in our case. + +A negative doctrine of the State in the sense of jurisprudential +criticism is Tolstoi's teaching. + +3. Therefore, the place of the Anarchistic teachings in the total realm +of our experience is defined by the fact that they, as a species of +doctrine about the State in the philosophy of law,--to wit, as negative +doctrines of the State,--stand in opposition to the other species of +doctrine about the State, the affirmative doctrines of the State. + +This may be represented as shown in the table on the following page. + +III. _The concepts of Anarchism and its species._ + +1. Anarchism is the negation of the State in the philosophy of law: that +is, it is that species of jurisprudential doctrine of the State which +negates the State. + +2. An Anarchistic teaching cannot be complete without stating on what +basis it rests, what condition it affirms in contrast to the State, and +how it conceives the transition to this condition as taking place. A +basis, an affirmative side, and a conception of the transition to that +which it affirms, are necessary constituents of any Anarchistic +teaching. With regard to these constituents the following species of +Anarchism may be distinguished. + + + ================================================================ + | |_Affirmative Doctrines_|_Negative Doctrines_| + | | _of the State_ | _of the State_ | + |=================+======================+=====================| + | | Hobbes | Godwin | + | In the sense of | Hegel | Proudhon | + | jurisprudential | Jhering | Stirner | + | dogmatism | | Tucker | + +-----------------+----------------------+---------------------+ + | In the sense of | Montaigne | Bakunin | + | jurisprudential | Bernstein | Kropotkin | + | skepticism | | | + +-----------------+----------------------+---------------------+ + | In the sense of | | | + | jurisprudential | Spencer | Tolstoi | + | criticism | | | + + +First, as to basis, _genetic Anarchism_, which recognizes as supreme law +of human procedure only a law of nature (Bakunin, Kropotkin), and +_critical Anarchism_, which regards a norm as supreme law of human +procedure; as subspecies of critical Anarchism, _idealistic Anarchism_, +whose supreme law is a duty (Proudhon, Tolstoi), and _eudemonistic +Anarchism_, whose supreme law is happiness; and, finally, as subspecies +of eudemonistic Anarchism, _altruistic Anarchism_, for which the supreme +law is the general happiness (Godwin), and _egoistic Anarchism_, for +which the supreme law is the individual's happiness (Stirner, Tucker). + +Second, as to the condition affirmed in contrast to the State, there +may be distinguished _federalistic Anarchism_, which affirms for our +future a social human life according to the legal norm that contracts +must be lived up to (Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker), and +_spontanistic Anarchism_, which affirms for our future a social life +according to a non-juridical governing principle (Godwin, Stirner, +Tolstoi). + +Third, as to the conception of the transition to the affirmed condition, +there may be distinguished _reformatory Anarchism_, which conceives the +transition from the State to the condition affirmed in contrast thereto +as taking place without breach of law (Godwin, Proudhon), and +_revolutionary Anarchism_, which conceives this transition as a breach +of law; as subspecies of revolutionary Anarchism, _renitent Anarchism_, +which conceives the breach of law as without the use of violence +(Tucker, Tolstoi), and _insurgent Anarchism_, which conceives it as +attended by the use of violence (Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin). + +3. An Anarchistic teaching may be complete without taking up a position +toward law or property. Whenever, therefore, an