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bucketfuls of gold into the streets？ The Machine will not let them。
Always the Machine。 In short； they dont know how。
They try to reform Society as an old lady might try to restore a broken
down locomotive by prodding it with a knitting needle。 And this is not at
all because they are born fools； but because they have been educated； not
into manhood and freedom； but into blindness and slavery by their parents
and schoolmasters； themselves the victims of a similar misdirection； and
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consequently of The Machine。 They do not want liberty。 They have not
been educated to want it。 They choose slavery and inequality； and all the
other evils are automatically added to them。
And yet we must have The Machine。 It is only in unskilled hands
under ignorant direction that machinery is dangerous。 We can no more
govern modern communities without political machinery than we can feed
and clothe them without industrial machinery。 Shatter The Machine； and
you get Anarchy。 And yet The Machine works so detestably at present
that we have people who advocate Anarchy and call themselves
Anarchists。
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The Provocation to Anarchism
What is valid in Anarchism is that all Governments try to simplify
their task by destroying liberty and glorifying authority in general and
their own deeds in particular。 But the difficulty in combining law and
order with free institutions is not a natural one。 It is a matter of
inculcation。 If people are brought up to be slaves； it is useless and
dangerous to let them loose at the age of twenty…one and say 〃Now you
are free。〃 No one with the tamed soul and broken spirit of a slave can be
free。 It is like saying to a laborer brought up on a family income of
thirteen shillings a week； 〃Here is one hundred thousand pounds： now
you are wealthy。〃 Nothing can make such a man really wealthy。
Freedom and wealth are difficult and responsible conditions to which men
must be accustomed and socially trained from birth。 A nation that is free
at twenty…one is not free at all； just as a man first enriched at fifty remains
poor all his life； even if he does not curtail it by drinking himself to death
in the first wild ecstasy of being able to swallow as much as he likes for
the first time。 You cannot govern men brought up as slaves otherwise
than as slaves are governed。 You may pile Bills of Right and Habeas
Corpus Acts on Great Charters； promulgate American Constitutions； burn
the chateaux and guillotine the seigneurs； chop off the heads of kings and
queens and set up Democracy on the ruins of feudalism： the end of it all
for us is that already in the twentieth century there has been as much brute
coercion and savage intolerance； as much flogging and hanging； as much
impudent injustice on the bench and lustful rancor in the pulpit； as much
naive resort to torture； persecution； and suppression of free speech and
freedom of the press； as much war； as much of the vilest excess of
mutilation； rapine； and delirious indiscriminate slaughter of helpless non…
combatants； old and young； as much prostitution of professional talent；
literary and political； in defence of manifest wrong； as much cowardly
sycophancy giving fine names to all this villainy or pretending that it is
〃greatly exaggerated；〃 as we can find any record of from the days when
the advocacy of liberty was a capital offence and Democracy was hardly
thinkable。 Democracy exhibits the vanity of Louis XIV； the savagery of
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Peter of Russia； the nepotism and provinciality of Napoleon； the fickleness
of Catherine II： in short； all the childishnesses of all the despots without
any of the qualities that enabled the greatest of them to fascinate and
dominate their contemporaries。
And the flatterers of Democracy are as impudently servile to the
successful； and insolent to common honest folk； as the flatterers of the
monarchs。 Democracy in America has led to the withdrawal of ordinary
refined persons from politics； and the same result is coming in England as
fast as we make Democracy as democratic as it is in America。 This is
true also of popular religion： it is so horribly irreligious that nobody with
the smallest pretence to culture； or the least inkling of what the great
prophets vainly tried to make the world understand； will have anything to
do with it except for purely secular reasons。
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Imagination
Before we can clearly understand how baleful is this condition of
intimidation in which we live； it is necessary to clear up the confusion
made by our use of the word imagination to denote two very different
powers of mind。 One is the power to imagine things as they are not：
this I call the romantic imagination。 The other is the power to imagine
things as they are without actually sensing them； and this I will call the
realistic imagination。 Take for example marriage and war。 One man
has a vision of perpetual bliss with a domestic angel at home； and of
flashing sabres； thundering guns； victorious cavalry charges； and routed
enemies in the field。 That is romantic imagination； and the mischief it
does is incalculable。 It begins in silly and selfish expectations of the
impossible； and ends in spiteful disappointment； sour grievance； cynicism；
and misanthropic resistance to any attempt to better a hopeless world。
The wise man knows that imagination is not only a means of pleasing
himself and beguiling tedious hours with romances and fairy tales and
fools' paradises （a quite defensible and delightful amusement when you
know exactly what you are doing and where fancy ends and facts begin）；
but also a means of foreseeing and being prepared for realities as yet
unexperienced； and of testing the possibility and desirability of serious
Utopias。 He does not expect his wife to be an angel； nor does he overlook
the facts that war depends on the rousing of all the murderous
blackguardism still latent in mankind； that every victory means a defeat；
that fatigue； hunger； terror； and disease are the raw material which
romancers work up into military glory； and that soldiers for the most part
go to war as children go to school； because they are afraid not to。 They
are afraid even to say they are afraid； as such candor is punishable by
death in the military code。
A very little realistic imagination gives an ambitious person enormous
power over the multitudinous victims of the romantic imagination。 For
the romancer not only pleases himself with fictitious glories： he also
terrifies himself with imaginary dangers。 He does not even picture what
these dangers are： he conceives the unknown as always dangerous。
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When you say to a realist 〃You must do this〃 or 〃You must not do that；〃 he
instantly asks what will happen to him if he does （or does not； as the case
may be）。 Failing an unromantic convincing answer； he does just as he
pleases unless he can find for himself a real reason for refraining。 In
short； tho