Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

112 I Ramnath
fo r 'system; liberty fo r authority, and personality fo r social
gregariousness." But his family was not happy with his ap ­
parent aimlessness, and promised him a monthly allowance
ifhe would go to college and study law.
Mukerj i was intrigued by Leo's ideas. The two new
friends decided to move out of the boardinghouse and share
cheaper lodgings. Preempting university classes, they now applied
themselves with "feverish" dedication fo urteen hours a
day to their chosen course of independent study. They liked
Walt Whitman, glanced at Shaw, discarded Plato, and were
"delighted" with Henry David Thoreau, Proudhon (partictllady
the suggestion that "property was theft"), and Friedrich
Nietzsche (especially the notion that "God was dead").
When Leo flunked out and Mukerji barely scraped by in his
exams, they blamed "the capitalist system;' which they also
identified as the root ofMukerji's lack of shoes, "petty larceny"
of an exploitative boss, and presence of factory workers
and prostitutes wandering rainy Oakland streets at night. On
leaving school, Leo vowed never to work and thereby never
to further enrich the capitalist system. Luckily for him his
roommate did not take the vow. Mukerji accepted :l job at
another boardinghouse while supplying Leo with philosophy
texts from the university; Leo summarized the chapters
for his humble benefactor after Mukerji got off work.
Sometimes Mukerji would pass the hat while Leo soapboxed.
One night Leo decided it was time to take Mukerji
to see his friend Jerry, the "ideal anarchist." When they sat
down to talk,Jerry asked, "What makes you so interested
in anarchism?" The starstruck Mukerji answered, "Why, it's
the vision of the future."