Creating the conditions for anarchy

For far too long, anarchism has been neglected, treated as a utopian dream that seems all but impossible to achieve, not just by those with little to no understanding of what anarchism is – but even by the anarchists themselves.

We anarchists are a disjointed and hard-to-define group, just as it should be. The anarchist believes that all people have the right to forge their own best life in a society based on voluntary association, equality and freedom, under the prerequisite that no one restricts or harms anyone else. We can all agree on that. For what is it that all anarchists want? To abolish the state and capitalism. The state that reduces us to expandable parts in a monstrous machinery and capitalism to serfs in an inhumane economy. We demand autonomous self-government for ourselves; to break free from the invalid social contract.

In my lifetime, I want to start changing that. I want to hand a better world to my children and their children; a life in greater freedom than to be wage slaves under state control. That is the reality that all of us who call ourselves anarchists want to achieve, no matter what adjectives we use. The time has come to yet again speak about anarchism. To inform and to raise public awareness about what we believe in. It’s time to take anarchism seriously again. The road to the realisation of anarchy is long and arduous, but as with all truly positive change and progress, so too can this new reality take shape, slowly and small-scale at first, in order to then encompass a whole world.

All true anarchists want to create the best possible life for everyone. It is the polar opposite of nihilism – it is humanism. The road forward is to educate, enlighten and use direct action based on non-violence. All violent means of action are not only counterproductive but also entirely irreconcilable with the right of all people to self-determination and freedom from the oppression of others, the foundations on which anarchism rests. Otherwise, we are no better than the fascists or communists. True freedom and equality is not achieved by ruining someone else’s life, but by defending everyone’s life. To shout obscenities at the police and to encourage the killing of politicians is as effective as trying to light a fire with waterlogged wood without matches. We anarchists are those who stand to lose from such childishness. Put aside the romanticism of violent revolution and the belief that terror can create long-term change and improvement for people.

And in a genuine anarchistic society, all voices get to be heard: an individualist anarchist and an anarcho-communist should have equal opportunity to shape their lives the way they find most suitable. Theoretical discussions are always welcome, but the most important thing is to create the conditions for anarchy – the abolition of the state and of capitalism. That which comes after, that comes after. For a long time, other causes and movements (all highly honourable of course) have taken up a lot of time for many anarchists. But anarchism should be the main cause and movement for an anarchist. How else will we reach the goal of our dreams?

If the 20th century was the century of communism and of liberalism, there is no reason to doubt that the 21st century can become the century of anarchism. As long as we stand united and tell the world about what we believe in – and why they should too. Anarchism without adjectives becomes an anarchism with a clear objective. Anarchists – unite!