Title: Anarchism and Ireland Author: Workers Solidarity Movement Description: An introduction to the ideas of anarchism, its relevance to Ireland and what happened in Russia and Spain. Keywords: Anarchism, Russia, Spain Introduction to the second edition (1989) In the intervening four years since the Workers Solidarity Movement first published Anarchism and Ireland the reasons for doing so again have been more than demonstrated. Despite the great technological advances, the huge wealth and resources that now exist throughout the world, millions continue to die from starvation and from four major preventable diseases. Ireland is no exception to the injustice and inequality that prevails. The standard of living has dropped for most working class people in the last three years, while unemployment has gone higher and emigration increased. The government has used the climate of despondency to push through its own cuts in the health service and in education - putting the squeeze, more and more, on those less well off. But meanwhile huge profits are being made, not just by multinationals but also by some of Ireland's own capitalists like Tony O'Reilly and Michael Smurfit. That this situation must be changed is beyond doubt. Capitalism survives not just by physical force but also by making people feel and believe that they are powerless to do anything about it. It convinces us that "this is the way things will always be". Our real power to resist the inequality and injustice around us, and ultimately to radically change the way things are run, is obscured from us. But it is none the less there. Anarchism and Ireland aims to make this clearer, to show the long tradition of ideas and action - our history - that has sought radical change by abolishing capitalism and replacing it with a better society based on socialism and freedom. Anarchist ideas are not new, though in Ireland they have only a short history. The WSM aims to further popularise these ideas, to convince as many as possible that the solution to the problems around us will not be found in electing a "socialist" government to the Dail or any other parliament. Rather it lies in our own industrial and social power as workers. It lies in our ability to organise in unions, to stop production to further our aims. Ultimately it lies in the fact that it is we and not the bosses who create the wealth of the world. Kevin Doyle The Workers Solidarity Movement is anarchist organisation. We believe in a revolution by the working class which will overthrow the bosses and their governments, and create a society run and controlled by those who actually produce the wealth of the world. We believe that it is possible to live without government and to put in its place councils and assemblies where the "ordinary people" can decide what happens to this wealth. We believe in the equality of all and that maximum solidarity is needed between workers and other oppressed groups if we are to defeat those who live off our sweat. Anarchists are against chaos When you hear about anarchists you are led to believe that we are mad bombers. Every other group that lets off a bomb is immediately labelled 'anarchist' whether they be nationalists, socialists or even fascists. The myth is created that we believe in violence for the sake of it. The other myth is that anarchism is chaos It is claimed by politicians, bosses and their hacks in the media that if there was no government there would be chaos. But did you ever wonder about society today and come to the conclusion that perhaps we are already living in chaos. At the moment thousands of builders are on the dole yet homeless people need housing to live in. The price of butter is scandalously dear yet every year the EEC has to deal with a butter mountain. Thousands of people are dying of starvation around the world yet millions of pounds are spent every day on nuclear arms which have the potential for wiping us and the world out. You might ask why is this so? We say that there is one big reason - PROFIT! At the moment we live in a society in which there are two major classes - the bosses and the workers. The bosses own the factories, banks, shops, etc. Workers don't. All they have is their labour which they use to make a living. Workers are compelled to sell their Labour to the boss for a wage. The boss is interested in squeezing as much work out of the worker for as little wages as possible so that he/she can maintain high profits. Thus the more wages workers get the less profits the bosses make. Their interests are in total opposition to each other. Production is not based on the needs of ordinary people. Production is for profit. Therefore although there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, people starve because profits come first. This is capitalism. What is the State? There are other classes in society such as the self- employed and small farmers but fundamentally there are workers and bosses whose interests are in opposition to each other. For workers needs to be fully met we must get rid of the bosses. But this is no easy task. The bosses are organised. They have the media on their side. They also have the State and the force of the army and police that go with it. We only have to look at the miners strike in Britain to see how the forces of the state can be used against the working class. We only have to look at the North to see to what extent the ruling class