Draft SFA aims and principles, including preamble.

Preamble


 We fight for anarchism, a social system based on freedom, mutual
aid  and  social  justice.  We  are  against  all forms of state,
economic exploitation and social oppression.  Social  wealth  and
the  means  to  create it must be owned and controlled by society
otherwise freedom and equality will never be realised.

 Real change can only come through  direct  action.  We  need  to
organise  and act together. Solidarity is strength! By resistance
in our communities and workplaces we can change the world!

 A new world can only be achieved by working class people, by our
own  actions  and  organisations.  It  can  never  be  done  be a
political party acting for  us.  It  must  be  decentralised  and
managed  from below, directly by and for everyone without bosses,
politicians, leaders and other parasites.

 The movement to create such a  free  society  must  reflect  its
principles of liberty, equality and solidarity. We must build the
ideas and structures of the new world today,  in  our  struggles,
not only in Scotland but across the globe.

  The Scottish Federation of  Anarchists  is  dedicated  to  this
task.  By  our  words  and actions we try to spread the anarchist
message and encourage the spirit of revolt.

For a socialism that liberates

SFA Aims and Principles

 Under the present system we have no real say  in  the  decisions
that affect us, our communities or workplaces. Instead a minority
has this power. This due to their ownership and control of social
wealth  and  the  means  to  create  it.  In  Scotland, 7% of the
population own 84% of the wealth.  It's  the  interests  of  this
elite  that must be satisfied within "democracy", otherwise there
is no investment, no production and no work.

 Economically, capitalism results in power and privilege for  the
few, sacrifices and alienation for the rest of us. Continually we
see the world  we  live  in  being  destroyed,  standardised  and
packaged  so  that  this  elite  can  make  a  few  more  pounds.
Capitalism has turned every feeling and desire we  have  into  an
object  to  be  bought and sold. Humanity and community have been
replaced by price tags and commercials.

 Politically, we live in a highly centralised state,  over  which
we  have  little  meaningful control. Every five years we get the
chance  to  vote  for  a  politician,  a  puppet   for   faceless
bureaucrats  and  big  business.  A cross on a bit of paper for a
state which treats us like children, telling us what we  can  and
cannot  do.  A  state  that  claims  to  know  what's best for us
regardless of what we actually think or want and which  uses  OUR
money to subsidise capitalist firms and control us.

 Not all working class people are oppressed in the  same  manner.
We also see the domination of women, black people and homosexuals
and the institutionalisation of sexism,  racism  and  homophobia.
Such  authoritarian  relationships  cause  needless suffering and
repress all involved. Such social oppression is  only  useful  to
our  bosses, as they divide us, getting us to blame other working
class people for the problems we all face, drawing our anger away
from the system and those who run it.

 Every individual, group or people has the right to be itself and
to   self-determination.   But   capitalism,   results   in   the
standardisation  of  cultures.  Neither  cultural  diversity  nor
popular self-determination can withstand market forces, the power
of multi-national companies or the conformity  created  by  state
centralisation.

 But it does not have to be like this! The problems that  afflict
us  and the planet, and the system that causes them, are not only
harmful, they are unnecessary. Society  can  be  organised  in  a
better, one that meets the needs of all and the environment. This
society is anarchy (or libertarian communism/socialism).

 Anarchism comes from our needs and desires for freedom, equality
and  solidarity.  It is the means by which we, the working class,
can win the class war and create the sort of world  we  want  and
need.

 Anarchism is based on the free federation of autonomous  groups,
directly  controlled  from the bottom up by their members.  In an
anarchist  society,  self-management  replaces   government   and
bosses. This decentralisation ensures that we take control of our
own fates, without leaders and led.

 A free society can only be created and run from  below,  by  and
for  everyone.  No political party acting or seizing power on our
behalf can do it for us.  We  reject  the  "would-be"  rulers  of
left-wing  parties  and  their politics. A free society can never
come  through  Parliament  or  any  other  state.  Parliament  is
organised  to  protect  privilege  and  oppression,  it cannot be
reformed. States by their structure and internal workings, create
bureaucracy,  with  its own interests, power and privileges. They
can never be used to abolish inequality and injustice.

 We are against all  forms  of  imperialism,  where  one  country
imposes  its  wishes  and  values  upon  another  by  economic or
political means. Such domination can only be  resisted  by  class
struggle,  not  nationalism.  Nationalism,  like  all cross class
movements, means only a change in rulers.  There  are  no  common
interests  between the classes. Our lives will be no better under
Scottish bosses and politicians. We can only be free  in  a  free
world, a world without capitalism and states.

 Meaningful change can only happen  from  the  struggles  of  the
powerless  resisting  the powerful. We in the SFA are involved in
such struggles and aim to encourage tendencies in this resistance
towards

  - self-organisation and equality, people controlling their  own
struggles  and  organisations,  rather  than  dependence  on  and
control by leaders.
 - collective direct action, rather than ineffectual lobbying  or
letter writing.
 - combining workplace and community struggles  and  organisation
rather   than   their   division  into  different  "single-issue"
campaigns.
 -  the  revolution  of  everyday  life,  not  the   poverty   of
consumerism or the boredom of left-wing politics.
  - changing the fundamental aspects of capitalism,  rather  than
tinkering with minor changes.
 - revolution, not reformism, the working class and ruling  class
have nothing in common.

 We reject the dead end of electioneering. We must  organise  and
fight   where   we  have  real  power,  in  our  communities  and
workplaces. From there we can impose by direct action that  which
politicians can never get in Parliament. Only this can create the
spirit of revolt needed to resist oppression and get improvements
in the here and now, as well as creating a new world.

 This new world is not for the distant future. It exists now,  in
our  hearts.  By  organising  ourselves,  using direct action and
showing solidarity we create the ideas and structures of this new
world within the present one. Only this will allow us to organise
as a class and  take-over  our  workplaces  and  communities,  so
winning  the  class  war. Without this take-over we will struggle
within the system, but never replace it.

 Our goal is the creation of a global community where

 - the worlds' resources are held in common and shared.
 - people manage their own lives, work and communities.
 - all have an equal say in decision making through decentralised
forms of organisation.
 - relationships in all areas of life being based on equality and
mutual respect.
 - People live in harmony with nature.
 - Goods and services are produced directly for  human  needs  in
the  widest  sense,  this will mean that the market, exchange and
money are abolished.


 The SFA is a federation of autonomous  groups  and  individuals,
co-operating  without  any  central  governing  body.  We  reject
centralisation,  hierarchy  and  bureaucracy.   We   believe   in
organising  ourselves  so  that we reflect the kind of society we
want to achieve.

 While  our  immediate  focus  is  Scotland,  we  are   committed
internationalists  and  wish  to develop links and joint activity
with revolutionaries world-wide.

 The SFA welcomes the involvement of all those in basic agreement
with  these  principles,  regardless  of  whether  they  describe
themselves    as     anarchists,     autonomists,     libertarian
socialists/communists or whatever.
























