#title Translations of Selected Articles of Pingdeng
#author Liao
#date 2025
#notes Edited and translated by Liao from the collection at UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library.
#lang en
#pubdate 2025-04-17T06:59:47
#authors Liao, Ray Jones, Pingdeng
#topics Chinese anarchism, American anarchism, history, translation
#source University of California Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #1 Selected Articles
*** Tell Workers
This world is a capitalist world. What is capitalism? This is when
capitalists monopolize all production tools and production items, use
the monetary system, and force us workers to be their wage slaves. We
workers were forced by hunger and cold, so we sold our precious labor to
them to do everything for them. We workers make everything in factories
and cultivate various plants on farmland. However, everything we produce
is owned by the capitalists. Even if we have jobs, we can only earn tens
of yuan a month. In addition, nothing can be obtained; the tens of yuan
of wages are not enough to cover living expenses such as food, clothing,
housing, etc. This is the hard work of wages, which creates the wealth
of capitalists and the soul of capitalism. That is, “the system of
responsibility, the government, military, priests, and law are the ones
who protect and maintain the system of responsibility!”
In this period of the decline of capitalism, unemployment panic has
become increasingly widespread and profound. At the same time, the pain
and tragedies of workers have also continued to occur. The lives of
workers are simply worse than cows and horses. “Give me freedom or give
me death.” We workers are born in this society where all the rights to
survive have been stripped away by the bourgeoisie. How can we still
survive in this society?
Three years ago, our alliance published an equal monthly magazine to
spread anarchy and communism. Later, due to various obstacles, it was
suspended. Today, we publish this magazine again. This is to continue
the spirit of equality and strive for success. At the same time, we
sincerely hope that dear revolutionary workers will enthusiastically
join and support this alliance and spread the ideas of this magazine to
the public!
*** We Are Fighting
What is our strategy?
The strategy of the working class should not be an invention and
planning, nor should it be a plot given from outside without their own
ideals. Their own ideal is a country that eliminates capitalism!
The labor organizations that emerge from the current society are the
germination of a future unified society. Therefore, the strike, the only
weapon of the working class, is the seed of our strategy.
We know that the proletariat, which has developed along with capitalism,
has greatly expanded and deepened its struggle. Partial strikes have
lost their meaning, while group strikes have become general. We must
consolidate some of the strikes into those of the General Alliance, and
expand and transform the General Alliance strikes into a social
revolution of the working class against capitalism and the state!
In this period of rebellion, we must take advantage of the highest
priority opportunity to immediately establish all production
institutions and consumer goods, so that the working class can actually
have all the food, clothing, and shelter. At the same time, we must
abandon all cowardly kindness and destroy all remnants of the powerful
class rule of the government, release prisoners, destroy banks and
police stations, destroy all documents belonging to private property
societies, etc. Breaking down all barriers and boundaries, removing all
debt certificates, dismantling the management of the barracks guards and
policemen, and executing the famous military leaders and policemen. This
is an important matter for the revolutionary working class. Having
completely destroyed all vestiges of the rule of capital and the state,
we must also carry out production on a new basis for as long as
possible, that is, extend the existing labor organizations and their
combinations and make them manageable. Production; each city must start
working independently to establish an anarchist and communist society!
A General League strike is the best way to eliminate and destroy the
government. The strength of the army can only be strong when it is
concentrated in many places and severely trained. If they are scattered
throughout the country, they will have little power. Moreover, if the
sergeants once believed that what they were killing was not internal
enemies, but only the entire working class, many of them would turn
against each other, and they would think that they still had many
relatives in their hometown. The same strike, and the same threat of
gunfire, if he awakens and arouses his feelings of solidarity with the
toiling brothers, at that time, the soldiers will immediately lose their
power in front of the revolutionary workers, and the government will
inevitably will be smashed to pieces by the loud cries of liberated
mankind.
Therefore, in our opinion as anarcho-communists, economic struggle and
political struggle cannot represent two completely different and
unrelated divisions in themselves. Together they gather the fighting
power of the working class to resist all forms of oppression,
capitalists and the government.
We identify the great principle and give it life. That is to say, “the
liberation of workers is a matter for the working class itself.” Because
we do not believe that political parties can achieve anything against
the liberation of the working class. The price they pay for the workers’
miserable struggle is only some one-sided and minor reforms. We believe
that only the direct struggle of the working class can and will
accomplish the destruction of the existing capitalist social order.
Therefore, we state our strategy as follows: “To join the struggle of
the working class, to direct its uninterrupted expansion and deepening,
to fan it and sustain the fire of the fighting spirit until we have
fundamentally shattered the bond between capitalism and government.”
This is our lesson, and this is the meaning of our struggle! We must use
this lesson and meaning — the General Allied Workers — to complete the
social revolution. We must know that the heroic revolution and the
political revolution are history.
*** Watch Out, Capitalist Lackeys!
The struggles of dock workers in San Francisco have spread to Seattle,
Portland, and Los Angeles. This kind of heroic struggle has alarmed the
imagination of the bourgeoisie, and their lackeys — the police. In order
to protect the interests of his master, he opened his eyes wide and
barked at the revolutionary workers, and also thought about staging a
massacre to suppress the revolutionary uprising. However, while the
workers’ bodies can be killed, the revolutionary spirit cannot be
eliminated. The sound of social revolution has shaken the whole world,
and the blood tide of social revolution will also surge forward. By
then, the lives of these lackeys will be over. I warn you now, dogs of
Capital, watch out!
*** The So-Called National Revolution
What the Kuomintang advocates is the national revolution. The so-called
“national revolution” is to unite businessmen, workers and peasants in
order to make revolution. Businessmen are the bourgeoisie, and workers
and peasants are the proletariat. The interests of the two conflict with
each other. So is there any possibility of union? In this way, this kind
of revolution is just about killing the poor.
Yes, he did revolutionize the lives of the poor. Look! The warlords and
bureaucrats of the Kuomintang are fighting for power and profit, making
it difficult for people to earn a living. The workers are all being
exploited, and those who uphold justice are always in danger of being
shot. What is called national revolution is not actually a revolution
for the people!
*** Roosevelt is a Lackey of the Bourgeoisie
Roosevelt saw that capitalism was bankrupt and that his masters, the
capitalists, would be overthrown by the working class. So Roosevelt
planned with his masters day and night to find a way to save dying
capitalism. After all, Roosevelt’s policies have failed. The most famous
NRA has declared bankruptcy. If we look at the general degradation of
unemployment among American workers and the acrimony of the revolution,
we know that Roosevelt is helpless. Roosevelt, the top lackey, you can
rest!
*** Our Program
First, we believe that “class struggle” is the basis for the liberation
of workers and peasants.
Second, we reject all political movements and advocate “economic direct
action.”
Third, we advocate “free association of industrial groups” and exclude
“centralization of power.”
Fourth, we expel the centralized “presidents” and “leaders” of workers’
and peasants’ organizations.
Fifth, we believe that “the liberation of the working class is a matter
of the working class itself.
Sixth, we oppose “nationalism” and promote “international unity of the
working class.”
Seventh, we believe that “communism” must eliminate “government,”
Eighth, we must overthrow “imperialism” and advocate the fundamental
elimination of “capitalism.”
Ninth, we want human beings to evolve freely and advocate the abolition
of “religion” and “family.”
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #2 Selected Articles
*** My Social Beliefs
Although I have experienced a lot of setbacks, I am not pessimistic
about the realization and prosperity of anarchism in the future. The
reason why I say this is that North America is where I was attracted by
the anarchist doctrine. Restraint, and this is the result of my direct
observation of human behavior.
First, everyone loves freedom by nature, and anarchism became a doctrine
based on this principle.
Second, and this is the most important point of my social beliefs, even
though most human beings live in poverty and misery, there is also a
very small group of people who exploit the working class, resulting in
economic inequality, which directly. This is why the State came into
being to maintain this unfair system.
Third, science tells us that nothing is permanent. We anarchists firmly
believe that the slavery system of money will inevitably be eliminated
along with the previous serfdom system.
Although there are many other theories in the world that seek to
transform the current social system, I firmly believe that mankind can
only achieve true liberation through anarchist communism. As for using
compromise, cover-up or other various improvement methods to demand
justice or hope for peaceful concessions from capital society, it is
impossible. In order to maintain their predatory status, the protectors
of capitalism (the State) must first rise up and fight against the
proletariat. A bloody battle.
I don’t even believe that the bourgeoisie can maintain world peace. In
fact, every monarchy or democracy is trying to find a world market to
sell their goods. They compete with each other, and the result is a
world war. In the future, the second world war will happen. The war will
be more cruel than the world war of 1914.
We anarchists should use anti-war propaganda to arouse the proletariat
and transform the second war that will break out under capitalism into
implementing social revolution. Anarchism is universal, not just for one
tribe or race. It has no unreasonable boundaries created by anyone. In
an anarchist society, everyone is equal, and slave labor must be
eradicated. The proletariat of the world, suffering from unemployment
and war, will eventually rise up to accept our call. When they are ready
to respond to our call, we will begin to unite to implement social
revolution and complete an anarchist communist society of freedom and
equality.
*** Misunderstanding or Slander?
“Of course, anarchy and communism are the ‘Great Harmony.’” This
sentence is used by the bourgeoisie to slander the anarchist party. We
only feel that the bourgeoisie is despicable, helpless, and shameful.
How pitiful! There are a few anarchists who say “anarchist communism is
Great Harmony.” The so-called “Great Harmony” clearly means that Yao’s
throne was passed on to Shun instead of his son, and Shun’s throne was
passed on to Yu instead of his son. This is to make the throne public to
the world. The so-called “world is of the common people” is. “Selecting
talents and talents” refers to the selection of a worthy person to
succeed the emperor; “Speaking of faith and cultivating harmony” refers
to using the education of “faith” and “lu” to consolidate the status of
the emperor. “Making the old man have something to end” refers to the
power of the government. If that person can be loyal to the government
throughout his life and does not rebel, then the government will give
him a chance and ask him to enter a nursing home until his death. If he
dies, give him a grave. On the contrary, if he is not loyal to the
government, he will die as a “message”. “ “Not to be the only one” means
that there is still a family system. This is called “Great Harmony.”
After I got off work, I still felt tired. But when I thought about the
harm caused by the phrase “Great Harmony,” I took up my pen and wrote
this very short article. I wanted to expose “Great Harmony” with that
pen!
*** The Communist Party Speaks Nonsense
The Communist Party wants to cover up its crimes, so it often tells the
working class that the Communist Party must go through a “transitional
period” to get through to anarchy and communism. In fact, such nonsense
only increases the anger of the working class!
The so-called “transitional period” means practicing communism for a few
years and then practicing anarcho-communism. However, is communism what
is practiced in Russia now? In fact, after the Tsar was overthrown, the
Communist Party succeeded the Tsar and ruled the whole of Russia. The
government was made by the Communist Party, and the capitalists were
made by the Communist Party. The wage system exists, and the private
system exists. In short, the Communist Party is just a new bureaucrat
and a new capitalist. In other words, the Communist Party is a
bureaucratic party; the Communist Party Doctrine is red capitalism. The
so-called “transitional period” is nothing but lies!
Will the evil government suddenly die on a certain day of a certain
year? Will the capitalists who make a living from exploitation suddenly
show mercy and give up all their private property on a certain day of a
certain year?
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #3 Selected Articles
*** Comment on the San Francisco General Strike
The general strike has temporarily failed. This is a fact that we do not
need to deny and cannot deny.
The daily struggles of the dock workers expanded. Although it did not
expand to the entire United States and other countries around the world,
during this great struggle period of the strike, the passionate emotions
and heroic actions of the workers’ struggle were deeply expressed!
However, the General strike failed for three reasons:
The first reason is that yellow scabs collude with ordinary bureaucrats
and politicians, specializing in breaking strikes and auctioning
workers’ interests;
The second reason is that the red scabs deceive and bewitch workers to
engage in activities to fight for political power, alienate them, and
split all activities of the revolutionary workers’ struggle;
The third reason is that the strike of the conference turned into a
strike manipulated by the bureaucracy due to the control of the
conference affairs by the two scabs, yellow and red. The first and
second reasons are obvious matters and need no further explanation. The
third reason needs to be explained a little bit.
During this general strike, a small number of businessmen made a
fortune, and some workers in San Francisco did not even have a place to
drink coffee. This was because during the general strike, confiscation
was not carried out immediately. It was a revolutionary action, so it
failed after all. However, during the general struggle of the General
League strike, the scabs or other politicians and bureaucrats
manipulated the strike meeting to destroy the direct economic struggle
of the revolutionary workers, causing the strike to lose its function.
This is called a “bureaucrat-manipulated strike.” There is no strike
that is controlled by the bureaucracy but fails.
Although this general strike failed, we learned several valuable
lessons:
Firstly, As soon as the General League strike begins, confiscation must
be carried out to take back the things monopolized by the capitalist
class and the things they have stolen from the working class.
Secondly, economic equality is the guarantee of working class freedom.
Therefore, workers must resolutely reject political power activities and
labor-capital compromise; and reject the manipulation and control of
political parties; in our struggle actions, we must recognize that “the
liberation of workers is a matter of the working class itself.”
Thirdly, the ideal of anarchist communism is a state that eliminates
capitalism; every worker should not have any other agenda than their own
ideal — anarchism — and should follow the ideal of anarchism and expand
from daily struggle to the struggle of the working class. A time when
capitalism and government are fundamentally broken.
We workers should keep these three lessons in mind and properly apply
these three lessons in our struggle strategies!
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #4 Selected Articles
*** Reflection on the Failure of the San Francisco General Strike
The San Francisco General Strike, which attracted worldwide attention,
began to erupt on July 16th. Will this general strike wipe out the old
unequal system and create a new perfect society? It is naturally
difficult for people on the outside to predict, but after a little
careful observation of this, anyone who has participated in the labor
movement can understand that there are already many obstacles standing
in front of the workers to hinder their revolutionary actions.
For example, the workers above are not without revolutionary
preparations and revolutionary determination. Let us examine the strike
trends in various parts of the United States. The heroic actions of
workers sacrificing countless flesh and blood are all obvious proof that
they already have great determination. And it proves that they have a
fearless spirit towards revolution. Even though the police, soldiers,
bureaucrats, bourgeoisie, and those who specialize in spreading rumors
openly jointly attack the workers, people continue to resist them
without flinching.
The general strike in San Francisco was auctioned off by a group of
labor leaders who specialized in living off the blood and sweat of
workers. The auction plan had already been put into effect on June 16th.
At that time, a representative of the union secretly signed the
agreement with the capitalists and the mayor. The agreement on
auctioning workers’ interests was intended to force workers to revise
it.
Although the previous conspiracy to auction off the workers’ interests
in New York was considered a success, the workers in San Francisco had
long been aware of the evil intentions. After the agreement was signed,
it was immediately rejected by all workers. At the same time, it was
announced that the representative had no right to represent the workers,
and the agreement was declared invalid. It was demanded that factories
controlled by the capitalists should be managed by the workers, and all
sympathizers participated in the strike. The conditions required by the
workers should be addressed simultaneously. This kind of courageous and
united spirit makes their enemies fearful!
Several scabs from the San Francisco Federation of Trade Unions also
arbitrarily attacked the workers’ revolutionary actions. Later, the
lackeys of the state bourgeoisie — the police — staged a massacre of
workers on the waterfront, killing two people and injuring more than a
hundred others. After the tragedy, all workers were aroused with
indignation, and the sound of a general strike shocked the whole city.
At this time, the scabs saw the wind and had to change their attitude.
On the surface, they had to change their attitude, retract their attacks
on the workers, and admit that a general strike was also If necessary, a
so-called strike design committee with seven members was organized.
However, they deliberately delayed the realization of the “strike” and
carried out their so-called peaceful movement. However, the capitalists
were unwilling to accept the conditions unless they were detrimental to
the workers. Of course, the workers were unwilling to surrender and
would suffer increased exploitation by the capitalists. All mediation
efforts were ineffective, so the general strike was launched on July
16th.
On the second day after the implementation of the general strike, the
scabs had already launched a strike cancellation movement. By the fourth
day, the vigorous general strike had begun. It was extremely shameful to
be killed by this class of scabs. At this time, the capitalists hid
their true colors of hating workers and took this opportunity to expose
them. They ordered their lackeys, the police and low-level gangsters, in
the park, assembly halls, canteens, and even the Master’s house, using
the most despicable means, beating workers, destroying workers’ clubs,
and arresting hundreds of workers. The so-called law and order in
today’s society is nothing more than this!
The reason why the general strike failed was not because the workers
lacked the spirit of solidarity, nor because the workers were unable to
withstand the coercion of the bourgeoisie and the ruling class. Its
failure was due to the capitalist collaboration with the union leaders
in the labor city of the workers.
The failure of this strike taught the workers a good lesson. It warned
the workers that it is very dangerous to trust their leaders, so workers
should believe in themselves in the future, and they will always be able
to work the second time in the future, and workers should not be forced
to work again. If you are deceived by the city, you should stand up and
take charge of your own career.
It is not a long journey from defeat to victory, if the workers have the
determination to make a revolution. Judging from past facts, workers
already have such conditions. Then, as soon as the fury of the
revolution arrives, the bourgeoisie and the ruling class will collapse
like a landslide, and an anarchic society of thousands of freedoms will
replace the pseudo society. Just like the brilliance of his mouth, it
will shine on this world. Our people in the world have begun to enjoy a
new and beautiful life!
*** Who’s Fantasizing
“You are dreamers!”
When we ignore social injustice, raise the banner of revolution, and
shout for building an anarchic society, we are attacked from all sides:
“You are utopians!”
Utopians are never satisfied with the status quo. People who devote
themselves to reforming social work are often regarded as utopians. Not
only this, anyone who sees a new truth and calls out to people loudly is
treated as a dreamer.
Since the beginning of human society, how many people have been
dreamers?
However, in looking at the evolution of human society, we point out
that, driven by this era, has made us evolve from the cave dwelling era
to today’s civilized era. It is all the power of such visionaries.
When Columbus said he believed there was land beyond the old world,
didn’t others laugh at him as a visionary? But now we publish magazines
on land in America. Besides, if someone mentioned airplanes a hundred
years ago, others would definitely think of them as crazy but now, if
someone has never seen an airplane, they will be laughed at as having
little knowledge.
Instead of the government, replace it with management agencies; instead
of law, replace it with free consent; abolish the distinction between
national classes and give all people the opportunity to work and the
rights to enjoy it. All the energy is used in construction. No one will
do the work of destruction. Such a society is extremely reasonable and
develops according to natural procedures. Who can deny it and say it is
unwholesome? Do you think it is evil? I dare to say: Absolutely not!
“You have no way!” Others said. No way? We have made it very clear that
such a society cannot be realized overnight. We must prepare for
revolution. We know that the purpose of revolution is transformation and
construction. We know that the power of workers and peasants is the
basic power. We explain clearly everything from daily struggles to
General League strikes, and even the organization of consumption and
production and the defense of revolution in times of transition. All
this has been discussed in great detail in many books, newspapers and
lectures.
So who can still laugh at us with our fantasy?
Look! In Spain, southern Europe, the fire of revolution has been
ignited. Don’t underestimate the work of those “ideologues”, they will
change the face of the world.
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #5 & 6 Selected Articles
*** We Are There
Some people, our friends and enemies, feel that we anarchists have been
silent for too long, and they often ask: “Where are you anarchists?”
Because they have not heard our voice for a long time.
Where are the anarchists? This is not a difficult question to answer.
Someone has already answered it like this: The Industrial Workers of the
World, The Union of Young Anarchists of All Nations, in France, Germany,
Austria, Spain, etc, the anarchist federations and trade unions of the
world, in the prisons of Italy, the United States, Poland, Bulgaria,
Argentina, Japan and other countries, and in the fortress of Soviet
Russia.
However, this answer is not enough; anarchism cannot yet exist in these
places. Although the activities of the C.N.T., which has millions of
workers all over Spain, under the banner of anarchism, has become a fact
that shocked the world in recent days. The power of anarchists in
Western Europe cannot be understated, and it has been generally
recognized by people. But apart from this, there are still thousands of
people all over the world who are burying their heads, shutting up, and
actually doing anarchist work, that is, to help the working class seek
their own liberation. Therefore, it is not just those who always use the
slogan ofAnarchism to propagate ism to people, they are anarchists.
Therefore, it is not only those people who are always talking about
socialism and advocating it to people on the streets, but those who
write about freedom and struggle, go for justice, shoulder the mission
of human liberation and fight bravely to achieve success. Those who die
are anarchists; those who work for the people. Those who seek the
liberation of the people and believe that the way to achieve the
liberation of the people is the way of freedom, and who believe that
organizations organized by free association will replace the
institutions that govern people and become the basis of future society,
may not say that they are anarchists themselves. But in fact they are.
