Anarchy: It is NOT bombs, disorder or chaos. It is NOT robbery and murder. It is NOT a war of each against all. It is NOT a return to barbarism or to the wild state of man. Anarchism is the very opposite of all that.
Alexander BerkmanRead
When the highwayman holds his gun to your head, you turn your valuables over to him. You 'consent' alright, but you do so because you cannot help yourself, because you are compelled by his gun. Are you not compelled to work for an employer? Your need compels you, just as the highwayman's gun.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the idea that people often work out of necessity rather than choice, just as one might comply with a robber under threat.
Alexander Berkman draws a provocative parallel between the coercive nature of a highwayman and the obligation individuals feel to work for employers. He suggests that just as one might be forced to surrender valuables under the threat of violence, individuals are similarly compelled by their economic needs to comply with the demands of their jobs, questioning the notion of true consent and freedom in labor.
Themes
ConsentCompulsionLaborEconomicsFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about workers' rights and conditions, this quote can underline the dangers of economic compulsion.
More from Alexander Berkman
All quotes →What is this thing we call government? Is it anything but organized violence? The law orders you to obey, and if you don't obey, it will compel you by force - all governments, all law and authority finally rest on force and violence, on punishment or fear of punishment.
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Man's inhumanity to man is not the last word. The truth lies deeper. It is economic slavery, the savage struggle for a crumb, that has converted mankind into wolves and sheep.
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War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder.
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