ANARCHISM AND CRITICISM OF THE EXISTENT

 

   In a historical context like the one in which we live (the collapse of ideological dogmas, institutional certainties, etc.) it is a matter of fact that increasing numbers of people are beginning to show an interest in anarchism and to take libertarian ideals into consideration: anarchist groups and circles and libertarian collectives are growing.

   And this point, I don’t think it would be untimely to talk about the difference between the individual comrade who discovers an anarchist awareness and therefore begins to spread her anarchist ideals and the classical militant of a political organization. As anarchists, we are focused on the critique of the existence that surrounds us, but we don’t omit moments of individual self-criticism that serve to make us keep our feet quite firmly on the ground. The period of self-criticism is lacking however among political militants, which inevitably leads them to set themselves up on a pedestal of arrogance and presumption. By self-criticism, I mean that individual process of self-analysis that is a part of the life of every libertarian, through which they constantly bring into question their way of thinking, acting, speaking and relating with others.

   It isn’t a question of simplistically examining one’s character or temperament, on the contrary, it’s a question of driving out all the shit that Power and the Church (but also the current everyday consumer society) thrusts into us from the moment we’re born. Certain internal mechanisms with which we were shaped from the most tender age are quite difficult to destroy even when one has the lucidity recognize that they are in clear conflict with libertarian principles. One always tends to think, “after all, I am made this way…” It is safe to say that it is a bit humiliating to discover people who speak of self-determination, anarchy and revolution who are totally incapable of carrying out an internal revolution that is necessary for destroying authoritarianism in whatever form it manifests itself.

   For every future collective project of liberation, an individual voyage to grasp hold of the awareness of anarchist ideals is essential, a project that cannot be separated from a profound critique of the pathogenic germs of Power, present in every one of us.

—Benedetto Gallucci