Therefore, anarchists are not only on the gallows, under bullets, in
prisons, in trade unions, in assembly halls, and on the battlefield, but
they are also among the people, in remote villages, and in all places
where there are human beings and immortals. We can certainly say that
wherever there are interests of the people, there are anarchists. When
the people seek their own liberation, fight for their own interests, or
even rise up against their oppressors, then the people themselves are
anarchists. Or, even though they may not understand the meaning of this
term.
You see. Anarchists are everywhere, shouting and silent. They are all
anarchists. Therefore, it is not surprising that the anarchist voice
cannot be heard during this period, because the work of the silent ones
cannot be heard over the work of the shouters.
*** Inform the People
The tragedy of unemployment has spread all over the world. Or maybe you
have never tasted the bitter taste of unemployment, but you can see the
pain and misery of unemployed people from newspapers in various places
or from society. There is no person who does not have sympathy for the
unemployed.
Although you may not be a member of the proletariat now; if you admit
that you are a member of society and an enlightened one, you must get up
immediately and embark on the road of anarchism to seek a fundamental
solution. It is a legitimate method, so we working class must unite and
work hard to overthrow our enemies, the capitalists — because they
deprive us of the clothes and public goods we have earned through hard
work, and force us to suffer from hunger, cold, illness, and even death.
The capitalists have seized the machinery of production with city
rights, and they require us proletarians to sweat and sweat to make
things for them to enjoy, and to cultivate fields and cultivate crops
for them to eat. You see! They live effortlessly. They live in tall
houses, wear colorful clothes, use exquisite utensils, and eat delicious
food. As for us working class, we have no house to live in and no
clothes to wear. Food is good, and the harder you work, the less reward
you get. Do we, the working class, still want to work for them
(capitalists) wholeheartedly? Aren’t you still aware of it? If you are
bloody, please get up quickly and kill our enemies. Take back our
interests.
If we want to defeat the capitalists, we must overthrow their
protectors, the government, in order to achieve a fundamental solution.
Because the government is the defender of all power — the source of all
evil. The only way capitalists can exist now is to be protected by the
government. You see! Capitalists have occupied all production machines,
not making them available to society, and depriving workers of their
blood, sweat and lives, all these are unreasonable cannibalism; however,
the government continues to defend them (capitalists); if the workers
have some demands on the capitalists, the government will immediately do
its best to suppress our workers, intimidation, and even killing, in the
final analysis, the government must be overthrown and cannot be allowed
to continue!
*** At the Crossroads
Economic panic everywhere has pushed the capital system to the stage,
and with it comes another panic, which is the panic of ideas.
The bankruptcy of capitalism ushered in an era of world revolution, and
we are now facing this bloody situation. The situation of the Spanish
revolution is currently developing. On the one hand, because of the
interdependence between countries, and on the other hand, because of the
serious situation caused by economic panic, the fire of revolution in
one country will inevitably burn to other countries, destroying the
revolutions in other countries. It must be an extremely violent blow to
defeat its real target — international capitalism.
In this fierce battle, thought is an important warrior in the battle.
The revolutionary experience of France and Russia has revealed how a
powerful thought becomes powerful. The French Revolution was deeply
influenced by the democratic ideas held by Democrats and others.
The current Spanish anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists, who represent
the anarchist movement of free thought and free association, develop
models for a new society of the future.
In the future revolutionary struggle, the two doctrines will present
their solutions to the problem of social revolution. This is the state
socialism represented by the Bolsheviks and the anarchism represented by
the anarchists.
The Bolsheviks are state socialists. They advocate overthrowing the
current political system and using the most centralized state as a tool
to build socialism. This has been implemented in Russia, but what is the
result?
No matter how loudly the propaganda organs of the Bolivarian Party brag,
we clearly know many certain facts. Russia is a country where the people
have been reduced to the status of serfs. Russia is completely
surrounded by bureaucrats and politicians. In Russia, the only words
heard are “obedience” “This word means that all social undertakings that
should be owned by the public are controlled by politicians and
bureaucrats, and the people are oppressed by this reactionary
organization day by day.
Just imagine that under the rule of a country, the (Russian) people do
not have the freedom to move without special permission from the state.
What kind of work should the people do, what kind of books should they
read, what kind of plays should they watch, and what should the people
and their children do? What kind of education they receive is determined
by the state.
All the old systems that represent the extreme corruption of capitalism
have been moved to Russia and implemented. The wage system, class
boundaries, special rights, forced military service, well-organized
detective squads... all still exist in Russia. If anyone dares to doubt
the power of the Bolshevik dictatorship to control the lives of 160
million Russian people and destiny, disaster will befall him. The
so-called construction of a new society means the dictatorship of the
proletariat. This is an extremely absurd misinterpretation of the
revolution. Therefore, it is extremely urgent that a new theory is
needed to avoid the trap that the authoritarians fall into.
Only anarchism can meet this demand. Anarchism advocates that all social
undertakings should be taken up by free groups. Anarchism replaces the
coercive system with common voluntariness as the rule. Anarchism firmly
believes that freedom is the key to society. Human beings are necessary
for evolution. Human development can only be achieved in a free and
equal society.
We oppose all systems of hierarchy, and we oppose the state, because the
fundamental nature of the state is a tool for one class to exploit
another class. We believe that true freedom will not be realized unless
all systems of exploitation are eradicated, so we advocate the
elimination of the wage system, and a new society must be built on the
principle that everyone can do what they can, everyone gets what they
need, and everyone has equal rights.
It is in vain to wait for free men under the principles of a free
society.
The newly invented mass production machines in modern times can already
produce the daily necessities and flood the society. In the future, the
private property system and the exploitation system will be abolished.
Everyone is currently engaged in useless occupations and will be
transformed into those engaged in production. If we work, how endless
will human prosperity be in the future?
This means that for the first time in human history, man has been able
to freely develop his talents.
Now mankind is at a crossroads. Soon they will be forced to choose one
of these two roads.
*** The Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement in Japan
The anarcho-syndicalist movement in Japan is in a very difficult
position because counter-revolutionary propaganda in Japan is increasing
day by day. All the workers’ groups affiliated with the International
Workers’ Association were originally scheduled to hold their national
annual conference last month, but they were canceled. The Japanese
government banned it. At the same time, our publications, including our
official newspaper (The Worker’s Newspaper) and the anarchist monthly
(Under the Black Flag), were banned by the authorities. We have adopted
peaceful means in order to achieve liberation, but it has been useless
so far. , and the government is desperate to ban our publications. Under
such circumstances, we can only carry out our work under extreme
secrecy.
Since our annual meeting was strictly prohibited by the government and
could not be held, we immediately convened the workers’ groups
affiliated with the International Workers’ Association to hold a
national conference in Osaka. At that time, workers’ groups from Tokyo,
Kobe, Nagoya, Oita and other places were summoned to the meeting.
Representatives, these representatives went through many difficulties
because they escaped the attention of the police dogs, so they overcame
these difficulties and finally disappointed the police dogs.
The entire situation of our movement, both objectively and subjectively,
was discussed in detail at this meeting, and it was unanimously approved
that our trade union should immediately join the National Federation of
Free Workers’ Unions. (It is also an anarcho-syndicalist labor group.)
Struggle together. Because their purpose is the same as ours.
The representatives expressed their utmost sympathy for the Industrial
Workers of the World, which advocates the unity of revolutionary workers
all over the world and opposes all coercion based on the principles of
freedom and solidarity. And all generations have unanimously sympathized
with the Spanish anarcho-syndical movement (C.N.T.), because the Spanish
comrades have made heroic and continuous struggles for the real
liberation of the workers, which is particularly worthy of our attention
and imitation.
Just last month we secretly printed the book “The Principles, Meanings
and Purposes of the International Workers’ Association” by the
International Workers’ Association.
*** New York Awakeness Society Established
The Chinese in New York have always expressed sympathy for the anarchist
communists. Recently, I heard that some of the hard-working elements
among them established the Awakeness Society in order to study
knowledge, increase their knowledge, explore the truth, and transform
society. As the plan progresses, the society has begun to organize
research classes and books.
** Anarcho-Communist Monthly #7 Selected Articles
*** Give Us Work
Unemployment has become a major issue that attracts everyone’s attention
today. And the severity of this problem is increasing day by day. With
the world in an economic panic, we clearly see that on the one hand, a
lot of goods are piling up without anyone taking care of them; on the
other hand, tens of millions of unemployed workers are crying and
complaining in slums, no matter what government officials, capitalists
and philanthropists claim. In the hope of relief, in fact this
contradictory phenomenon is only getting worse. Because they simply
can’t solve it.
This contradictory phenomenon can expose the fallacy of some economists.
We have never “produced surplus”, as they say; to be honest, nothing
that has been produced in the world is too much to be used by ordinary
people. To give a simple example, many people in mainland China have no
rice to eat, but some rice merchants make huge profits by selling rice
abroad.
The purpose of current capitalist production is not to satisfy needs,
but to make profits. For example, Britain sent large quantities of
woolen fabrics to the Chinese market, while some residents throughout
Britain wore ragged clothes. The export of each country is not his own
surplus. Workers cannot buy the items they need with the wages they
earn, so these items are exported to foreign countries to make a profit
for the capitalists. In this way, we cannot say that workers do not need
items, we can only say that workers have no power.
Regarding this issue, we will discuss it in detail in the “Theory and
Practice of Anarchism” in the future. Now we only cite the solutions we
have proposed before: joint production and joint consumption. Our slogan
is: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
Naturally, this slogan cannot be fully realized in one day. From
production for profit to production for consumption, we have to go
through a number of different steps, including a lot of painstaking
statistics and sorting work, as well as new and improved production
technologies. But we can boldly say now that this is the most effective
way to solve unemployment.
Under the capitalist wage system, the problem of unemployment cannot be
solved. Anarchism takes the overthrow of capitalism as its starting
point and replaces production for consumption with production for
profit. Under this situation, every worker is no longer a slave to
wages. They produce for the public and for themselves. If they can get
what they need, there will never be the paradoxical and strange
phenomenon called overproduction. The factory will not close down due to
unsalable goods. On the contrary, in order to meet the needs of all
mankind, there will only be a shortage of goods, and the factory will
only expand, and more workers will be needed.
In this period, from the current unreasonable industrial system to a
society with rational production, I worry about the lack of goods! In
the beginning, even if all people came to participate in production, we
may still not be able to meet needs. In order to meet the needs of all,
people must work at that time, as we will never let many people in the
world waste time in poverty and sorrow. People are not lazy. Today, in
the United States alone and in San Francisco alone, people everywhere
are shouting: “Give us work.” However, no one hears their shouts. Even
if they are heard, no one does anything about it.
When you are unemployed and have nothing to do — a lot of energy is
wasted like this. Many people find work until they die, and many people
commit suicide because they cannot find a job. However, there is much
work to do in this society.
“Give us work to do,” the cry never stopped, and became louder and
louder. Friends, there is work. As long as you stand up and spend your
time shouting and looking for a job to overthrow the capitalist wage
system, you have work to do. Capitalism is the cause of your
unemployment. You should not let it exist anymore, you should not lower
your head and ask for work from it.
Human labor is a very valuable thing at all times. Only in today’s
capitalist society, a lot of labor is regarded as redundant and allowed
to go to waste. Not wanting to accept this wasted fate, a loud voice
shouted, “Give us work to do!”
My friends! No one can give you a job. You should unite and take the
work into your own hands. When you do this, you work to overthrow the
unreasonable current society.
*** Critique of Historical Materialism
Anarchists may not always agree on materialism or historical
materialism. For example, the famous non-Marxist economist Christian
Carnelissen, although an anarchist, claims to believe in historical
materialism. Although Kropotkin adopted a materialist research method or
a corroborative research method, he cannot be said to be a materialist.
His attitude of vigorously promoting ideals is completely opposed to
materialists. Carnelissen believed in historical materialism because he
believed in it from the standpoint of the theory of evolution. It was by
no means a materialist view of history that relied on dialectics and so
on. As for Kropotkin, he just laughed at dialectics and did not regard
it as a problem.
But in our country, the dialectical materialist view of history is very
popular, and even among us, some people use it as a problem, so I would
like to briefly express my opinion. If I express my opinion in one
sentence, the Marxist school of historical materialism or the
dialectical materialism of history first regards the human world as a
kind of machine, and secondly regards the facts reflected in a small
part of human life, and thirdly uses metaphysical doctrines as a
standard to judge the infinitely deep and wide life phenomena; to define
the complex real social life based on metaphysical teachings. Therefore,
based on the actual judgment based on this principle, it is natural that
everything is wrong. Although materialists are a good weapon when the
bourgeoisie uses the power of wealth to fight against the feudal power
class, they have become the biggest obstacle to the free liberation of
the proletariat. Today’s Bolsheviks in Russia actually originate from
this dialectical materialism, the idea of the dictatorship of the
proletariat.
For the sake of explanation, we separate philosophical materialism from
historical materialism, and criticize dialectical historical materialism
in particular. After that, we will talk about the criticism of the
inevitability derived from this historical materialism. The first
materialism is materialism. Theory is a term for idealism, an idea. The
opposition between materialism and idealism is an idea that has existed
since the era of ancient philosophy, that is, this debate has not yet
been completed today. In my opinion, I believe that matter and mind are
two sides of phenomena, but in fact they are just one thing. There is a
fire burning in the furnace. From the outside, it looks like black iron,
but from the inside, it looks like blazing fire. It is wrong to just say
it is fire or iron.
In the Japanese translation of Bukharin’s Historical Materialism, it is
said that the life that appears on the surface of the earth is the last
thing of its own material existence. Such things as mental phenomena
only seem to have passed through a very small number of years in the
long time of the earth. Even based on this, it can also be said that the
spirit is just a manifestation of matter. But this is called life or
spirit. Botanists say that plants also have spirits, and mineralogists
say that stones and soil also have life and meaning. According to
experiments conducted by scholars, even the earth can breathe about once
every twelve o’clock, so its breathing tidies up the strata under the
earth’s crust. This is still a close observation.
In this breath, the sun, moon and other stars in the universe will also
be affected by it and perform complex functions. In this way, things
like the earth are also alive, intentional, and beautiful. This is based
on the relationship with the universe as a whole. Therefore, it can be
said that the earth has a beautiful spirit, and the universe has a great
spirit. artistic spirit. Recently in Germany, the so-called
Expressionist theory of art and Expressionist outlook on life are very
popular. Thoughts like this arose precisely to oppose traditional
materialism. In particular, we cannot see that the European war took
place against the background of modern material civilization, mechanical
worldview, materialism, capitalism, etc., and therefore new ideas arose
in response to it. Therefore, it is natural that their movement is
promoted with extremely fierce arguments. And what becomes the basis of
his thoughts is the companionship of the power of spirit and soul. One
of the expressionists, Dievold, said in his book “Anarchy in Drama” as
follows:
The intelligence of the instrument is used as the criterion for
evaluation. In its social life, it is only regarded as the most powerful
weapon and god of industrial war. The classical era requires humanity,
but today’s people and ancient ethics of goodness and beauty require
beauty and virtue from civilization, while the Middle Ages requires
money and the speculation of profit-seeking people to dominate
education. That kind of muscle-building power, good or evil, is not a
question. In the Anglo-American style, everyone in the country is just a
number. Only the brain and the spiral are valued. The organization has
unified individuality. Offices, factories, and the military have
returned to things. Everyone is a pure profit that has been turned into
a trust. The wheel of machinery, industrial war and coercion between
states have become of little value. The soul has been completely lost,
and in the mechanical operation of daily life, the intellect is a brain
without ideas, that is, a spirit without spirit. Speech, almost only
used in intellectual forms and other forms. Everyday language has almost
become a consensus.
But this is not surprising. Since then, the concept of soul has been
completely lost, and the concepts of spirit and soul have been
completely confused. Like this, scholars and poets in the mechanical
cultural era studied or composed it; but this was just a mechanical
person without a soul. However, the dramatists of the school relied on
the description of character and environment to describe the world.
Science relies on microscopes and experiments. Psychology relies on
analysis, starting from moral free will. What is most human is ethical
feeling and what can be known that together achieves victory, arranging
everything as knowledge. And its “spirit is extended and will reach the
limit of all things; criticism is swaying, and the soul judges with
countless instincts.”
The soul will become the most intimate connection with the body, and
this incredible inner soul will reach the deepest divine observation and
poetry of our mood. It penetrates all human hearts and listens to the
deepest voice of conscience. “The soul is pleased with the moral laws
(commandments) and the laws that compress its life, and looks at the
consciousness of the will; but the soul obediently waits for the spirit
that the artist has entered. The form. And the spirit creates the ideal
body inspired by the soul and incorporated into the heart. This
description is very abstract and metaphysical. In our opinion, it seems
to be unacceptable. It is only necessary to understand that this
tendency of thought is a new tendency arising from material civilization
that resists the same tendencies of modern materialism, mechanical
worldview, and capitalism. The idea of expressionism must have a clearer
argument in Germany, but unfortunately it cannot be introduced here.
In the UK, I can look up to Edward Carpenter, as the pioneer of
expressionism. Carpenter’s books are read with pleasure by many Germans,
as I have heard personally. The so-called “life is an expression”, he
already said it thirty years ago. Especially in his updated book “The
Art of Creation”, he said: The materialistic worldview has been popular
for forty or fifty years ago, but today, it is said that it is based on
the phenomenon of things, rather than the formation and formation of the
mind. Representation is a kind of expression of thought, and its
expression is regarded as a kind of art. Life is expression, so it comes
back to the idea of art. To understand Carpenter’s ideological strategy
in more detail, let me introduce one section of it.
“Any so-called general theory or opinion will not be of much value if it
is not based on detailed and practical observation, so here I want to
examine how various things that we actually know almost exist. However,
regarding this, the problem is best viewed in terms of what is closest
to what we are familiar with. So I think we have to start by looking at
how our own thoughts, actions, and bodies exist.”
**
** A Brief History of the Japanese Anarchist Movement (Excerpts from Equality 1–2)
From Equality 1:
Although there have been various peasant riots in Japan that were close
to anarchism in the past, let us ignore them for the moment and
understand that the modern anarchist movement began with the movement of
Kotoku Shusui and others, the so-called Great Rebellion, that is, the
assassination of Meiji. After it was revealed that the emperor’s plan
was not carried out, Kotoku and twelve others were sentenced to death
and life imprisonment. There were many revolutionaries involved in this
incident. Most of the activists at that time were socialists in a broad
sense, but Kotoku and his lover, Ms. Sukago, were already clear-cut
anarchists. This happened in 1903. After the failure of this incident,
Japan’s socialism fell into silence for several years. Later, Osugi
boldly broke through the danger and republished the civilian news
published by Kotoku and others, and later changed it to a magazine. At
this time, Osugi began to work with the anarchist workers’ groups. Soon,
many brave revolutionary young people were recruited into this group,
including its authors such as Tatuo Mizunuma, Eiichi Nobushima, Wada
Eitaro, and other working youth. Young anarchists such as Taiji Yamaga,
Wada Kyutaro, and Kondo Kenji have played a great role in the anarchist
movement in Japan. In addition, older anarchists such as Iwasa Sakutaro,
who has lived in the United States for several years and personally
participated in the American IWW movement, and Ishikawa Sanshiro, who
has lived in Europe for a long time have great power in propaganda.
In the ten years since the incident, Japan’s social movement has not
actually developed much. We can say that this period is a period of
propaganda and preparation, because the beginning was due to the strong
oppression of the government due to the German incident. , followed by
the European War. Most of the Japanese people were confused by patriotic
ideas and did not look back at their own internal life. Moreover, during
the European War, the industries of various European countries were at a
standstill. Japanese capitalists took advantage of this to do their
speculative business. In particular, Japan’s economic situation was
relatively good. Therefore, the Japanese working class did not feel
strong oppression in life. It was not until the end of the European War
in 1917 that European industry gradually recovered, and Japanese
commerce as a result declined. At this time, the unemployment problem
intensified and expanded abnormally. With the influence of the Russian
Revolution, the resistance movement of Japan’s working class suddenly
became very prosperous. In 1919, workers in Tokyo, Japan held the first
May Day demonstration. At that time, the conflict between workers and
the police was very fierce. The speeches of socialists and anarchists
filled the city of Tokyo. The number of strikes increased abnormally in
the next two years. Even ordinary scholars remember that the socialist
movement in that year was also very. The situation was so intense that
many young people gave up their studies and devoted themselves to social
movements. At this time, there were anarchist groups such as the labor
movement club with Osugi as the center, and the labor union organized by
the working youth. There were small works in the peasant movement. There
were also many ideological examples in the Human Society. At this time,
anarchist publications included “Labor Movement”, “Laborers”, “Small
Worker”, etc., and there were many socialist lectures and research
conferences. On the 251st of the following year, workers’ demonstrations
became even more intense. Clashes between workers and the police filled
the entire city of Tokyo. At the same time, demonstrations in Osaka,
Japan’s only industrial city, and other cities also became more intense.
