The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-03-25

anti-state, claiming that the state
should be destroyed. They thot of the
new society which will arise from the
social revolution as one in which the
trade union will play the leading role.
They imagined it as a non-state So
ciety, which would be regulated only
by the trade unions and which would
be occupied only by the problems of
productions, distribution, etc.
IndividuaIinsm Versus the Masses
However, this is only in the future
but what differentiates the anarcho-
syndicalists from the other trade I'M
ionists? Anarcho-syndicalism in its
direct struggle uses some methods
which differentiate it from other
movements. First of all, it believed
in the initiative of the minority, and
according to its ideas that minority
with initiativee could in many cases
take the place Of the mass. The an.
archo-syndicalists in general shared
the anarchist distrust of the masses
The individual plays the more impor.
tant role. This minority with initia.
tive can not only start something
drag the masses along, but also build
for the masses, instead of them.
This role of the militant minor
ity" is one of the main characteristics
of the anarcho-syndicalist point Of
view And, from this angle, they brot
into the everyday struggle things
that we do not see in other move
ments. They brot into the struggle
an element of adventure which could
always be seen in their custom of ex.
aggeration of the role of the strike.
Organizing strikes as often as pos.
sible, they even created special
terminology-" revolutionary exercis
es," figuring that every strike is a
good thing. They claim that strike
is always for the benefit of the work
ing class and it drags m a certain
amount of workers into the movement
and sharpens the social relations and
the struggle between the classes.
Utopian and Romantic Theory.
A careful and long preparation, the
study of the objective conditions OF
strikes, the realistic calculation of the
relation Of forces and the calculation
Of the role of the masses and the re
lation between the masses and the
militant minority, all this has been en-.
tirely ignored by the anarcho-syndi.
calists and considered as of no impor-
lance at all.
They imagined the social revolution
as beginning suddenly, without the
necessary organizational, political and
other historical surroundings. At last
they present the idea of sabotage, OF
what we call the economic terror. y
as means Of compulsion against EN-
ployers. They have been out-spoken
against large. strong trade union
treasures, looking at it from the point
of view that the trade unions are, as
a matter of fact, like plain people, the
one that has much money is not very
active in the strugge; and therefore
the trade union that has much money
in its treasury will be afraid of losing
it and will not be as militant and
ready for strikes as necessary.
This is, in short, the characterize
ton of anarcho-syndicalism within the
trade union movement OF the world
and which is especially characteristic
Of the Latin countries, France, Spain
Portugal, Argentina, Mexico, etc. In
Italy, Notwithstanding the fact that Il
is a Latin country, the trade unior
movement took another form.
The above article is an excerpt
from Losovsky's valuable book,
"The Worlds Trade Union Move
ment," ohtalnable from the 7. U.
e. l., ttt3 w. Washington Blvd,
Chicago, Ill.,, for so cents. No
worker should be without II.