I just wanted to share some thoughts about where anarchists today need to concentrate on: economic emancipation.
This doesn't mean anarchists delivering the workers from their misery and woe, in the style of authoritarian socialists (who, of course, failed in this--indeed, who exacerbated the plight of the workers by betraying the Revolution).
Rather, it means anarchists pursuing an agenda of self-directed economic emancipation to rally the working class. The fact is that at this point in time, anarchists are a tiny fraction of the populace. It is unlikely that we can magically transform everyone in society into anarchists and THEN attain the social revolution. In fact, this sort of agenda resembles the actions of assorted vanguardists, who seek political evolution first, and then promise social revolution.
What we need to work for in the here and now is to help workers realize tangible material gains; in fact, to help workers learn how to take direct action to attain these -- rather than encourage them to passively participate by way of traditional trade unions, or through political parties. For social revolution to occur, the workers MUST take direct action themselves, on their own initiative.
The way to do this is for anarchists to raise tangible issues. The one that immediately comes to mind is a push for more leisure time. I mentioned this before, about how anarchists in the past spearheaded the drive for the eight-hour workday. The fact is that this small gain is being rolled back even today by the owners.
If you tell workers you want to destroy capitalism, they'll probably look at you funny and call you a "commie" or a "pinko leftist" -- if you tell them you want to cut the workweek in half (and keep pay rates the same), so workers get more leisure and family time, you will have their attention. They'll probably then ask you how you propose doing that. The only way to get it done is if workers organize themselves and take action directly -- in other words, put anarchism into practice.
Our enemies will never willingly adopt an idea as "radical" as a four-hour workday; the capitalists will not because it will cut into owner profits; "democratic" socialists will push for higher wages instead of shorter hours; neoliberals and neoconservatives will say it's "impractical" and push, instead for some reformist nonsense (right now, the discussion is for "comp time" instead of overtime!); fascists certainly won't endorse something like that -- only anarchists can say they want a 20-hour (or 10-hour, or 5-hour) workweek, and mean it when they say that.
A four-hour workday is something tangible -- a real benefit the worker can realize. Again, I note that our enemies cannot and will not ever make a promise like that except to save their own skins, and even then, their goal will be not attaining the improvement, but controlling it. They'll invoke it to save themselves, rather than to help workers out.
We can make that promise: the challenge is to help the workers realize how to make this promise a reality -- through organizing and direct action.
What our enemies will do is try to close shop. That is the capitalist tactic in this post-NAFTA and GATT world, where we see highly mobile Capital for the first time. They'll say "you better get back in line or we'll simply move to Mexico, or Guatemala." And that's exactly what happens. One company had trucks set up, carrying supplies marked "SHIP TO MEXICO" as a way of coercing workers to abandon reform efforts. Companies use this tactic even with basic union drives.
It's up to the workers themselves to handle things as they see fit.
There are a number of anarchist organizations out there, and it's good for would-be anarchists to get in touch with their comrades, so you realize you're not alone, and can learn valuable organizing tips -- but these organizations themselves will never bring about the social revolution on their own.
Right now the radical left is isolated from the working class -- the anarchist movement is very student/activist-centric. As a result, we remain a fringe movement; growing, granted, but we're still "extreme" in most people's eyes. And if we continue to do what we do, and no more, we will remain a fringe movement -- a subculture.
If we want to realize social revolution, we need to offer something to our comrade workers -- something they can work for, something real. This is the 20-hour workweek. There are other issues as well: health care, child care, people's banks, tenants' unions, and more.
We must bridge the gap between students, activists, and workers -- we can do this by being the one group who honestly cares about the workers themselves -- the one group, in fact, comprised entirely of workers (or workers-to-be, in the case of students). We absolutely have to reach out to them, and we can do this by way of the 20-hour workweek.
At first they'll dismiss you as "utopian" or "pie in the sky" -- and you can tell them that if they don't take those first steps to realize it, they're right -- it will NEVER happen! You can tell them that the person who says they can't and the person who says they can are BOTH right -- the question is which one they want to be. You can tell them if they expect someone to hand them a 20-hour workweek, that they're dreaming, because it won't happen.
