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92 VIOLENCE AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT
"Propagate the gospel by a deed!" urges Kropotkin, and
throughout Bakounin's writings there appears again and
be led to
again the plea for "terrible, total, inexorable, and universal
destruction." Both socialists and anarchists preach
their gospel to the weary and heavy-laden, to the despondent
and the outraged, who may readily
commit acts of despair. They have, after all, little to
lose, and their life, at present unbearable, can be made
little worse by punishment. Yet millions of the miserable
have come into the socialist movement to hear the
fiercest of indictments against capitalism, and it is but
rare that one becomes a terrorist. What else than the
teachings of anarchism and of socialism can explain this
difference
Unquestionably, socialism and anarchism attract distinctly
different types, who are in many ways alien to
each other. Their mental processes differ. Their nervous
systems jar upon each other. Even physically they
have been known to repel each other. Born of much the
same conditions, they fought each other in the cradle.
From the very beginning they have been irreconcilable,
and with perfect frankness they have shown their contempt
for each other. About the kindest criticism that
the socialist makes of the anarchist is that he is a child,
while the anarchist is convinced that the socialist is a
Philistine and an inbred conservative who, should he
ever get power, would immediately hang the anarchists.*
They are traditional enemies, who seem utterly incapable
of understanding each other. Intellectually, they
fail to grasp the meaning of each other's philosophy. It
is but rare that a socialist, no matter how conscientious a
student, will confess he fully understands anarchism. On
* Kropotkin, in "The Conquest of Bread," p. 73, suggests that
in the Revolution the socialists will probably hang the anarchists.