Now, with the
cessation of fire in
But the
execrable prosecution of this war was not just a matter of blundering. It is
not just a matter of faulty intelligence. Our government always disappoints us.
They always fail us. They always abuse use. We always pay for their luxurious
lifestyles with the quality of our lives, if not our lives themselves. During
wartime the faults of governments are highlighted because they are exaggerated.
The truth is, governments are always bodies characterized
by the crudest methods of intimidation and grossest excesses of mendacity. They
are always peopled by those who, were they wiser and better, would refuse to be
government officials for the shame of the debauchery, improbity and moral
squalor being part in a government necessarily entails. We simply see this in
greater relief clearly after a war, but we see nothing that is not always
apparent, just somewhat less so. It is only after a war that we all become
agreed that the failings of government must be addressed.
The
government of
In the wake
of this war we are at a crossroads. We can change society substantially.
The term
anarchy has been much maligned. Anarchy does not mean a lack of order.
Governments would have the public think that Anarchy is a state of violent
chaos. It is anything but.
Governments
and big businesses would paint pictures of Anarchists as those dedicated to the
destruction of society. We are anything but. It is our purpose to build society
– real society that is inhabitable for fully realized, fully human beings.
Anarchy means
simply the absence of government. It is a condition in which there is no state
– the people rule themselves and society is a dynamic kaleidoscope of purely
voluntary social and economic interactions based on the common advantage of all
who choose to take part in those interactions. So too in an Anarchistic society,
one may choose freely not to take part in any human interactions that are not
personally palatable, productive or otherwise satisfying or desirable.
Anarchy is a
condition in which there is no private property. Everyone owns all, but of
course, it is recognized that each individual needs certain private effects that
may differ from the needs of others and those are provided for in such a way
that the genuine needs of the person are fulfilled, while capital cannot be
made of the effects nor can power accrue from them. Unlike Marxist Communism,
as it is has been expressed so dreadfully, there is no central state that controls
the modes of production. That which differentiates Anarchy from Marxism must be
made clear. We are non-authoritarian and therefore do not accept the existence
of any kind of state. The expression "dictatorship of the
proletariat" is half honest. It is indeed a dictatorship, but in no wise
represents the interests of or is concerned with the welfare of the
proletariat. Moreover, we understand that people are more than just workers. Work
is absolutely essential, of course, but we must associate in the fullness of
our humanness in order to access, express and share the deepest levels of our
being.
In an
Anarchic society there is no state that retains an army and a police force that
are illegally utilized to put people out of their homes and force them to live
in tents. There is no value of commodities or labor. Anarchists understand that
it is impossible to determine how much any item is "worth" based on
the hours or difficulty of work that went into it per se. Therefore, our motto
is: From each according to his or her ability, to each according to his or her
need.
Anarchy is a
condition in which children are not sent to prison-like schools, which are
nothing but indoctrination facilities and holding pens in which they are
subjected to monotony, humiliation, competition, violence and more – all
intended to break the child's spirit and make him or her malleable.
In a state of
Anarchy children learn for the sake of the joy of learning, as was the case in
the system of education developed by Francisco Ferrer.
The best in children is creatively drawn from them. They are not force-fed
unsupported and unsupportable assumptions like ducks and geese being force-fed with
pneumatic pumps for pate gras.
Anarchy is
not only simply in keeping with Judaism, it is a particularly Jewish mode of
living and interaction.
Before
The accepting
upon ourselves of kings in order to be "a people like every other people"
was a decision that proved to be a disaster – even the best of
When we
accepted kings upon ourselves we abrogated the right to self-determination. We
became subjects, that is, we became slaves.
To this day
the Jewish people remain slaves. We are slaves to government. We are slaves to
public opinion, which is shaped by professional propagandizers,
who are in the employ governments and, more particularly, international
corporations, which retain governments as their private body guards. We are
slaves to our jobs, which rob us of the lion's share of our production and
force us to work brutally long hours under extreme physical and psychic
pressure in workplaces that are always understaffed in order to "cut the
cost of labor". (It was calculated by Anarchist economist over one hundred
years ago that to attain a middle class standard of living for all, all that
was required was four or five hours of labor a day. All labor above and beyond
that was, and is, pocketed by employers.)
It is a
precept that slaves are forbidden to perform some of the precepts of Jewish law. We
cannot so much as understand the foregoing precept profoundly or correctly. We
imagine that it applies to others. We imagine that we have understood the
circumstances being described. We do not realize that it is we to whom it
applies. We do not realize that it relates to our circumstances. I have explained
how we, in fact, are slaves in so very many ways. We are, then, in fact, exempt
from the practice of many precepts. When we insist upon practicing those
precepts we do so without deep understanding and in the way of slaves, that is,
hurriedly, under pressure and without real joy. We are, in fact, forbidden to
practice many of the precepts that we, in our present state of slavery, try to
do and in so doing we make a mockery and a travesty of Judaism, which is none
other than Freedom. When we learn Torah we cannot possibly understand what we
have read and carry out the commandments properly. Chained, shackled,
mutilated, crippled and truncated as we are; we cannot move our bodies to do
the precepts properly. Poisoned as we are by state propaganda as well as toxic
air, water and food; we cannot possibly see or cognate clearly.