Anarchistic teaching +takes up a position toward the one or the other, it contains an +accidental adjunct. The Anarchistic teachings that contain this adjunct +may be classified according to its character; but, since Anarchism as +such can be classified only according to the character of the necessary +constituents of every Anarchistic teaching, such a classification _does +not give us species of Anarchism_. + +So far as the Anarchistic teachings take up a position toward law, they +are either _anomistic_--that is, they negate law for our future +(Godwin, Stirner, Tolstoi)--or _nomistic_--that is, they affirm it for +our future (Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker). + +So far as they take up a position toward property, they are either +_indoministic_, negating property for our future (Godwin, Proudhon, +Stirner, Tolstoi), or _doministic_, affirming it for our future; the +doministic teachings, again, are either _individualistic_, affirming +property, without limitation, for the individual as well as for the +collectivity (Tucker), or _collectivistic_, affirming as to supplies for +direct consumption a property which may be the individual's, but as to +the means of production a property that is only for the collectivity +(Bakunin), or, last of all, _communistic_, affirming property for the +collectivity alone (Kropotkin). + +All this is brought before the eye in the table on page 302. + + + [**Symbol: hand pointing right][The table is given as compiled by + Eltzbacher. For correction of errors either certain or probable, + see footnotes to pages 80, 97, 278; note also that under "condition + affirmed" the distinction is excessively fine between Stirner, who + would have men agree on the terms of a union which they are to + stick to as long as they find it advisable, and Bakunin and Tucker, + who would have them bound together by a contract limited by the + inalienable right of secession.] + + +KEY: A - Genetic + B - Idealistic + C - Altrustic + D - Egoistic + E - Federalistic + F - Spontanistic + G - Reformatory + H - Renitent + I - Insurgent + J - Anomistic + K - Nomistic + L - Indoministic + M - Individualistic + N - Collectivistic + O - Communistic + + ===================================================================== + | _Doctrines of the State_ | _Anarchistic Teachings_ | + | _in the Philosophy of Law_ | _may possibly be_ | + |-----------------+--------------------+ | + | Affirmative | Negative | | + | Doctrines | Doctrines | | + | of the State | of the State | | + |-----------------+ | | + | ANARCHISM | | + |-----------------+---------+----------+--------+-------------------| + | |_As to |_As to its| _As to | _As to their | + | |condition|conception| their | attitude toward | + | |affirmed | of the |attitude| property_ | + |_As to its basis_| in |transition| toward | | + | |contrast | to the | law_ | | + | | to the | affirmed | | | + | | State_ |condition_| | | + |---+-------------+---------+--+-------+---+----+----+--------------| + | | Critical | | | |Revolu-| | | | Doministic | + | +----+--------+ | | |tionary| | | +--------------| + | | |Eudemon-| | | +-------+ | | | | | | + | | | istic | | | | | | | | | | | | + | | +--------+ | | | | | | | | | | | + | A | B | C | D | E | F |G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+--+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + | | | Go | | |Go* |Go| | | Go| | Go | | | | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+--+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + | | Pr | | |Pr | |Pr | | | | Pr |Pr* | | | | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+--+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + | | | |St | | St* | | |St |St*| |St* | | | | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+--+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + |Ba | | | |Ba | | | |Ba | | Ba | | | Ba | | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+--+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + |Kr | | | |Kr | | | |Kr | | Kr | | | | Kr | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+--+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + | | | |Tu |Tu | | |Tu| | | Tu | | Tu | | | + |---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+--+---+---+----+----+----+----+----| + | | To | | | | To | |To| |To | | To | | | | + ===================================================================== + +* [See note, p. 301.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1170] "_Der Anarchismus und seine Traeger_" pp. 127, 124, 125. + +[1171] Reichesberg p. 27. + +[1172] Lenz p. 3. + +[1173] Plechanow p. 80. + +[1174] Rienzi p. 43. + +[1175] Bernatzik pp. 2, 3. + +[1176] Lenz p. 5. + +[1177] Crispi p. 4. + +[1178] Stammler pp. 2, 4, 34, 36. + +[1179] Lenz pp. 1, 4. + +[1180] Garraud p. 12, Tripels p. 253. + +[1181] Silio p. 145. + +[1182] Reichesberg pp. 14, 16. + +[1183] Bernstein p. 359. + +[1184] Lenz p. 5. + +[1185] Bernatzik p. 3. + +[1186] "_Hintermaenner_" p. 14. + +[1187] Reichesberg p. 30. + +[1188] "_Hintermaenner_" p. 14. + +[1189] Lombroso p. 31. + +[1190] Silio p. 145, Dubois p. 213. + +[1191] Proal p. 50. + +[1192] Lombroso p. 31. + +[1193] Sernicoli vol. 2 p. 67, Garraud pp. 3, 4. + +[1194] "_Die historische Entwickelung des Anarchismus_" p. 16; Zenker p. +161. + +[1195] Rienzi p. 9; Stammler pp. 28-31; Merlino pp. 18, 27; Shaw p. 23. + +[1196] Garraud p. 6; Lenz p. 5. + +[1197] Sernicoli vol. 2 p. 116; Garraud p. 2; Reichesberg p. 38; Van +Hamel p. 113. + +[1198] Lombroso pp. 31, 35. + +[1199] Garraud pp. 10-11; Lombroso p. 34; Ferri p. 257. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +1. The personal want that impelled us toward a scientific knowledge of +Anarchism has met with some satisfaction. + +The concepts of Anarchism and its species have been defined; the most +important errors have been removed; the most prominent Anarchistic +teachings of earlier and recent times have been presented in detail. We +have become acquainted with Anarchism's armory. We have seen all that +can be objected against the State from all possible standpoints. We have +been shown the most diverse orders of life as destined to take the +State's place in future. The transition from the State to these orders +of life has been represented to us in the most manifold ways. + +He who would know Anarchism still more intimately, investigate the less +notable teachings as well as the most prominent, and assign to both +these and those their place in the causal nexus of historical events, +will now find at least the foundation laid for his work. He knows with +what sorts of teachings, and what parts of these teachings, he must +concern himself, and what questions he must put to each of them. In this +investigation he must expect many surprises: the teaching of the unknown +Pisacane will astonish him by its originality, and that of the +much-talked-of Most will show itself to be only a coarsened form of +Kropotkin's. But on the whole it is hardly likely that the investigation +will be worth the trouble it takes: the special ideas that Anarchism +has to offer are given with tolerable completeness in the seven +teachings here presented. + +2. The external want on account of which Anarchism had to be +scientifically known may now also be satisfied. + +One thing we must at any rate do with regard to Anarchism: examine its +teachings, as to their soundness or unsoundness, with courage, +composure, and impartiality. But success in this task can be expected +only if we no longer wander about aimlessly