Scottish Federation of Anarchists

As We See it

We encourage and assist resistance to all oppression. This 
includes economic and environmental exploitation and all forms of 
state and social oppression, such as racism and sexism.

Mass direct action is the most effective and liberating form of 
struggle.

Our aim is for mass struggles to develop into a revolutionary 
transformation, in which people seize control of the world's 
resources and fundamentally re-organise society.

This can only be achieved by the self-organisation of the vast 
majority, the working class. We oppose all hierarchies and 
political parties.

We want a free, stateless world, with social wealth owned and 
controlled by society. Production will be to meet human need and 
all relationships based on equality and mutual respect.


As We See It

Capitalism

	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. This is true 
for the rest of the capitalist world as it is for the few 
remaining "Communist" Party regimes.

	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been replaced by price tags and commercials.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. A state that 
sends us to fight its wars for more power against its competing 
rivals. A state which increasingly grants itself more repressive 
powers in order to control dissent.

	Not all working class people are oppressed in the same way. 
Black people are subjected to systematic racism from the state, 
from fascists and from individual racists. Women are oppressed by 
a system of attitudes, ways of living and institutions based on 
their domination by men. Lesbians and gay men suffer from bigotry 
and repressive laws. All such restrictive roles repress all 
involved.

	Discrimination and hierarchical and authoritarian 
relationships exist throughout society and must be resisted. 
These social oppressions are only useful to our rulers, as they 
divide us, getting us to blame other working class people for the 
problems we all face. They divert 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. Individuality, cultural diversity 
nor popular self-determination can withstand market forces, the 
power of multi-national companies or the conformity created by  
state centralisation.

	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.

Resistance

	Meaningful change can only happen when ordinary people 
struggle together to resist power. In countries like Scotland, 
the vast majority who are excluded from power are the working 
class. This includes white and blue collar workers, workers in 
the service industry, the unemployed and other claimants and 
people doing domestic work at home.

	These struggles take many forms, such as resistance to wage 
cuts, poverty, sexism, racism, ecological destruction, militarism 
and so forth. They are fought throughout society, in workplaces, 
in communities, in the health service, in benefit offices, in 
prisons.

	We in the Scottish Federation of Anarchists are involved in 
such struggles and aim to encourage tendencies in this resistance 
towards

	-Self-organisation and equality, with 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.

	Struggles must be controlled by meetings of all those 
involved, with elected committees to carry out day to day tasks. 
Anyone elected to such a position of responsibility must carry 
out the  wishes of the meetings or be answerable to those 
involved and subject to instant recall. Alternative forms of 
organisation must be created.

	Resistance should be spread, with links created to 
workplaces and the community. Such links must be of a federal 
nature, with power resting firmly at the bottom in the hands of 
those involved. By organising in this manner we ensure that there 
is active participation in activity and decision making by all 
involved. Any organisation not based on these principles, such as 
the trade unions, are part of the problem.

	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.

Revolution

	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.

	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.

The New Society

	Society can be organised in a better way, 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.

	Our goal is the creation of a global community where

	-The world's 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 are based on liberty, 
equality and mutual respect, regardless of gender, age, 
colour, sexual orientation, disability or culture.

	-People live in harmony with nature.

	-Work no longer consists of boring and repetitive tasks 
but instead becomes a mean of self-expression and fulfilment.

	-Education is integrated with daily life to produce free 
individuals who think for themselves.

	-Goods and services are produced directly for human needs 
in the widest sense.

	-The market, exchange and money no longer exist and goods 
and services are provided free.

The Scottish Federation of Anarchists

	The Scottish Federation of Anarchists 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 see.

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

	The S.F.A. 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.
 



