THE AIMS OF ANARCHIST REVOLUTION
The anarchist insurrectional project is a revolutionary project ,
that is to say a project that aims at the destruction of the
present society and the creation of new ways of living. The aim
of this revolution is the removal of every social limit that
prevents individuals from creating their own lives in terms of
their own desires and dreams and determining what relations
they want to create in order to accomplish this. But such an aim
implies other aims as well.
The social system of capital separates most people from the
conditions of existence. This compels the vast majority to
accept the mediations of work and commodity consumption in
order to maintain a minimal existence at the expense of their
lives, desires and dreams, of their individuality. The artificial
economic scarcity imposed by capital leads to a competition
that is often promoted in the United States as the basis of
"individualism" in spite of the fact that it creates nearly
identical mediocre existences in which life is subsumed in
survival.
It is possible even within this social context to take back one's
life, the conditions of one's existence, to a limited extent, by
choosing to live on the margins as an outlaw. But such a
decision can only be a first step if one does not want to isolate
oneself. It puts one in the position of being at war with society
as it exists. And one's enemies-the masters of this order-have
far greater access to the means of existence than the
marginalized outlaw. So if this individual revolt is not to fall
into the realm of futile gestures, it must move toward a
revolutionary perspective.
This perspective develops when one recognizes the necessity of
destroying the social order, of utterly demolishing the state and
capital. If all individuals are indeed to be free to create their
lives and relations as they desire, it is necessary to create a
world in which equality of access to the means and conditions
of existence is reality. This requires the total destruction of
economy-the end of property, commodity exchange and work.
Thus we see that the generalized realization of individual
freedom goes hand-in-hands with the best aspects of the
anarcho-communist ideal and can only be achieved through a
revolutionary transformation.
But such a revolution is not a gift granted by abstract History.
Here the full significance of individual rebellion shows itself.
When we reject every deterministic view of revolution, it
becomes clear that the actions of individuals in conscious revolt
against the social order are essential for building a revolution.
Those individuals who reject all exploitation, who refuse to put
up with a world that demands that one buy survival at the
expense of one's dreams and desires, at the expense of life lived
to the full, seek out the tools and methods to destroy this social
order. From this the analyses, projects and actions that are the
basis of an insurrectional anarchist projectuality can develop.