"Anarchism or Communism?", better known as the Most–Grottkau debate, was a nationally advertised, public debate between America's foremost revolutionary anarchist Johann Most and Paul Grottkau in Chicago on May 24, 1884. The session consisted of two statements and two rebuttals and was published by the Chicago International Working People's Association as a 48-page pamphlet.[1]
Debate
editJohann Most of the anarchist International Working People's Association and Paul Grottkau of the Socialist Labor Party debated the relative merits of their movements.[2]
Grottkau spoke in favor of socialism without government, which if defined as the ruling class's executive committee, would be without purpose in a classless socialist society. He supported the continued institutions of family and marriage, which he argued were moral institutions, unlike class organizations like the state.[2] In contrast, Most believed that the state modeled itself on the family structure and that the state's interfered in the private affair of marriage was immoral. Repressive human laws and mores, Most argued, led to an exploitative society that fostered inequality, crime, and vice. He believed this would be remedied by eliminating government as its root factor.[3] Grottkau believed in class-based revolution led by the working class, as compared to Most, who advocated for a revolutionary vanguard. Additionally, whereas Most advocated for violent means and "transitional dictatorship", Grottkau did not.[2]
References
edit- ^ Goyens 2007, p. 100.
- ^ a b c Johnpoll & Klehr 1986, p. 172.
- ^ Johnpoll & Klehr 1986, p. 282.
Bibliography
edit- Goyens, Tom (2007). Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City, 1880–1914. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03175-5.
- Johnpoll, Bernard K.; Klehr, Harvey, eds. (1986). Biographical Dictionary of the American Left. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-24200-7.
Further reading
edit- Avrich, Paul (1984). The Haymarket Tragedy. Princeton University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-691-04711-9.
- Morris Hillquit, History of Socialism in the United States, pp. 241-242.
External links
edit- Grottkau, Paul; Most, Johann (1884). Discussion über das Thema: Anarchismus oder Communismus?: am 24. Mai 1884 in Chicago [Debate about the theme 'anarchism or communism?' on 24 May 1884 in Chicago] (in German). Chicago: Das Central-Comite der Chicagoer Gruppen der I.A.A., Office of the 'Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung' und der 'Verbote'. OCLC 638233842.