There exists a postal service.

We have thousands of
criticisms to make, but in the meantime we use it to send our
letters, and shall continue to use it, suffering all its faults,
The Idea of Good Government
until we shall be able to correct or replace it.
There are schools, but how badly they function. But because
and Towards Anarchism
of this we do not allow our children to remain in ignorance -
refusing their learning to read and write.
Meanwhile we wait and struggle for a time when we shall be
able to organise a system of model schools to accomodate all.
From this we can see that, to arrive at Anarchism, material
force is not the only thing to make a revolution; it is essential
that the workers, grouped according to the various branches
of production, place themselves in a position that will insure
the proper functioning of their social life - without the aid or
need of capitalists or governments.
And we see also that the Anarchist ideals are far from being
in contradiction, as the “scientific socialists” claim, to the
laws of evolution as proved by science; they are a conception
which fits these laws perfectly; they are the experimental
system brought from the field of research to that of social
realisation.

Published by Pirate Press, cascadia

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This and other pamphlets can be viewed
at the Anarchist Archives
dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives
and at olymedia.mutualaid.org
This pamphlet is part of our
”understanding our roots series”
Essays by
Errico Malatesta
 The Idea of Good Government bit of wealth taken from the individual owners and put at the
disposal of all, shall be a progress - a forward step towards
by Errico Malatesta Anarchism. Always it should serve to enlarge the claims of the
workers and to intensify the struggle; always it should be accepted
(from Umanita Nova 1920; included in ‘Malatesta: Life and
as a victory over an enemy and not as a concession for which we
Ideas’, Freedom Press)
should be thankful; always we should remain firm in our
None can judge with certainty who is right and who is resolution to take with force, as soon as it will be possible, those
wrong, who is nearest the truth, or which is the best way to means which the private owners, protected by the government,
achieve the greatest good for each and everyone. Freedom have stolen from the workers.
coupled with experience, is the only way of discovering the
The right of force having disappeared, the means of production
truth and what is best; and there can be no freedom if there is
being placed under the management of whoever wants to produce,
a denial of the freedom to err.
the result must be the fruit of a peaceful evolution.
But when one talks of freedom politically, and not
Anarchism could not be, nor would it ever be if not for these few
philosophically, nobody thinks of the metaphysical bogy of
who want it and want it only in those things they can accomplish
abstract man who exists outside the cosmic and social
without the co-operation of the non-anarchists. This does not
environment and who, like some god, “could do what he
necessarily mean that the ideal of Anarchism will make little or no
wishes” in the absolute sense of the word.
progress, for little by little its ideas will extend to more men and
When one talks of freedom one is speaking of a society in more things until it will have embraced all mankind and all life’s
which no one could constrain his fellow beings without manifestations.
meeting with vigorous resistance, in which, above all,
Having overthrown the government and all the existing dangerous
nobody could seize and use the collective force to impose
institutions which with force it defends, having conquered
his wishes on others and on the very groups which are the
complete freedom for all and with it the means of regulating
source of power.
labour without which liberty would be a lie, and while we are
Man is not perfect, agreed. But this is one reason more, struggling to arrive at this point, we do not intend to destroy those
perhaps the strongest reason, for not giving anyone the things which we little by little will reconstruct.
means to “put the brakes on individual freedom”.
For example, there functions in the present society the service- of
Man is not perfect. But then where will one also find men supplying food. This is being done badly, chaotically, with great
who are not only good enough to live at peace with others, waste of energy and material and with capitalist interests in view;
but also capable of controlling the lives of others in an but after all, one way or another we must eat. It would be absurd
authoritarian way? And assuming that there were, who to want to disorganise the system of producing and distributing
would appoint them? Would they impose themselves? But food unless we could substitute for it something better and more
just.
is necessary to reopen that course. It is for this reason that we who would protect them from the resistance and the violence
want a violent revolution today; and we shall want it always - of the “criminals”? Or would they be chosen by the
so long as man is subject to the imposition of things contrary “sovereign people”, which is considered too ignorant and too
to his natural desires. Take away the governmental violence wicked to live in peace, but which suddenly acquires all the
and ours would have no reason to exist. necessary good qualities when it is a question of asking it to
choose its rulers?
We cannot as yet overthrow the prevailing government;
perhaps tomorrow from the ruins of the present government **********************************************************************
we cannot prevent the arising of another similar one. But this
does not hinder us, nor will it tomorrow, from resisting “Towards Anarchism” by Errico Malatesta (1853-1932)