It was the era of the highest socialism in Japan. At that time, labor
groups in Japan could be roughly divided into those affiliated with the
Japan Labor and Welfare Federation and those not affiliated with the
Federation. Among the cadres of his alliance, most of them are
British-style labor unionists, and among them are some communists who
are well connected with the Russian Red International. In addition, the
Anarchist Union is a group that is seeking to join the federation.
By November 1922, the labor unions all over Japan held a meeting in
Osaka to organize the labor unions all over Japan, but they finally
broke up. The dispute at this conference was the dispute between
contractualism, that is, statism, centered on the Japan Federation of
Labor, and anarchism, centered on the Anarchism Union. The two always
break up after failing to find common ground. This break should be noted
in the history of the Japanese labor movement and even the history of
social movements. This break may be a great blessing to the Japanese
labor liberation movement. From then on, the movements of their various
factions took a clear-cut stand and started their own movements, without
the previous color of give-and-take and compromise. This was indeed a
great progress in the history of Japanese social movements..
At that time, the French Anarchist Federation initiated the
International Anarchist Congress. Osugi secretly escaped from the
country and came to France as a Japanese anarchist. After arriving in
France, the International Congress moved to Berlin for the meeting. and
postponed. In the midst of this, Osugi was arrested by the government
for breaking the law by speaking to workers and was escorted back to his
country. This happened in May 1923. In July of that year, Osugi returned
to Japan. In August, Chinese anarchists also held a large meeting in
Beijing. But soon a great disaster befell Japan. On September 1st of
that year, Tokyo, Japan, encountered an unprecedented earthquake. The
earthquake was followed by huge fires, and the city of Tokyo was almost
completely destroyed. The area with the largest number of factories and
workers was the center of the disaster. In the midst of this heavenly
disaster, Japanese royalists and soldiers, on the one hand, because of
the government’s suspicion and fear, and on the other hand, the
murderous impulse aroused by the cruel phenomenon, started the so-called
“vigilante group” murder tragedy. They took the hint from the government
and joined forces with the military and police to seize this opportunity
to imprison the Korean people who were oppressed by the socialists and
the Japanese. The victims of this brutal massacre included dozens of
socialists and anarchists, more than thousands of Japanese and Chinese
workers, and more than 2,000 Koreans living in Tokyo. On September 16,
Osugi, his lover Noe, and his seven-year-old nephew were arrested by the
military police on the way and hanged by the military police. It took a
few days for this kind of news to be revealed to the general public. The
general workers were very angry. The government had no choice but to
appoint the then commander of martial law, and arrested Captain Masahiko
Amakasu and handed him to the court. This ended the tragedy of murder.
After that, the general Ogawa schools and the government devoted all
their efforts to advocating reactionary ideas, so Japan even entered a
reactionary period. Generally, right-leaning labor groups are almost
suspending their movement, and communists are also calling for a change
of direction and a parliamentary movement. The government’s policy at
this time was to specifically ban anarchists and adopt a bribery policy
towards other groups.
The most obvious movement that arose in the future was that of the
proletarian party. At this time, the anarchists were under strong
oppression from the government, and at the same time they were fighting
against all labor groups that supported the political movement. In
addition, many powerful comrades were lost during the earthquake. For
the anarchists of this period, there was only death. The general
anarchist intellectual class has many hidden ideas, which makes the
situation of the youth anarchist labor movement even worse. When Osugi’s
funeral was held, there was a serious provincial meeting among Japan’s
leading anarchists. They passed several very simple resolutions. The
first was to relax theoretical propaganda and focus on practical
activities. The second was to annihilate the enemies who killed Osugi
and most of the socialists and anarchists in the Kanto Massacre,
following the earthquake. The third was to publish The complete works of
Osugi.
From Equality 2:
Regarding the first task, on the one hand, they are working hard to
develop anarcho-communism, and on the other hand, they are able to take
direct actions as individuals and as a cabinet. At this time, other
labor groups, democratic groups and ideological groups in Hubei were
dreaming of industrial and political bureaucracy. At this time, the
Japan Federation of Labor Federation had an internal split, and some
communists came to micro-self-revolution. In addition, a more powerful
right-wing group, the Japanese Peasants’ Association, and even the
right-wing groups within the Machinery Workers’ Association emerged.
They wanted to unite and form a unified Japanese proletarian party. They
almost completely forgot about the work of the class war and turned to
politics. But their movement, like the political movement of property,
had a lot of power-fighting phenomena, so they spent two or three years
cultivating the elite but without success. The anarcho-syndicalists
among them, still brave enough, pretended to slip into battle with their
enemies. Their ability to work and direct operations occurred almost
every day, and at most there were more than twenty strikes and
negotiations in a week. On the one hand, the various ugliness performed
by the political movements of right-wing groups has made ordinary
working people angry and disgusted. As a result, many workers belonging
to right-wing groups broke away from other cadres and cooperated with
the leftist unionists. At this time, most of Japan’s labor groups were
disappointed with the proletarian movement and turned to the union
movement. In addition to the weakened alliances and councils, the
sponsors are a group of far-left groups, united under the name of the
Japan Federation of Labor. On the one hand, they are called the
ultra-left anarchist group, That is, the Free Unionists also formed the
National Federation, the Japanese Federation of Labor. In March 1926,
the Japanese National Printing Workers Conference resolved to promote
national unity of anarcho-syndicalist support groups, which immediately
won the approval of the thirteen local groups, and the Local Federation
of Free Labor Associations was first established. The following year, it
was combined with other groups as advocated by Osaka, Hiroshima, Okayama
and other places. On May 24 of the same year, the full freedom of labor
unions was opened. The first meeting of the Union was held in Tokyo.
There were more than thirty groups participating in this event, and they
made extremely quick decisions, organizational methods and programs.
They fully adopted anarcho-syndicalism, free association and
decentralization. They were jointly established across the country and
four local federations were established at the same time, and became an
integration of the same industry group. They marked the clear principles
of anarcho-syndicalism:
We regard class struggle as the fundamental principle of the liberation
movement of workers and farmers;
We reject all political movements and advocate economic equality;
We advocate industry-specific free associationism and oppose statism;
We oppose imperialist aggression and flaunt the international solidarity
of the working class.
In this way they completed the national union of the anarcho-syndicalist
labor unions. The national federation includes four local federations,
ten industries, and twenty-eight industrial groups, including farmers’
groups with about one-hundred thousand members. They issued a monthly
magazine “Free Association” which is published every month to this day.
The establishment of this national alliance opened a new era for the
anarcho-syndicalist movement in Japan. The right-wing political party
movement that surrounded the workers completely failed. Although it was
disbanded twice, it had to overcome the siege and established the
so-called Workers’ Party. In fact, it was just an organ for the
government to bribe the working class. Except for the public status of
the Labor Front Alliance, which voluntarily withdrew, and the
Labor-Teacher Association Council, which was expelled due to the
government’s displeasure, the only remaining organizations are the
government’s official organizations. Under this situation, the general
alliance and councils that belong to the proletarian parties and those
that do not belong to the proletarian parties are all shrinking. The
power of the liberal coalition has increased dramatically. Now in the
Kanto region of Japan, It has gained the most powerful position, and in
the Kansai area, there is also a situation of confrontation with other
groups.
The above is the recent status of the activities of anarcho-syndicalist
leaders in Japan. Speaking of their second goal, the revenge movement,
this movement is naturally the action of a small number of voluntary
individuals. But this movement also gave a strong influence to the
Japanese anarchist movement. When Osugi and others were killed, comrades
Genjiro Muraki and Wada Kyutaro, who had been involved for a long time
with Osugi, secretly plotted revenge. They prepared to assassinate
General Fukuda, the mastermind of the earthquake-related murders, and
Masaki, the chief of the police station. Song Dalang. Genjiro Muraki and
Shusui Kotoku were old comrades who started the movement at the same
time. Wada was one of the most diligent and enthusiastic young comrades.
In the middle of their plan, they organized a meal at the Guillotine
Club in Osaka. Daiji Furuta raised sports funds. After killing a banker
in Osaka City, Tetsu Nakahama was soon accused by the police. Furuta
fled to Goryeo and conspired with Comrade Goryeo to obtain weapons and
destroy the Osaka Police Station. After Furuta returned to Japan, he
merged with Muraki and Wada Eitaro to plan the money. At this time, the
comrades participating in the plan were Keiji Kurachi and Ichiro
Shintani. Furuta and Kurachi first went to Hiroshima Prefecture to be
regarded as gunpowder factory workers. They obtained mercury from the
factory, returned to Tokyo, and secretly made bombs. When their
mysterious work was about to succeed, they prepared to destroy the
prison while planning to snipe General Fukuda. Wada and Furuta entered
Fukada’s residence several times in the hope of success. Later, they got
an opportunity. Fukada was at a military lecture. Each had a weapon and
guarded what he had to pass. After three locations, the murderer finally
met Wada. Wada fired at him with a pistol, but missed, and the second
shot failed due to the inconvenience of the pistol. Although the third
shot hit Fukuda, he was only slightly injured, and Comrade Wada was
arrested. Comrades Muraki and Furuta continued their plan and planned to
destroy the police station. Gutian broke into the police station and
placed a bomb in the room, but it was not discovered before it exploded,
so the purpose of destruction was not achieved. After that, they mailed
bombs to the general’s old home. When his daughter opened the bomb, he
was out, so only one of his houses was damaged, but Gutian had to
escape. From then on, their long-term efforts failed. Soon their secret
manufacturing factory was also discovered, and five people were arrested
one after another.
Genjiro Muraki, who was in weak health, actually suffered from
aggravated lung disease due to failure and mistreatment in prison. He
died the day before he left the camp and was moved back to the labor
movement club, the headquarters of his comrades, and died the next day.
At the same time, another comrade who had been involved in the peasant
movement for a long time, Goto Kentaro, went crazy and committed suicide
in prison. In addition, four comrades, Wada, Furuta, and Kurachi, were
in court in June 1925. Both Wada and Furuta gave moving speeches in
court. There was a passage in Mr. Wada’s speech that said: “My actions
this time have nothing to do with my ideology. I saw with my own eyes
the tragedy of government killings during the earthquake. I once saw the
tragic sight of seven comrades with their heads dismembered. The
innocent workers of Korea and China were killed, and the Osugi couple
and their young nephew were killed by you, and the perpetrators of the
killings were let go easily. I had to take this act of revenge. I broke
the law of the country, and I broke it knowingly.” This passage clearly
shows the spirit of their action. On September 10th of that year,
Daijiro Furuta was sentenced to death, Wada was sentenced to life
imprisonment and Kurachi was sentenced to twelve years in prison. On
September 14th, Mr. Gutian bravely went to the gallows. The other three
comrades are still living in the Agricultural Bank of China prison.
Tetsu Nakahama was sentenced to death in June 1926.
In short, these three years were a period of bloody struggle between the
Japanese government and the anarchists. More than ten comrades were
killed. But the anarchist movement became more and more prosperous
because of it. Until recently, they were engaged in a bloody battle
between workers. On the one hand, the anarchist organization movement
was also very advanced. In January 1926, it completely became the
Japanese Anarchist Federation.
The collective group Black Youth League. Among the participants were
seven trade unions and eighteen social movement anarchist unions. After
their establishment, they held a grand lecture to criticize the
deception of the proletarian party. The lecture was very successful.
After the meeting, dozens of audience members, anonymous anarchist
youths, impulsively united and walked to the end of Tokyo. They
destroyed more than twenty capitalist shops on the beautiful Ginza
street. This is the first popular uprising in Japan recently. Recently,
there was a workers’ lockout strike, which was extended for more than a
month. There were many direct actions by anarchists during it. Recently,
more than ten anarchist youths carried out direct actions against a
capitalist in order to aid a worker’s strike. The action destroyed his
house, and finally the capitalist succumbed to the workers. Under the
situation of people fleeing, Japan’s anarchist movement developed to a
degree that is almost beyond our imagination. There are others. Many
members of the intelligentsia, who previously only sympathized with
anarchism, now take an obvious stance in participating in the actual
movement. The peasant movement also created a new situation. The
Peasants’ Autonomous Association, organized by anarchists, is also very
active. Nowadays, parades, speeches and seminars on various topics are
held continuously. We can believe that Japanese anarchism has reached a
strong foundation, and it will definitely be able to dismantle all
hierarchies!
**
**
**
**
** A Brief Introduction to Anarchism (excerpts from Anarcho-Communist Monthly 1–7)
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 1:
What kind of thing is the government? What benefits does it have to us
humans? We eat when we are hungry, clothe ourselves when we are cold, we
can plow and weave to feed ourselves, we can build houses to make
ourselves safe, and we can invent science to enhance the happiness of
society. It does not depend on the government’s instructions, nor does
it need the teachings of politicians. The government itself has set up
various laws and regulations to ensnare our people. No one can escape
from this trap with a raise of their hands or a cast of their feet. And
all freedom of mind is lost. Human beings in the world are all brothers.
Our workers love each other instinctively. The government promotes the
theory of patriotism, coaches an army that commits murder, and takes it
as its daily duty to invade the human country. Therefore, the
compatriots in the universe are enemies of each other, and the world of
peace Loss is the result of the government: depriving freedom is a
poison that disturbs the peace of the world.
How does the government originate? It originates from power. In the
barbaric world, one or two strong men conquered their own tribes, called
them existing tribes, enslaved the conquered people, and expelled their
people to fight with other tribes. They became enemies of each other.
This is the origin of this country and the origin of the government.
Thinking about it now, it has been worthless for a long time. At that
time, animal nature was not gone, so it is no wonder that it was like
this, but now it has passed from the realm of beasts and entered the
realm of humans. How can it be peaceful to leave this product of the
beast’s realm in the human realm of broad daylight?
Politicians defended this by saying: The role of the government is to
protect the people from foreign aggression and disputes, rather than to
bully others. In this day and age, no government will bully others. How
can there be such a thing as foreign aggression? The government must be
meant to bully others. Human things can then be decorated in vain by the
theory of injury. Let’s talk about resisting insults: when two parties
compete, there will be victory or defeat. Will the winner be able to
resist foreign aggression and have a good government? Whoever can win in
northern Sichuan must be able to bully others. The so-called great
powers in this world are all like this. As for the people’s disputes,
they are beyond the control of the government. The laws enforced by the
government only record the inherent customs of society. (This is what
Kropotkin, the great anarchist in modern times, said) If the habit is
respected and maintained, then there will be nothing to fight for. If
there is a fight, what can be overcome with its inherent habits? The
source of the fight. It is true that there is a difference, but I do not
know its origin and want to control the beast, but I do not see the
government’s ability to do so.
The evils of governments in today’s world have become obvious. People in
Europe and the United States have gradually realized the uselessness of
governments and are tired of them. The invention of anarchism is like
the rising sun in the sky, and a world without government is not
difficult to realize.
When people in the world hear those who talk about anarchy, they often
have several questions in their minds at the same time. Now we have to
answer their doubts: The doubters say: without government, there is no
law, and without law, order will be destroyed and chaos will result. The
explanation is: Law cannot stop social disturbance. Disturbance arises
from disputes, from people to disputes, from poor social organization,
and is beyond the control of the law. Looking at urban areas, the laws
are the strictest, but there are the most lawsuits and criminals; in
rural areas, laws are often beyond the reach of laws, but there are very
few lawsuits and criminals. This is clear evidence that this law is not
beneficial to society. In life, one must seek to satisfy the desires of
life. The desire for life lies in food, clothing, and shelter, and
clothing, food, and shelter depend on products. Products are produced by
the land and made by human effort. Therefore, given the correct
principle, anyone who can contribute effort to produce can certainly
satisfy his desire for life. But this is not the case. The private
property system of society has been established, and those with money
can obtain the highest life, without having to be those who contribute
to production. People see that money is omnipotent, so they treat each
other with respect and money is a competition. There’s a lot of noise,
there’s nothing to eat, there’s no way to get out of here.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 2:
People see that money is omnipotent, so they are in harmony with each
other and money is a source of competition. There is a lot of noise and
chaos, but there is no way to escape here. Get it by fighting for it,
train arrogance and extravagance, regard the same kind as cattle and
horses, the weak ones turn to the ditch, the cunning ones are used to
deceit, the cunning ones sell their girls, (servants and concubines)
work hard, (mercenaries and cart drivers) are pure skin and flesh,
(prostitutes) think Living a rough life, his powerful drama took risks,
took robbery as his livelihood, and regarded killing as child’s play,
which led to today’s tragic, dark, sinful and dangerous behavior.
Investigating the reason, could it be that the private property system
is a class, and even though there are laws, everything is enough to make
peace? If there is no government, the private property system will be
destroyed and communism will be implemented. Everyone will do their best
and get what they need, and the rich and poor will be equal. The
competition for money has ceased, life at this time, would have
equality, freedom of work, and a competitive society have all changed
into cooperative love. Since there is no competition, why worry about
disturbing it?
Perhaps the father says that people have different levels of education
and education is not universal. Once there is no government and there
are only a few people who know the truth, there will be people who take
the evil habits of the old society and regard them as disorderly
behavior. This is the most common argument used by those who oppose the
radicals. Even those who envy anarchists today often have this
mentality, thinking that education must be popularized before no
government can be implemented, so they dare not advocate for haste and
comparison. I don’t know that the bad morals of human beings are due to
the bad society; the bad society is due to the government. If all evil
governments are gone, human morality will immediately return to purity
and beauty, and there is no need to wait for long-term and profound
education. How can we say this? Robbery and robbery are the so-called
immoral acts in this world: this is what we do.
However, the source of theft is poverty, and people are poor because of
the monopoly property of the rich. The reason why the rich can
monopolize the world’s public property and the poor dare not monopolize
it is because there are government laws to protect it. If there is no
government, the private property system will be abolished at the same
time. The products of the world will be shared by all the people in the
world. There will be no classes of rich and poor. Robbery and robbery
will naturally disappear from the world. Murderers are the so-called
immoral people in this world. The behavior is also. However, the reason
for killing people is that they are fighting for money, otherwise they
are lustful. The dispute over wealth is due to the private property
system in which property is privately owned, and the dispute over sex is
due to the marriage system in which women are privately owned. The
reason why the two exist is simply based on the laws of the government.
(So-called civil law) If there is no government, private property will
be extinct, marriage will be abolished, wealth and sex will not be
disputed, and murder will disappear from society.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 3:
If a father is selfish and does not care about the common good, he is
committing the most common immoral behavior in the world. But in the
future, there will be no government, no private property, no family,
society will be the direct unity of individuals, and individuals will be
simple members of society. Everyone will work hard for their own
purposes, and the happiness they will get will be (that is, the food,
clothing, housing, transportation, etc. obtained through work) etc.)
shared and enjoyed with others, and nothing they did was not for
themselves, and nothing was not for others. At this time, there is no
public or private matter at all, that is, private interests are nothing
but public interests, so there is no public morality for private
interests. Everyone is ready. All the other kinds of evils that are
today called small morals and so on, if you look at the reasons for
them, they must be caused by the bad society, not the sins of the
people. The reason for anarchy is to reform this bad society and
eradicate the roots of today’s so-called evil and immorality. As for the
truth of anarchy, it is not easy for stupid people to understand it.
This is the responsibility of the ruling class. However, if you can use
various methods to convey the goodness of anarchy to the public and make
it known to every household, then naturally No resistance. And this
matter is not very difficult, because from today to anarchy, it will
take a lot of time and energy to engage in the dissemination and
advocacy of doctrine. When the propaganda is conveyed, people will know
the truth of anarchy. When the people who know the truth gradually come
together and overthrow the government, even if there are a few people
who know the truth, it will not be difficult for people to understand
the truth without a government. For this kind of truth, there is no
profound and mysterious thing that everyone can do. Knowing, everyone
can do it. The most important motto is “To each according to his
ability, to each according to his needs”. It is easy to know and not
difficult to practice. Those who steal or have one or two fierce and
fierce people who deliberately seek to be enemies and dare to undermine
justice are said to violate human nature and become public enemies of
the society. Everyone will denounce them. If you can overthrow a
powerful government, how can you just stay here and not go away?
