Libertarian Communism

What exactly was ‘Libertarian Communism’, the watchword of the Spanish social revolution? The anarchist movement, particularly in Spain, has produced a number of studies as to how economic life might be co-ordinated in a free society. These studies were not utopian fantasies; they were firmly based in the economic situation of the country and gave consideration to the statistics of industrial and agricultural production, and appreciated the problems which raw material, power, international exchange, public services would pose. Nor were they blueprints for the future as can be seen in the May 1936 resolution at the Zaragoza congress on ‘The Confederal Conception of Libertarian Communism’: ‘We all feel that to predict the structure of the future society would be absurd, since there is often a great chasm between theory and practice. We do not, therefore, fall into the error of the politicians who present well-defined solutions to all problems, which fail drastically in practice.’ The resolution ended with the following words: ‘it should not be supposed that this report ought to be considered something definitive which may serve as an inflexible norm in the constructive tasks of the revolutionary proletariat. The working party’s intentions are much more modest. It would be content were Congress to look upon this as a broad outline of the initial plan that the producers will have to implement, as mankind’s point of departure in its march towards full liberation. May everyone moved by intelligence, daring and ability improve upon our work.’

The ideas formulated by the anarchist thinkers found expression and a proving ground in the ‘declarations’ of libertarian communism which highlight the five years of the Second Spanish Republic, and which finally took root with the outbreak of the Civil War when the old dream of building a free, just and egalitarian society became a reality — for a time.

One of the most influential of these statements of anarchist communism in Spain was Communismo Libertario written by the Basque anarchist doctor Isaac Puente and published in 1932. Puente’s study outlined a set of principles to be applied by the working class and those prepared to work with them, for taking over and running the economic basis of society, in accordance with the concept of social justice as fairness. Puente’s ideas were to make an important contribution to the historic motion carried unanimously by delegates speaking for over a million workers at the CNT congress in Zaragoza in May 1936. It was on the basis of the ideas expressed briefly and elegantly by Isaac Puente that the libertarian workers and peasants of Spain were to push social liberation to unprecedented heights:

Libertarian communism … is a system of human co-existence that attempts to find a way to solve the economic problem without using the state or politics, in accordance with the well-known formula: from each according to his/her abilities, to each according to their needs …

Libertarian communism is a society organized without the state and without private ownership. And there is no need to invent anything or conjure up some new organization for the purpose. The centers about which life in the future will be organized are already with us in the society of today: the free union and the free municipality.

The union: in it combine spontaneously the workers from factories and all places of collective exploitation. And the free Municipality: an assembly with roots stretching back into the past where, again in spontaneity, inhabitants of village and hamlet combine together, and which points the way to the solution of problems in social life in the countryside. Both kinds of organization, run on federal and democratic principles, will be sovereign in their decision making, without being beholden to any higher body, their only obligation being to federate with one another as dictated by the economic requirements for liaison and communication bodies organized in industrial federations. The union and the free municipality will assume the collective or common ownership of everything which is under private ownership at present and will regulate consumption (in a word, the economy) in each locality. The very bringing together of the two terms (communism and libertarian) is indicative in itself of the fusion of two ideas: one of them is collectivist, tending to bring about harmony in the whole through the contribution, and cooperation of individuals, without undermining their independence in any way; while the other is individualist, seeking to reassure the individual that his independence will be respected…

Libertarian communism is based on the economic organization of society, economic interest being the only common bond sought between individuals in that it is the only bond on which all are agreed. The social organization of libertarian communism has no other aim than to bring into common ownership everything that goes to make up the wealth of society, namely the means and tools of production and the products themselves and also to make it a common obligation that each contribute to that production according to their energies and talents and then to see to it that the products are distributed among everyone in accordance with individual needs.

Anything that does not qualify as an economic function or an economic activity falls outside the competence of the organization and beyond its control. And, consequently, is open to private initiative and individual activity…

It is in the countryside that the implementation of libertarian communism presents fewest complications, for it merely requires the activation of the free municipality… the entire territory within its jurisdiction will be under common ownership and not just part of the municipal territory as is the case today; the hills, trees and meadows; arable land; working animals and animals reared for meat, buildings, machinery and farm implements; and the surplus materials and produce accumulated or placed in storage by the inhabitants.

