Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

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CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM But nor on the other hand would a lot of peasants with pitchforks and spades ... We're not talking about peasants; we're talking about a highly sophisticated, highly urban industrial society. And it seems to me its best method of defense would be its political appeal to the working class in the countries that were pan of the anack. But again, I don't wanr to be glib; it might need tanks, it might need armies. And if it did, I think we can be fairly sure that that would contribute to the possible failure or at least decline of the revolutionary forcefor exactly the reasons that you mentioned. That is, I think it's extremely hard to imagine how an effective centralized army, deploying tanks, planes, strategic weapons and so on, could function. If that's what's required to preserve the revolutionary structures, then I think they may well not be preserved. If the basic deftnse is the political appeal, or the appeal of the political and economic organization, perhaps we could look in a little more detail at that. You wrote, in one of your essays, that "in a decent society, everyone would have the opportunity to find interesting work, and each person would be permitted the fidlest possible scope for his talents. " And then you went on to ask: "W}){lt mure wuuld be required in partinddr, extrim'ic reward in tile form of wealth and power? Only if we assume that applying ones talents in interesting and socially usefol work is not rewarding in itself" I think that that line of reasoning is certainly one of the things that appeals to a lot of people. But it still needs to be expldined, I think, why the kind of work which people would find interesting and appealing and folfilling to do would coincide at all closely with the kind which actually needs to be done, if we're to sustain anything like the standard of living which people demand and are used to. Well, there's a cenain amounr of work that JUSt has to be done if we're to maintain that standard of living. It's an open question how onerous that work has to be. Let's recall that science and technology and intellect have not been devoted to examining that question or to overcoming the onerous and self-destructive character of the necessary work of society. The reason is that it has always been assumed that there is a substantial body of wage-slaves who will do it simply because otherwise they'll starve. However, if human intelligence is turned to the question of how ro make the necessary work of society itself meaningful, we don't know what the answer will be. My guess is that a fair amount of it can be made entirely tolerable. It's a mistake to think that even back-breaking physical labor is necessarily onerous. Many peoplemyself included-do it for relaxation. Well recently, for example, I gOt it into my head to plant thirty-four trees in a meadow behind the house, on the State Conservation Commission, which means I had to dig thirty-four holes in the sand. You know, for me, and what [do with my time mostly, that's pretty hard 141
THE RElEVANCE OF ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM work, but I have to admit I enjoyed it. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I'd had work norms, if I'd had an overseer, and if I'd been ordered to do it at a certain moment, and so on. On the other hand, if it's a task taken on just out of interest, fine, that can be done. And that's without any technology, without any thought given (Q how to design the work, and so on. J put it to you that there may be a danger that this view of things is a rather romantic delusion, entertained only by a small elite of people who happen, like profissors, perhaps journalists and so on, to be in the very privileged situation of being paid to do what anyway they like to do. That's why I began with a big "If" I said we first have to ask to what extent the necessary work of sociery-namely, that work which is required to maintain the standard ofliving that we want-needs to be onerous and undesirable. I think (he answer is, much less than it is today; bur let's assume there is some extent [Q which it remains onerous. Well, in that case, the answer's quite simple: that work has ro be equally shared among people capable of doing it.
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CHOMSKY ON ANRRCHISM SELECTED AND E
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CHOMSKY ON ANARCHISM PREFACE 5 INTR
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