Chapter 31 : Defense of the Revolution
"Suppose your system is tried, would you have any means of defending the revolution?" you ask. Certainly. "Even by armed force?" Yes, if necessary. "But armed force IS organized violence. Didn't you say Anarchism was against it?" Anarchism is opposed to any interference with your liberty, be it by force and violence or by any other means. It is against all invasion and compulsion. But if any one attacks you, then it is he who is invading you, he who is employing violence against you. You have a right co-defend yourself. More than that, it is your duty, as an Anarchist, to protect your liberty, to resist coercion and compulsion. Otherwise you are a slave, not a free man. In ocher words, the social revolution will attack no one, but it will defend itself against invasion from any quarter. Besides, you muse not confuse the social revolution with Anarchy. Revolution, in some of its stages, is a violent upheaval; Anarchy is... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 30 : Production
"What about production," you ask; "how is it to be managed? We have already seen what principles must underlie the activities of the revolution if it is to be social and accomplish its aims. The same principles of freedom and voluntary cooperation must also direct the reorganization of the industries. The first effect of the revolution is reduced production. The general strike, which I have forecast as the starting point of the social revolution, itself constitutes a suspension of industry. The workers lay down their tools, demonstrate in the streets, and thus temporarily stop production. But life goes on. The essential needs of the people must be satisfied. In that stage the revolution lives on the supplies, already on hand. But to exhaust those supplies would be disastrous. The situation rests in the hands of labor: the immediate resumption of industry is imperative. The organized agricultural and industrial proletariat takes possession of the land, facto... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 29 : Consumption and Exchange
Let us take up the organization of consumption first, because people have to eat before they can work and produce. "What do you mean by the organization of consumption?" your friend asks. "He means rationing, I suppose," you remark. I do. Of course, when the social revolution has become thoroughly organized and production is functioning normally there will be enough for everybody. But in the first stages of the revolution, during the process of reconstruction, we must take care to supply the people as best we can, and equally, which means rationing. "The Bolsheviki did not have equal rationing," your friend interrupts; "they had different kinds of rations for different people. They did, and that was one of the greatest mistakes they made. It was resented by the people as a wrong and it provoked irritation and discontent. The Bolsheviki had one kind of ration for the sailor, another of lower quality and quantity for the soldier, a third for t... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 28 : Principles and Practice
The main purpose of the social revolution must be the immediate betterment of conditions for the masses. The success of the revolution fundamentally depends on it. This can be achieved only by organizing consumption and production so as to be of real benefit to the populace. In that lies the greatest -- in fact, the only -- security of the social revolution. It was not the Red army which conquered counter-revolution in Russia: it was the peasants holding on for dear life to the land they had taken during the upheaval. The social revolution must be of material gain to the masses if it is to live and grow. The people at large must be sure of actual advantage from their efforts, or at least entertain the hope of such advantage in the near future. The revolution is doomed if it relies for its existence and defense on mechanical means, such as war and armies. The real safety of the revolution is organic; that is, it lies in industry and production. The obje... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 27 : Organization of Labor for the Social Revolution
Proper preparation, as suggested in the preceding pages, will greatly lighten the task of the social revolution and assure its healthy development and functioning. Now, what will be the main functions of the revolution? Every country has its specific conditions, its own psychology, habits, and traditions, and the process of revolution will naturally reflect the peculiarities of every land and its people. But fundamentally all countries are alike in their social (rather anti-social) character: whatever the political forms or economic conditions, they are all built on invasive authority, on monopoly, on the exploitation of labor. The main task of the social revolution is therefore essentially the same everywhere: the abolition of government and of economic inequality, and the socialization of the means of production and distribution. Production, distribution, and communication are the basic sources of existence; upon them rests the power of coercive authority... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Can The Church Help You?
What's to be done? How abolish poverty, oppression, and tyranny? How eliminate evil and injustice, weed out corruption, put an end to crime and murder? How do away with wage slavery? How secure liberty and well-being, joy and sunshine for every one? 'Turn to God,' commands the church; 'only a Christian life can save the world.' 'Let us pass a new law,' says the reformer; 'man must be compelled to be good" 'Vote for me!' says the politician; 'I'll look after your interests.' 'The Trade Union,' advises your labor friend; 'that's your hope.' 'Only Socialism can abolish capitalism and do away with wage slavery,' insists the Socialist. 'I'm a Bolshevik,' announces another; 'only the dictatorship of the proletariat will free the workers.' 'We'll ... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Whose Is The Power?
People talk about the greatness of their country, about the strength of the government and the power of the capitalist class. Let us see what that power really consists of, wherein it lies, and who actually has it. What is the government of a country? It is the King with his ministers, or the President with his cabinet, the Parliament or the Congress, and the officials of the various State and Federal departments. Altogether a small number of persons as compared with the entire population. Now, when is that handful of men, called government, strong and in what does its strength consist? It is strong when the people are with it. Then they supply the government with money, with an army and navy, obey it, and enable it to function. In other wo... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Will Communist Anarchism Work?
As we have seen in the preceding chapter, no life can be free and secure, harmonious and satisfactory unless it is built on principles of justice and fair play. The first requirement of justice is equal liberty and opportunity. Under government and exploitation there can be neither equal liberty nor equal opportunity-hence all the evils and troubles of present-day society. Communist Anarchism is based on the understanding of this incontrovertible truth. It is founded an the principle of non-invasiveness and non-coercion; in other words, on liberty and opportunity. Life on such a basis fully satisfies the demands of justice. You are to be entirely free, and everybody else is to enjoy equal liberty, which means that no one has a right to comp... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Unemployment
I am glad your friend asked the question, for every workingman realizes how important this matter of unemployment is to him. You know what your life is when you are out of work; and when you do have a job, how the fear of losing it hangs over you. You are also aware what a danger the standing army of unemployed is to you when you are out on strike for better conditions. You know that strikebreakers are enlisted from the unemployed whom capitalism always keeps on hand, to help break your strike. 'How does capitalism keep the unemployed on hand?' you ask. Simply by compelling you to work long hours and as hard as possible, so as to produce the greatest amount. All the modern schemes of 'efficiency', the Taylor and other systems of 'economy' a... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Revolution and Dictatorship
Because the Revolution and the Bolshevik dictatorship were things of an entirely different and even opposite nature. And here is where most people make the greatest mistake in confusing the Russian Revolution with the Communist Party and speaking of them as if they were one and the same, which emphatically they are not. This will become clear to us if we compare the aims of the Revolution with the ends sought by the Bolsheviki. The Revolution was a mighty uprising against oppression and misery. It voiced the longing of the masses for liberty and justice. It attempted to do away with everything that kept man in subjection, made him a slave and a beast of burden. The Revolution tried to establish new forms of life, conditions of real equality... (From : Anarchy Archives.)