Therefore, if you want to implement anarchy today, you can only do your
best to convey it. Those who are talented should engage in the task of
advocating and implementing it. Those who are not talented should also
believe in it first. In fact, everyone who knows that there is a term
for system house should pay attention to it today. There is no need to
sit back and hope for the universalization of education. The reason why
education cannot be universalized today is due to low economic equality,
economic inequality, and the government’s protection of private
property. Therefore, in a world with a government, there is absolutely
no reason to popularize education. (European countries claim to have
popularized education, but in fact they are still popularizing education
for the rich.) Moreover, government education is generally contrary to
the principles of free education. Generally, blind doctrines such as
nationalism and militarism are entrenched in the hearts of the people,
which is really nothing. Enemies of the government. Therefore, saying
that there can be no government after universal education is the same as
saying that there can be no government after all the stars on the earth
are destroyed.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 4:
It is said that people like leisure and hate work. It is human nature
and in a communist society, everyone covers what they can and everyone
gets what they need. Suppose there are many people who like leisure and
happiness, but they only get what they need but not what they can do.
What will happen? How should we respond? Said: “It is the nature of
people to like leisure and dislike work.” This statement covers the
whole story. Otherwise, after a long time in the house, ordinary people
want to walk around, sit hard on the mat and feel tired. That is to say,
there is no other way to think about movement. People’s ears, eyes,
mind, limbs, and every body part all have the instinct to move.
Therefore, they cannot do nothing, and there is no need for humans to
build mountains. Moreover, humans have entered the human realm from the
realm of beasts. The most obvious difference is that they have two
hands. The presence of hands in humans indicates their innate ability to
work, so “it is human nature to be active”, it can be concluded that
there is a reason why people like to enjoy leisure and hate hard work up
to now!
The private property system is also a subjugation of class. Now that the
system of private property is in place, the difference between the rich
and the poor is growing. The power of money is growing, the rich drive
the common people like cattle and horses, there are hundreds of jobs in
society that are indispensable for human life. (such as farmers,
workers, etc.) The rich do not have to do it themselves, but the poor
have to do it alone. The rich enjoy leisure and glory, while the poor
are humiliated by hard work. Unknowingly, this has created a social
mentality that prefers leisure and hates work. (In fact, he loves the
rich and hates the poor.) But when it comes to personal affairs, the
rich can use money to buy the strength and leg strength of others (such
as servants, carriages, sedan bearers, etc.) to replace the natural
movements of their limbs and bodies, and add tobacco and alcohol. All
kinds of sensual gambling lead a lazy life to amuse the boring time.
Doing it for a long time will destroy the spirit and cause physical wear
and tear. This is precisely because the human body, brain, and brain are
naturally endowed with active instincts that disappear because of it.
This is called indolence and indolence. Same as its place. As for the
poor, they have toiled all day long, and their blood and sweat for the
benefit of society will not be rewarded with silk and hair. Those who
plow the fields are hungry, those who weave are stuffed, those who build
houses have no tiles, and the cooks who prepare exquisite dishes are
white. Everything earned by hard work is a waste. As a result, they are
all plundered by the rich. No matter how hard they work, they can only
be sacrificed by a few rich and noble people. However, the majority of
the compatriots in the society do not share the same. The more diligent
and the less happiness they get, the less happiness they get.
Disappointment and annoyance are just what human beings should do. They
are just like being lazy for a moment, hoping for a moment of boring
comfort, which is better than being blindly diligent. Wow, this is not a
human sin. In fact, the inequality between the rich and the poor is just
for the prostitution of the rich. The consequences of this are the
thieves of sin, money, and happiness, and the slow growth of crime.
Therefore, no government must oppose private property and replace it
with communism. If private property is abolished, there will be no
reason for poverty. As for those who are slaves, everyone works hard and
does not become accustomed to arrogance and luxury, and is weak and
unable to do anything. Moreover, everyone is equal, and there is no
distinction between wealth and dignity. Naturally, they ignore the
principle of working as a humble servant. Each one has his own
profession, combined to form a society of assistance. All work is done
to support the life of the whole society, and people are with me in it,
rather than just for the sacrifice of a few people. The more diligent
you are, the more abundant the production will be, and the greater the
happiness of the society. That is to say, the greater the happiness, I
don’t believe that there are people who enjoy leisure and hate work at
this time.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 5 & 6:
The working hours of the people range from eight to twelve hours a day.
They work too much and the excessive labor is harmful to their
physiology. Although there are machines that can save labor, the rich
are unwilling to spend money to buy equipment to save labor. If there is
no relationship between money and trade in the world of human beings,
all kinds of work can be mechanized. As long as people perform their
functions, no matter how skilled they are and how hard they work, they
will not become leisure pursuits, that is, they will not. It is possible
to get what Kropotkin called the filthy pit and make it as beautiful as
the experimental knowledge of the university. Since there is no new
money for capitalists, naturally everything can use the results of
science. And the so-called happiness of civilization , it is not the
exclusive product of the rich. Labor is saved at the same time as time,
and there is no need to worry about hardship. There is only joy. If you
look at today’s world, the rich are happy and do nothing to produce.
Most of the officials and merchants buy navy, army, lawyers, police,
slaves, prostitutes, thieves, gangsters, beggars, gangsters, and half of
all women in the world (all the above-mentioned people who are not
beneficial to social life are collectively called wandering minds), are
all provided food, clothing, and shelter by the farmers and workers.
Among the workers, part of them is consumed in useless things, so that
one person can support three or four people. (It is difficult to
accurately estimate the statistics of human occupations in the world.)
However, the number of vagrants mentioned above must be three or four
times that of farmers and workers. On average, one person can fulfill
the promise of three or four people, and one person can obey three or
four people. This makes most people see farmers and workers as
subordinates, and regard them as slow labor. The happiness gained by
farmers and workers is not as good as all kinds of leisurely pursuits.
It’s an unfair society.)How can you get something without working?
If at that time everyone was working, suffering and happiness were
equal, using machines for various tasks, and there was no wear and tear
on battleships, forts, ordnance, etc. and everyone was engaged in the
legitimate work of life, the expansion of property at that time would be
incredible. According to the statistical calculation results of a
certain French anarchist, it is said that each person can work two hours
a day to meet the needs of society. Today, it is assumed that it is
doubled, and each person works four hours a day. Working for four hours,
the time is short, it is easy, and the pain of labor will turn into the
joy of entertainment. Today’s people have no leisure and entertainment.
Even leisure activities such as traveling, games, gymnastics and other
pastimes are enough. However, working for several hours a day is nothing
more than a pastime. Why worry about not being willing to work?
There is also an era of nihilistic government, where human beings have
no thoughts and there will be no evolvers in society. Not thinking about
evolution is the principle of natural evolution, and upward is the
common nature of human beings — there is no reason to retreat but not to
advance. The evolution of the world depends entirely on science. People
who invent science are willing to compete for their own interests, and
they are probably the hearts and ears of good social work and evolution.
The reason why science is difficult to achieve is because of private
property. People who are not rich cannot obtain the highest education.
Once they have obtained it, they have to find food and clothing, so they
don’t have much free time, and the help of equipment and experiments
cannot be achieved unless they have capital. European and American
scientific research societies and scientific inventors are often funded
by wealthy people. This science is evidence of the manipulation of
money. If communism is practiced, education will be equal, everyone will
have scientific knowledge, and so-called inventions will not be
exclusive to a few people. If you know what you are doing every day, you
will have more time for research, and everyone will have access to
experimental instruments. At this time, anyone with a profound mind will
be able to concentrate on research, and scientific inventions will be
far more advanced than they are today. Individuals are trapped under the
private property system and earn money for food and clothing every day,
but only a lot of money is enough. They are slightly cautious and
open-minded, and cannot change their fortunes. If they lived, in a
society of mutual love, their thoughts will be improved by all those who
think about society and seek happiness. Why not evolve the world?
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 7:
In addition, there is a common doubt, that is, if a country has no
government, it will be invaded and conquered. People who doubt this are
probably accustomed to having a government and superstitiously believe
that the government is omnipotent. But they don’t know that the
government is also a human being and is not omnipotent. The so-called
defense against aggression is nothing but reliance on the army. The army
is accustomed to obeying orders and has no independent character. Once
it is used to defend against aggression, the people’s willingness to
listen to orders must be more important than the willingness to defend,
so it is not enough to serve. If the people’s self-defense is purely due
to the axiom of ensuring resistance to strong power, they must regard
the government’s military as their own, powerful. Looking at the French
Revolution in 1793, the civilians resisted the allied forces, and the
Spaniards defeated Napoleon the First, all of these were conquered by
the people’s most outstanding ability to resist foreign aggression. It
can be seen that soldiers who do not need to be trained for a long time
to resist aggression, and those who advocate full armament in the name
of militarism, are only for the government’s private interests and are
not specifically for resisting aggression. It is uneasy but since
civilians have the ability to overthrow the government of one country
and can defeat the army of one country, they can also defeat the army of
other countries. Moreover, there are no political parties and no
national boundaries. After overthrowing the government of one country,
they will allocate their remaining strength to help the revolution of
other countries. To overthrow the governments of other countries,
various anarchist parties have been organized. If the government of one
country is removed, the anarchist parties in other countries will rise
up and attack their governments. At this time, all the so-called
governments will not have enough time to take care of themselves, and
much less still have the energy to invade the country without a
government? Just look at the great master of all wars in the world, and
his opponent’s anarchy is terrifying. The Anarchist party can unite the
peoples of all nations to form a unified alliance, but the governments
of all countries cannot unite in a grand alliance of all nations. This
shows that the power of Anarchism is far greater than that of the
government, and there is no doubt about it.
The above repeated arguments all prove that anarchism is not only
correct in theory and political theory, but also can be implemented. How
could anyone who reads this disagree?
**
** The Difference Between Anarchism and Marxism
What is the difference between Anarchism and Marxism? The main thing is:
Anarchism is the doctrine of the people, while Marxism is the doctrine
of the political party.
Marxism is a party-centered alliance of a small number of people, who
decide to lead and direct the struggle, and the party’s power is above
all else. Anarchism is centered on the common people, and the revolution
is completed by the will and power of the common people. The party only
serves as the spokesperson among the common people, the core of the
common people, and the pioneer of the common people.
The purpose of Marxism is to overthrow the so-called democratic regime
(the regime of the bourgeoisie) and establish the regime of the Marxist
Party (the regime of the Communist Party), which is euphemistically
called: the dictatorship of the proletariat. Anarchism opposes all
attempts to seize power. Political power is a tool for a small number of
people to rule the majority. The majority of the Chinese people can
never hold political power, and they do not need political power. What
the people need is an anarchic, autonomous, and united free communist
society. The word “communism” used by the Communist Party is often
confused with the “free communism” of anarchy and communism, but in fact
the content is completely different. The doctrine of the Communist Party
is not “communism”. In fact, it is “collective property”, because it
nationalizes all property, land, and factories and puts them under the
control of the government, and the government becomes a big capitalist.
Today, workers and peasants in various countries are enslaved by
individual landlords and capitalists. This is called “wage slavery.”
Under the dominance of the Communist Soviet government, farmers became
serfs of the government, and workers became labor slaves of the
government. Although the government raises the flag of the
“proletariat,” it is exactly the opposite of the dictatorship of the
proletariat, and it has become a group that dominates and exploits the
proletariat. Anarchist Communism is a planning principle that returns
all property in society to the common people, and the land to farmers.
The villagers’ and peasants’ associations plan production, and the
factories belong to the workers. The labor unions organized by the
workers plan production, and distribution. The entire production and
distribution belongs to the Workers’ and Farmers’ Federation. Everyone
works, everyone participates in all life decisions, there is no ruler,
everyone freely enjoys the common products, and makes the best use of
their talents and abilities.
Nowadays, many people misunderstand that the doctrine of the “Communist
Party” is “communism”. This is really a mistake. The Bolshevik wing of
the Russian Social Democratic Party changed its name to the “Communist
Party”, which confuses the eyes of the common people. “Communist Party”
is a sign. He does not advocate communism. He advocates collectivism
with state dictatorship. What we anarchists advocate is “from each
according to his ability, to each according to his needs” which is
communism.
A government can never be communist,
Anarchy leads to communism.
** Equality #1 Selected Articles
*** Our Manifesto
“Equality, equality!” What a wonderful term! You have been the only
ideal in the minds of common people for thousands of years. You are the
gospel that many people long to look up to. For you and for your
realization, countless of our compatriots have Sacrificing their
happiness, their lives and everything, the independence of the United
States, the revolutions of France and Russia, these earth-shaking great
undertakings, that one was not for you, the blood flowing like a river
in the bloody battlefield , the mountains of prison bones piled up, the
guillotine, the bloody spots under the noose and the sharp knife, the
tears of the prisoners in the corpses, and the cries of hungry women and
children in the huts in the next alley, are not for this. you. Over the
past many centuries, people have paid such a high price!
However, in fact, today’s society is a very unequal society! A big gap
divides mankind into two big classes, the plunderers and the plundered —
the haves and the have-nots. Some people’s personal waste every day is
enough to feed more than a thousand people, and some people have
difficulty getting the necessary food every day. On the one hand, he
eats delicacies from the mountains and seas, wears silks and satins, and
lives in high-rise buildings. On the other hand, he eats rice with
residual soup, wears rags and shoes, and lives in miserable thatched
huts. On the one hand, wealth is aspirational, on the other hand,
poverty is miserable. On the one hand, many rich people do not work at
all, produce nothing, and live only on the income of others. They enjoy
all kinds of entertainment, spend a lot of money, hire many servants,
occupy many houses, and deprive society of wealth. On the other hand,
many poor people go looking for work but cannot find it. Their homes are
in need of shelter, they are suffering from the cold and are suffering
great hardship. Those who had jobs worked hard to support their
families, but because they overworked and ate poorly, they died in their
thirties and forties, leaving their wives and children to suffer. How
terrifying! But it’s not just that. People of one class hold the power
of life and death of people of another class, and can kill, imprison and
humiliate people at will, while the other class only has one person and
can die.
“I’m dying, freezing to death. All the rights of the common people have
been taken away. In the end, you can only mourn your own fate with tears
in your eyes. However, those shameless rich people live on your favors.
But they are openly drinking wine!” When we read this song that was
popular in France in the late 18th century, who can’t help but feel for
them? However, the sad thing is that this is exactly for our own. What a
portrait!
We have the same body of flesh and blood, and we have the same talent
and self-gathering points. We have worked so hard to create the wealth
of today’s society, why should we still crawl under the influence of the
first class and sink into the sea of poverty?
“Equality, equality,” the loud bell rang from this poor world surrounded
by pain, poverty and misery. We no longer want to be oppressed slaves,
we no longer want to be weak people living under the influence of the
God of Destiny. We know our rights. We are here to demand “equality”.
This unfair society should be eliminated, the unfair classes should be
eradicated, the institutions where people rule over others, the tools
used by the capitalist class to oppress us — government laws, military
police, etc. should be overthrown.
What we demand is economic equality, de facto equality, where everyone
can enjoy the same happiness and fulfill the same obligations. There are
no masters, no slaves, no government, no common people, no bourgeoisie,
no proletariat. We must hold the banner and advance towards this free
and equal society. Our banner is “from each according to his ability, to
each according to his needs” and the way to achieve this is
“revolution”. “With revolution”, our “equality” is no longer a fantasy.
With “revolution”, we can break the slave system and become free people,
so we are all revolutionary parties.
This small monthly publication with black characters printed on white
paper is not our main job, nor is it our only weapon. It is just our
cry, our flag, and the sound of a bell that arouses our comrades. Here
is an explanation of our propositions, and here is a record of our
movement. Some are fierce tides in full swing, while others are bits and
pieces of blood and tears. Our conscious comrades who are sinking into
the dark world and all those who sympathize with us, please come and
unite under the banner of equality! We are willing to launch the cannon
as your pioneer!
*** Is Our Society Such an Unfair One?
Before us, there were tens of millions of people who felt that our
society was too unfair and unreasonable. They would raise their throats
and shout at their companions, and they would not know that there are
tens of millions of people who, in order to demand fairness and freedom,
dedicate their heads and blood and tears to mankind and their brothers.
. And until now, many people are still fighting and bleeding there. But
what about the society we live in now? We see manifestations of the
so-called civilized society everywhere. In major cities, we can see tall
and majestic buildings, convenient transportation, prosperous commerce,
gorgeous hotels, and cultural gathering places. School libraries and
museums, entertainment theaters and music halls, and all kinds of
entertainment life that don’t work. And in fact we can also see that
there are some people who enjoy their contented lives. Some people were
walking around full of joy. If you don’t know how to look at the other
side, you will definitely not believe that this society is unreasonable.
But as long as you are not an idiot, you will never fail to see another
aspect of this society, or it can be said that only this opposite aspect
is the true face of modern society and everything that makes up modern
society. You can see pale-faced beggars on the streets. If you get up
early or walk to a factory-lined area, you will definitely see male and
female workers like insects squirming there for food and clothing. You
can walk to the road at dusk. You will definitely see prostitutes
wandering around soliciting customers, and so on. If you occasionally
walk out of the city, you will see shabby houses and rude farmers, and
heavy carriages that make an astonishing noise, like ragged beggars
sitting on them. The carriers fetched water from tubes in the deep wells
and carried it to the peasant women beside the ugly stove. There was no
look of joy on their faces. They had no feminine beauty at all. It was a
stone on their bodies. Only coarseness and stupidity can be found. Their
children cannot even be counted; they cannot dream of the upbringing and
play of the children of the rich. Such people actually constitute
one-tenth of the human race. This is still the case in civilized
countries.If you pay attention to the societies of so-called “inferior
countries” and “inferior nations”, you can see everything that is more
cruel and inhumane. In short, before our eyes and in our ears, we are
surrounded by extreme disharmony and extreme unfairness. Of the more
than 200 million human beings in the world, at least 190 million are
slaves, oppressed, and plundered. They have no right to enjoy the
natural endowments, they have no right to maintain and expand their
lives, they were sentenced to life imprisonment the day they were not
even born, and they said you are a slave. In such a society and such a
world, most people believe in God and believe in God. They think that
being born in the world is punished by God. There are also some
philosophers and poets who are skeptical and pessimistic. They want to
solve the problem of why humans should be born in the world. Regarding
the issue, there are also some scholars who advocate personal
upbringing. They encourage people to get rich and become officials. They
believe that if you don’t want to be a slave, you should work hard to be
a master. There are also some politicians who are superstitious about
the state and the law. They say humans are born sinful. Therefore, we
can only guide their lives to be good gradually under the rule and the
law.
But what a deception this is! All the above and so on are to maintain
this unfairness and maintain this disharmony. The country, the law, and
the disguised scholars and old moralists just want to reconcile this
unfairness and injustice, organize it and solidify it, so that it will
never change. It is more appropriate to say that they are the protectors
of the privileged class, the bourgeoisie. They are the capitalists,
bureaucrats, monks, and the nobility rely on these people to maintain
themselves. Let us look at the day when the current legal system is not
persecuting us working-class civilians? Although we have gradually woken
up from this nightmare, and although our pioneers have sacrificed a lot,
we must know that our companions , there are still most people doing
something there, and most people are still there to protect the country,
make money-making machinery for the capitalists, and make luxury goods
for the privileged class. There are also many people who are making
weapons to kill people there, and people are being led to war in the
field to kill each other.
Friends! Our current society continues to be unfair and unharmonious!
How many benefits has modern scientific civilization given us? The only
ones enjoying modern civilization are the beasts and the murderous
class. We should wake up. If we still think that we are human beings and
that we are human beings born in nature, we should stand up and take
back our rights as human beings. If we are creatures of nature, we
should enjoy the products of nature as much as possible. If we are
humans, we should try our best to enjoy the wealth created by humans.
Why do we give up our rights? Why do we let the minority murderous class
monopolize it? Why do we still work like horses for their private
property and private interests?
Friends! If we are not idiots, we should wake up and unite. Friends who
are standing in this disadvantageous position! Leave the shackles and
everything we have and fight against the cruel beasts! We don’t need to
be timid, we have everything around us. We are the masters of all
production of weapons. Why don’t we use this weapon and unleash it on
the enemy? Why don’t we rise up and manage our production institutions?
As long as we realize our status and see our enemies clearly, our world
will immediately change according to our wishes. We work for our
brothers and we come to share. Is this a fantasy? If someone says this
is a fantasy, he is saying that he is cowardly. Now, who is willing to
be an eternal slave! We should all despise it.
*** Equality
There are so many injustices in this society! On the one hand, there is
prosperity and luxury, on the other hand, there is poverty and misery.
On the one hand, there is wanton waste, on the other hand, there is
hunger and cold. On the one hand, there is hygiene and comfort, on the
other hand, there is death from disease. On the one hand, there is
idleness, on the other hand, there is hard work throughout life. On the
one hand there are high-rise buildings, on the other hand is a humble
hut. On the one hand there is knowledge, science, art and civilization,
on the other hand, there are people that are stupid, rude and
uneducated. On the one hand there are capitalists with tens of millions
of dollars and wealthy emperors, on the other hand there is a laborer
who would starve if he did not work hard for a day. On one hand, there
are bureaucratic military police who kill people and brutally commit
crimes; on the other hand, there are civilians who are punished and
killed and endure the humiliation and pain. In short, this is a society
of thieves. Except for a few people, most of them are exploited. The
oppressor, the plundered.
