By Torrance Hodgson

Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Ghandi

It has long been acknowledged by anarchists that the means and the ends on our road to anarchy are one and the same. Anarchy is an ideal - it is a condition of freedom, one where all are masters and none are slaves - but it cannot simply be turned on or off. It is not just another political program where the ends will justify the means. Indeed, it is not a political program at all. It is a process where we continually confront and do away with hierarchy and seek new ways of living based on equality and freedom. This process does not end nor does it begin with the grand singular revolution that so many people speak of. Such a "revolution" would be nothing more than the continuation of the process of transforming our lives and although both the state and capitalism are giant leaps along this road, that is all they are. Instead, we must come to understand that anarchy is about living revolution in our everyday lives. We must make now, of the present, what we desire of the future. The revolution is not some utopian society of the future, it is the very process of making change in a radical manner. The revolutionary process is the end in and of itself!

For some this approach will seem all too much like "lifestylism" - reducing everything down to the personal level. But we must be careful to recognize that there is no secondary "political" realm above and beyond that of our own personal experiences and if we begin to think like that then we, as anarchists, have already failed. It is our own lives that are the pivotal focus of anarchism and that is a deeply personal approach. To focus solely on the state and capitalism is to neglect the host of other oppressive and hierarchical factors of our lives. To forsake the state and capitalism for the host of oppressive factors is to ignore two of the most influential factors affecting us. They are all factors relating to our own personal experiences in life and all need to be addressed. To label one approach as "revolutionary" and the other as "lifestylist" is to create a false dichotomy.

When we come to the realization that it is in living revolution that we find the key to real and lasting change we must also begin to address how we have previously thought about the whole notion of change. No longer should we approach the situation from a before "the revolution" vs. after "the revolution" perspective. The revolution is now and we must let the desires we have about the future manifest themselves in the here and now as best as we can. When we start doing that, we stop fighting for some abstract condition for the future and instead start fighting to see those desires realized in the present. Through this process we start pushing back the veil of submission and domination towards the periphery of our lives, we start reclaiming control over our own lives and continue to actively resist those forces that are still too powerful to take head on. We start prying away the fingers of the state, capitalism, patriarchy, ideologies and every other vestige of control and hierarchy.

We must go beyond simply resisting, for resisting is but a half-measure for change and a temporary one at that. We must take a giant leap forward and begin to create change according to our own desires - and I'm not talking about counter-institutions either. For I have never desired to be part of a mere institution where I would fill a prescribed role nor do I want to counter those things that oppress us on their own terms. I desire to be part of groups based on love and trust where each member is an integral part and where everyone's abilities are fully expressed. I desire to no longer be a servant to the human construct of property and I desire to replace the commodity with the gift. I desire to live autonomously at the beck and call of no mass organization and most importantly I desire to be free. That is the life I desire.

The next step is up to every individual out there to work with others to fashion for themselves the lives of freedom they desire, to resist those that would infringe upon that freedom and to seek further support from those around them, for the world they accept is the one we live in.