Consequently, the only private property that will exist will be in those things which are necessary to each individual — such as accommodation, clothing, furniture, tools of the trades, the allotment set aside for each inhabitant and minor livestock or farmyard poultry which they may wish to keep for their consumption or as a hobby.

Everything surplus to requirements can be collected at any time by the municipality, with the prior agreement of the assembly, since everything we accumulate without needing it does not belong to us, for otherwise we are depriving everyone else of it. Nature gives us the right over property over what we need, but we cannot lay claim to anything beyond what we need without committing theft, without usurping the property rights of the collective.

All residents will be equal:

1. They will produce and contribute equally to the maintenance of the commune, with no differentiation other than on the basis of aptitude (such as age, training, trade, etc.)

2. They will take an equal part in administrative decision making in the assemblies, and

3. They will have equal rights of consumption in accordance with their needs, or, where it is unavoidable, rationing.

Whosoever refuses to work for the community (aside from the sick, the old, and children) will be stripped of their other rights: to deliberate and consume.

The free municipality will federate with its counterparts in other localities and with the national industrial federations. Each locality will put its surplus produce up for exchange, in return for those things it requires. It will make its own contribution towards works of general interest, such as railways, roads, reservoirs, reforestation, and so on…

In the city, the part of the free municipality is played by local federations. In large centers of population such great organizations may exist in each district. Ultimate sovereignty in the local federation of industrial unions lies with the general assembly of all local producers.

Their mission is to order the economic life of their locality, but especially production and distribution, in the light of the requirements of their own locality and, likewise, the demands of other localities…

The producers’ unions will organize distribution, making use of co-operatives or shop and market premises.

A producer’s pass book, issued by the appropriate union, will be indispensable if anyone wishes to enjoy all their rights; in addition to the detailed information concerning consumption such as, for instance, size of family, the number of days and hours worked will also be noted in these pass books. The only persons exempted from this requirement be children, the aged, and the infirm.

The producer’s passbook confers a right to all these things:

1. To consume, in accordance either with rationing or with their needs, all products distributed in that locality.

2. To possess, for one’s own use, a suitable home, necessary furniture, a chicken run on the outskirts, or an allotment, or a garden, should the collective so decide.

3. To use public services.

4. To take part in the voting on the decisions made in one’s factory, workshop, section, union and local federation.

The local federation will attend to the needs of its locality and see to it that the particular industry is developed that it is best suited to, or which the nation has the most urgent need of.

In the General Assembly, work will be allocated to the various unions, who will further allocate to their sections, just as the sections will to workplaces with the constant aim of averting unemployment, of increasing the daily output of a shift of workers in an industry, or of cutting by the amount required the length of the working day.

All pursuits which are not purely economic should be left open to the private initiatives of individuals or groups…

Economic pressures compel the individual to co-operate in the economic life of the locality. These same economic pressures ought to be felt by the collectives, obliging them to co-operate in the economic life of the nation. But to accomplish this needs no central council or supreme committee, which carry the seeds of authoritarianism and are the focal points of dictatorship, as well as being the nests of bureaucracy. We said that we have no need of an architect or any ordaining authority beyond the mutual agreement between localities…

Above the local organization, there should be no superstructure aside from those local organizations whose special function cannot be performed locally. The sole interpreters of the national will are the congresses and, where circumstances demand, they shall, temporarily, exercise such sovereignty as may be vested in them by the plebiscite decisions of the assemblies…

The mission of the national federations of communications and transport is to bring the localities into touch with one another, building up transport services between producing regions and consuming ones; giving priority to perishables which have to be consumed quickly, goods such as milk, fish, fruit and meat.

Upon the right organization of transport hinge reliable supplies to areas of need and the non-congestion of areas where surpluses are produced.

No single brain or bureau of brains can see to this organization. Individuals reach understanding through meeting one another and localities do the same by keeping in touch with one another. A guide or a handbook showing the produce in which each area specializes, will simplify the procurement of supplies, indicating just what may be requested of a given area and just what it has to offer.

Let necessity force individuals to combine their efforts in contributing to the economic life of their locality. And let necessity, likewise, force collectives to regulate their activities through nationwide interchange: and let the circulatory system (transport) and the nervous system (communications) play their part in the establishment of liaison between the localities.

Neither the running of the economy nor the freedom of the individual require further complications…