in the night of +jurisprudential skepticism, or try to light it up with the lantern of +dogmatism, but rather keep our eye fixed upon the guiding star of +criticism. + +Whether, besides this, it is requisite to oppose Anarchism or at least +one or another of its species by especial instrumentalities of +power,--whether, in particular, crime committed for the realization of +Anarchistic teachings is a more serious misdeed than any political or +even ordinary crime,--as to this the legislators of each country must +decide with a view to the special conditions existing therein. + + + + +INDEX + +OF DETAILS, EXEMPLIFICATIONS, AND CATCHWORDS IN THE QUOTATIONS FROM THE +SEVEN WRITERS + + + The following index is not a translation of Eltzbacher's, and does + not index his part of the work, but only the matter quoted from the + seven writers. Furthermore, it does not index such parts of their + work as are readily found by consulting the table of contents and + Chapter X. The reader will therefore, in general, for Justice, see + the sections "Basis" and "Property" in each chapter, and the whole + of Chapter IV; for Self-Interest, "Basis" in each chapter and the + whole of Chapters V and VIII; for Classes, "State" and "Property" + in each chapter; for Organization, "State" and "Realization"; for + Government, Democracy, Tyranny, "State"; for Capitalism, Poverty, + Inequality, "Property"; for Communism, Chapters VII and IX, + especially "Property" and "Realization", comparing Chapter VI; for + Propaganda, Social Revolution, "Realization" in each chapter; and + so on. So far as general points of this nature are mentioned in the + index, it is in most cases only on some incidental occasion, and + does not supersede this general reference: nor could this be + superseded without thereby misleading the reader. "Law" has + received somewhat exceptional treatment. + + The reader will of course not assume, because in the index he does + not find a certain author among those who are cited on a certain + topic, that this author has not mentioned it. While the index shows + a wider range of topics than might have been expected in such a + book, the nature of Eltzbacher's compilation forbids us to expect + that it should serve as a complete Cyclopedia of Anarchism. + + +Absenteeism, Kr. 162-3, To. 250-51, 256, 259 + +Aged, see Dependent + +Agriculture, Kr. 168, 177, To. 234 + +American Revolution, Go. 59 + +Anarchism, first use of name, Pr. 67, Kr. 140 + +Anarchy, lesser evil, Go. 41 + +Areas of jurisdiction, ideally: + small, Go. 48-50 + nation-wide, Pr. 76-80 + larger and larger, Ba. 127 + undefined, Kr. 156, Tu. 195 + +Army: + cannot crush revolution, Kr. 173 + basis of State, To. 239-43 + refuse to serve in, To. 262, 266 + of revolution, Ba. 136, 138, Kr. 176 + +Associations, voluntary, St. 104-5, Kr. 155-6, Tu. 194-200 + +Astronomy, Kr. 168 + +Authority: + object of competition, Pr. 73-4 + sought only by the bad, To. 237-8 + +Bad men, see Criminals + +Ballot, see Voting + +Bank, Pr. 65, 88-91, Tu. 206-7, 214 + +Bees swarming, To. 267 + +Bloodshed: + insignificant, Ba. 133, Kr. 173 + see Force, War + +Boundaries: + abolished, Ba. 127, 137 + no economic, Kr. 158 + see Areas + +Bribery by State, To. 242-3 + +California, Pr. 87 + +Central authority in future, Go. 51-2, Pr. 79-80, Ba. 136 + +Centralization, Pr. 76-80 + +Children, Tu. 185, ftn. 187; + see Dependent + +Christianity, To. 220-69 + +Church: + anti-Christian, To. 220-2 + organization, Pr. 76-7 + property, Ba. 135 + +Collectivism, Ba. 131, Kr. 165-6 + +Colonists, To. 259-60 + +Columbus, To. 247-8 + +Commune: + economic unit, Kr. 156-9, 166, 170, 176-7 + political unit, Ba. 136 + +Communism in present society, Kr. 164-5, 170 + +Contract: + basic, Pr. 71, 75, Kr. 157, Tu. 194-6 + eschewed, Go. 46-8 (but see footnotes), 51, To. 244 + scope of, Ba. 120, Tu. 189 + +Courts, future: + drawn by lot, Tu. 200 + elective, Pr. 78 + free from law, Go. 45, 50 + partly free from law, Tu. 201, ftn. 187 + merely recommend, Go. 52 + +Criminals: + State gives power to, To. 237-8 + State makes, Kr. 147, 161, Tu. 193, 198, To. 245-6 + +Debts: + private, Ba. 135, Tu. 189-90 + of State, Ba. 135, Kr. 150 + +Defence: + a commodity, Tu. 192, 198-9 + force justified in, Tu. 185-90, 200, 215 + force not justified in, To. 227-8 + see Invasion + +Defensive associations, Tu. 198-200 + +Deliberative assemblies, Go. 48, 51-2, 61-3; + see Central + +Dependent: + the poor are, To. 251-4 + provision for the, Go. 57-8, St. 107-8, Kr. 170, To. 258 + +Destruction, Kr. 172-3 + +Discussion, Go. 59, Kr. 178, Tu. 210 + +Distress, relief of, Tu. 193 + +Egoism, St. 93-114, Tu. 183 + +English history, Go. 59, Kr. 151-2 + +Evolution no excuse for inertness, Kr. 142-5, To. 222-3, 263 + +Example, propaganda by, Pr. 88, Ba. 136, Kr. 178-9, Tu. 212-14, + To. 262, 267-9 + +Exploitation, State stands for, Ba. 117, 119, 128 + +Expropriation, Kr. 174-5 + +Expulsion, Pr. 72, Kr. 148, 157 + +Extradition in future, Go. 50-51 + +Force: + inadmissible, To. 227-30 + justification of, Tu. 186, 190, 215 + in law, To. 231 + may be necessary, Tu. 211-12 + necessary, St. 111, 114 + in property, To. 255-6 + in State, St. 101, Ba. 123, Tu. 191, To. 239-43 + undesirable, Pr. 87 + unreliable, Go. 58 + useful, Kr. 151, 180 + works badly, Tu. 211, 215-16, To. 264-5 + +Frankness, To. 233, 262-3 + +Freedom, see Liberty; + also Speech, etc. + +French Revolution: + events, Go. 59, Kr. 150, 176-8, 180-1 + legislatures, Go. 61, Pr. 70 + +Government, see State + +Heirs dividing property, Go. 57-8 + +Houses, Kr. 174, 177 + +Hypnotizing the people, To. 242 + +Independence, Ba. 120, 126-7 + +Inequality will persist but diminish, Tu. 208-9 + +Institutions to be preserved, Pr. 74, 82 + +Intelligence, government checks progress in, Go. 40, 46 + +Intercourse of social organizations, Go. 49-50 and ftn., Kr. 157-8, + Tu. 199 + +Intimidation, To. 243 + +Invasion: + foreign, Go. 51, Kr. 159, To. 246 + personal, Tu. 185-6 + +Irish Land League, Tu. 197-8, 210, 217 + +Judge, Jury, see Courts + +Labor: + amount of, Go. 56, Kr. 167-8 + basis of distribution, Pr. 84, Ba. 131 + basis of ownership, Tu. 188, 205 + basis of sharing, Kr. 167, 169-70 + of past generations, Kr. 161-2 + product of, Tu. 201, 205 + seeking higher pay, St. 103, 114 + universal duty, To. 234, 257 + +Land: + monopoly, Tu. 203 + tenure, Tu. 188, 205, 207 + +Law: + dwarfs character, Go. 44 + is changeful, Go. 43 + is consecrated, St. 97-8 + is hostile in purpose, St. 102-3, Ba. 119, To. 238 + is inadequate, To. 231-2 + is not agreed to, Pr. 70, Kr. 148, To. 228-9 + is not impartial, Pr. 70, St. 101, Kr. 146-7, 151-3 + is not up to date, To. 231-2 + is obstructive, St. 102, Kr. 151 + is prophetic, Go. 43 + is rigid, Go. 42-3, Kr. 146, Tu. 187 + is uncertain, Go. 43 + is violent, To. 231 + is voluminous, Go. 43, 63, Pr. 69-70, Kr. 150 + origin of, Go. 43, Kr. 146-8, To. 232 + tends to encroach, Go. 43, Pr. 69, St. 102, Kr. 151, To. 238 + +Liberty, equal, Tu. 184-7, ftn. 184 + +Liquor, Tu. 186 + +Mental influence, To. 244-5 + +Military, see Army + +Money: + monopoly, Tu. 202-3, 205-7 + power of, To. 253-4 + see Bank + +Monopoly: + economic, Tu. 202-8 + State is, Tu. 192 + +Music, Kr. 168 + +Mutuality, Pr. 85 + +Non-resistance, To. 227-8 + +Occupancy and use: + title to land, Tu. 188, 203 + title to everything, To. 259-60 + +Paine quoted, Go. 47 and ftn. + +Papers, legal, Pr. 70, Ba. 135 + +Passive resistance, Tu. 216-18, To. 266-7 + +Patents, Tu. 204, 208 + +Peasants: + beating each other, To. 264 + condition of, Kr. 