Of course, this isn't the endpoint -- a 20-hour workweek does not make a social revolution. It does, if realized, empower the workers -- it gives them a sense of their own worth, and will embolden them to do other things -- it will energize and radicalize them. And, they'll get that most precious commodity -- time -- which no amount of money can ever replace.
Only a fool or a fanatic thinks you can persuade people just based on the merit of your ideas; if that were the case, we'd have anarchy already! Rather, you have to offer something in return, and the 20-hour workweek offers just that -- it is a tangible prize the workers can push for -- a real gain.
One thing: the enemies of the worker will try to con and compromise as a way of preventing real change. They'll seek a thousand dodges to prevent the workers from fighting for their rights. They'll offer a 6-hour day; they'll offer better pay; or more vacation time; or a European workweek (e.g., 4-day workweek) -- they'll offer anything EXCEPT the 20-hour workweek; if honeyed words fail, then they'll use force.
They'll threaten the workers and say how they have no choice but to lay off more people. They'll say it's irrational -- saying that the economy would crumble, and that civilization as we know it would plummet into ruin.
Those in power say that about every change that comes along, whether it's the emancipation of slaves, women's suffrage, workplace safety and unionization -- any change where the weak seek protection from the strong, by their own hands, is touted as destructive and ruinous.
The workers must not accept anything short of their goal: the 20-hour workweek. Anarchists, or those who would consider themselves anarchists, must consciously pursue a policy of self-managed economic emancipation or we will never attain the social revolution. The working class will be united and organized, and have a full sense of their own power -- and then the fun really begins!
What I meant was a simultaneous push for higher wages and shorter hours, so that workers wouldn't take a cut in pay if they were able to push for a 20-hour workweek.
Otherwise, there's no difference between that and a 40-hour workweek, except that the worker would be forced to work two jobs to make ends meet.
The goal with this is to improve the lives of working people, so it amounts to doubling the worker pay!
You can be sure the capitalists will fight this with every weapon in their already immense arsenal -- firings, scab workers, plant closures, cops, troops (last refuge of the capitalist).
But it is the right of the workers to enjoy their lives, not to toil for the gain of the owners. This is the basis for a just human society -- not tyranny and slavery, but freedom and liberty.
I know it seems impossible, but change is always difficult, and wresting privilege from the hands of the unworthy is an arduous task, but I think it's worth fighting for.
You might even mention the history of the 40-hour workweek, and how workers in the past fought and died for it (make sure you research the topic before trying to explain it! I'd recommend Paul Avrich's The Haymarket Tragedy as a good starting point!)
Map out your daily and weekly schedule. Get an idea of how much time you spend:
Keep a log; get an idea of a typical week for you. Encourage other workers to do this, too. This'll help them realize just how much unrecoverable time they're spending making money for someone else.
Also, use this to find out how much actual FREE TIME you have each day and each week.
Get in touch with me. If you would like to talk more about this, please let me know. I plan to write up some pieces on this, which we can begin disseminating. Let me know if you are a worker or a student.
Note: This is not an "anti-work" thing; critics will deride workers for daring to seek leisure time, saying, "well, you HAVE to work" -- socialists recognize the necessity of labor; it is capitalists, conversely, who seek to avoid labor by having others labor FOR them. Work is inevitable -- work for the profit of another is NOT inevitable; rather, it is imposed on the many by the treachery of a propertarian elite (the capitalists), aided and abetted by the power of the State.
Once you show yourself to be committed to the workers, they will reciprocate. That's why the Left has alienated the working people of the US -- they abandoned the economic agenda and sank into lifestyle issues. The key difference is that with economic issues, you can literally see results -- if the 20-hour workweek campaign succeeds, that's a tangible gain the workers can perceive (and enjoy) in the here-and-now; this will galvanize them to pursue more radical agendas over time.