Note 1303 — Chapter IV · : THE ANARCHISTS

In a pamphlet called Les Nouveaux Aspects du Socialisme (Paris, 1908), written by a syndicalist of the name of Berth, syndicalism and anarchism are contrasted, Proudhon’s emphasis upon the reality of society being adopted as the crucial test. Unfortunately, however, Berth confines his examination to Stirner’s system. Had he applied the test to Bakunin or Kropotkin he would have discovered that the emphasis laid by them upon the reality of society constitutes the most original feature in their theory. We are thus driven to the exactly opposite conclusion, and feel bound to admit—M. Berth notwithstanding—that anarchism and syndicalism in many respects closely resemble one another. Jean Grave, however, as we shall see later, seems more favourably inclined towards the naïve individualism of Stirner.