We are all people who have been plundered and oppressed, (at least we
are people who express deep sympathy for the proletariat), and we are
very angry about the injustice of the current society. We must resist
the current society: and work towards the current society by the use of
revolution, we must overthrow the old and create a happy and bright new
society with complete freedom and true equality.
Don’t say that this is an unrealizable utopia! In less than a few
decades since the founding of the First International, the efforts of
the working class have gradually expanded. Many people who used to work
more than ten hours a day now only work eight hours a day. Hours, wages
used to be very pitiful, and now the capitalists have to increase their
wages many times. Now the whole world has awakened, and there are tens
of millions of organized workers, and workers’ own groups are
everywhere. Yes, the workers’ own newspapers and magazines are spreading
by the thousands, and the news of strikes and revolts is reported every
day to the working class. As long as they continue to work hard and
continue to fight together, soon this great world will be “ours”, and it
will be “our” future. In society, the following two principles must be
implemented:
(1) On the economic front, abolish money, capital, and the wage system,
and implement communism based on the principle of “everyone can do what
they can, everyone takes what they need.”
(2) In politics, there is no need for police, no executioners, no law,
no government. All affairs must be organized by workers.
Groups are directly managed, and based on “small organization, large
liaison”, they implement organized and methodical anarchism. Stop saying
that this is an unrealizable utopia — because the current society is too
bad and too difficult, so no one dares to hope for a good, beautiful and
happy society. In fact, as long as you think this doctrine is right and
reasonable, That will surely come true one day, because history tells us
that truth will always conquer everything.
Come on! The current society is so unfair! All the people who are
oppressed and plundered, let’s rise up and overthrow this capital system
and powerful organizations! We have been slaves enough, let’s become
free people where everyone is equal.
*** Some News (July)
The “Revolutionary Workers’ Alliance” was established in Guangdong and
believes in syndicalism, and some of our comrades also joined it. It is
said to have 100,000 members.
Five people including Mizunuma Kuma, a representative of Japan’s Kanto
Free Federation of Labor Unions, have arrived in Guangzhou after
secretly escaping from the country. Mizunuma is the younger brother of
Tatuo Mizunuma, the most famous anarcho-syndicalist in Japan. He was the
supervisor of the Institute of Science and Technology at Moscow State
University. After returning to Japan, he worked as the editor and
publisher of “Black Youth”. Very experienced in the labor movement. Now
that he has come to China, how much contribution he can make to the
development of the Chinese labor movement.
This magazine received a letter from Comrade Goldman. It is said that
after arriving in Canada in October last year, she immediately engaged
in speech propaganda and achieved great results. Now she plans to stay
for another year to plan a large-scale movement. It is also said that
when she gave a speech on the situation in China this month, she was
extremely opposed to supporting the national revolution of the
bourgeoisie. What she paid most attention to was the now awakened young
men and women and ordinary workers.
The Italian comrades in this town regularly hold a banquet at the hotel
on the evening of the 8th of this month. At the same time, they support
the New York “Road to Freedom” magazine and celebrate the launch of the
“Liberation” monthly magazine. (The newspaper is in Italian and is
scheduled to be published this month) There will be various
entertainments, and all our comrades will participate in the fun.
The third issue of another magazine has been published. This issue is
the commemorative issue of Shifu, and contains a detailed biography of
Shifu. If you want to know Shifu as a person and understand anarchists,
you must read it. We will sell it on our behalf. The combined 45th and
45th issues of this magazine are expected to arrive within the next
month of printing.
*** About this Publication
(1) This publication is co-organized by the Equality Society and our
comrades who live in Europe and the United States. In addition to
promoting anarchism and recording news about the anarchist movement as
the main content, this magazine also pays attention to the situation of
Chinese workers in Europe and the United States. Comrades, if you have a
message to send to this publication, it is most welcome.
(2) This publication is free. If you want to read it, please inform us
of the address and we will send it to you immediately. If there is any
change of address, please feel free to inform us.
** Equality #2 Selected Articles
*** Chinese Anarchism and Organizational Issues
Regarding the issue of organization, my opinion is the same as that of
all Chinese comrades, anarchy requires organization, and it requires
strict organization. In the past, there may have been some comrades who
advocated not having organizations, but now almost no one would have
such an opinion. Therefore, in the past, most of the anarchists in China
were the intellectual class. In countries where China’s progress is
relatively slow, they cannot have public events. Therefore, some do not
understand the organization at all. Some even say that anarchy means no
organization. But later, on the one hand, due to theoretical research,
it was known that the society required by anarchism was not unorganized;
on the other hand, because past experience proved that development
cannot be achieved without organization. Therefore, the most pressing
issue among Chinese comrades now is the organizational issue.
We all know that the prophets of anarchism such as Bakunin and Kropotkin
were all in favor of organization. Bakunin often spoke of the need to
organize groups. Moreover, from the experience of the Russian Revolution
and the French Revolution, we know that the proletariat cannot be
liberated from the shackles of capitalism without the ability to
organize, manage industrial and agricultural distribution of production,
etc. Therefore, if we want to seek the liberation of the masses, we must
develop the organizational power of the masses. If we want to carry out
revolutionary work, we must also develop our own organizational power.
Printing a pamphlet or publishing a journal is what an individual can
do, but actual revolutionary work, a planned and strategic social
revolution, is not something that can be most effective by relying on an
individual’s strength. It had to be accomplished through organized
gatherings, and by the organized anarchists.
In the past, some comrades were deeply afraid that strict group
organizations could only hinder personal development. This idea was
wrong. Group organizations not only cannot hinder individual
development, but can actually help them develop. development. The effect
of operating as an organization not only benefits from the activity of
the individual, but also from the activity of the group, which cannot be
achieved by the activities of separate individuals.
Although organization is necessary, the organization of an anarchist
party is different from other political parties. It is not a centralized
organization. Chinese comrades also understand this very well. The
organization sought by the Chinese comrades is based on the principle of
free association.
Regarding this organizational law, the comrades refer to the resolutions
of the 1918 Ukrainian Anarchist Congress, also in the same year, two of
the Russian anarcho-syndicalism resolutions, and resolution of the
All-Russian Anarchist Congress of 1919 then written a book “Draft
Program of the Anarchy”, first published in Minzhong and other
magazines, then printed into a handbook.. In general, most comrades in
China agree with his views. The main points of its organizational law:
the basic unit of the group is a small group of five or more people
organized by comrades in factories, schools and other institutions.
These small groups united with small groups in villages and towns to
form district alliances, and then the district alliances formed the
national alliance. Here I give a very simple organizational method as
follows:
(1) Purpose: Anarchism has no hierarchy. It is not bourgeoisie’s utopia,
it is the ideology of the proletariat. Therefore, the purpose of the
anarchist party is to assist the working class and carry out the
revolutionary cause.
(2) Members: Anyone who believes in anarchist communism and is willing
to be a spiritual force for the working class can join the organization.
However, they must be introduced by one or more organization members and
approved by the conference before they can join the organization.
(3) Organization: Those who have more than five comrades in a factory or
school can organize small groups. Each small group can jointly form a
district alliance, which can then become a provincial alliance and then
a national alliance. Each small group elects a secretary to handle
affairs, and the term of office is limited. The secretaries of district
leagues and provincial league organizations are elected by the plenary
session or representative meeting. The secretariat must pay attention to
and promote the organization of the working class. If an important issue
arises, representatives of each group will convene a meeting to discuss
all proceeding matters. The resolutions shall be handed over to the
Secretariat for execution. The National Grand Alliance is divided into
secretaries, editors, propaganda, workers and peasants, and other
departments. Its duties are to operate publishing, newspaper propaganda,
convene conferences, and liaise with comrades from various countries.
The labor and agriculture department specializes in dealing with the
workers and peasants movement.
(4) It is stipulated that organization members should perform all team
duties and report their duties to the group. There shall be no shirk for
the things delegated by the general assembly. If a member damages the
name of the group, fails to fulfill his responsibilities as a member or
fails to attend three meetings without reason, he will be warned. If he
does not listen, he may be expelled by the general assembly.
Generally speaking, Chinese comrades agree with the above outline.
However, the organizational network adopted in various places has
changed somewhat due to local conditions, and some are more strict.
From the above description, we can get a glimpse of the opinions of
Chinese comrades on organization. If the opinions of comrades across the
country can be roughly unanimous, the issue of organization will no
longer be a problem, and the period of discussion will enter the period
of implementation.
This is a section of a report prepared for the preparatory meeting of
the “Anarchist International” (i.e., the International Anarchist
Congress). Later, due to complaints that the Congress was oppressed by
the French government, many comrades from various countries were
deported. This report was not translated and sent, but now I have
recorded it and published it in this journal.
*** People
“You are not a human being!” is a very common people’s saying. Not being
a human being, of course, doesn’t mean that you don’t have two hands and
a mouth, and it certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t have a human form.
Human beings are born free and equal. But now, some — the majority —
have become cattle and horses that are eaten, and some — a very small
number of people — have become tigers and wolves that eat and kill.
Although the world is huge, how can we find a person, a real person?
As for workers and farmers, we are cattle and horses being driven by
people, and sheep being slaughtered by people; we still don’t know how
to live human lives. As for those policemen and soldiers, you are the
dogs that protect the rich and that protect politicians. You are not
human beings and you do not deserve to be human beings.
Try your best to be a human being, comrades! You must understand that
because you are kneeling under the rich and powerful, you feel that you
are humble and inferior. Now is the time, stand up! Raise your head and
neck, straighten your chest, and be a self-respecting, self-loving,
courageous, spirited, and courageous person!
We have lived enough of slave life. If we live enough, we would rather
die if we are not free. Really, it would be better to die if you can’t
be a good person!
As for you, “cannibal beasts”, you always look down on people in a smug,
arrogant way, but you are even less worthy of being human, and you are
even less human.
·Your champagne, hundreds of bottles of champagne — this is the blood of
workers, the birth of children and women! You drink it bottle after
bottle!
A plate of yours can save many lives — it is made of the flesh and blood
of the oppressed! Although you are chewing it quietly and peacefully,
such a gentleman’s mask, it proves that you are more vicious than
wolves, and more ferocious than tigers! Really, when I turn on the smell
of human flesh, look, isn’t it still bloody?
·You are such cannibals. I pity you and give you a final piece of
advice: Stop fighting and trampling on the heads of your fellow humans,
and stop taking pleasure in their corpses! Stop being a demon that
oppresses people. You are a hungry ghost who robs people! Put down your
butcher knife and be a human being!
I’m dreaming! How can a hungry tiger and a ferocious tiger become a
human? Please continue to eat people and kill people; but remember:
“There are no white-haired robbers.” One day, one day, karma will come
for you!
Anarchism, in my opinion, has no other purpose than to enable us to be
individuals and to enable everyone to be individuals. Let a person not
kneel in front of others and beg like a cow because of hunger. No matter
what, you can’t be a superior person, no matter what, you can’t be a
subordinate.
“What a dream!” I see people saying this everywhere. Let’s discuss it!
Design it as much as you can! You guys who eat human flesh and drink
human blood! You try your best to buy newspapers and scholars, try your
best to propagandize, and say that anarchy and communism are always
utopias. This is true in the past world and in the current world. This
will always be the case. If it’s not enough, you still have thousands of
cages, swords for hands, knives and guns for police dogs, and machine
guns for soldiers. Do your best to oppress! Do your best to kill! But
you must understand that no one will be afraid of you, because you are
just a relic of the “past”, and the “future” has already sentenced you
to death.
“Everyone should do what they can, everyone should get what they need,
everyone is equal, everyone is free. Although the ideal is good, it is a
pity! I’m afraid it can’t be done!” What a miserable and pitiful voice
this is, the cry of slaves!
Those privileged classes tell you every day that this is a good ideal
but cannot be realized. “You’re used to hearing it, and you actually
believe it.” Slaves, you have been deceived and fooled. Don’t you
understand now?
“All good ideals can be realized.” This is a true truth, don’t forget
it. Wasn’t the airplane fifty years ago a good idea that “cannot control
the present”? What is it like now? More than a hundred years ago Motors,
your words, etc., aren’t they all “unrealizable” fantasies? What about
now? Wasn’t the “national journey” twenty years ago also a good idea
that “cannot be realized”? What about now? There are tens of millions of
such examples, but I don’t need to give them more. People with money and
power are unwilling to believe and instead oppress, the people who made
the plunder should have believed it a long time ago.
When a person is born, there is no such thing as superiority or
inferiority, high or low, rich or poor, or wisdom and salvation. All
kinds of injustices, all kinds of classes, all kinds of evils, all kinds
of systems are all made by human power. Since human power can do it, why
can’t it be destroyed by human power? We are not human beings. Anyone
who has blood and courage, people! If we don’t eat people, we will be
eaten by others. If we don’t kill people, we will be killed by others.
But we have lived enough, we have really lived enough of this inhuman
life! Let’s all get up and work together to destroy this evil and
miserable world and create a human society!
There are no officials and no people, no gentlemen and no villains, no
masters and no slaves, no sages and no stupid people. You don’t despise
me and I don’t flatter you. No one is willing to be oppressed by others
and no one wants to go. Once the oppressor reaches that time, we can
finally leave the dangerous, terrible, miserable and dark hell, come to
the world of light, and shout: Now I’m a human!
*** Some News (August)
The Italian comrades in this town held a banquet on the evening of the
8th of the previous month, which was recorded in the last issue of this
magazine. There were comrades from seven or eight countries attending
the meeting that evening, numbering in the hundreds. Most of our
comrades also participated. The meeting was held at eight o’clock in the
evening. During the banquet, the secretary announced the purpose of the
banquet and read out a congratulatory speech. There was thunderous
applause. We invited various comrades to give speeches, and finally
raised funds for the bi-monthly publications of “Liberation” and “The
Road to Freedom”. It was already half past eleven when the meeting
ended.
Comrade Shuyao has been working recently. In his spare time, he devotes
himself to propaganda work. Every Sunday, he went to the overseas
Chinese districts in nearby towns to hold open-air lectures, and
distributed this magazine. Every time he read it, the audience was very
crowded, and many expressed sympathy for our humanism.
** Equality #5 Selected Articles
*** Some News (November)
The city’s Jewish, Russian, Italian, and Chinese anarchist comrades held
a picnic meeting on the 23rd of last month in this city. There were a
large number of gays and lesbians attending the meeting that day. In
addition to speeches, there were also music and ball games to add to the
fun. It was also suggested by a Russian comrade that the four groups
should unite in the future and hold a regular meeting every Saturday
night to facilitate communication. Once approved by all, it will be
implemented on the last Saturday night of last month.
On the evening of the 11th of this month, various worker groups in this
city jointly held a commemorative meeting to commemorate the 40th
anniversary of the martyrdom of Chicago. It was the evening when many
famous speakers gave speeches. The venue address is as follows:
Labor Lyceum, 1740 O’Farrell St.
Some other magazines have been mailed. One costs 2 cents per volume, and
the other costs 7 cents per volume, which are sold by our organization.
** Equality #12 Selected Articles
*** What Should We Do Now?
“Fighting for anarchy is the most beautiful way to live life.”
If you blame me for not replying to your letter for a long time, you
should know that it’s not because I can’t answer the questions you
asked. My silence proves that I want to give you a more important
answer. Moreover, in this reactionary period, in a still painful life,
with a painful heart, I suppressed the rushing tide, and observed and
thought with a calm mind, there is nothing in common with what I have
experienced in the past few years. Where the beliefs conflict, I will
stay true. I will not be like those people who defect midway, discover a
new path, go against their true beliefs, and do things they oppose in
order to survive in society, but I am in this era. In the process of
moving forward, I realized that the truth I knew was good, and the path
I took was endless. If I could die a hundred times and be resurrected a
hundred times, I would still walk on the path I am on now, and I would
still be a revolutionary anarchist. Since I would still distinguish my
thoughts and actions in this way, After some evaluation, I understand
that I will not deceive myself, I will not sell my faith, and I will
continue to live in this turbulent society without tarnishing my
beloved. Ideally, then I feel that I can stand in front of you without
any shame, and with comradely sincerity and brotherly friendship, I can
sincerely tell you what I really feel and want to say.
“What should we do now?” You asked. In your question, I can see your
recent depression and your recent negativity. I know that you are tired
of years of hard struggle and have begun to doubt your belief in justice
and victory. You then asked: “When will this situation end?” Dear
comrade, believe me, my firm answer to the first question is: “According
to what is required of us to do. Just do it;” As for the second one,
“This situation will eventually end.”
“What should we do now?” This question brings us to a big stage in life.
We feel that we are standing on the shore of a turbid and clear sea.
What other way do we have to go? We can only jump onto the stage and
jump into the sea. However, before we jump in, we should observe this
stage and the sea with a thorough mind, and then use the determination
to remain unchanged even if a mountain collapses in front of us. Engage
in it with unyielding perseverance. There we can be sure that our heels
will not drift with the world.
Okay, okay, let’s take a look at this stage, this ocean — China’s
society. But before we make this observation, I want to tell you: the
story of how another generation of young people in another country got
the answer to the same question decades ago. This is a bright mirror for
us, and we must reflect our own reflection from it.
In fact, Chernyshevsky, the founder of Russian populism, raised such a
question in 1863. In the novel “What Is to Be Done?“The answer he gives
is the ideal “trinity” of a generation of young people (nihilists) — (1)
“freedom of the will” (2) “educated female companions”; (3) “professions
suitable for the doctrine.” This ideal was gradually realized.
I am currently writing “The Story of the Russian Revolution” with blood
and tears. Regarding this topic, I would like to quote the following
words from the seventh chapter of the book I am writing, “Nihilism”:
In short, the fetters of family and customs were broken. Nihilism has
triumphed.
“Then what next?” The old nihilist should be satisfied at this point and
stop moving forward. There is no answer to this question. One day a
young and enthusiastic guest came from here to visit. He asked the
nihilist in a warm tone: “Then what will we do in the future?” The old
host replied: “I am happy myself.” After hearing this answer, the young
guest, full of passion couldn’t help but become angry, and said
something more powerful than a sword: “Of course you are happy, and I
know that. But if you knew what kind of situation your compatriots in
the country were in, how could you still be happy? Are they? They are
about to die from conscription, and the government gives away all their
money and forces them to beg for a little crust of bread on the street.
They complain to others about their pain, but they are unwilling; they
complain to heaven, but heaven does not open up. When it’s cold, no one
gives it clothes; when it’s hungry, no one gives it food. Life is not
ruthless, but in their eyes, it can’t be said to be ruthless. Maybe you
don’t know this; otherwise, how could you? What about enjoyment? How can
you not do something for them? Didn’t you say a few years ago that you
were willing to “struggle for human happiness.”
“The old nihilist and others were unable to answer this young man’s
questions, so the old nihilism would go down the road of death. As for
that young man, he will leave filled with sorrow and anger. From then
on, he will ask himself repeatedly in a disappointed tone: “What should
we do?”
But the season has come. The Paris Commune Revolution of 1871 took
place. A picture appeared before this young Russian: a big city was
revolutionizing a great ideal. This young man used his full spirit to
record the earth-shattering drama that was taking place on the banks of
the Seine in France. He saw the blood flowing like a flood; he heard the
painful cries of women and children who were slaughtered on the road.
What did they die for? What did they cry for? What they died for was the
liberation of the workers; it was for the great social ideal.
At the same time, he turned back to Russia. It seems like there is a
loud voice saying: Turn your light to the field and look at this person.
He was a peasant, a free man, for it was said that there were no more
slaves in Russia. You see clearly again — the first free man was not
working or sowing. He allowed himself to swallow the clouds of earth.
Although the land was given to him, he did not have the rakes or hoes to
plow the land, nor did he have cattle or horses, so he could not
fertilize the land. He had nothing to eat and was so hungry that he had
to eat clods of soil. If he did find tree roots in the soil, he would
keep them and take them home to his wife and children who were waiting
in the shabby house.. Look at the pictures of peasants: their whole
lives are filled with sorrow, suffering and abuse. They suffer from
hunger and are tired of routine, and they will always be slaves of the
privileged class, toiling all day long without rest, comfort, hope and
happiness; the government makes them live in a state of ignorance
forever, and everyone robs them , trampled on them, and no one threw a
stone to save them. ”
Hot tears flowed from the bottom of this young man, and he was in pain
in his heart: “If I am really suffering, if I am really crying, it is
because of the painful old Russian mother, who is looking at me. The
children died of hunger, cold and poverty in the withered arms of the
ground. Russia, I mourn you!”