Do you know
anyone personally who has attained true and complete emancipation of the Soul,
body, mind and emotions as a result of carrying out the precepts as they are
performed today? No! And neither will you find such a one. Of course we are
told tales about perfectly righteous people who possess this freedom. Do you
know them? Do they deign to come to your home and live amongst you? No! Why?
Because they are yet more phantasmagoria concocted to
enslave you still further.
True Judaism
is nothing but Freedom and slaves know nothing of freedom and are not capable
of living as free human beings.
It follows,
if we are to practice Torah as we should, that our first order of business is
to ransom one another, to emancipate ourselves and one another mutually. The
only real precept that we can carry out in our present reduced state of bondage
is to set ourselves free, to throw off the yoke of government, to unloose the
chains and shackles that keep us captive to promises of that will never come to
realization, to illusions and
addictions, to become free moral and moral-spiritual agents.
To build an
Anarchistic society is holy work. In fact, it is the only holy work that we are
fitted to perform at this
juncture. It is the sine qua non of being able to be fully
realized Jews. We cannot pray more perfectly than to toil for the purpose of
building such a society. No self-sacrifice is greater than this.
Only when we
live in a non-authoritarian society characterized by propertylessness,
when there will be no more rich and poor, when there will be no more
institutionalized injustice that we must submit ourselves and our children to
for fear of being prosecuted by state law, when we will have more free time to
learn, interact with one another freely and reflect deeply - then and only then
will we be able to know what it is to be Jews and know what Judaism is. Until
such time the vast majority of our religious expression is frustrated impotency
at best, a cruel and pathetic parody in the middling case, at worst
manipulation and suppression of the very best in us by agents of the government
who reduce masses of people to spiritual servility by heaping upon them
meaningless acts to perform and distorted "interpretations" which are
devised to prevent us from taking truly moral direct action to rebuild society.
How many are
straddled with poverty because of this pseudo-religion? How many children
subsist on white bread devoid of nutrition and unhealthy, artery-clogging
margarine while their parents give the expected "presents" to their
Rabbis and take part in pilgrimages and other "obligatory" religious
practices, which seem to multiply exponentially? Those who turn to religion
lonely, confounded and disillusioned by the cruelty of society find not a programme for reconstruction of the society that has failed
them, but rather, have laws and customs heaped upon them until they are
crippled and break.
On the
following link you will find essays on Anarchy. Most are in English. Only the
essay entitled àðøëéä îåáä÷ú is
in Hebrew, having been translated by my husband, Daniel Dotan,
at my request. The original English version of àðøëéä îåáä÷ú, under the rubric "Authentic Anarchy", is to be found
on the site as well.
http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/Mystical_Anarchy.html
Unfortunately,
very little about true Anarchy is familiar to Israelis and, thus, there are
practically no treatments of the subject in Hebrew. For the time being; we will
have to suffice with the writings in other languages, principally English, and
only those who can read other languages will be able to access this school of
thought and programme of action we call Anarcho-Syndicalism. It is the hope of the writer that
others will be inspired to take it upon themselves to translate Anarchistic
essays, lectures and books into Hebrew.
Many of the
greatest Anarchists were Jewish. It is not difficult to understand why. Anarchy
is an integral part of true Judaism. No true Judaism is possible without it. Those
Jews who have loved and love freedom best are those Jews who not only were
attracted to Anarchy, it was they who best expressed the heart, soul and intent
of true Judaism – emancipation of the human being for the sake of allowing each
to actualize his or her absolute optimum and interact fully with others.
It has been
said that Anarchists are non-believers, that they are atheists. This writer, it
should be stated categorically, is not an atheist, but a convinced Jew.
It is true
that most Anarchists do not believe in an authoritarian God who compels people
to actions that are not in keeping with their will. It is true that Anarchists
do not accept the authority of self-proclaimed religious leaders. It is true
that Anarchists do not accept religious institutions bleeding the masses of
their money and impoverishing them. It is true that Anarchists do not accept
compulsory education of precepts without rational analysis. It is true that
Anarchists reject any and all superstitions and the inculcating people with
fear. It is true that Anarchists abhor telling the poor, hungry, cold, sick,
lonely and miserable that a better life awaits them in the World to Come when a better world could be made for them here.
Are they, then,
anti-religionists? No! It is by virtue of the foregoing rejections that they
are the very truest of those who express Judaism. Emma Goldman (1869-1940), one
of the most prominent Anarchist activists and lecturers of her time and who
continues to be an inspiration to all of us, once addressed a large conference
of clergymen. She explained her antireligious position. Upon finishing, a Rabbi
who had heard her lecture said: "In spite of all Miss Goldman has said
against religion, she is the most religious person I know." Anarchists
walk the walk that the pseudo-religions only talk the talk about. Anarchists live to emancipate those who are
enslaved – and they take great personal risks in so doing for governments and
corporations do not easily surrender their power. Anarchists are the prophets and
students of prophets of modern times and they pay all the prices for freedom
that prophets and students of prophets of yore paid.
Is the
realization of a society based on justice, equality and oneness not the discovery
and expression of the God of
I invite
those of you who truly love freedom and are intrepid enough, who love humankind
enough, to bear the responsibility of building a better world, here in this
world, to enter the world of the Anarchists and to join hands with us. Is this
not the
Doreen
Ellen Bell-Dotan,
August
2006