Kropotkin in "The Conquest of Bread." In this he shows how on the canals in Holland the traffic (so vital to the life of that nation) is controlled by free agreements, to the perfect satisfaction of all concerned. The railways of Europe, he points out, also, are brought into co-operation with one another and thus welded into one system, not by a centralised administration, but by agreements and counter-agreements between the various companies.
If free agreement is able to do so much even now, in a system of competition and government, how much more could it do when competition disappears, and when we trust to our own organisation instead of to that of a paternal government.
No. 6.
If a man will not vote for the Revolution, how can you Anarchists expect him to come out and fight for it!
This question is very often asked, and that is the only excuse for answering it. For my part, I find it generally enough to suggest to the questioner that though I find it very difficult to imagine myself voting for him, I do not find it half so unlikely that I might shoot him.
Really the objection entirely begs the question. Our argument is that to vote for a labour leader to have a seat in Parliament is notto vote for the Revolution. And it is because the people instinctively know that they will not get Liberty by such means that the parliamentarians are unable to awaken any enthusiasm.
No. 7.
If you abolish competition you abolish the incentive to work.
One of the strangest things about society to-day is that whilst we show a wonderful power to produce abundant wealth and luxury, we fail to bring forth the simplest necessities. Everyone, no matter what his political, religious or social opinions may be, will agree in this. It is too obvious to be disputed. On the one hand there are children without boots; on the other hand are the boot- makers crying out that they cannot sell their stock. On the one hand there are people starving or living upon unwholesome food, and on the other
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