But it was useless to mourn in vain, so the young man could not get up.
He now had the answer to the question “What should we do?” The answer he
gave was: “To build a peaceful utopia, we have to rely on the power of
the sword.” He found the job he should do — to go among the people. He
then extended a helping hand to the farmers. He told farmers how to
imagine themselves and how to make them happy. For the poor sufferers —
the farmers who could only cry bitterly, the young man’s heart burned
like a raging fire. A red light appeared on his forehead, and flames
burst out of his eyes. He then made a serious vow in his heart: he was
willing to sacrifice his life, his energy, and everything he had to
liberate the slaves who were serving under the privileged class and
being abused by their bosses; he knew what kind of people they were. He
shed his life blood so that a son of the privileged class could live a
happy life and be able to study in peace to make himself.
So with unyielding determination, the young man threw away the brocade
clothes that burned his body and the delicacies that choked his throat.
Wearing cherry blossom clothes and peasant wooden shoes, he left his
gorgeous family and said goodbye to his dear ones. He embarked on the
journey of “going to the people”. There, as a descendant of the
aristocracy, he joined the ranks of the peasants and went to remote
areas in the mountains or to windy areas by the fields to push horses
and share the joys and sorrows with the peasants. In the moments of
leisurely smoking, he promoted socialism just for the sake of it. This
type of young people were sentenced to death and exile.
After the movement among the people began, it progressed from propaganda
to terrorism, to the assassination of the emperor, and to mass riots.
The process in between still requires a pen mixed with blood and tears
to write down.. A fifteen-year-old British girl said it well: “We must
feel how small we are in front of these men and women!” I will not go on
to describe it here. However, from the paragraph that has been
described, We can also get a training and a dose of stimulants.
The answer that the Russian youth found is the answer that our modern
youth should find, “What should we do?” — Struggle for the great ideal
of people’s liberation, the Russian youth found their answer in this
sentence. The life work of our Chinese youth can only exist in this
sentence.
It will soon become the light of day. I saw the fact that light
conquered darkness, my heart became stronger, and my faith became
firmer! I believe that one day light will rule the world! However, I can
no longer write. In a second piece, we will move our gaze from the
Russian battlefield in the second half of the nineteenth century to
today’s China!
*** Notice
After our collective was raided, dear readers, you will understand that
many of our books were confiscated by the US government. Now that we
have been released from prison, the matter is over. Unfortunately, many
of our books that were difficult to collect have been lost. Although we
are oppressed and imprisoned, and have suffered this setback, we are
still determined to work hard on our work as usual, and equality will be
more vividly presented to our dear readers.
** Equality #16 Selected Articles
*** Is It Time For Revolution?
Transforming the system requires two conditions to be accomplished.
First, the exposure of the flaws of the old system itself. There is no
such thing as a completely unflawed system. However, a new system often
comes into being to remedy the shortcomings of the flawed system it
replaces; so at the beginning, what everyone notices is only its
advantages. Its flaws are often revealed only after a long time of
implementation. If the flaws are not exposed, it is difficult to arouse
many people’s motivation for transformation. Second, it is people’s
awareness of transformation. No matter how the flaws of the old system
are exposed, if everyone is bound by inertia, overwhelmed by authority,
does not recognize the possibility of transformation, and will not have
enthusiasm for transformation. and courage, even if the system needs to
be reformed on its own, there will not be a very enthusiastic demand for
reform and the fact of reform will be formed. This understanding,
enthusiasm and courage for transformation are the result of the
consciousness of transformation. The above two conditions, the former
belongs to our outer appearance, and the latter belongs to our inner
heart. When the outer line and the inner line meet, the transformation
is almost successful. But the former is often the cause of the latter.
If the system has flaws, it may not be possible for everyone to have the
consciousness to reform at once, and the consciousness to reform cannot
occur without the defects of the system. If the system is really
perfect, how can we have the consciousness that it must be reformed?
The voice of the reform of the current social system (a social system
based on capitalism) has been shouted out by a few people. But a greater
number of people suspect them, fear them and oppose them. Do we have the
tendency to revolt? Let me study whether we have the conditions for
revolution.
In any society, the proletariat naturally constitutes the largest
majority. The life of the vast majority of the proletariat depends on
either farming or working. For workers in the countryside, the daily
wages are no more than three or four cents in most and only one or two
cents in less. Although wages in cities are higher, expenses have also
increased. They also have parents and wives. With the current very
expensive rice and commodity prices, such a small salary is not enough
to support the necessary food expenses for the family, so why bother
with other expenses? Therefore, their closest friends are “Hungry” and
“Hungry”. Unfortunately, the two brothers of “Resentment” fell ill, and
Mr. “Life” wrote a letter of condolence to them again, announcing that
he would sever ties with them. As for the people who work in the fields,
the result of their hard work all year round is no less than what the
landowners and husbands have robbed of their time. If you encounter a
good year, you can also ask the old minister to show mercy and charge
them less rent, so that you can have a few grains of rice for the New
Year. If the years are spent, a year’s hard work has been wasted and
nothing has been gained, and the old husband will be insulted by such
things as being “lazy” and “too careless”. Therefore, the hardship of
the peasants’ life is not that of the workers. In addition to being
oppressed by the landlords, they are also oppressed by the army and the
military. There are also those who are unemployed and have no
qualifications to suffer the suffering of farmers and workers. They only
have two ways. One, go to a place where you will starve and freeze to
death. Or, steal from the capitalists and be called a thief.
In short, the life of the proletariat is a life of working for others,
and the life of the proletariat is a life of no protection. They have
freedom, the freedom of hunger and resentment. They also have rights,
that is, the right to “not obey”.
What I have said above is not a matter of heated conversation. If a
person who does not aim to be blind and blind, whether he is a
bureaucrat, a bureaucrat, or a politician, would not dare to deny that
there is such a situation in society: if he wants to deny it, he is not
a “living person” in society.
Entering a demanding life means knowing without learning and being able
without learning. However, the current social system cannot meet this
requirement of the majority of people, and it hinders and hinders this
requirement. With such benefits and disadvantages, isn’t its flaw not
significant? Isn’t it not obvious? So as far as the first condition for
transformation is concerned, now,tThe time has indeed come for
transformation.
As for the awareness of transformation, in modern times, it is true that
there is only a glimmer of hope, but it will not spread among the
people. However, the cries of “life is hard” and “life is hard” can be
heard everywhere. The proletarians may not be able to see through the
fallacy that “richness and poverty are due to fate” that the capitalists
tempt them, or they may be afraid of the authority of the capitalists,
or they may be limited by class habits, so they often only know how to
“complain” without self-consciousness. Knowing that they have the
ability and method to “avoid suffering”, they are unable to get on the
track of “reforming enlightenment”. However, it is definitely not human
nature to complain about suffering without seeking to avoid suffering.
Therefore, it is easy to move from “complaining about suffering” to
seeking “avoiding suffering”. Now the power of science and unequal
theories are more than enough to destroy “destiny” and “class theory”.
The power of proletarian unity can eventually defeat the common law of
capitalists. It is what the facts in Europe, America and Japan in recent
decades tell us, and it is very trustworthy. As long as a few people who
are awakened first spread the doctrine and facts of that force to the
people, they will eventually develop the enthusiasm and courage to
understand and have the “awareness of transformation”. People who
previously advocated preparation and determination , in the end, they
used various excuses such as “insufficient level” and “incomplete
education” to cover up their “cowardly” mentality. Now those who want to
oppose the reform may have that kind of excuse. But the current
transformation is an economic transformation. To put it simply, it is a
transformation of life. No matter how inadequate the people’s education
level is and how little education is popularized, they will never be
able to sustain and develop life without knowing what is required.
Unless you are someone who denies life, everyone has the ability to seek
life, and everyone has received the natural education of seeking life.
Is that kind of excuse worth laughing at? Supporting the various
doctrines, habits and authority of the privileged class is enough to
constrain the will to survive and prevent the development of the
consciousness of life transformation. But the shouts of a few awakened
people can eventually free the ordinary awakened souls from countless
shackles and become the voice of the masses. And the hint of fact is a
very powerful promotion machine for enlightenment. If we try to observe
the number and capacity of strikes in various cities over the past few
years, it will not be difficult to know that the awareness of reform is
easy to spread.
From this point of view, although the second condition for
transformation is not yet in place, it has already sprouted and will
arrive sooner or later.
Be suspicious and afraid of people who oppose reform. If you don’t admit
the fact that these two conditions exist, or if you can eliminate them,
you can be doubtful, fearful, and opposed. Otherwise, if you don’t
doubt, fear, and don’t oppose transformation, transformation will come.
If you doubt, fear, and oppose transformation, transformation will come
as well. You are suspicious and fearful and oppose transformation.
Transformation is nothing more than adding a few more people to be
transformed. Rather than reform eventually coming, why should you
consider yourself to be in the position of being reformed? Has the time
for reform come? It’s here, it’s almost here.
Will we be the proud children of opportunity and become the
transformers? Or will we be the ones eliminated of opportunity and
become the transformed ones?
** Equality #20-22 Selected Articles
*** Anarchism Returned to Action
Anarchism is not an idea abstracted from the minds of scholars. It is
the most universal principle of the universal phenomenon of the
universe, the growth of the biological world, and the extremely
important roots of the various activities of reproduction.
In this way, it seems to have given an extremely difficult definition to
anarchism, but the result of my original composition is completely the
opposite. I am not here to discuss difficult academic theories. I am
here to explain that anarchism was before the term itself came into
being, and before the content of it was considered by the pioneers of
what is now called anarchism, such as Godwin. At the time that Bakunin
and other pioneers clearly saw it, wrote about it, and publicized it,
there were already countless anarchists there doing righteous
activities. And it is not only France, Russia, Britain and other places
that have produced famous anarchist preachers. There are countless
anarchists in every place in the world, in all civilized, barbarous and
primitive nations. In short, to put it more clearly, in the evolution of
human history, no matter when and where it is, it is always inevitably
dominated by two driving forces. One of which is the force of forward
movement, the endeavor toward harmony and equality. The other is the
force that holds the inherent power, that is, to work towards deformity
and inequality. Anarchists are the executors of the former force, and
while the Marxists to imperialists are the executors of the latter
force.
What kind of people, then, are anarchists? They are those among the
people who have pure enthusiasm, far-sightedness, and boldness, who do
not have their own pleasures and personal “interests,” who are always in
the vanguard of the changes of the times, who are the forerunners of
most of those who are fearful of their own fate, who strive for constant
change and progress, they are all anarchists. No historian can fail to
recognize the greatness of the activity of the anarchists.
Godwin has clearly explained in “Enquiry Concerning Political Justice”
that the principle of anarchism has its origins in the French Revolution
but not in the expression of theory, but in the facts at the time of the
revolution..
When the Tuileries Palace was broken down and King Louis XVI was
imprisoned like an ordinary prisoner, the new municipality of Paris
immediately realized that this was not the glory of the revolution that
rose on July 14th, but the true glory of the revolution. The beginning
of the revolution of common people’s equality. In all parts of France,
peasants in the countryside violently destroyed the feudal system and
freely organized their autonomous regions. By 1793, after the rule of a
new tyrant, local rebellions and local unions arose in various places.
The movement of activists is obviously the movement of anarchists. The
unionists in the Marseilles and Lyons districts can almost represent
complete anarchism. Representative figures are completely anarchist in
their actions.
“In his “The Great French Revolution “, Kropotkin quotes the
bourgeoisie’s representative, the leader of the Girondist party, as
saying: “Order and cooperation are the essential means of revolution.
The real enemies of the French people and the Republic are the
anarchists. I know that the National Government has a party of players
in France, and I am here to prove that, firstly, this anarchist party
should dominate almost all the discussions of the National Government
and all the actions of the Executive Committee. Secondly, that this
anarchist party is the cause of all the evils that jeopardize France,
and thirdly, that France cannot be saved unless it is seriously deprived
of this party. The anarchists make endless comments on the West, on the
wealthy, on the charge of being occupiers”, they say that the wealthy
are robbers, that they are the same as the officials, and that as soon
as a man has a position they think he is a poor, sinful man.”
Society is divided into two classes, the owner class and the
empty-handed class, that is, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
“Before August 10th, these saboteurs were true revolutionaries, because
then it was time to destroy the old system and to change the Communist
regime into one of harmony. Now they are counter-revolutionaries, they
are enemies of the people, because the people or the representatives of
the people are now the masters”. All these were attacks on the
anarchists of the time, but what he was attacking was exactly what the
anarchists themselves recognized as their creed, and what they were
always moving towards. In fact, the anarchists at that time did not have
a party. In the National Government, there was the Gironde Party, the
Jacobin Party, but not the Anarchist Party, except that some people
sometimes unconsciously took on the color of anarchists, but the
anarchists were always on the periphery of the National Government, or
rather, above the National Government. Their power was such that they
could influence the national government. Some of them were gathered in
the Parisian Autonomous League, some belonged to the Club des
Cordeliers, some to the Jacobin Club, but their real territory was in
the districts, in the streets. Their course of action was public
opinion, their weapon was rebellion. They gave life and strength to the
revolution, and their ideals were crisp. A republic? Not bad! Legal
equality? Agreed! But not only that, much more! This is the anarchism of
the French Revolution, anarchism without system or principle.
They are the principal school of the anarchists. But they have all the
most important and precious things of anarchism. What they did in 1848
and 1871 was the same, wasn’t it? Especially in the Paris Commune of
1871, in riots, they showed this tendency to the fullest.
If we look at the revolutionary movement in Russia, from the
emancipation of the serfs a hundred years ago, from the countless
peasant rebellions, from the misty spirit of the fighters who struggled
under the cruel threats and tortures, we can see what the bloodlight of
the resistance against the power and their own shortness of character
has shown. In the cry of “Go to the people! What do the thousands of
nameless fighters who, with the cry “Go to the people!”, from the
metropolises, abandoning their status, honor, and happiness, leaving
their relatives, friends, and lovers, leaving the abode of knowledge,
the prosperous playgrounds, changing into rough clothes and heavy shoes,
scattering to the poor villages in the four corners of the Russian
Federation, ask for?
When the dark tyranny of Nicholas I aroused the desire for revenge, and
they used their own blood to demand the blood of those thugs, they used
the public will to judge those who had been sucking money from the past.
If the blood of the dying people is wiped out by evil spirits, who dares
to say that they will not consider their own interests?
What were the demands of those heroes in prison, in exile in Siberia?
Before and after the October Revolution of 1917, everywhere they shouted
“Land to the peasants, factories to the workers!” Who were they? Who
were the peasants’ self-defense armies that rose up in Ukraine, defeated
foreign imperialist armies, swept away all kinds of self-defense armies,
and demanded “free Soviets”? Who were the revolutionary sailors swept
away by the machine guns of Bolsheviks in Kronstadt? Who are the
revolutionary sailors who are still in exile, in prisons, in the
basements of the real demanders for further revolution?
In one word, we say that they are all anarchists, and that is what
anarchists did during the Russian Revolution. From Lieutenant to the
present day, Stalin’s followers are also repeating the phrase, “Before
the Ten Years’ Revolution they were true revolutionaries, but after that
they became counter-revolutionaries.” Because now the people of the
proletariat are the masters?
We are no longer going to get involved in a purely social movement
against the United States. For the time being, we will only talk about
what history thinks the anarchists did in the political revolution.
Bakunin internationalized this spirit. At the end of his long period of
rebellion and exile, he completed what is called modern anarchism in the
First International. From then on, anarchism continued to develop.
Since the two great anarchist theorists Kropotkin and Shao Kelu laid a
solid foundation for the construction of anarchism from an academic
perspective, the territory of anarchism has become even larger. They
gradually developed in the field of academic thought. On the one hand,
they gained a large number of intellectual supporters. This was an
inevitable progress in the course of an ideological movement, a
significant progress.
But on the other hand in the ideological divisions of the anarchists, a
peculiar tendency of the intellectuals, i.e. a reformist tendency,
occurred. On the other hand, in the ideological division of the
anarchists, a peculiarly intellectual, reformist, tendency took place.
This tendency did not occur directly in the person of Kropotkin and Shao
Kelu, because they themselves only interpreted actions in terms of
theories, because their own lives were also characterized by a process
of movement and exile. This is only an indirect tendency, or perhaps it
is a phenomenon that occurred when the old ground of the anarchist
movement after Europe was hit, when the former direct activists
retreated from the work, and when, in the middle of their retreat, they
could only propagate their ideas. This phenomenon is not only unique
among anarchists but also common among socialists. For example, Marxism
of the orthodox school of thought is not in action now, but only a
social and economic theory that is popularly studied everywhere.
This tendency had a very bad influence on China. On the one hand,
because anarchism came to China at a time when it had already acquired
this tendency, on the other hand, the first people to be exposed to this
idea in China were those who lacked the ability to act, because the
Chinese working class could not enjoy it directly, but had to go through
the hands of the petty bourgeois intellectuals who were in the process
of revolutionizing the country, and so they took anarchism for what it
was. It seems to be something truly transcendent. Some people think that
anarchism is only propaganda. Moreover, most of its propaganda is wrong,
for example, some people always seem not to understand the relationship
between anarchism and individualism. I do not know how anarchism can be
put on the side of the utopian class. Some people are skeptical about
anarchism because they have only given it a superficial observation. As
I said earlier, anarchism plays an important role in every event, in
every place, in every change of history, can China be said to be an
exception? What then is the explanation for the present state of the
anarchist movement in China?
I am here to be able to observe a change of direction or a change of
line. Let me be frank and declare that the anarchist movement in China
is not being carried out by the average self-proclaimed anarchist, or by
the average self-proclaimed anarchist, including ourselves, who
organizes magazines and publishes pamphlets. The anarchists are not
here. Or maybe this place represents only a little bit of the total
percentage. Or maybe from this you can find people who are working
against anarchism, you can find slackers, you can find cowards, you can
find opportunists who wait for other opportunities and then walk away,
but it doesn’t matter, the anarchist strongholds are not here, where are
they? They are in the villages that we have never visited, in the
peasant states that defend themselves, in the dark corners of the
factories, in the armies, in all kinds of socially active groups. The
bravest, the least interested among the revolutionary mob, who have
probably shed a lot of blood in the various abuses, and who are still
ready to shed it, are the ones who are not part of the anarchist army.
They are the ones who have performed the important tasks that they
performed during the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and they
are still performing them, and they may have the name of other parties
on their faces, they may not have heard the word anarchism until their
deaths, but they, are the anarchists, they are the avant-garde of the
evolution of history.
The anarchist laborers who now hang signs and publish magazines are
either hindering their work, or at least hindering their union. It is
making them reluctant to use the term anarchism. For they hate empty
words, they hate cowardice. So I am not talking about a return to
activism to them. I hope that the self-proclaimed anarchists, of which I
am one, who often speak only in empty words, will give up their timid,
intellectual reformist attitude and return to the side of anarchism,
which is called for by the “propaganda of action”. In this way we can
unite with the people who work on that side, who have never been labeled
as anarchists. In unity and with a courage to act that has never existed
before, we can give a great power to the future!
The honor of anarchists can never be shouldered by oneself. They are the
true executors of public opinion and the pioneers of the times. They are
constantly moving further, that is, the people who work towards the
realization of greater learning and freedom for the greatest number.
They are the people in today’s social organizations. Only those who can
shake up the darkest and most depressing parts with full vigor and
anticipate future changes are qualified to bear the title of anarchist.
Anarchists are the creative cities and builders of history. Anarchism is
an honor for all mankind. Because without Anarchists there would be no
historical evolution.
*** Questions and Answers
The state of affairs in China is full of darkness and loss. The common
people are all crying out for help and are in a precarious situation.
Any young man with a little bit of blood can hardly sit back and watch
this situation. But how to save them? In the past, the Communist Party
and the Kuomintang both wanted to help them. Now, although the Communist
Party is still active everywhere and the Kuomintang is still in
dictatorship, the young people and the general public have nothing but
resentment and resistance towards them. The left-wing of the Kuomintang
are gradually gaining ground, and there are some young people who
believe in them. However, in my opinion, they are both figures from the
Kuomintang and the Communist Party. If they come to power tomorrow
morning and join the government, within a week or a month, they will
immediately show their true colors. Those who believe in them now, as a
result, are always fooled. Anarchism, in theory, I think is very
complete, much better than current society. But it’s just a theory on
paper, and so it’s useless. I already believe in anarchism, but my
biggest problem is, firstly, it’s very difficult for one person to do
something, and you need to have proof of what you’re doing. But I don’t
know which organization I will join, the organization in the answer, you
said that it is good to have an organization for things. Chinese
anarchists are not without organizations. But the group itself is not
full, and there is a lack of contact between each other, which we cannot
condone! But this is just a fact of the past, a flaw of the past. As
long as no one works hard, the future will not be like this. We also
believe that to realize anarchism, we need a very substantial group. At
the same time, we believe that if we believe in such a group, we will
certainly have the possibility of creation. We don’t have to hesitate
because of the shortcomings of the past. We should muster the courage to
create and start over because of the shortcomings of the past. As long
as someone works hard, it will not be difficult to create a substantial
group within a few years. Since you believe in anarchism, creating
groups is also one of your jobs, so just go for it.
