The Conquest of Bread (Peter Kropotkin) - The Comprehensive Flashcards

Does Kropotkin argue that the product of a worker’s labor should belong to the worker? What does the slogan “the Right to Well-Being, Well-Being for All!” mean?

• The right to well-being for all: no, he argues that each individual product is the work of everyone.

• This is because everyone relies on the labor of their ancestors and those who constructed their surrounding world

• It means that every person is entitled to the right to well-being because each person contributes to the collective social product

What is the biggest problem with capitalism, according to Kropotkin?

• The existence of surplus value

  • Exists because poverty forces people to work for far less than the value they actually create, which occurs because a few people own the means of production

  • While that status quo stands, most people will stay exploited while a few accumulate profits

• The solution needs to go beyond redistributing profits more fairly; we need to change the system to ensure the production of what everyone needs using as little human labor and waste as possible, for everyone's well-being

What is the goal of anarcho-communist society? What is the goal of the expropriation (taking back resources from the few who control them so that no one has to live in poverty) of wealth during the revolution?

• Goal of building an anarcho-communist society: to build a fair system where everyone has the chance to learn something that is useful and to work freely, w/o needing permission from the boss or having to give the majority of what they produce to capitalists/landlords

  • The wealth will not be held by a minority of wealthy families, but rather used to help create a system of communal production: a system where production is shared and benefits everyone

• Goal of expropriation: to ensure that all workers have what they need so that they’re not forced to sell their labor for the mere purpose of survival

How should the notion of food be treated during the revolution?

• People should have bread (enough to eat) even during times of upheaval

• During the revolution, the people should immediately take possession of all available food while ensuring none is wasted to ensure everyone survives the crisis, while factories should keep running

  • Agreements should be made w/factory workers so that they can produce goods that are needed by the rural population, which lacks basic tools

• Volunteer groups: people will form themselves into volunteer groups and make rough lists of the contents of each shop and warehouse.

  • In about a day, the town or district will find out how many facilities and supplies it contains. Within the span of about two days, millions of copies will be printed of lists giving a more or less exact account of the available food, the places where it is stored, and how to distribute them

What is the basic principle of distribution within an anarcho-communist society? How should workers be compensated within this kind of society?

• There is no limit to what the community has in abundance (anyone can take as many things as they want) but there should be equal sharing and dividing of products which are scarce or beginning to run short

• In exchange for their work, workers must be offered not money, but the products which they need the most to live (tools, clothing, etc.) — if the towns do this, the peasants will gladly send food to the cities

What will the expropriation of housing look like?

• Volunteers will spring up in districts/streets and investigate how many apartments/houses are empty or overcrowded (within a few days this process would be completed)

• Through communicating with each other, these volunteers would soon have their statistics complete

• These citizens will find those who are living miserably and announce a redistribution of housing, ensuring the communalization of housing and the right of each family to a decent dwelling

How would the notion of clothing be organized in an anarcho-communist society?

• There would be a communalization of clothing — each can take what they need from the shops where clothing is sold or stored, or each can have it made for them at the tailors’ workshop

What would luxury look like under anarcho-communism?

Luxury items would still be produced, on a collective basis by those most interested in their production

• In a free, cooperative society, people can get non-essential things by helping make them -- e.g. if someone wants a piano, they can join an association of those who make musical instruments and contribute some of their free time; the same goes for someone who loves astronomy.

What are free agreements? What are examples Kropotkin gives of them?

• Free agreements: forms of spontaneous social organization that occur independently of government intervention

• Some examples he gives:

  • The European railway system in the 19th century: this network functions w/o a unified controlling authority — instead individual railway companies (each responsible for their segments) have reached agreements through congresses of delegates who discuss, negotiate, and submit proposals rather than laws

  • Holland’s canals and boatmen guilds: the boatmen regulated their passage rights among themselves, ensuring orderly traffic w/o government enforcement

  • The Red Cross

What would agriculture look like under anarcho-communism, according to Kropotkin?

• Collective organization and self-sufficiency: territories of urban regions and surrounding departments could be organized as a communal entity (with land/resources being collectively owned); the community would function as an autonomous unit capable of self-sufficiency, producing surplus luxury items if needed

• Labor as a joyful and shorted activity: work would be significantly reduced in time and fatigue, allowing people to engage in labor that is both efficient and fulfilling. The goal is to produce enough with minimal labor

• Scientific & intensive cultivation: Kropotkin advocates for adopting scientific methods to optimize yield per unit area (e.g. intensive agriculture, using minimal land to produce maximum food)

• Minimal land use per population: agriculture would concentrate on small, intensively managed plots; e.g. producing all necessary vegetables and even luxury foods on a single acre per family

• Local, decentralized food production: food would be produced close to where people live; this enables fresh and autonomous sustenance, and reduces transportation costs, dependence on distant markets, and ecological impacts

• Abolition of rent, interest and profit motives that currently drain value from the land and labor. Instead, land and resources are shared, with all labor contributing to collective wellbeing.