are prepared to go to protect their interests. The state (i.e. governments, armies, courts, police, etc.) is a direct result of the fact that we live in a class society. A society where only 7% of the people own 84% of the wealth. The state is there to protect the interests of this minority, if not by persuasion then by force. Laws are made not to protect us but to protect those who own the property. Look at how the Ranks workers were flung into jail when they decided to fight for their jobs. Compare this with the treatment handed out to the multi-nationals who were able to take 500m in profits out of the country tax free without the government even knowing about it. If you think that the state is there to protect you, think about the fact that PAYE workers pay 88% of all income taxes while the rest - farmers, self-employed ,and multi- nationals pay only 12% between them. Elections: Putting numbers on a piece of paper We are led to believe that the state is run in our interests. Don't we have elections to ensure that any government not behaving itself can be brought to task? Democracy is about putting numbers on a piece of paper every four years. We are given a choice all right but between parties who all agree with the system of a tiny minority ruling the country. People often say that if we really want to change things we should run in elections. Take a good look at this idea and it becomes clear that it cannot be done if we are to remain true to our anarchism. Electioneering inevitably leads to revolutionaries forsaking their revolutionary principles. Look at the so-called Labour Party. First of all they do not go to the people with a clear socialist message. They go for whatever is popular and will ensure that they get elected. This becomes more important to them than educating people about the meaning of socialism. It also means that they look on the mass of voters as mere spectators. People are seen as voters, not as people who can be actually involved in politics and bringing socialism about. We do not accept that we should hand over the running of our lives to 160 odd people who are not accountable and can basically do whatever they like. Can socialism come through the Dail (Parliment) There is another reason why we do not stand for election. Socialism cannot come through the Dail. If we look at a country like Chile we can see why. In 1973 the people elected a moderate socialist government led by President Allende. This democratically elected government was toppled by a CIA backed military coup. Repression followed in which the workers movement was smashed and thousands of militants lost their lives. This happened for two reasons. The Chilean socialists did not understand that real power is not in the parliament but in the boardrooms of the multinationals. It is those who have the money who hold real power. Socialism does not come through electing socialists to the Dail but through the direct action of workers taking control of the factories and land. For us socialism can only come from below, not from the top. This point is not understood by the so called socialist parties of Europe which are in government at the moment. In France, Spain and Greece 'socialist' governments are pushing working class peoples living standards down because international banks want loans repaid and multinationals want to maintain profits. The second reason is that the Chileans did not smash the state but tried to capture it peacefully. We must understand that the army and police are against us. They are there to protect the wealth of the ruling class. To make a revolution it will be necessary to use violence, not because we believe in violence for the sake of it, but because we recognise that the ruling class will not give up its wealth without a fight. Allende refused to arm the workers and so made the job of the military much easier. How ideas change >From the moment we are born we are taught that we must give up control of our lives to those more capable of running things - that we must put our faith and loyalty in government to organise our lives. In school, in the papers and on television the working class are portrayed as sheep who need to be led and governed over. Even in the unions, the organisation of the working class, workers are discouraged from taking any initiative by themselves. Instead they are treated by the union bureaucracy supposedly on the workers' behalf. However, capitalists in their mad rush for profits are forced to keep workers' pay and conditions at the lowest possible level. In times of recession competition between capitalists increases, and if profits are to be maintained capitalists argue that workers must accept cuts in their pay and conditions. It is when workers are forced into conflict with their bosses, when they go on strike, that they realise their own strength. Without labour all production grinds to a halt. The bosses simply cannot run the factories by themselves. Workers who go on strike begin to rely on their own collective strength, they realise that if they are going to win they must stick together. They become more aware of what they can achieve and they become open to more ideas, new ideas. This was seen in the 1984/5 British miners strike. Before the strike most miners believed womens' role was in the home minding the children. But as the strike began, women took the initiative and set up support groups to aid the