Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

146 / ANARCHISM
TO BE AN ANARCHIST IS TO DENY authority and reject its economic corollary: exploitation.
And in every sphere of human activity at that. The anarchist seeks to live without
gods or masters; without bosses or leaders; a-legally, bereft of laws as well as of
prejudices; amorally, free of obligations as well as of collective morality. He wishes to
live freely, to live alit his own particular conception ofl ife. In his heart of hearts he is
always an a-social being, a refractory, an outsider, an onlooker, a watcher from the
sidelines, a misfit. And though he may be obliged to live in a society the very make-up
of which is offensive to his temperament, he moves through it like an alien. If, within
it, he makes the necessary concessions-albeit with the after-thought that he can call
them back-lest he risk or sacrifice his life fo olishly or to no purpose, this is because
he looks upon them as personal weapons in his defe nce of selfin the struggle fo r existence.
The anarchist aims to live his life as fu lly as possible, morally, intellectually
and economically, without bothering about the rest of the world, be they exploiters
or exploited: without any thought oflording it over or exploiting others, but ready to
retaliate with all the means at his disposal against any who might meddle in his life or
forbid him to express his thinking in writing or by word of mouth.
The anarchist's enemy is the State and all the institutions designed to maintain
or perpetuate its hold upon the individual. There is no reconciliation possible between
the anarchist and any form of society built upon authority, whether it be
vested in an autocrat, an aristocracy or a democracy. No common ground between
the anarchist and any setting governed by the decisions of a majority or the whims of
an elite. The anarchist arms himself equally against State-supplied education and
that disppllsPfI hy the Chu rch .
He is the adversary of Monopolies and privileges.
whether they be intellectual, moral or economic. In short, he is the irreconcilable opponent
of all rule, every social system and every state of affairs that implies the lordship
of man or milieu over the individual and exploitation of the individual by
fe llow-man or milieu.
The anarchist's handiwork is above all a critical endeavour. The anarchist goes on
his way sowing revolt against that which oppresses, hobbles or works against the unfettered
development of the individual. For a start, we must rid our minds of preconceived
notions, liberate temperaments fettered by fear and create minds released from fretting
about other people's reactions and the conventions of society: at which point the anarchist
will encourage those willing to be his fellow-travellers to mount a practical rebellion
against the determinism of their social context, to assert their individuality, sculpt
their self-image and achieve the greatest possible independence from their moral, intellectual
and economic surroundings. He will urge the ignoramus to educate himself, the