Friday the 23rd of August marks the 75th anniversary of the judicial murder of Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco, two anarchists who were executed in the electric chair by the State of Massachusetts on the 23rd of August 1927, because of their ideas. The reason we still remember the execution of two men 75 years after the event, is because their fate is the fate still experienced by men and women in the midst of the hysteria, that's whipped up when mainstream society is confronted by "foreigners" and new ideas. During a robbery at South Braintree in New England in April 1920, two men were gunned down. The cry went out, the robbery was due to the work of "foreigners". The New England police had been involved in a campaign to smash the emerging anarchist movement in New England. Andrea Salsedo, an anarchist living in New England, had, a few weeks earlier conveniently thrown himself out of the 14th floor of police headquarters in New England, while trying to escape from lawful custody. In the midst of the hysteria surrounding the politicisation of the immigrant workforce, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested for the murders. The trials deteriorated into a farce. Although over twenty witnesses appeared saying that Vanzetti was selling fish at a nearby town at the time of the robbery and Sacco was at the Italian Consulate in Boston trying to get an Italian passport to return to Italy, the witnesses testimony was rejected. The men were convicted of murder and executed seven years later, after a string of appeals. The Sacco and Vanzetti case gained International prominence, people across the world, including Australia, demonstrated for their release. In Australia, their cause was taken up by the Italian anarchist movement in exile, as well as Socialist, Communist and Radical activists across the country. Demonstrations that attracted thousands of participants were held across Australia. Seventy five years after two executions that transfixed the world, it's no exaggeration to say that the intolerance, bigotry, small mindedness and viciousness that surrounded the fate of these two foreign workers in the United States in the 1920's has reared it's ugly head in Australia, in the 21'st Century. The Howard government's politically dishonest and manipulative campaign over a few thousand asylum seekers, has opened the floodgates on emotions which create the necessary conditions within the Australian community that have allowed men, women and children to be dehumanised and treated in the cruelest fashion. On Friday the 23rd of August, we can find solace in the dignified way two innocent foreigners and anarchists faced their executioners in the midst of the government-induced hysteria that sealed their fate. "I struggled in my modest way to bring an end to the crime that is carried out mutually among men and I fought for the freedom of all". - Vanzetti ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER Q. Is there a role for non-anarchists in an anarchist society? A. Of course there is. Not everybody in an anarchist society will be an anarchist. Some people will hanker for the "good old days" when they were in control, others will want to try something different. New generations may actively work against the goals of an anarchist community. Whether an anarchist society survives and prospers will depend on the number of people who want to live in that society. An anarchist society will be a vibrant organism, ultimately depending on mass participation and support. Once that support wanes, its very existence comes under threat. Non-anarchists have the same rights as anarchists in an anarchist community. They are able to participate in the decision making process, having as many rights as the next person. They are also welcome to share in the commonwealth. Problems will arise if non-anarchists use force to impose their will on other people or attempt to take more than they need. In those situations, force will be met with force and attempts to take more than they require would be resisted. If a significant minority wanted to live in a society based on inequalities then that group could, if they wished, break away from the main group. The communityıs resources would be shared in proportion to the number of people in each group. An anarchist society would and should be able to meet most intellectual challenges. Problems would arise if a fifth column within that society received help from outside forces, whose interests lay in breaking up the anarchist community and imposing their will on it. In these situations, itıs possible that civil war could occur. Whether it did or not would depend on whether people believed it was possible and worthwhile to defend what they had created. Non-anarchists are an integral component of an anarchist community. Whether they support the community or turn against it, will depend on whether anarchists are able to create an egalitarian community that provides everybody with the infrastructure to develop themselves to their fullest potential. If they succeed in doing that, the chances that dissent within that community would pose a problem are very small indeed. http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos12679.html
