Workers Solidarity Movement

Everybody knows what property is, property is something that we own, but why is this such a major issue for anarchists and the left as a whole? You see when most people think about property it’s not such a big deal because what most people don’t realise is that there are two kinds of property, there is personal property and private property.

So then what is the difference then between personal property and private property?

Exploitation is an easy enough concept to grasp. It is essentially, when someone does not receive the full returns to their labour. That is when they do not receive the full benefit from their activities.

Looking around the world today it can be difficult to imagine how the society that we want to see can be created. But rather than sitting back and waiting for capitalism to collapse, or for the revolution to come, we believe in organising in the here and now.

Imperialism, in its most basic form involves wealthy and powerful governments using their military power to invade poorer parts of the world in order to impose their control upon them. There isn’t the space to go into all aspects of imperialism here, so I’m concentrating on the military form.

Why are anarchists always dragging class into everything? Isn’t class struggle something more at home in a history book than in Celtic Tiger Ireland? After all you don’t see too many downtrodden workers wandering around in donkey jackets, cloth caps and heavy boots.

Mary Harney has banned the sale of magic mushrooms!! In a decision taken in record-quick time, Harney and her government colleagues decided that they couldn’t have us all going around sampling mind-altering fungi and maybe even enjoying them. More importantly the decision was made that we couldn’t be trusted to decide for ourselves what was safe/unsafe for each of us to try. We need such decisions to be made for us because apparently we are incapable of deciding for ourselves.

Anarchism essentially sees a free society where everybody has the opportunity to live as they want as achievable. But what does that mean in practice, and how do we get there.

It is a very sincerely held belief by many people, that we are "naturally" greedy, rotten feckers and, in the absence of government, some mad form of capitalism would be inevitable

Anarchists are usually pretty good at listing the things we are against: capitalism, racism, religious sectarianism, authoritarianism and so on. We are usually pretty good at explaining how best to struggle: direct democracy and mass direct action.

Where we often fall down is in explaining what we want at the end of the day, and convincing our listeners that it is a realistic alternative rather than a utopian pipe dream.

For anarchists the starting point about any discussion on organisation is our end-goal; a free egalitarian and self-managed society. Because we see means and ends as intrinsically linked, we try to foster as much of that end-goal in the here and now as possible. That means creating organisations that are run directly by those participating and that everyone has an equal say in how things are done.