strike. Women actively took part in picketing as well as fund-raising. Faced with this many miners changed their sexist ideas. Their ideas about the police and the courts also changed. In conflict, they realised the main purpose of the police and courts was to protect the bosses and smash the strike. This is not to say that workers going on strike set out with socialist goals in mind. However when workers win on `bread and butter' issues, their confidence increases and so does their faith in their own ability to organise themselves. That is one of the reasons for the WSM being involved in supporting strikes - to build the links between workers' day-to-day struggles and our aim of a truly equal society. Socialism from Below Central to our politics is the belief that ordinary people must make the revolution. Every member of the working class (workers, unemployed, housewives, etc.) has a role to play. Only by this participation can we ensure that anarchism is made real. We believe in a revolution that comes from the bottom up and is based on factory and community councils. Freedom cannot be given, it has to be taken. This is where we disagree with what is called the "revolutionary left". While they say that they agree with all this they still hold to a belief that a party is necessary to make the revolution for the people. Most of them base their ideas on Lenin who believed that workers were only capable of achieving what he called "trade union consciousness". According to him they needed a party of professional revolutionaries to make the revolution for them. The result of this thinking is to be clearly seen in the Eastern Europe of today. What we see in Russia has nothing to do with socialism. Power rests in the hands of a tiny party elite. The state is the boss and the workers are still exploited and told what to do. This is state capitalism. Workers do not control their workplaces. All power is held by the bureaucracy. A workers revolution will be necessary to overthrow this bureaucratic elite and bring in true freedom. Of course the likes of the so called Workers Party have no problem supporting the Soviet system because that is what they aspire to. They were very quiet when Solidarnosc was suppressed in Poland. They support the Russian system up to the hilt so they decided for the sake of electoral advantage to stay quiet and not say anything. The reason for their attitude is that their vision of socialism is one where the state controls all. Socialism will come through nationalising everything. They would have no problem turning Ireland into a satellite of the state capitalists in Moscow. So we say it is up to ordinary people. Some ask is this possible? Would it not be chaotic? Of course not. At the moment capitalism would collapse without the support of the working class. We make everything, we produce all the wealth. It is possible to organise production so that the needs of all are met. It is also possible to create structures that allow everyone to participate in making the decisions that affect them. Democracy and Freedom As already stated society would be based on factory and community councils. These would federate with each other so that decisions could be made covering large areas. Delegates could be sent from each area and workplace. They would be recallable, i.e. if those who voted them in are not happy with their behaviour they can immediately replace them with someone else. With the new technology it will be much easier to involve lots of people in making quick decisions. Within this society there would be genuine individual freedom. Individuals would have to contribute to society but would be free to the extent that they do not interfere with the freedom of others. Fundamentally we believe that people are good and if they won freedom would not easily give it up or destroy it. So where does the Workers Solidarity Movement fit into all this? We are a new organisation - small in numbers but rich in ideas. We don't set ourselves up as "the leaders who know it all". We believe that our ideas are good and are worth trying out. We believe it is necessary for those agreeing with them to organise together so that our ideas will spread and be understood by a lot more people. To us it is important that those revolutionaries active in different areas are brought together so that experiences can be shared and learned from. We believe that in day-today struggles or in campaigns it is important that the message is driven home that only a revolution made by the working class can give us the freedom to run society so that all our needs are met. We see our role as encouraging the initiative of working people and arguing for structures which allow people to take part in local or workplace activities. We do not believe that the revolution is around the corner. We believe that making it is a slow process during which there may be huge jumps forward. Overall though it is a slow process of spreading ideas and building peoples confidence to bring about change. We accept that winning reforms and short term demands are all part of this process. Below we set out some of our ideas in relation to the Irish society of today. The Trade Unions Unions are defence organs of the working class. They are not revolutionary organisations. Today the majority of unions have become conservative institutions with a lot of emphasis being placed on the role of the full time officials