160, To. 253 + economic practices of, Kr. 170-71, To. 259-60 + how to reach, Ba. 136 + revolutionary achievements of, Kr. 151, 180; + see Irish + +Police: + agency of governmental violence, To. 239, 241 + depraved, To. 238 + in future society, Tu. ftn. 187, 198-9, ftn. 198; + see Extradition + lawless, Kr. 152 + obstructive, St. 102 + to be replaced by voluntary intervention of citizens, Kr. 159 + the support of property, To. 255 + +Power, see Authority + +Press, freedom of, Tu. 211 + +Printing, Kr. 169 + +Private wants in Communism, Kr. 168-9 + +Product, see Labor + +Production will increase, Kr. 169-70, Tu. 207 + +Promise, see Contract + +Property, definition of, Pr. 80-81, To. 250 + +Public opinion: + in advance of law, To. 230-32 + to be changed, Pr. 86-7, Ba. 137, Tu. 210, To. 260-61 + doctored by State, Ba. 137, To. 242-3 + society to be ruled by, To. 245 + +Punishment: + is antiquated, To. 245 + is not wanted, Kr. 157 + is proper, Tu. 187-9, 200 + is useless, Kr. 147 + makes criminals, Kr. 147, To. 246 + see Expulsion + +Railroads: + agreement of, Kr. 156 + building, Kr. 158 + ownership of, Kr. 163 + +Rationing, Kr. 170-71, 176 + +Red Cross Society, Kr. 155 + +Religion foundation of State, Ba. 121-2 + +Rent: + economic, Tu. 208-9, ftn. 203 + of landlord, Kr. 174, Tu. 203, 207, 210, 217 + +Resistance, see Defence, Force, Passive + +Revolution part of evolution, Kr. 142-3 + +Rich, the: + depraved, Ba. 129, Kr. 160-61 + guilty, To. 250, 253-4 + will help us, Go. 64, Pr. 87 + +Right, Rights: + admissible sense, Tu. 185 + a delusion, St. 98-9, Tu. 184 + to enforce contract, Tu. 189-90 + to independence, Ba. 120, 126-7 + to live comfortably, Go. 55-6, Kr. 149, 170 + only for rich, Kr. 151-3 + of secession, Ba. 127, Tu. 194-7 + State has no, Tu. 214 + +Robbery, forms of, Pr. 81-2 + +Ruling classes: + bad men originally, To. 237-8 + depraved by ruling, Ba. 123, To. 238 + incompetent, Kr. 163 + +Schools, Kr. 159, To. 247 + +Secession, Ba. 127, Tu. 194-7 + +Secret societies, Ba. 132, 138, Kr. 177 + +Self the thing to be changed, St. 110-11, To. 233-4, 265 + +Sick, see Dependent + +Society: + distinguished from government, Go. 47 + indispensable, Ba. 125, Tu. 194 + organism, evolving, Kr. 142-4 + values all due to, Kr. 161-2 + see Secret + +Soldiers, see Army + +Speech, freedom of, Tu. 211 + +Spencer quoted, Tu. 184 and ftn. + +Spooner, Lysander, xi + +Staff of revolutionary army, Ba. 138 + +State defined, Tu. 190-91 + +Stop beating each other, To. 264 + +Street-making, Kr. 158 + +Tariff, Tu. 204 + +Taxation: + robbery which vitiates all State's acts, Tu. 191 + refuse to pay, Tu. 212-13, 217-18, To. 266 + +Theft, see Robbery + +Violence, see Force + +Virtue, State hostile to, Ba. 123 + +Voting: + for officers now appointed otherwise, Pr. 76-9 + in State, a form of force, Tu. 191 + irrational, Go. 51-2 + in voluntary association, Tu. 196 + +War: + a fight for dominion, To. 240 + State stands for, Kr. 150 + See Force, Invasion + +Warren, Josiah, Tu. ftn. 182, 202 (for "they" see ftn. 203) + + * * * * * + +The Adventures of Caleb Williams + +OR + +Things as They Are + +BY + +WILLIAM GODWIN + + +"_It was proposed, in the invention of the following work, to +comprehend, as far as the progressive nature of a single story would +allow, a general review of the modes of domestic and unrecorded +despotism by which man becomes the destroyer of man._"--FROM THE +PREFACE. + +Limp lambskin, gilt top, $1.29 + +Photogravure Frontispiece + +_Mailed, post-paid, by_ + +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City + + * * * * * + +Works of + +P. J. PROUDHON + +IN THE ORIGINAL FRENCH + + ++Qu'est-ce que la propriete?+ Premier memoire: Recherches sur le +principe du droit et du gouvernement. 