Read the passage Face to face with an audience, Emma Goldman was a forceful and witty propagandist. Frequently she lifted her rapt hearers to heights from which they envisioned a world wholly free and completely delightful. In cold print, how- ever, her lectures reveal little of her dynamic appeal. They are primarily the work of a force- ful agitator: clear, pointed, spirited, but without originality or intellectual rigor. The faithful disciple of Bakunin and Kropotkin, Emma perceived civilization as 'a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and... Show more Read the passageFace to face with an audience, Emma Goldman was a forceful and witty propagandist. Frequently she lifted her rapt hearers to heights from which they envisioned a world wholly free and completely delightful. In cold print, how- ever, her lectures reveal little of her dynamic appeal. They are primarily the work of a force- ful agitator: clear, pointed, spirited, but without originality or intellectual rigor. The faithful disciple of Bakunin and Kropotkin, Emma perceived civilization as 'a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and even against ‘society,' that is, against the majority subdued and hypnotized by the State and State worship.' This conflict, she argued, was bound to last as long as the state itself, since it was of the very nature of government to be 'conserva- tive, static, intolerant of change and opposed to it,' while the instinct of the individual was to 21 resent restriction, combat authority, and seek the benefits of innovation. Her definition of anarchism first appeared on the masthead of Mother Earth in the issue of 25 April 1910: 'The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestrained by man- made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary.' In 30 her oft-repeated lecture on the subject she warmly described the benefits to ensue from social revolution: 'Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals for the purpose of producing real social wealth; an order that will guarantee to every human being free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life, according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations.' To the end of her life Emma avowed the soundness and practicality of her doctrine. As late as 1934 she declared in Harper's Magazine: 'I am certain that Anarchism is too vital and too close to human nature ever to die. When the failure of modern dictatorship and authori- tarian philosophies becomes apparent and the 46 realization of failure more general, Anarchism will be vindicated.' It was her belief that sooner or later the mass of mankind would perceive the futility of begging for crumbs and would take power into its own hands. Since she scorned political means, she expounded the validity of direct action. This method she defined as the 'conscious individual or collec- tive effort to protest against, or remedy, social conditions through the systematic assertion of the economic power of the workers.' Once the state and capitalism were destroyed, anarchism would assume the form of free communism, which she described as 'a social arrangement based on the principle: To each according to his needs; from each according to his ability.' It must be stressed that although the wording is common to all forms of communism, that of Marx and Lenin implies strict centralized authority, while that of Kropotkin and Emma Goldman envisions complete decentralization and the supremacy of the individual. No man who has pondered the concept of the good life will fail to appreciate the ideal propounded by the anarchists. And one who has observed the results of modern dictatorship cannot but sympathize with a vision of the future in which the individual is the prime ben- eficiary of all social activity. Yet life often makes mock of man's noblest dreams. Emma may have been 'the daughter of the dream'; her doctrine remains as utopian as it is alluring. There is no gainsaying the fact that modern conditions still favor national and industrial centralization. The philosophy of anarchism appears less tenable today than ever. — excerpt from Emma Goldman: Biographical Sketch by Charles Allan Madison Show less
Face to face with an audience, Emma Goldman was a forceful and witty propagandist. Frequently she lifted her rapt hearers to heights from which they envisioned a world wholly free and completely delightful. In cold print, how- ever, her lectures reveal little of her dynamic appeal. They are primarily the work of a force- ful agitator: clear, pointed, spirited, but without originality or intellectual rigor.
The faithful disciple of Bakunin and Kropotkin, Emma perceived civilization as 'a continuous struggle of the individual or of groups of individuals against the State and even against ‘society,' that is, against the majority subdued and hypnotized by the State and State worship.' This conflict, she argued, was bound to last as long as the state itself, since it was of the very nature of government to be 'conserva- tive, static, intolerant of change and opposed to it,' while the instinct of the individual was to 21 resent restriction, combat authority, and seek the benefits of innovation.
Her definition of anarchism first appeared on the masthead of Mother Earth in the issue of 25 April 1910: 'The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestrained by man- made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary.' In 30 her oft-repeated lecture on the subject she warmly described the benefits to ensue from social revolution: 'Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals for the purpose of producing real social wealth; an order that will guarantee to every human being free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life, according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations.' To the end of her life Emma avowed the soundness and practicality of her doctrine. As late as 1934 she declared in Harper's Magazine:
'I am certain that Anarchism is too vital and too close to human nature ever to die. When the failure of modern dictatorship and authori- tarian philosophies becomes apparent and the 46 realization of failure more general, Anarchism will be vindicated.' It was her belief that sooner or later the mass of mankind would perceive the futility of begging for crumbs and would take power into its own hands. Since she scorned political means, she expounded the validity of direct action. This method she defined as the 'conscious individual or collec- tive effort to protest against, or remedy, social conditions through the systematic assertion of the economic power of the workers.' Once the state and capitalism were destroyed, anarchism would assume the form of free communism, which she described as 'a social arrangement based on the principle: To each according to his needs; from each according to his ability.' It must be stressed that although the wording is common to all forms of communism, that of Marx and Lenin implies strict centralized authority, while that of Kropotkin and Emma Goldman envisions complete decentralization and the supremacy of the individual.
No man who has pondered the concept of the good life will fail to appreciate the ideal propounded by the anarchists. And one who has observed the results of modern dictatorship cannot but sympathize with a vision of the future in which the individual is the prime ben- eficiary of all social activity. Yet life often makes mock of man's noblest dreams. Emma may have been 'the daughter of the dream'; her doctrine remains as utopian as it is alluring.
There is no gainsaying the fact that modern conditions still favor national and industrial centralization. The philosophy of anarchism appears less tenable today than ever.
— excerpt from Emma Goldman: Biographical Sketch by Charles Allan Madison
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