as problem solvers and negotiators. Whole sections of the trade union bureaucracy have become outright defenders of the status quo. This is typified by the use of the two-tier picket (where groups of workers from another union in the same job are encouraged to pass pickets). Within the unions decision making has shifted from the shopfloor to the bureaucrats. With this the rank and file have become more isolated from control of their unions and thus more apathetic. For us the unions have to be made into real fighting organisations which are run and controlled by workers on the shopfloor. We do not think you can change the unions by capturing the full-time jobs at the top. Our role is to encourage the self-activity of as many workers as possible. The bureaucracy itself has to be torn down. We believe in building a rank and file movement which would embrace workers from different workplaces and areas of work. Its main function would be to encourage solidarity between all workers. It would support all strikes, fight for the election of all full-time officials so that they are responsible to the workers, fight for equal rights for women and ultimately resist any attempts by the bosses to make us pay for their crisis. We see the organised labour movement as an essential area of activity for revolutionaries. Politics have to be brought into the workplaces and unions as it is here that we have strength and can inflict real damage on the bosses. Unemployment Unemployment is always a direct effect of living under capitalism, it is used by the bosses to depress wages "there are plenty of people out there who work for less money than you" is a common threat as is "behave yourselves or I'll close down". The chaotic nature of also leads to regular crisis which cause massive unemployment Unemployment will not be stopped while the capitalist system exists but there are immediate demands that can be put forward. Any workplace threatened with closure should be occupied as the workers in Ranks and Clondalkin Paper Mills did. The workers should demand continued employment whether it be under a new owner or by nationalisation. We believe it makes little difference because, for us, nationalisation is not a cure-all. It is no guarantee of better wages or job security and it does not bring us any nearer to socialism. There is no essential difference between a boss who is a civil servant and one who is a private employer. We also call for a shorter working week, an end to systematic overtime and double jobbing and an end to all productivity deals. Basic wages should be high enough so that workers do not need to work excess hours. We believe that the unemployed should accept no responsibility for the situation. Dole payments should be increased substantially. Where possible, the unemployed should organise themselves to defend their rights and link up with the broader trade union movement. Women's Freedom We believe that women are oppressed as a sex. They are denied equal rights, such as the right to control their own fertility and the right to work, and thus cannot fully participate in society. They have been assigned the role of cooks and child minders, their place is in the home. This kind of thinking is reinforced in Ireland by the catholic church which controls the educational system. The church can flex its muscle when it pleases and clearly showed its strength during the campaign to change the constitution in relation to abortion. We believe that the root of women's oppression lies in the division of society into classes, and the economic and social relationships that created. We thus believe that for women to be really free we have to smash capitalism and build a society based on anarchism. We disagree with those feminists who think that all you have to do is for women to become bosses and politicians to achieve equality. We want to destroy the existing power structures. We also disagree with those who think that men are the cause of women's oppression. We do not deny that men gain from this but we identify the source of this oppression as the class system, not individual men. Women's oppression is not purely a struggle for women as it is a class issue but we hold that women have the right to organise separately because it is they who suffer the oppression. We do believe, though, that the priorities of the woman's movement have reflected the fact that it largely consists of middle class women. We believe that it must become more relevant to working class women. Our priorities are those issues which immediately effect thousands of working class women e.g. work, childcare, housing, etc. We believe in the right of women to control their own fertility. Women must be free to decide to have children or not, how many and when. Thus we believe in the right to free contraception and abortion on demand. For these demands to won as many working class women as possible must be brought together to build confidence and defeat the isolation that comes from being in the home. Thus in campaigns to win these demands our emphasis is on building in workplaces and on the estates where women are directly affected. Picture: Young women who occupied their factory take to the streets of Drogheda The National Question This country was partitioned to suit the interests of the ruling classes of Britain and Ireland. It divided the working class in this country - a division which has yet to be