A. The centralisation of power is the single most important issue facing an anrchist community. Anarchists want to abolish the State because power is centralised within the State apparatus. They understand the limitations of human nature and are not willing to have their destiny controlled by individuals or small groups capturing State power and using that power to impose their will on them.
They want to abolish the State and replace it with a federation of community and workplace councils. In such a community, the focus of power shifts from centralised focus to a number of different areas. Each community and workplace is both autonomous and part of a federal system. It would be extremely difficult for a small group to seize power in each and every one of the community or workplace councils. Decentralisation protects an anarchist community from internal atttempts to seize power because power is shared, not concentrated in one central structure. .
The major problem facing a federation of community and workplace councils is the problem of external invasion. Centralised societies would consider such a community 'easy pickings' and could launch an invasion picking off one section of the federation after the next. Decentralisation does not necessarily mean weakness. A decentralised isolated community is an easy target. A decentralised federation of communities is another matter, especially if that federation has agreed to mobilise its resources and come to the defence of any part of the of the federation that comes under attack. Even if a centralised society succeeds in invading a federation, it would have a great deal of difficulty in maintaining its authority, as resistance would be organised by each community and workplace council. It's much easier dealing with a single centralised command structure than with multiple sources of resistance.
Decentralisation makes it very difficult for both internal and external forces to cpature and hold power. A decentralised comminty's survival depends on participation. The greater the level of participation in the day to day life of the community, the greater the strength of each individual council within the federation and the greater the strength of the federation as a whole.
Q. What are the Principles of Association that an Anarchist Community are based on?
A. The central problems facing people who call themselves anarchists is what principles do they need to follow to create a society where there are no rulers. these principles define the essence of an anarchist community. Rulers are able to exercise authority because they hgave access to both power and wealth. In order to create a society where there are no rulers, you need to establish structures and institutionswhere everybody has access to power (the decision making process) and wealth. The two principles that an anarchist community needs to be based on are equal access to power and wealth. Once structures are created to give everybody access to power and wealth, rulers are no longer acble to exercise their authority. Anarchists pursue the twin goals of abolition of both the State and the corporate sector because these structures allow small groups of people to exercise power over everyone else.
Anarchists understand the limitations of human nature, that's why they want to abolish structures that allow individuals to exercise power and accumulate wealth wealth at the expense of the community as a whole. The anarchist aim is not to create a new human being or alter human nature, the anarchist aim is to establish structures that put a brake on an individuals abaility to exercise power over other people. the principles that an anarchist society are based on, provide necessary framework for the establishment of anarchist community.
what form that community will take, what structures are sestablished, how wealth is generated, accumulated and distributed, how decisions are made, are all based on these principles of association. A society that is based on the principles of equal access to power and wealth for each member of that community, is a society that is best avle to stop a new set of rulers from asserting their authority in the community. If the structures tthat give the rulers the power to exercise their authority are abolished and new structures that make it difficult for them to re-assert their authority are created, the framework has been built for an anarchist society.
Q. Who'd Bother?
A. You have to ask yourself, who would bother being an anarchist? Historically anarchists have been abused, humiliated, ignored, ostracised, imprisoned and executed. Today, anyone who comes out of the closet is likely to find that they will be shunned communities and lose their livelihoods. It's no accident that many anarchists today, like in the past are self-employed. No government or private employer is going to give an anarchist activist a job.
So why do people bother to continue to struggle to create a society without rulers when their activities have major consequences for themselves and their families and friends? The answer is very simple, anarchists don't put out their necks for other people. They are not martyrs. They continue to organise and agitate because they want to control their own destiny. Anarchists understand that their destiny is intertwined with the destiny of their fellow human beings, that's why they struggle to create a society where their needs, not the needs of those who control society, are met. Their actions require sacrifice, daring and most of all courage. They need to become involved in a struggle that transforms the communities they live and work in, into communities that give each individual the power to determine their own destiny.
Individual self-development is intrinsically linked to direct action. The individual may prosper in a society that does not support collective action, but they will never be able to enjoy the wealth they have aquired throught the exploitation of other people. Paradoxially, individual power is intertwined with collective decision making processes. People bother because they are keen to rid themselves of the authoritarian attituedes and structures that dominate every aspect of their lives. They know that the feeling of self worth that comes from controlling their own destiny is interlinked with the ability of those around them to control their destiny.
We bother because we want change. We bother because we belive change is possible. We bother because we want a better life for ourselves and for those around us. Finally, we bother because we are sick and tired of seeing our future destroyed by those elements in society that control the decision making processes and use the wealth generated by all of us to feather their own nests and dominate every aspect of our lives.
Q. Demonstrations don't acheive anything?
A. The apparent failure of the anti-war movement to stop the development of 'coalition of the willing' troops in Iraq has been hailed by some radicals as the end of the use of the demonstration as a tactic to acheive change. This myopic view doesn't takeinto account th role of the demonstration as a positive force for change. It also doens't examine how the anti-war demonstrations have created the climate that has put Bush's, Blair's and Howard's actions under the public microscope.
The anti war movement failed to create enough momentum to change government policy but it created a resercior of resistance within the community which is reflected by the increasing number of people who belive Bush, Blair and Howard lied about the need to go to war. Over the next few years, all these leaders will be hung out to dry by their respective constituents. If there was no anti-war movement and no deomonstrations against the invasion of Iraq, the tune that Bush, Blair and Howard would be singing would be very different indeed.
Demonstrations are important, the momentum created by a series of demonstraions can bring governments down and radically transform society. A few succeed to transform society, most don't. Whether they succeed or not doesn't really matter, what matters is that they create a climate of resistance in society that bolsters solidarity and builds new grass roots organisations. The failure of a particular tactic in one situation does not negate its importance and usefulness in a wider struggle. Demonstrations keep the struggle uppermost in the publics mind, they give people the opportunity to meet likemindd people and most important of all, they put those who weild power on notice that the people can challenge their hold on power.
If demonstrations did not challenge the authority of those who weild power, the authorities wouldn't spend so much time trying to discredit and contain them. The World Trade Organisation would never have failed to reach a consensus on the opening of national boundaries to trade if their meetings had not been dogged by demonstrations. Demonstrations are an important part of the festival of the oppresed, they empower people and give them the opportunity to influence what is happening around them., and, in some cases helps people to radically transform the their lives and the lives of people around them.