"But perhaps I have overlooked something, or misunderstood something?" said to myself several times. "It cannot be that this condition of despair is natural to man!" And I sought for an explanation of these problems in all the branches of knowledge acquired by men. I sought painfully and long, not from idle curiosity or listlessly, but painfully and persistently day and night - sought as a perishing man seeks for safety - and I found nothing. I sought in all the sciences, but far from finding what I wanted, became convinced that all who like myself had sought in knowledge for the meaning of life had found nothing. And not only had they found nothing, but they had plainly acknowledged that the very thing which made me despair - namely the senselessness of life - is the one indubitable thing man can know. I sought everywhere; and thanks to a life spent in learning, and thanks also to my relations with the scholarly world, I had access to scientists and...
Now and After: The ABC of Communist AnarchismWhat'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 remain slaves as long as we have rulers and masters,' says the Anarchist; 'only liberty can make us free.' The Protectionist and the Free Trader, the Single...
I had lived all my life out of town. When, in 1881, I went to live in Moscow, the poverty of the town greatly surprised me. I am familiar with poverty in the country; but city poverty was new and incomprehensible to me. In Moscow it was impossible to pass along the street without encountering beggars, and especially beggars who are unlike those in the country. These beggars do not go about with their pouches in the name of Christ, as country beggars are accustomed to do, but these beggars are without the pouch and the name of Christ. The Moscow beggars carry no pouches, and do not ask for alms. Generally, when they meet or pass you, they merely try to catch your eye; and, according to your look, they beg or refrain from it. I know one such beggar who belongs to the gentry. The old man walks slowly along, bending forward every time he sets his foot down. When he meets you, he rests on one foot and makes you a kind of salute.&nbs...