overcome. The Northern state was artificially created with an in built protestant majority. It is a sectarian state where marginal privileges are offered to Protestant workers in return for loyalty. Unionist workers see their interests as tied up with those of the ruling class in the North. The British army was not sent into the North to keep the Catholics and Protestants from tearing into each other but to protect the interests of the establishment. They have stayed because it is not possible for the British (and Irish) governments to come up with a solution which will ensure stability in the North. The British do not want an area of instability so close to their own front door. We believe that the British troops must get out and that the Orange state must be destroyed. We believe that it is only possible to do this on the basis of anarchism. It is no longer possible to unite the country on a capitalist basis. We must go forward on the basis of anarchism and the class interest of the working class. We reject Sinn Fein's notion that we must unite the country before we can have socialism. Their basic belief is in "National Liberation". They put the "nation" before the working class. They organise around the slogan of "One Nation - One People". In this country there is not one people - there is a ruling class and there is a working class. Their interests are not the same, in fact they are in total opposition to each other. What the Provos want is state capitalism of the sort found in Cuba or some of the third world countries. We believe that to defeat British imperialism the maximum working class unity is needed. We accept that most Protestant workers are tied to loyalism which is reactionary and has nothing to offer them as workers. We also believe that the objective conditions are there to act as a basis for building workers unity in the North. Protestants are suffering from the crisis as well. This is not to say that we are so naive as to think that Protestant workers will automatically make common cause with their catholic counterparts. It will be a hard struggle. The spread of multinationals thoughout the 32 counties has undermined to some extent the traditional patterns of employment In the country as a whole and in the North in particular. there is a need to build on the basis of "bread and butter" issues. This does not mean hiding the fact that we are against the British army, U D.R. and R.U.C. or that we forsake our anti-imperialism as the Workers Party have done. We do not accept that minorities of any sort can bring about socialism. That includes armed ones. We recognise the need for self-defence but as an offensive strategy, the armed struggle cannot win. The movement to get the British out must be used on the organised working class, North and South. This is but a most basic outline of our ideas on these main issues. We do not see them as separate from each other. They are obviously related. One role for our organisation is to make the links between the struggles. That is why we say that real liberation for workers, women, gays or any grouping oppressed by the present system can only come through social revolution. Anarchism in Action You probably agree that what you have read so far are mostly good ideas. You probably accept that the wealth of society should be distributed equally and also that ordinary people should have more say in the running of their lives. Like most people who hear about Anarchism you probably believe that it is a good set of ideas but unfortunately it would never work. People are naturally greedy and selfish, if there was no government to look after our interests there would be complete chaos". It has already been stated that we believe capitalism is chaos. It does not and never can meet the needs of ordinary people. On the other hand, a society run by those who actually produce can. This kind of society is not myth we have dreamed up. At various stages of our history it has become a reality. Working people have taken their destinies into their own hands and made a success of it. Far from being naturally greedy and selfish these experiences actually show that given the right conditions people can co-operate and act in a spirit of mutual aid. In the Beginning As Anarchists we trace our tradition back to the first International Working Mens [sic] Association where the Anarchists formed a distinct tendency influenced mainly by the ideas of Michael Bakunin. Since then Anarchism has always been deeply rooted in the working class. Contrary to popular belief Anarchists do not spend their time plotting in back rooms. For most their activity means bringing their politics into the daily struggles of the factories, the offices and the communities. Anarchists have been involved in all major modern revolutions They have been there arguing and fighting for the right and necessity of working people running society as opposed to any so- called "socialist party" or bureaucratic elite. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Workers Solidarity Movement can be contacted at PO Box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland Some of our material is available via the Spunk press electronic archive by FTP to etext.archive.umich.edu or 141.211.164.18 or by gopher ("gopher etext.archive.umich.edu") in the directory /pub/Politics/Spunk/texts/groups/WSM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin@anon.penet.fi.