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

The InteIWar Years /433
Bizarrely, minds were no longer focused on this need. Persons interested in this
or that given component of anarchism wound up substituting itfor the finished artie/e.
Naturally, it was not long before they found themselves at loggerheads and ultimately
in conflict with those who accorded similar treatment to different bits of the
whole truth. So, instead of grappling with the idea of amalgamating the scattered
shards (which, taken separately, were no longer of much use) into one organic whole,
anarchists wrestled over many a long year with the pointless task of hatefully pitting
their "currents" one against another. Everyone looked upon "his" current, "his" morsel
as the sole truth and steadfastly opposed supporters of the others. And so began
that marching on the spot within libertarian ranks, characterized by blinkered vision
and mutual resentment, which has lingered even into our own day and which should
be deemed harmfu l to the normal development of the anarchist outlook.
Our conclusion is plain. Dismemberment of the anarchist idea into several strands
has served its purpose. And outlived its usefulness. And has no fu rther justification. It is now
dragging the movement into a blind alley, doing it tremendous damage and has nothing
-cannot have anything-positive left to offer. The first phase-when anarchism was
searching for its bearings, being defined and inevitably foundering in the process-is
over. It belongs to the past. And it is high time that we took things a step further.
If the dissipation of anarchism today is a negative thing, a harmful thing, we
should be looking for ways of bringing it to an end. We must rally the whole and put
the scattered components back together and rediscover and consciously rebuild the
synthesis on which we had turned our backs.
Whereupon a further question arises: Is such a synthesis feasible at present
Might it not be utopian Could we furnish it with a certain theoretical grounding
To which we answer: Yes. A synthesis of anarchism (or, if you prefer, a "synthetic"
anarchism) is perfectly feasible. And not at all utopian. There are some quite
powerful theoretical grounds working on its behalf. Let us briefly review a few of
these, the most important ones, in logical succession:
1. If anarchism aspires to life, if it looks to success in the future, if it wishes to
become an organic and permanent feature of life, one of its fertilizing, creative
driving forces, then it must try to cling as close to life, its essence and its ultimate
truth as possible. Its ideological underpinnings must match the elementary
features of existence as closely as they can. In fact, it is plain that if
anarchism's basic ideas were at odds with the real elements of life and evolution,
anarchism could scarcely be lively. Now, what is life Can we somehow define
and encapsulate its essence and grasp and pin down its characteristic