A. Although anarchists don�t have all the answers to the problems created by global warming, they have access to mechanisms that could be used to try to tackle this serious issue. An anarchist society revolves around satisfying real, not manufactured, human needs. Its economic system is based on sustainability, not creating profits irrespective of the human and social costs. Wealth in an anarchist society is held in common, it doesn�t lie in the hands of the State and the private sector. Most importantly of all, an anarchist society is dependent on the active participation of all the people living in that society. As everybody has both the right and the opportunity to become involved in the decision making processes of that society, people are more likely to adopt decisions that are made to tackle problems related to global warming.
Individual security and freedom is tied to the health of both the collective and then individual in an anarchist society. It�s more likely that people, who realise that the health of both the individual and the community are intertwined, are more likely to work towards maintaining the health of the community they live and work in. Individuals living within an anarchist society are much more likely to adapt to change because their livelihood isn�t directly attached to the type of work they do - this means that large numbers of people can change from one industry to another without major economic consequences.
An anarchist society is built to adapt to changing circumstances. It can change direction quickly as individuals realise that their security and economic health is directly linked to the health of the community they live and work with. An anarchist community is able to tap into the spirit of co-operation that people involved in disasters in a capitalist society display on a daily basis, not just when disasters occur.
Anarchists have the mechanisms at their disposal to deal with the difficulties of climate change. Whether they will ever be able to do so, is linked to the struggle to create a society where wealth is held in common and used for the common good - a society where decisions are made directly by the people, not representatives or rulers. Climate change provides an unparalleled opportunity for anarchists to move from the margins, to the centre of political debate and activity.
Q. WILL THE END OF CENTRED AUTHORITY INEVITABLY LEAD TO CHAOS?
A. One of the most important questions facing the anarchist movement is the issue of personal security. The breakdown of central authority is usually followed by a period of insecurity when different elements within society attempt to reassert their authority by force. Personal security becomes a fundamental issue in such a situation. People are more than willing to trade any personal gains they have made through the collapse of central authority, for personal security. It is not unusual in such situations for people to throw their support behind anyone who is able to provide personal security.
The breakdown of central authority is more likely to lead to instability and insecurity than it is to the creation of an anarchist community. Organisation is the key to the creation of an anarchist community. The breakdown of central authority can give anarchists the opportunity to create a secure decentralised society. Whether this occurs, is to a large degree determined by the extent of anarchist organisation in that community before central authority collapsed.
It is no accident the most successful anarchist society was created during the Spanish Revolution in 1936. Anarchists had created a successful federation of local groups before the revolution, and were able to use the organisations that had been formed to create an anarchist community and provide security for that community.
The breakdown of central authority can in some circumstances be the very catalyst that is needed to create a secure decentralised community based on direct democratic principles.
Occasionally, as we saw in the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the breakdown of central authority can act as a stimulus for the formation of new egalitarian forms of organisations. This normally occurs in totalitarian regimes where a small minority has exerted control by the use of terror. Popular uprisings in such situations can and have led to the creation of workers and community councils based on direct democratic principles. Workers and community councils have been demonstrated to be the best mechanism by which large numbers of people can meet their needs during times of crisis and instability.
Q. Why Are You An Anarchist?
A.Pour Moi � For Me! That�s right; I am not an anarchist because God told me, or because I read it in the Bible, Koran or some other religious text. I am not an anarchist because I want to buy my place in heaven or buy my place on Earth. I am not an anarchist because I want to save the world, eradicate world poverty, build heaven on Earth, or change human nature. I am an anarchist for myself. I want to live in a society without rulers; where the people determine the type of society they live in, where wealth is held in common and used for the common good because my personal welfare, my peace, my security, my ability to develop my full potential, is tied in with the welfare of the people around me. Individual liberty is the result of collective effort.
Anarchists do not ask for much; they ask for the right to control their own affairs, they ask for the right to live in peace with their neighbours, they ask for the right to make their own decisions. The anarchist quest is essentially the human quest. Personal liberty and independence form the cornerstone of that quest.
The anarchist struggle, like all human struggles, is essentially a selfish one. The difference is that anarchists understand the road to personal freedom and independence is dependent on the breakdown of the hierarchical divisions that exist between people. The greater the concentration of power and wealth, the greater the number of intermediaries that exist between the citizen and the State, a person and their religion, and a worker and their boss, the greater the chances of oppressive relationships developing.
The anarchist understands power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That�s why they are not willing to put their faith in rulers and want to abolish hierarchies to prevent individuals and minorities from using institutionalised authority to impose their will on society.
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Q. DO ANARCHISTS WANT TO CREATE A �NEW� MAN?
A. No, plain and simple no! Anarchists are in the business of creating a new society, not human evolution. The society they create may promote one behaviour above another, but it does not change the way human beings act and think. All of us have the capacity to behave in many different ways; what we do in a particular situation is determined by evolutionary and cultural factors. How many times have you told yourself when you hear about how somebody has been punished for acting in an appropriate manner � �There by the grace of God go I�?
Anarchists understand that human beings are human beings; they are not tainted by �original sin�. How they react is to a large degree is determined by the type of situation they find themselves in. Anarchists work on the assumption that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. They work on the assumption that if you create a hierarchical society, those who exercise power will exploit those they exercise power over.
The anarchist project does not revolve around creating a �new man�, but around creating structures and institutions that will not allow a minority to exercise power over a majority. Transferring power from one minority to another minority does not fundamentally change the relationships that exist in that community. Anarchists do not want to capture the instruments of power; they want to abolish them and create institutions that permit everyone to be involved in the decision making processes that gives them access to the commonwealth.
By creating a decentralised society based on direct democratic principles, they are able to change the manner in which people relate to each other. They have not created a �new man�; they have created a new social milieu that promotes certain types of behaviour over types of behaviour that may be appropriate in a hierarchical society, but are highly inappropriate in a hierarchical society.
Q. WOULD AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST AN OVERWHELMING MILITARY INVASION?
A.Yes and no. There is little point in resisting an overwhelming military assault and losing everything gained from years of struggle. An anarchist community�s best form of defence is the development of anarchist movements in as many countries as possible. A hostile government would think twice about an invasion if it has to deal with a hostile fifth column within its own borders.
Anarchist communities have traditionally relied on a citizen�s militia to protect them from external attack. In the Paris Commune in 1871 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936, citizen�s militias were not able to withstand a military onslaught from conventional armies. The resultant loss of life in both situations was staggering. The invading armies took the opportunity to summarily execute militants and cleanse society of the �anarchist pestilence�. Faced with the historical reality that Nation States will have no hesitation in using every means at their disposal to physically wipe out an anarchist opposition, it is important that an anarchist society look at other ways of defending itself in the case of a military invasion from a hostile neighbour.
The formation of alliances, physically and financially supporting the growth of anarchist movements in surrounding countries, the establishment of voluntary citizen�s militias, the creation of heavily fortified safe areas people could weather the invasion in, and the creation of a network within the country that could be used to launch and sustain a guerrilla campaign against the invading forces, are some measures that can be used to soften the initial blow of the invasion.
An anarchist society�s survival is dependent on people believing that what they have is worth defending. Ultimately, all military action is a physical, economic and emotional drain on the community. The extensive loss of life involved in protecting what you have established in fighting against an overwhelming military force, will result in the annihilation of what you have created. In such circumstances, it is best to formulate plans that can be implemented to deal with the problem of an occupying army. A military invasion by a country that has an overwhelming military arsenal is relatively easy. Maintaining that occupation in a society, where people have not initially resisted that military occupation and have not sustained a massive loss of life as a result of the invasion, is another story.
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