Question, if the group has been organized, what will it do? The Chinese
anarchists I have met seem to focus on written propaganda. Literary
propaganda is naturally very important, but in addition there must be
other tasks. I remember that Kropotkin said that cooperation among
peasants is a way to achieve anarchism. What do you think?
Answer, regarding cooperation, some people think that it cannot achieve
the purpose of eradicating the private property system. For example,
cooperation in Denmark is very developed. One person went to inspect.
According to the results he obtained, he only felt that the average
person in Denmark, because of cooperation, the private economy, are
relatively affluent, but they are content with the status quo and are
afraid of social revolution. One worker even said to him that Denmark
will not be revolutionary. These remarks are only the observations of
one person and cannot be used to judge the relationship between the
Danish cooperative system and the future social revolution, but they can
be used for reference. However, if we transfer the ideas of the
cooperationists to the other side, we can see that cooperation can be
used as a means to achieve anarchy, and that it can be used as a means
to achieve the goal of social revolution. However, China nowadays,
unlike Europe and America, is in a particularly chaotic situation. In
many parts of the country, there is either banditry or famine, and the
people are not even able to protect their own lives, so how can we talk
about other causes? Occasionally, it is a little calm, but when a
soldier or bandit arrives, he can destroy houses, movies, food and other
things. In provinces such as Hunan and Shaanxi, the people are in a
situation where they do not know what is going on in the next month, and
they are in a situation where they can hardly make ends meet. I am
afraid that the whole country will come to such a state if politics
continue in this way. Under such a situation, there is no way for
cooperation to flourish. This is my humble opinion.
Question, I have heard some people advocate that organizing syndicalist
work circles is a way to achieve anarchism. What do you think?
Answer: Anarchism and syndicalism are not the same thing, but they have
many similarities. So many anarchists joined the syndicalists. Within
syndicalism, there are so-called anarcho-syndicalists. Anarchists
advocate that we should engage in a purely anarchist movement and not
join the syndicalists. But according to my personal opinion, I feel that
syndicalism, no matter what, has done a lot for anarchism. But China now
is a country under one-party dictatorship. All workers’ groups that do
not become the workers’ organizations of the Kuomintang are not allowed
to do so. They are all subject to the control of the Kuomintang. In
Germany, France, the United States, and Japan, syndicalist trade unions
can organize and operate openly. In today’s China, there is a workers’
group that openly opposes political parties, the banner of opposition to
the government came, and as a result, the title of a reactionary group
was added, and its members were arrested in large cases and closed in
small cases. In this way, the so-called trade union has almost no
possibility except for being secret.
Question, I think the possibility of achieving anarchy by educational
means is a bit higher, what do you think?
Answer, it is indeed the best to use the method of education to awaken
the people. However, you should know two things. First, the bourgeoisie
is very clever in the means of oppressing people. They know that force
is often not enough, and they also know that education is important.
Therefore, they took over the education mechanism; they forced the
people to be educated as slaves by force. It goes without saying that
the so-called state schools and public schools are subject to the
supervision of the government, and even private schools have to be
registered and interfered with; there is no freedom in the textbooks and
education laws. If a school were to advocate social revolution, it would
be closed down immediately. Secondly, in the present society, education
is a privilege of the bourgeoisie. Almost all those who love specialized
education and university education are bourgeoisie who, because of their
position, will never agree with the revolution; they will only oppose
the revolution with clever words and rhetoric. In Europe and the United
States, ordinary people only have the opportunity to receive elementary
school education, which is very short, and the knowledge gained is
minimal. In China, they did not even have the chance to escape from
elementary school education, so they could not even read or write. The
bourgeoisie cannot but take advantage of the stupidity of the common
people. They are afraid that the common people will become smart. But
because the common people are stupid, they can be deceived, they can be
deluded, they can be oppressed, they can be plundered, and they can be
kept in slavery forever. It seems that some have said that anarchism can
only be realized if everyone can receive a university education; but let
us ask how many of the present university students are in favor of
anarchism. Think about it, this kind of education is how to hinder
anarchism, you naturally think that your education is anarchist
education. This is absolutely not the case with education. However, in
such a situation, how will you implement your anarchist education?
Question, if I want anarchism to be realized, the products must be
abundant and sufficient for people’s consumption. To produce rich
products, we must develop science and machinery. For example, in
European and American countries, material civilization can be said to be
extremely developed. If anarchism is realized, everyone will naturally
be happy. As for China, the traffic is so blocked and the industry is
stagnant. Even if anarchy is realized, I am afraid that the people may
not get any benefits. Therefore, developing science first and then
developing industry may be another way.
Answer, the main path to human happiness is anarchy. If the same country
implements anarchism, the happiness of its people will definitely be
much better than in the autocratic era, the constitutional era and the
era of proletarian dictatorship. For example, there is a place with 500
acres of streets and 100 residents. If these 500 acres of land were
shared by and everyone enjoyed it together, then everyone would
definitely enjoy much more happiness than if it were monopolized by one
or two or three landlords and worked exclusively for them. Although
China’s material civilization and ethics are underdeveloped, in a year,
the sole capitalists and the government waste so much money. If
anarchism is implemented, even if material civilization is
underdeveloped, it will still be the same as it is now, but the
financial suffering of many people will naturally be much less than it
is now. The goods wasted by a capitalist or a big bureaucrat are often
enough to feed dozens or hundreds of civilians. This is the first step
to solving your problem. Second, the key to realizing anarchism is
mutual aid. If there is no mutual assistance in the world, then
anarchism will lack the possibility of realization. But according to
Kropotkin’s book, this instinct exists not only in the human world, but
also in the animal world. In a country with developed science, it is
good that people will be happier after realizing anarchism. However,
anarchism will not be impossible to realize because of underdeveloped
science. And even if science is not developed, after realizing
anarchism, its happiness will definitely increase. Third, the
development of science without the realization of anarchism, has only
become a tool for capitalists to kill civilians. Some people greatly
praise the development of European and American science, as if the only
way to save the Chinese people is science. How do they know? Under the
words “scientifically developed”, there are countless tens of thousands
of innocent civilians who have died. You try to look at the poverty of
European and American farmers and workers, you try to read the history
of the war, you can probably tell that before anarchism is realized, the
so-called science can be used as a tool for the capitalists in their
extreme desire for poverty and luxury, and as a sharp weapon to kill
people, but it is only a great enemy to the common people. If anarchism
could be realized only through the development of science, then
anarchism would have been realized in Europe and America long ago and
there would be no more calls for social revolution. Fourthly, the only
way to make science a blessing for all is to realize anarchism. Only
through the realization of anarchism can there be unlimited development
of science. For example, in China nowadays, how many people can have the
opportunity to study science, and how many of them do not study science
for the sake of making money? If anarchism is realized, then everyone
will have the opportunity to study science, and those who study science
will do so almost exclusively for the sake of knowledge, and not for the
sake of fame. By that time, it will be easy to understand that the
choice of scientific advancement will be different from that of today.
Therefore, if we think that sending out science is of great benefit to
mankind, then we have no choice but to realize anarchism. Some are great
singers of material civilization and great admirers of science. They
seem to think that anarchism can be realized after the development of
science and material civilization. Their promotion of science without
attempting to realize anarchism is tantamount to giving the capitalists
a sharp weapon to kill people. Naturally, material civilization and
science can be praised, but precisely because we want to praise them, we
have to try to realize anarchism first. Please try to comprehensively
study the opinions listed above. The answer to your question should be
clear.
Question, what do you think of the assassination method?
Answer, Anarchist revolution is overthrowing the social system. When A
is killed, B is killed several times; B is assassinated, and C is killed
again; it is just a personal change, and it does not shake the
fundamental system.
Question, if there was a general workers strike, what do you think would
happen?
Answer, in countries with developed industries and workers’
organizations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the
general strike has been very effective. However, in China now, even if
it is implemented, it may not be able to shake the fundamental function
of the social system..
Question, the anarchist revolution is a revolution all over the world,
and everyone should have a common drive. However, the above you always
talk about China, as if China’s revolution should have special methods.
What’s the reason for this?
Answer, Ii is true that the anarchist revolution is a world revolution.
However, differences in time and environment are inevitable. Let’s
compare Europe and China, we all know that there are many differences in
every aspect. In my opinion, the aim of revolution is of course the
same, but the methods of revolution may not be the same, although they
may be similar. If all countries in the world have to adopt a rigid
method of revolution, it will not work, and it will not be practical or
effective. When planning, sometimes we cannot ignore “temporality” and
“spatiality”. Moreover, the so-called world revolution means that the
whole world will always move towards the same goal. As for the
occurrence of revolution, they cannot be held at the same time. They
must be sequential. Everyone in each country should try their best to
implement it in their own country first, but there is no need to
interfere with whether there is a possibility of revolution. Moreover,
we have no borders. There is nothing wrong with a Chinese going to
Europe to campaign for revolution, or a European going to China to
campaign for revolution. In reality, however, there are always many
difficulties. Our revolution is a revolution of the common people. When
a European goes among the people, he must have a lot of inconveniences
in terms of language, habits, and appearance. Therefore, our revolution
can be helped by people from all walks of life, but in practice, for
example, in the case of China, the Chinese people have to make their own
efforts, and the efforts of the Chinese people cannot be avoided without
taking a look at the situation in China.
Question, I have also heard that in order to achieve anarchism, it would
be better to first implement proletarian dictatorship as in the case of
the Communist Party, or parliamentary policies as in the case of the
Social Democratic Party, or to gradually reduce the political power by
political maneuvers to the extent that there will be no government at
all. However, those ideas are based on the fact that if we do not use
force, the people will be more flexible, will they not?
Answer, In the course of the revolution, force cannot be avoided. And
the real revolution will take a longer period of time. And a real
revolution will take a longer period of time. Sacrifice cannot be
avoided. But revolutionaries can always minimize it as much as they can.
However, in the present society, there are many people who have been
sacrificed for nothing. Those who die of disease, those who die in
prison, those who die in war, those who die of hunger, if there were
precise statistics, the number would be very cheap to hear. In our
society, the average civilian has no right to live. He can be sacrificed
anytime, anywhere. I think that during the revolution, the so-called
sacrifices were not necessarily greater than those at present, and it is
only because people are numb and not aware of it. Moreover, after a
revolution, all people will have the right to live in peace and
happiness, and so the implicit substitution, the falsehood, is
worthwhile. If we don’t have a revolution for fear of being sacrificed,
then the future will be sacrificed for generations to come.
Question, will the revolution cause the same terror as the Communist
Party?
Answer: Our revolution is absolutely different from that of the
Communist Party. When we are destroying the social system, we are not
seeking personal revenge against the capitalists. Kropotkin said,
“Public people cannot rule the world with terror. Terror is created to
create a trap, especially when he is wearing a mask of legality. The
person who creates the iron wire to clamp down on the civilian
population is in conflict with the revolution.” There must be something
better than the guillotine and something more effective in terror. If
the revolution has only terror as its way to defeat it, its future will
be extremely tragic. Fortunately, it has other more powerful tools.
Haha! Yes, Kropotkin made absolutely sense when he said that kind of
terror would never be used by civilians. The two-wheelers loaded with
victims and the guillotine will soon make the common people poor. He
will soon realize that this terror is a preparation for what it should
be — dictatorship — and he will destroy the guillotine.” It can be seen
that the so-called terror is a tool for the ambitious to achieve
dictatorship. A correct revolution has no need of terror; it is far from
a revolution to know only the use of terror.
Question, I know the meaning of the revolution, but can you tell us the
reason for the revolution? Human beings always love peace, but with
revolution, peace cannot be maintained. That’s why many people are
always afraid.
Answer: Human beings can never escape evolution, but revolution is one
of the ways of evolution. Revolution is a rapid evolution. There is
inertia in the world. The inertia is so deep that it cannot be changed
without drastic action. If the fire is too strong, pouring water on it
will only increase the intensity of the fire, and the only way to
prevent it from spreading is to tear down the house. If the house is
full of poisonous snakes and white rice worms, and there is no other way
but to burn the wood. Although this is not a social thing, it can be
inferred that there are many things in the universe that require
fundamental reform. Improvements in minor details never help, but rather
prolong corruption. This is also true of social phenomena. How many
capitalists and landowners are there now, and how many of them can unite
all their private property into a harmonious society? This is something
that everyone knows is impossible. As mentioned above, education, trade
unions, cooperation, etc. are human freedoms, but the government alone
does not allow them? Everyone knows this is impossible. Nowadays,
society has changed into a state of cannibalism, which is not a social
norm, but a social disease. But this sickness cannot be cured without
the use of strong medicines.The so-called revolution is nothing more
than a medicine. When a man is sleeping soundly in a dream, he will not
be able to drag on with shouting, so revolution can also be regarded as
a kind of shouting. However, no matter what it is, it has to be
influenced by the environment. Under the current conditions, if we want
to reform everyone, it is not only a lot of effort, but also often
ineffective; if the environment is changed, the individuals in it will
be changed unconsciously. Revolution is a way of transforming the
conditions, and can also be the most powerful form of education.
Revolution can achieve true peace. In our society, there is always
fighting and killing, but where is peace? The above remarks are very
simple and unsystematic. As for the academic basis, I cannot go into
details here due to my limited knowledge.
Question, as the current government, capitalists, has a strong army, and
popular rebellion is like throwing eggs at a stone, what’s the use?
Although the revolution is well-known, it is very reasonable and
necessary, but there is too little guarantee of success.
Answer, What we are afraid of is that the people cannot wake up.
However, countless small rebellions and the sacrifices of countless
revolutionaries will surely lead to the revolution and awaken the
people. The people’s pain is felt and inferred more deeply than ours.
The people are unwilling to live a more free and peaceful life. They are
afraid to act now because they are under the influence of power, and
they are fascinated by fallacies. It is not difficult to awaken them to
the nature of human nature. Once they awaken, the army, although strong,
will be useless. Can the army live without the people? With no one to
make weapons for them and provide them with food, they can only sit back
and wait for death. Moreover, the Chinese soldiers were completely
forced by hunger and cold, and their lives were very pitiful. They are
all slaves of the officials. At the time of the popular revolution, I
daresay that very few of them will be enemies of the people for the sake
of the officials. They are in the same oppressed position as the people.
If the people are awakened and a revolution takes place in one place,
many other places will follow. If dozens of places were revolutionized,
the army would be useless even if it was large. It can be said that the
foundations of the monarchy are deep-rooted, but the power of revolution
will eventually overthrow it. If the proletariat revolts, it will be a
revolution of a magnitude beyond our imagination. But we need not fear
the enemy, only our own lack of effort.
Question, besides revolution, should we do other work?
Answer, certainly, most importantly, there are two other things. (1) Our
revolution depends on the initiative of the people and cannot be
controlled and directed by a few leaders like other revolutions. Our
revolution is not blind, we must have ideals. We need to know what the
new society will look like to replace the current society. Therefore,
publicity is extremely necessary. “To arouse man to prepare for the
future and to bring about revolution is the business of those who
foresee the path of evolution.” This is especially the case with secret
societies and revolutionary groups. This is the cause of the anarchists.
The first and most important thing is to make the purpose of the
revolution known to everyone. Use your words and actions to publicize it
as much as possible until everyone knows it. If we do this, on the day
of the uprising, the purpose of anarchism will be on everyone’s lips.
Everyone takes this matter very lightly, but it is actually very
important. It is because in the minds of a few people, the purpose of
doctrine is very clear, but the majority of the people are not. Because
people are often influenced and confused by capitalist newspapers as
they are now. The so-called propaganda is not limited to words; we
should try to publicize it anytime, anywhere. But in this period when
there are too few intellectuals, it is also very necessary to introduce
important works and widely distribute popular pamphlets. As for the
future, wherever civilians are. They are all places where we publicize.
Acting, singing, books, etc. are all required. As for the importance of
behavioral publicity, it goes without saying. (2) In order for a
revolution to win the sympathy of the people, it is necessary for the
revolutionaries to have the virtues of purity, sacrifice and courage.
“It is not enough to spread the revolution, but the spirit of revolution
should be aroused. The spirit of perseverance and courage (without which
the revolution will never come into being) should be aroused and
awakened.” Kropotkin thought that even among the so-called
revolutionaries and communists in general, they were morally inconstant.
Most of them lacked a guiding moral principle, a high moral ideal, and
he repeated that it was probably because of the lack of a high moral
ideal. The Russian Revolution could not create a new social system based
on liberty and justice, nor could it ignite other countries with the
fury of revolution, as happened in the French Revolution. The
cultivation of high moral ideals is the element of anarchists, that is,
the element of anarchist revolution.
Question: What else should we be doing?
Answer: I think the following matters are related to us. We should do
what we can to the best of our ability. (1) Participate in the New
Thought Movement, student youth movements such as fighting religion,
advocating women’s liberation, etc. (2) Participate in mass
organizations, such as peasant associations, labor unions, etc. (3)
Participate in popular movements, such as strikes, rebellion against the
government, anti-war movements, freedom-seeking and other movements. The
Italian anarchist Malatesta said, If it is outside our own group, we
must use mass movements. Work hard to propagate, participate in it no
matter where you are, use all methods to win over the masses, instruct
them to make revolution, and try your best to find opportunities to
spread socialism and anarchism. All the methods I mentioned here can be
adopted as long as they are not contrary to the purpose we have.
I’ve said too much, so let’s stop here. But many of them are my personal
opinions, and I hope readers will discuss and correct them.
*** Our Talk
But enough is enough! Almost half of the previous issues of this journal
were devoted to criticizing politics. If the criticism continues for a
long time, and this magazine is changed into a daily publication, it
will not bear enough criticism! We hope that readers will calmly look at
the facts for themselves, and then compare our previous criticisms with
the facts. We are limited by space, and would like to spend more time
discussing theoretical and practical issues, and pay less attention to
criticism of facts that do not deserve criticism. We hope readers will
read more about the facts themselves.
Fact 1: We believe that the private property system and the government
are dependent on each other. It is simply impossible to abolish the
private property system without abolishing the government, so we
advocate anarchy and communism. However, there are still people who
support the abolition of private property but do not advocate the
abolition of government. But what are the facts? When the country
revolutionized in early 1917, it did not always pursue the abolition of
the private property system. 7 At that time, the old government was
overthrown and replaced by the Soviet of Peasants and Workers. When the
communist system was passed on, the government was organized and the
government took control, the private property system was revived. The
private property system cannot be abolished as long as the government
exists. The secret is not far away, that is, in Soviet Russia.
Fact 2: People who are superstitious about the government always think
that the government can do bad things, but it can also do good things.
If the government is only arbitrary, it is prejudiced. But what are the
facts? Among the Kuomintang members, there is indeed a lot of opposition
to the current Kuomintang government. It is enough, but who are the
figures in the National Government? Aren’t they former members of the
Kuomintang? Aren’t the Kuomintang members who have greatly opposed the
government in the past the same person? If they are not in the position
of the government, they will oppose the government; once they enter the
government, they are only worthy of being arrested. People object.
Didn’t they have a large number of welfare plans for the people before,
but once they entered the government, they only turned out to be a blank
check! Are their words and deeds when they were not in the government
all lies? I think that is not entirely the case. of. “Government” is not
a thing unless it drives people to do bad things. What is pitiable is
that those who oppose the government today are afraid that they will not
join the government; and those who do not want to join the government
also hope that a good government will come out. The facts are as clear
as daylight, but there are still people who are confused by magic!
** How to Understand the True Meaning of Newspapers
People engaged in journalism all claim to represent public opinion, but
we must know that today’s newspapers are under the protection of the
government and capitalists and have become their mouthpieces. After the
so-called public ethics and justice, taking the affairs of the
government and capitalists as an excuse is just the resentment and
resistance of the working class. Who dares to say a word of justice and
win some benefits for the working people? Most of the telegraph news
propagandized the regime’s plundering and buying and selling deception,
and has no sympathy for the current situation and suffering of the
civilians. This kind of news is unreasonable. If people really care
about the happiness of the common people, they need to oppose the great
enemies that hinder freedom — the good and evil government and capital
interest. Only in this way can they represent public opinion and uphold
justice.
Everyone who reads this should first understand that the comfortable
life of the capitalists in the government is built on the suffering of
the working class. Most of the journalists are willing to blame
themselves for money and make distorted remarks about “being a slave.”
