The floodgates of anarchy

145 Pages·2010·8.31 MB·English

by  Meltzer

Praise for The Floodgates of Anarchy
“Anyone who wants to know what anarchism is about in the contempo-
rary world would do well to start here. The Floodgates of Anarchy forces
us to take a hard look at moral and political problems which other more
sophisticated doctrines evade.”
— The Sunday Times
“A lucid exposition of revolutionary anarchist theory.”
— Peace News
“Coming from a position of uncompromising class struggle and a tra-
dition that includes many of our exemplary anarchist militants, The
Floodgates of Anarchy has a power and directness sadly missing from
some contemporary anarchist writing. It is exciting to see it back in
print, ready for a new generation to read.”
—Barry Pateman, Associate Editor, The Emma Goldman
Papers, University of California, Berkeley

The
Floodgates
of Anarchy
Stuart Christie &
Albert Meltzer
PM Press 2010
The Floodgates of Anarchy by Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer
© Stuart Christie
This Edition © PM Press 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60486-105-1
LCCN: 2009901386
PM Press
P.O. Box 23912
Oakland, CA 94623
PMPress.org
Printed in the USA on recycled paper.
Cover: John Yates/Stealworks.com
Inside design: Josh MacPhee/Justseeds.org
Contents
Introduction to 2010 Edition 7
Preface 9
Introduction 11
1 The Class Struggle and Liberty 21
2 The Road to Utopia 29
3 The Labor Movement 37
4 Social Protest and a New Class 51
5 Do Classes Exist? 63
6 Reward and Fantasies 71
7 Party Lines and Politics 85
8 Reforms and Revolution 95
9 Sectarianism and Unity 101
10 A Clash of Generations? 107
11 Violence and Terrorism 111
12 Is a Free Society Possible? 123
Commentary on Names 131
Endnotes 137

Introduction to the 2010 Edition
We have three good reasons for reissuing this book. First, it was
written in the aftermath of the heady events of 1967 and 1968, so that
in some sense it completes its third decade of existence this year. If
nothing else it is a witness to its time—indeed the dated or obscure
references in the text are proof of just that!
Also, Albert is no longer with us in person, and that is sad. A
meeting with Albert was a true encounter. He always gave cheer. His
obstinacy was never more than caution. His ever-present dedication,
common sense, erudition, seriousness, and wit were a delight. Luckily
for us, they spring from every page of this book, even those that did
not come principally from his typewriter.
Lastly, there still remain hardly any books on the subject of an-
archism in relation to the class struggle. Yet with very few exceptions
every human being born must fight for survival and dignity from the
moment they first draw breath—or someone must do it for them.
Even the fortunate few are affected by the plight of the dispossessed
masses, living as they do behind the thick skins and the high walls that
they need to safeguard their privileges. Since this book was written,
those skins may or may not have got thicker, those walls higher. For
sure, though, the gap between rich and poor has widened noticeably
everywhere. If the ground that has been so lost is ever to be regained,
it will only be so when the poor fight back. This book is, we hope, part
of that fight.
“What causes war is the meekness of the many,” the authors write.
Just so. It is the cause, too, of every disaster that befalls the many who
are dispossessed. And what causes that meekness is largely the failure
of those many to recognise the force within themselves that is the po-
tential to combine to win a better world—by opening “the floodgates
of anarchy.”
STUART CHRISTIE

Preface
Writing on the subject of anarchism in relation to the class struggle
we had few, if any, books to consult, despite the writings of earlier
anarchists when class divisions were taken for granted and before
the development of current social and economic trends. The anar-
chist movement owes little to the writings of the “intellectual”—on
the contrary, professional writers have dipped into the achievements
of anarchist workers to enlighten themselves on social theory or to
formulate other theories.
I was helped in my early thoughts by coming from Glasgow and
Blantyre where I grew up amongst miners and others who had kept
the socialist and libertarian tradition alive for more than 60 years. I
subsequently had the advantage of holding discussions with comrades
of the clandestine struggle against Franco such as Octavio Alberola;
Salvador Gurucharri and José Pascual Palacios. I must also add to
this list Luis Andrés Edo and Alain Pecunia, a fellow prisoner in
Carabanchel, Madrid, Prison. Without them and people like them we
would have been gobbled up or annihilated entirely by the machinery
of the State.
I may say that this book would never have appeared without the
help of my co-author Albert Meltzer, a veteran of the anarchist move-
ment for over a third of a century. Albert has worked with stalwarts
of a previous generation of British anarchists—Mat Kavanagh, Frank
Leech, Albert Grace, Sam Mainwaring Jr., and others—as well as col-
laborating with revolutionaries in Asia and Europe. Our work in the
Anarchist Black Cross, an organization for helping prisoners and ac-
tivists abroad and in Britain, resulted in this book.
STUART CHRISTIE