whatever form of authority - refusing always to submit to its first appeared in English in the Depression era periodical
laws whenever possible, and constantly using force to oppose MAN! This little essay was highly regarded by the
force. revolutionary anarchist prisoner Carl Harp (1949-1981)
who suggested reprinting it in this form. First printing,
Every weakening of whatever kind of authority, each 1982 by: Black Cat Press, P.O. Box 11261, Edmonton,
accession of liberty will be a progress towards Anarchism; Alberta, Canada.
always it should be conquered - never asked for; always it
******** Liberated from the internet by Pirate Press cascadia ***
should serve to give us greater strength in the struggle; always [email protected]
it should make us consider the state as an enemy with whom
we should never make peace; always it should make us TOWARDS ANARCHISM
remember well that the decrease of the ills produced by the
By: ERRICO MALATESTA
government consists in the decrease of its attributions and
powers, and the resulting terms should be determined not by It is a general opinion that we, because we call ourselves
those who governed but by those were governed. By revolutionists, expect Anarchism to come with one stroke - as
government we mean any person or group of persons in the the immediate result of an insurrection which violently
state, country, community, or association who has the right to attacks all that which exists and which replaces all with
make lows and inflict them upon those who do not want them. institutions that are really new. And to tell the truth this idea
is not lacking among some comrades who also conceive the
We cannot as yet abolish private property; we cannot regulate
revolution in such a manner.
the means of production which is necessary to work freely;
perhaps we shall not be able to do so in the next insurrectional This prejudice explains why so many honest opponents
movement. But this does not prevent us now, or will it in the believe Anarchism a thing impossible; and it also explains
future, from continually opposing capitalism or any other form why some comrades, disgusted with the present moral
of despotism. And each victory, however small, gained by the condition of the people and seeing that Anarchism cannot
workers against their exploiters, each decrease of profit, every come about soon, waver between an extreme dogmatism
which blinds them to the realities of life and an opportunism Therefore, the subject is not whether we accomplish
which practically makes them forget that they are Anarchists Anarchism today, tomorrow, or within ten centuries, but that
and that for Anarchism they should struggle. we walk towards Anarchism today, tomorrow, and always.
Of course the triumph of Anarchism cannot be the Anarchism is the abolition of exploitation and oppression of
consequence of a miracle; it cannot come about in man by man, that is, the abolition of private property and
contradiction to the laws of development (an axiom of government; Anarchism is the destruction of misery, of
evolution that nothing occurs without sufficient cause), and superstitions, of hatred. Therefore, every blow given to the
nothing can be accomplished without adequate means. institutions of private property and to the government, every
exaltation of the conscience of man, every disruption of the
If we should want to substitute one government for another, present conditions, every lie unmasked, every part of human
that is, impose our desires upon others, it would only be activity taken away from the control of the authorities, every
necessary to combine the material forces needed to resist the augmentation of the spirit of solidarity and initiative, is a step
actual oppressors and put ourselves in their place. towards Anarchism.
But we do not want this; we want Anarchism which is a society The problem lies in knowing how to choose the road that
based on free and voluntary accord - a society in which no one really approaches the realisation of the ideal and in not
can force his wishes on another and in which everyone can do confusing the real progress with hypocritical reforms. For with
as he pleases and together all will voluntarily contribute to the the pretext of obtaining immediate ameliorations these false
well-being of the community. But because of this Anarchism reforms tend to distract the masses from the struggle against
will not have definitively and universally triumphed until all authority and capitalism; they serve to paralyse their actions
men will not only not want to be commanded but will not want and make them hope that something can be attained through
to command; nor will Anarchism have succeeded unless they the kindness of the exploiters and governments. The problem
will have understood the advantage of solidarity and know lies in knowing how to use the little power we have - that we
how to organise a plan of social life wherein there will no go on achieving, in the most economical way, more prestige
longer be traces of violence and imposition. And as the for our goal.
conscience, determination, and capacity of men continuously
develop and find means of expression in the gradual There is in every country a government which, with brutal
modification of the new environment and in the realisation of force, imposes its laws on all; it compels all to be subjected to
the desires in proportion to their being formed and becoming exploitation and to maintain, whether they like it or not, the
imperious, so it is with Anarchism; Anarchism cannot come existing institutions. It forbids the minority groups to actuate
but little by little slowly, but surely, growing in intensity and their ideas, and prevents the social organisations in general
extension. from modifying themselves according to, and with, the
modifications of public opinion. The normal peaceful course
of evolution is arrested by violence, and thus with violence it