Following the current etiquette and hatred of the people is a big
deception. Only when everyone recognizes the meaning of these things and
the government can the social revolution of freedom and happiness be
achieved.
** Inform the Workers
The oppression suffered by Chinese workers in the United States under
the capital system is the most miserable. There is no one with a heart
who does not sympathize with the Chinese workers. Now we can only
sympathize with the Chinese workers and have some consciousness. We must
think of a way to protect the people who have toiled all day long.
Therefore, many Chinese workers in recent years have had their labor
unions and labor unions organize and organize labor unions. It should be
the most legitimate and just thing for workers to ask their bosses for
improvements and to pay more wages to support their livelihood. But the
workers’ boss was still not satisfied with their ambitions after
depriving workers of all the happiness and benefits they had enjoyed
with their hard work. He even hid the true face of a worker, and ordered
his lackeys and waiters to use his worst methods. Come to deceive Heaven
and scare Heaven away from human unity. They refused to accept
conditions that were not superior to those of the workers, and devoted
themselves to creating and destroying them. They wanted to make the
police and thugs attack the sky and arrest the gods. However, the
workers continued to work hard without flinching. Reach the full
potential of everyone.
You should be confident that you are powerful. When you unite to fight
for the interests of the working class, you will be brave and
unfailable. Workers must decide their will and be strong. Unity is
strength. You must unite bravely.
Overthrow the capital system and let the working people live a better
life.
** On the Slavery Problem (excerpts from Anarcho-Communist Monthly 2 & 3)
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly #2:
We can infer from an economic standpoint and know that between the
fishing and hunting era and the nomadic era, there were fewer wars with
immortals compared to the early agricultural era, and the victors
retained the captives as slaves. There were very few, because of the
unpredictable nomadic life, they lead the captive slaves, and the
uncertain floating life can easily give the slaves a chance to escape,
and the economic conditions at that time did not allow for more slaves.
Existence, as for the nomadic era, progressed to the agricultural
period. At that time, the people had fixed residences due to the
relationship between sowing and harvesting. The need for labor was
urgent, and people in groups were easy to organize. In addition, the
land had different fertility. This often leads to invasions or wars. In
addition to territorial expansion and wealth acquisition, the victor
also captures the enemy and uses them as slaves in addition to exempting
them from the death penalty. The slaves became the targets of unlimited
exploitation by the conquerors.
We can say that the slavery system was the beginning period from fishing
and hunting to nomadic herding, and it was the completion period in the
agricultural era. Some people say: In the industrial age, slavery has
been declared a death sentence. In fact, these are all lies that violate
the facts. In the patriarchal society of the agricultural era, there
were serfs, and in the capital society of the industrial era, there were
wage slaves. When economic conditions change, the form of slaves changes
accordingly, but the essence of slaves remains. Why? What? Our
conclusion is:
The system of slavery exists and occurs between a poor class and a
powerful class, that is, it is included in the private system. In other
words, until the private system is overthrown, the slave system will
always exist.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly #3:
From the perspective of the evolutionary process of slaves, it can be
said that they went from being captured, bought and sold to hired.
Slaves in the nomadic era were, of course, captured, while most of the
slaves in the agricultural era were purchased. After the industrial
revolution, capitalism flourished, and the capitalists’ commodities
broke through the rural economy. The peasants were oppressed by poverty.
They also gradually left the countryside and concentrated in cities. In
capitalist society, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie have formed a
mentality of fighting against the slaves of this era, who are mainly
employed. In other words, the proletariat is a wage slave; a laborer who
is blatantly exploited by the bourgeoisie.
As long as slaves exist, there will be no equality and justice; the life
of a slave is an inhuman life, a life of shame!
I have said above: The slavery system is a system that occurs between a
poor and weak class and a powerful class, that is, it is included in the
split of the private system. Then, if the proletariat wants to be
liberated from wage slaves and become free people, it is of course
necessary to fundamentally eliminate the private system; but it is the
government and capitalists who maintain the private system; if we want
to overthrow them, we must spread our own ideals among the working
class. In order to promote the class consciousness of workers,
consolidate partial strikes into general strikes, and transform the
general strike mechanism into an armed revolution of the working class
against capitalism and the state! This is the solution! The Only
Solution to the Slave Problem.
** The Opportunity to Liberate Chinese Workers Has Arrived
The garment union was the first to launch an attack. We should respond
unanimously.
Our Chinese workers in the United States have been subjected to inhumane
treatment by their employers for seventy or eighty years. I have never
heard of anyone going on strike to demand improved treatment. This
strike by the garment union can be regarded as an unprecedented move by
Chinese workers in the United States. Although we are not yet satisfied
with the limits of their demands, we really admire their courageous
attitude and determined spirit. In addition to our best efforts to
provide assistance, our colleagues also have a few words of advice to
all my beloved Chinese workers in the United States. The ancients would
say, “Although you are wise, it is better to take advantage of the
situation.” The current trend is actually a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for our Chinese workers to liberate themselves. Workers in
various industries who have unions should respond immediately, and those
who do not have unions should respond immediately.
Workers are overly oppressed, treated badly, and have to work for a long
time! It is completely beyond the endurance of human beings. Let’s rise
and work together to show the brave people? Great unity of gender,
country and race is needed! All political parties are our enemies, and
we must not be used by them or their affiliates! Workers should believe
in themselves and take responsibility for their own cause. Get up! Get
up! Unite quickly and stop being like cows and horses! Live freely!
Let’s work hard!
** Refute of the Communist Party (Excerpts from Anarcho-Communist Monthly 3 & 4)
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 3:
Have the Communists lost their minds and blinded their eyes? The workers
have long since realized that the opinions of the Qunsheng Newspaper are
of no value. A few days ago, my friend gave me the 567th and 589th
issues of that newspaper to read. After I finished reading them, I felt
deeply that Lenin did not have any knowledge of history; Zhang Hentang
not only spoke briefly, but also did not know how to. Even if you say
half a sentence, in fact, you are still telling lies!
The great anarchist Shifu wrote in “A Brief Introduction to Anarchy”:
“How does a government arise from the beginning? It begins with force
and power.” The meaning of this sentence is that “the origin of the
country and the emergence of the government” are all rooted in the
consciousness of power. (The consciousness of power is cultivated from
the private system.) Because Zhang Hentang was superstitious about
Lenin, he copied Lenin’s words without any history and said: “The state
is the product and expression of the irreconcilable class
contradictions.” This is really a “superficial explanation.” and
“theoretical bankruptcy”. Anyone with a little common sense knows that
the entire history of mankind is a history of class struggle; there is
an unhidden history of struggle between the plundering class and the
plundered class. The two opposing classes can never be reconciled. In
this long history of class struggle; the emergence and elimination of
states have occurred several times. The formation of modern states only
emerged in the sixteenth century. If we follow Lenin’s words, the
existence of the state proves that class contradictions cannot be
reconciled.“Then, human history is all a history of class struggle, and
the state has always existed along with human history? After studying
the state, Kropotkin once said: “After the fall of the Roman Empire, the
Celts, Slavs, and Slavs. Those races in Scandinavia all started the
construction of civilization from scratch. Their primitive races each
slowly refined their inherent customs and habits.” which was maintained
until the twelfth century. Then came the free cities of the Republic,
during which glorious progress was made in their science and art, as
well as in all aspects of other human relations. What emerged later was
the modern state.
“Medieval urban civilization was destroyed by the modern barbarians who
appeared in Europe in the 16th century. Who were the barbarians? They
were the country formed by the triangular alliance of military leaders,
Roman judges and monks.They wanted to consolidate the ruling power and
into a force called a country.”
Times advance along a curve. Therefore, in that era, great power gained
power and the state emerged, but at the same time, the free association
of the people was temporarily destroyed. But the people’s spirit of
resistance still exists. Kropotkin said:
“Since the beginning of human society, there have been two currents of
thought and action going hand in hand. On the one hand, the people have
built many organizations necessary to make social life stable. On the
other hand, there are always many people who unite to help each other.
Governing the people, making them obey their commands, and giving them
work.”
From this, we can understand that government and country are not the
same thing. The state includes the government, which is a member of the
organized state. Zhang Hentang said: “Because I have lost my mind and my
eyes, I see the country and the government as a whole thing.” In the
article he published in Qun Sheng, he quoted Lenin’s “state” in the
first section and replaced “state” with government in the second
section. This proves that Zhang Hentang is “faint” and “blind”.
Zhang Hentang, the younger Lenin, said, “The state is a powerful and
economically dominant class. They use the state to become the political
ruling class, and thus have new methods to oppress and exploit the
oppressed.” Class” This proves that the state is always a poison that
disturbs peace. There can be no doubt that the country should be
overthrown. However, on the one hand, the Communists say that the state
“is an organ of oppression and exploitation,” on the other hand, the
workers support the “fatherland, the Soviet Union.” This is not just
Zhang Hentang who is “faint” and “blind”, but actually all Communists
are “faint” and “blind”!
Because Zhang Hentang was “faint” and “blind”, he said that the target
of anarchism was power. In fact, the working class does not know that
the target of anarchy is the bourgeoisie, so when we advocate social
revolution, we must eliminate the government. “Fascism,” “imperialism,”
and “Marxism-Leninism” are all doctrines that oppress the proletariat.
The Communist Party must be eliminated!
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 4:
Who is “committing theoretical confusion”? In the 589th issue of
Qunsheng, “Who is telling lies?” Yi Wenzhu said: “Anyone who has done a
little research on communism knows the principles of communism. The
ultimate goal is a communist society. It is not an anarchist-communist
thing at all, and there is no reason to go through the transitional
period of anarchist-communist.” It continued below: “In the end, the
existence of classes will be eliminated. Realizing a communist society
in which everyone does his best and everyone gets what he needs.” After
reading these sentences, we should first understand that in a society in
which everyone does his best and everyone gets what he needs, there is a
prerequisite, which is to transfer capital. All the wealth of the
socialist society was confiscated. At that time, all wealth was based on
public ownership. At this time, everyone doing what they can, producing
together, everyone taking what they need, and consuming together are not
empty words. This is the true implementation of “communism.” On the
basis of this “communist” economy, the politics of course is that
everyone in the group and association can develop freely. Organize
freely according to mutual needs and aspirations, from simple to
complex. In this “communist” society: classes, governments, countries,
laws, etc., are of course eliminated, because politics is built on the
basis of economics. If there are the same economic conditions, there
will be the same political facilities. From this point of view, when the
Communist Party (actually the Marxist Party) says that its ultimate goal
is to “realize a communist society in which everyone can do what they
can and everyone gets what they need,” this is not referring to the
situation under anarchic communism. In other words? I think the
Communist Party must be suffering from “confusion”. If not, why do they
say “it is not anarchist communism at all”?
Now let’s take a look at what the Communist Party calls a “transitional
period.” According to Lenin: The main condition for the complete
transformation of all branches of production is time. In particular, the
power of habit is so great that the people are accustomed to a petty
bourgeois and bourgeois economy, and it will take a long and difficult
struggle for them to be persuaded to change their methods. This is the
reason for the “transitional period” of the Communist Party. That is to
say, the main task of prolonging and preserving the life of the private
system and the country is to completely transform all sectors of
production. It is not the invisible and intangible “time”, but to make
the disadvantages of the current social system known to the people
everywhere. Let them understand that a new society based on the
principle of equality is possible, and make the people strictly
organized to realize their demands. The proletariat’s social life is not
due to any heroes who can create it. The reason for its success is due
to the hardship and oppression of its living conditions. If revolution
breaks out before it matures, it will be pure rebellion, that is to say,
it will have no clear goal. Therefore, if there is more political and
economic oppression, there must be greater propaganda and movement, so
that the revolution will not fail. After all, Lenin was the spokesperson
of the bourgeoisie, so he said that the people were accustomed to a kind
of petty bourgeois and bourgeois experience. Such comments and insults
to the working class are said without shame. In fact, under this cruel
capital system, the people (the working class) can only feel the
hardship and oppression of life, and can only maintain their position in
the proletariat. Proletarian consciousness has been cultivated in life.
If a revolution breaks out at any time, the rivers of bloody tassels
will naturally inspire the entire people (working class) to follow the
bloody path and carry out armed revolution, which will not stop until
complete victory is achieved. The “time”, “transitional period” and
“force of habit” that Lenin talked about are nothing more than a mantra
used by bureaucrats to deceive and conceal the power of the government.
In other words, revolution cannot be successful through Lenin’s
“persuasion”. The proletariat does not have “bourgeois economic” habits
as Lenin said.
We have to figure out what the “dictatorship of the proletariat” is
again. Comrade Fu Gan made it very clear on this issue. He said: The
current ruler of the Bolsheviks, a country with a population of 140
million, has become the supreme ruler of Russia under the name of
“proletarian dictatorship”. The so-called proletarian dictatorship is
not a dictatorship by the proletariat. Millions of people cannot all be
dictators, and even tens of thousands or even tens of millions of people
cannot all be dictators. The essence of dictatorship is that it is
limited to a very small number of people. The smaller the number of
people, the stronger and more unified the dictatorship will be. In
actual practice, dictatorship is always in the hands of one person, and
this one person’s strong will will force his nominal colleagues (the
same dictator) to agree. The Bolsheviks (Communist Party) are of course
following this path.
“The free activities of the people are the lifeblood of the revolution.
If we get rid of it and suppress it, the revolution will only die. The
purpose of the revolution is to obtain freedom, so to achieve this goal,
we can only use the people. We must express our opinions freely, and we
must not use coercion or dictatorship. In the revolution, just as in
daily life, there is no third middle way. It is not self-pretending.
Comrade Bakunin said well: “No matter what kind of autocracy, It cannot
achieve other goals than maintaining its own political power.” From this
point of view, so-called communism (Marxist-Leninism) “is not the
consciousness of superior revolutionary workers,” and is completely
capitalist.
What did the vanguard reporter say? A vanguard reporter tried his best
to ridicule anarchists in the newspaper’s pages published on July 15 and
August 1, but when we analyzed his article, we found it “ridiculously
unreasonable.” “We know very well that those who advocate the
continuation of the private system and government are all hostile to
anarchists, and they always want to massacre us.” As quickly as
possible. The reason is that anarchists support the interests of the
working class and carry out social revolutionary movements!
We all know that the publications we publish are all supported by the
hard-earned wages of our workers. Therefore, the reason for the
temporary suspension of publication of “Equality”, which we published
three years ago, was that the livelihood of the workers was relatively
difficult, and the economic resources were temporarily suspended.
However, even now, although the workers are still in difficulty, they
continue to receive our propaganda and guidance, and they are gradually
becoming conscious, and our publications have been able to continue to
publish with the donations of the conscious workers. Our pride is that
we do not receive subsidies from the government or capitalists!
“Concerning Japan’s provocation”, “the Kuomintang’s betrayal”, “the pain
of unemployment and capital reduction over time”, the anarchists all
have specific and thorough opinions. Aren’t the theories of
anarcho-communism and the activities and sacrifices of anarchists the
best proof?
Xu Yongying said: “Proletarian leadership is the only way to overthrow
the capitalists and completely eliminate them.” But we ask another
question: “Overthrow the old-style capitalists and their governments,
and then re-establish a government and capitalists under the
dictatorship of the proletariat.” So, there is still a stage in society
where the working class still does not have freedom. Does the so-called
“proletarian monopoly” suppress it so that it cannot be resurrected?
Xu Yongying first joined the Kuomintang, and then he felt that the
Kuomintang was reactionary. (I can’t remember which issue he was at the
time — he published an article in which he only said that the Kuomintang
was reactionary, but did not criticize the Three People’s Principles at
all. Maybe he is still nostalgic for it.) Then he joined the Communist
Party, which is further proof of his expression. Of course, I don’t want
to presume ill will on others. Maybe they are very loyal to the
proletariat, but we have to know that being loyal alone is not enough.
We should be under the guidance of the anarchist party. Only such
loyalty can be practical. Otherwise, it will only earn him a poor
mountain to climb. Those “Communists” who are loyal to the proletariat
should turn back as soon as possible!
** Rumors Heard, Local Police Dispatched Last Night
Two Chinese people were arrested: they were brought to the precinct. The
prosecution’s case against them accused them of illegally distributing
leaflets. The arraignment was originally scheduled for the 27th.
However, at the same time, documents printed by Chinese people began to
appear: Yesterday, the Immigration Bureau sent translators to translate
the “May Day Special Issue” and “Equality” pamphlets. Many of them were
printed by the Equality Society. There is also a pamphlet sent from
Shanghai. There are about ten books including “Anarchism”, “On the
State” and “Revolution” and “Advice to China’s Revolutionary Youth”. The
group is suspected of spreading anarchism.
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** Warning to Working People
No matter which country, the military education, army, navy, air force.
poison gas, bombs, and guns are all used to fight for the property of
the country’s capitalist and powerful classes, and to poison, kill and
invigorate the people.
We believe that the Japanese imperialists’ actions of invading China and
killing people are crimes of capitalism and nationalism. As for solving
this crime, only the working people of the world can unite to resist the
military education at its root and destroy it. Only by destroying
private property, poison gas, bombs, guns and other weapons that kill
people, can we overthrow capitalism and abolish nationalism. Only then
can we put an end to the chaos that invades and kills people, and can we
make it easier for everyone to have a job and have food to eat.
People! Wake up! Work hard to build a free and equal society and realize
a peaceful and happy world! Let’s move forward! Let’s fight!
** What is Anarchism?
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 5 & 6:
Dear friends! You may think that the current society is dark and also
miserable. Anarchism is not a bad idea, it is just a proposition to
“eliminate all the dark and fearful phenomena in today’s society.” No
matter what, you will never be able to deny “freedom.” Anarchism is not
some terrible madness, it is just a doctrine that “pursues political and
economic freedom and equality.”
Anarchists advocate:
1. In politics, we do not want a government that governs people by
people. The people’s affairs are best handled by all the people
together. There will be no omnipotent person in the world who can manage
all affairs. How can we manage the affairs of tens of millions of
people? Isn’t it the most unreasonable thing to occupy the position of
breaking the rule of law? Isn’t it much better for educators to handle
educational matters themselves than for the government’s education
department? The fields and factories should be managed by farmers and
the government that collects taxes can be eliminated. Anyone can freely
organize with others to produce certain items or meet certain needs,
such as the Educational Association (not the organ that manages
production in the lower corners of the country now dominated by
politicians) and the Farmers Association (not the current organization
that uses many unproductive people). people can join) and various
academic corners, etc. These groups based on region or profession, such
as work units, can freely connect with groups in other places and
professions. As the people’s hearts advance, organizations become
denser, and all transportation, education, production, distribution,
etc. are handled by these groups. Isn’t it better than the current
government with rogue politicians and military personnel that is
strapped for money?
2. Economically, private property should be completely abolished. The
fruits of farmers’ and workers’ hard work all year round are wasted in
vain by the idle landlords. The capitalists took it away. This is really
the most unfair thing in the world. We hold that when an individual is
born, he should be educated by society, and when he grows up, he should
be able to work (working with both hands and brain at the same time). He
strives to produce necessary and luxury goods for society, while also
enjoying the food, clothing, shelter and other medicines that can be
given to him. Everything is left to the management of various
industries, as the landlords, and capitalists have become useless.
From Anarcho-Communist Monthly 7:
Chinese people are too slow to understand anarchism. Here we will
briefly explain:
First, many people think that anarchism is immoral. This is completely
wrong. What anarchists deny are old legends and stubborn superstitions.
Anarchists absolutely advocate morality. We believe that if there is no
real morality in society, not only will there be no progress, but it
will definitely be eliminated. However, the morality advocated by
anarchists is free. If we want to have true morality, we must eliminate
the current political, economic, and ethical classes. What anarchists
want is true morality such as honesty, mutual aid, fairness, and
sacrifice.
Second, many people think that anarchists are just fanatics who fire off
guns and bombs. This is also wrong. Anarchism may be a doctrine with a
purpose and a systematic system. Those who are shallow in anarchism are
also people who are very “loving” and “sympathetic”. When society
oppresses us too much, we may have to use this method as a last resort.
But usually, we are very willing to use the most peaceful means to win
the sympathy of the people.
Third, many people think that anarchists are utopians. This is even more
wrong. Anarchists theoretically summarize all modern scientific
conclusions obtained by using scientific methods and create anarchism.
It serves as the basis for theory, in fact, and serves as the standard
for anarchist behavior by objectively observing political and economic
trends and the actual situation of human life. The word “utopian” has to
be added to the theory that is not obtained by scientific methods and
the doctrine that goes against the modern trend. As for anarchism being
possible, it is possible to realize it, and its realization is not far
away.
Everyone already knows something about anarchism. I hope that if you can
calmly think about what I have said above, you most definitely agree
with anarchism.