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

Epilogue And Prologue To Volume 2 / 499
by taking thought-it is equally true that the artist only acquires his significance by
being a member of a society. The work of art, by processes which we have so far failed
to understand, is a product of the relationship which exists between an individual
and a society, and no great art is possible unless you have as corresponding and contemporary
activities the spontaneous freedom of the individual and the passive coherence
of a society. To escape from society (if that were possible) is to escape from
the only soil fertile enough to nourish art ...
Liberty is always relative to man's control over natural forces, and to the degree of
mutual aid which he finds necessary to exert this control. That is why, in face of the material
problems of existence, the ideal of anarchy becomes the practical organization of society
known as anarcho-syndicalism. Government-that is to say, control of the
individual in the interest of the community-is inevitable if two or more men combine
for a common purpose; government is the embodiment of that purpose. But government
in this sense is .far removed from the conception of an autonomous State. When
the State is divorced from its immediate functions and becomes an entity claiming to
control the lives and destinies of its subjects-then liberty ceases to exist.
What might be called the tyranny of facts-the present necessity which most of
us are under to struggle for our very existence, our food, our shelter, and other no
less essential amenities of life-this tyranny is so severe that we ought to be prepared
to consider a restriction of liberty in other directions if in this respect some release
is promised. But it is no less essential to realize that this tyranny is to a large
extent due to the inefficiency of our present economic system, and that liberty now
and always depends on a rational organization of production and distribution ...
The problem, in its broad outlines, is simple enough. On the one side we have mankind,
needing for its sustenance and enjoyment a certain quantity of goods; on the other
side we have the same mankind, equipped with certain tools, machines, and factories,
exploiting the natural resources of the earth. There is evelY reason to believe that with
modern mechanical power and modern methods of production, there is or could be a
sufficiency of goods to satisfY all reasonable demands. It is only necessary to organize an
efficient system of distribution and exchange. Why is it not done
The only answer is that the existing inefficient system benefits a small minority
of people who have accumulated sufficient power to maintain it against any opposition.
That power takes various forms-the power of gold, the power of tradition, the
power of inertia, the control of information-but essentially it is the power to keep
other people in a state of ignorance. If the superstitious credulity of the masses could
be shaken; if the fantastic dogmas of the economists could be exposed; if the prob-