As An Anarchist, I Cannot Reconcile Myself

The Education We All Receive From The State, At School And After, Has So Warped Our Minds That The Very Notion Of Freedom Ends Up By Being Lost, And Disguised In Servitude. It Is A Sad Sight To See Those Who Believe Themselves To Be Revolutionaries Unleashing Their Hatred On The Anarchist Just Because His Views On Freedom Go Beyond Their Petty And Narrow Concepts Of Freedom Learned In The State School.

Sociability Is As Much A Law Of Nature As Mutual Struggle. Mutual Aid Is As Much A Law Of Animal Life As Mutual Struggle.

As An Anarchist, I Cannot Reconcile Myself To Any Government.

A Different Conception Of Society, Very Different From That Which Now Prevails, Is In Process Of Formation. Under The Name Of Anarchy, A New Interpretation Of The Past And Present Life Of Society Arises, Giving At The Same Time A Forecast As Regards Its Future, Both Conceived In The Same Spirit As The Above-mentioned Interpretation In Natural Sciences. Anarchy, Therefore, Appears As A Constituent Part Of The New Philosophy, And That Is Why Anarchists Come In Contact, On So Many Points, With The Greatest Thinkers And Poets Of The Present Day.

True Progress Lies In The Direction Of Decentralization, Both Territorial And Functional, In The Development Of The Spirit Of Local And Personal Initiative, And Of Free Federation From The Simple To The Compound, In Lieu Of The Present Hierarchy From The Centre To The Periphery.