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L'anarchie scientifique.+ 111 pages. 38 cents. + +_Mailed, post-paid, by_ +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City + + * * * * * + +LIBERTY +BENJ. R. TUCKER, _Editor_ + + +An Anarchistic journal, expounding the doctrine that in Equal Liberty is +to be found the most satisfactory solution of social questions, and that +majority rule, or democracy, equally with monarchical rule, is a denial +of Equal Liberty. + + +_APPRECIATIONS_ + +G. BERNARD SHAW, _author of_ "_Man and Superman_": + + + "Liberty is a lively paper, in which the usual proportions of a + half-pennyworth of discussion to an intolerable deal of balderdash + are reversed." + + +WILLIAM DOUGLAS O'CONNOR, _author of_ "_The Good Gray Poet_": + + + "The editor of Liberty would be the Gavroche of the Revolution, if + he were not its Enjolras." + + +FRANK STEPHENS, _well-known Single-Tax champion, Philadelphia_: + + + "Liberty is a paper which reforms reformers." + + +BOLTON HALL, _author of_ "_Even As You and I_": + + + "Liberty shows us the profit of Anarchy, and is the prophet of + Anarchy." + + +ALLEN KELLY, _formerly chief editorial writer on the Philadelphia_ +"_North American_": + + + "Liberty is my philosophical Polaris. I ascertain the variations of + my economic compass by taking a sight at her whenever she is + visible." + + +SAMUEL W. COOPER, _counsellor at law, Philadelphia_: + + + "Liberty is a journal that Thomas Jefferson would have loved." + + +EDWARD OSGOOD BROWN, _Judge of the Illinois Circuit Court_: + + + "I have seen much in Liberty that I agreed with, and much that I + disagreed with, but I never saw any cant, hypocrisy, or insincerity + in it, which makes it an almost unique publication." + + +_Published Bimonthly. Twelve Issues, $1.00_ +_Single Copies, 10 Cents_ + +ADDRESS: +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City + + * * * * * + +JOSIAH WARREN +The First American Anarchist + +A Biography, with portrait + +BY +WILLIAM BAILIE + + +The biography is preceded by an essay on "The Anarchist Spirit," in +which Mr. Bailie defines Anarchist belief in relation to other social +forces. + + +_Price, One Dollar_ + +MAILED, POST-PAID, BY +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. BOX 1312, NEW YORK CITY + + * * * * * + +BENJ. R. TUCKER'S +UNIQUE BOOK-SHOP +502 Sixth Ave., near 30th St. + + +_OPEN EVENINGS_ + + +Largest Stock in the World +Of Advanced Literature in English, French, +German, and Italian + + +Lowest Prices in the United States +By 20 to 30 Per Cent. +For All Books in French, German, and Italian + + +Promptest Service in America +For Importation of Books from Europe + + +Benj. R. Tucker's Unique Catalogues + +Of English Books, 125 pages, 1400 Titles +Of French Books, 57 pages, 1400 Titles +Of Italian Books, 24 pages, 500 Titles +Of German Books, 64 pages, 1500 Titles + +_English Catalogue, 10 Cents; French, 5 Cents; German, 5 Cents; +Italian, 3 Cents +Any catalogue sent to any address on receipt of price_ + +Mail Address: +BENJ. R. TUCKER, +P. O. BOX 1312, NEW YORK CITY + + * * * * * + +THE SANITY OF ART + +BY +BERNARD SHAW + + +This is the first publication in book or pamphlet form of Bernard Shaw's +famous open letter to Benj. R. Tucker, the editor of _Liberty_, in +review of Max Nordau's "Degeneration," and originally contributed to the +pages of _Liberty_. The issue of _Liberty_ containing it is out of +print, and copies of it are very valuable. The volume contains also a +characteristic Shaw preface in which he declares that the essay was +prepared in response to the highest offer ever made for a magazine +article. "The Sanity of Art" is Mr. Shaw's most important pronouncement +on the subject of Art, and admittedly one of the finest pieces of art +criticism ever penned. + + +_114 pages. Cloth, gilt top, 75 cts.; paper, 35 cts._ + +_Mailed, post-paid, by_ +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City + + * * * * * + +TWO OF A KIND! + +A Brace of Anarchist Classics + +SPENCER AND THOREAU + + +The Right to Ignore the State + +By Herbert Spencer + +Being a reprint of the suppressed chapter from the original edition of +"Social Statics," now rare and costly. + + +_Price, Ten Cents_ + + +On the Duty of Civil Disobedience + +By Henry D. Thoreau + +"I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, though I will +still make what use and get what advantage of her I can, as is usual in +such cases."--_Thoreau._ + + +_Price, Seven Cents_ + +_Mailed, post-paid, by_ +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City + + * * * * * + +ANARCHIST STICKERS + +Aggressive, concise Anarchistic assertions and arguments, in sheets, +gummed and perforated, to be planted everywhere as broadcast seed for +thought. Printed in clear, heavy type. Size, 2-1/8 by 1-1/4 inches. + +Excellent for use on first, third, and fourth class mail matter. There +is no better method of propagandism for the money. + +There are 48 different Stickers. Each sheet contains 4 copies of one +Sticker. + + +SAMPLE STICKERS + +No. 2.--It can never be unpatriotic to take your country's side against +your Government. It must always be unpatriotic to take your Government's +side against your country. + +No. 7.--What I must not do, the Government must not do. + +No. 8.--Whatever really useful thing Government does for men they would +do for themselves if there was no Government. + +No. 9.--The institution known as "government" cannot continue to exist +unless many a man is willing to be Government's agent in committing what +he himself regards as an abominable crime. + +No. 12.--Considering what a nuisance the Government is, the man who says +we cannot get rid of it must be called a confirmed pessimist. + +No. 18.--Anarchism is the denial of force against any peaceable +individual. + +No. 24.--"All Governments, the worst on earth and the most tyrannical on +earth, are free Governments to that portion of the people who +voluntarily support them."--Lysander Spooner. + +No. 32.--"I care not who makes th' laws iv a nation, if I can get out an +injunction."--Mr. Dooley. + +No. 33.--"It will never make any difference to a hero what the laws +are."--Emerson. + +No. 34.--The population of the world is gradually dividing into two +classes--Anarchists and criminals. + +No. 38.--"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread +it."--Bernard Shaw. + +No. 44.--"There is one thing in the world more wicked than the desire to +command, and that is the will to obey."--W. Kingdon Clifford. + +No. 46.--The only protection which honest people need is protection +against that vast Society for the Creation of Theft which is +euphemistically designated as the State. + +No. 47.--With the monstrous laws that are accumulating on the +statute-books, one may safely say that the man who is not a confirmed +criminal is scarcely fit to live among decent people. + + +Send for circular giving entire list of 48 Stickers, with their numbers. +Order by number. + +Price: 100 Stickers, assorted to suit purchaser, 5 cents; 200, or more, +Stickers, assorted to suit purchaser, 3 cents per hundred. Mailed, post +paid, by + +BENJ. R. TUCKER, P. O. Box 1312, New York City. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Anarchism, by Paul Eltzbacher + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANARCHISM *** + +***** This file should be named 36690.txt or 36690.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/9/36690/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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