A revolutionary concept of the working class being proposed during the 1800's was the theory of anarchism. The Anarchists stood in opposition to the Capitalist system and proposed a revolutionary model of collectivism. The anarchists believed that the capitalist system was directly linked with the state as the mechanism that allows a minority to rule. The state defends its monopoly on power by using tactics of force to protect against challenges from below. The anarchists defended Marx’s analysis of capitalism and also advocated the violent overthrow of the capitalist system by the exploited working class. Bakunin, a great intellectual of the anarchist movement criticized Marx’s concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat." In 1873 Bakunin wrote in "State and Anarchism" that: "The new social order (of Marx) should not be organized by the free association of peoples' organizations or unions, local and regional, from the bottom up in accordance with the demands and instincts of the people, but by the dictatorial power of the learned minority which presumes to express the will of the people."

During the late 19^th century a new leadership was found for the anarchist community in a young Russian woman named Emma Goldman. As an anarchist she opposed the capitalist system and the exploitation it produced. Emma introduced the concept of sexual politics into the mainstream of anarchist thought. She was one of the first anarchists to address issues like homosexuality and advocate ideas like "free love." During her lifetime Emma was an extremely controversial figure in radical politics who promoted concepts of anarchy, atheism, and feminist liberation for women.

Emma Goldman's key values in life and principle concepts were based on the theory of anarchism. Goldman described anarchism as: "The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary." The Anarchist theory is based in the principle of reconstructing a world that is free from the atrocities of Government and other ruling forces.

The main opponent attacked by the anarchists is the state. The main role that government serves is the protection of private property. The government maintains a system of exploitation and injustice to protect the property rights of a minority in society. Every government, whether by divine right or majority rule, strives for the absolute subordination of the individual to a higher authority. The state exists as an altar to sacrifice the individual's freedoms of expression and prosperity.

Anarchism attacks the idea that the State is based on central principles of natural law. The Anarchists believed that the State served as an antagonistic factor against social harmony and order. The State goes against the basic codes of natural law that are the factors in which man is free to assert himself spontaneously and without any external forces in harmony with the requirements of nature. The only requirements to live within the laws of nature are spontaneity and free opportunity. Governments exist in contradiction to natural laws by their use of violence, force, and coercion to secure their position and survival.

Anarchism repudiates the argument that governments and authority serve to diminish criminal activity. Anarchism attacks the State as the greatest criminal that exists and that it creates the conditions causing the crime that it claims to battle. Crime is caused by a misdirection of human energies. The economic, social, political, and moral institutions of the State serve to misdirect human energies into roles that are unnatural and resented. As long as these systems of authority exist they will naturally misguide the human potential and create more despairing criminals.

Anarchism serves as the uncompromising and revolutionary innovator in opposition to authoritative nature of the State and its institutions. It rejects the dominion of authority that religion, property, and the Government holds over the individual. It strives to remove the wrong and foolish elements from society in order to build and sustain a new era of life. Anarchism urges men to think, to investigate, and analyze every position in order to gain a greater understanding of the true essence of life. By creating a new environment free from the authority of the state and religion, Anarchism allows the unnatural antagonism between the individual and social instincts to be unified within the true spirit of life and nature. The true dominant factors of human nature can only be discovered by allowing freedom, expansion, opportunity, peace, and repose to the individual and society.

Anarchism stands for a spirit of revolution against all things that hinder human growth. It rejects the socialist idea of using the political machinery of the state to bring about social change. Anarchism stands for the use of direct action and open resistance to all economic, social, and moral laws and restrictions. Direct action needs to be applied in all areas of political, social, and economic institutions in order to bring to true revolutionary change to society.

Once a revolution has occurred Anarchism proposes a social order based on the free grouping of individuals with the goal of achieving true social wealth. This new order will strive to guarantee free access to the Earth and the full gratification of life to all individuals according to their own personal dreams and desires. Anarchism doesn’t propose a rigid program or system that provides the methods for structuring society. Anarchism is a flexible theory that allows each individual to develop, implement, and structure its concepts according to their own personal environment. The economic arrangements of Anarchism are based on voluntary productive and distribution associations to develop a type of free communism. The true goal of Anarchism is to create an environment that allows the freest possible expression of the latent powers of the individual.

Anarchism views religion as an exploitative tool of authority that humiliates and degrades the human soul. In order to battle the authoritative nature of religion Anarchists like Emma Goldman supported the philosophy of atheism to allow individuals to attain the full development and possession of their abilities.

The concepts of gods and religion grew out of the fear and curiosity of primitive man. Primitive man lacked an understanding of the foundations of nature and perceived predatory and sinister forces at work against him. Out of this ignorance grew the basis for superstition that manifested itself into an intricate hierarchy of gods and spiritual forces that controlled the environment of man. As history evolved systems of organized religion were formed that tyrannized all aspects of human life.

The philosophy of atheism is based in a humanistic perspective that focuses on the potential of human life on Earth. It strives to emancipate humans from the chains of mental slavery that religion creates. Religion creates dependence within man to focus on a heavenly system of punishment and reward. Religion pacifies its slaves to the atrocities committed upon them with the promise of a heaven after death. People endure and submit themselves to religion and deities at the expense of their own self-respect and vibrant spirit of innovation. They wait in endless weary despair for a heavenly messiah to save them from the horrors of the Earth. Anarchism embraces atheism and challenges people to save themselves instead of looking to a messiah or deity. Instead of living for a heavenly reward after death it is better to struggle for the possibilities of man creating a Heaven on Earth. Religious concepts of a god or deity represent a resignation of human reason and justice, a negation of human liberty, and the total enslavement of mankind. In order for man to relate with and unify himself with his fellow human beings it is necessary to outgrow his personal dependence upon God.

Atheism embraces the possibilities of expansion and growth within the human mind. The philosophies of religion present the individual with a static and rigid systematic view of the world. Anarchy and Atheism allow the individual the opportunity of learning how to think as opposed to religion’s framework of teaching the mind what to think. The moral precepts that religion tyrannically imposes on man have become sterile concepts that prevent man from realizing true freedom and beauty in both his heart and his mind.

Goldman viciously criticized the Christian religion as "the leveler of the human race and the breaker of man’s will to dare and to do." Christianity has been adapted to be used to train a society of unquestioning slaves. The rulers of kingdoms realized the authoritative poisons of Christianity and have chosen to embrace the religion and promote it in all possible areas of society. From this Christianity has become institutionalized as a tool of the ruling elite to serve as the enemy of both progress and freedom.

The basic teachings of Christianity represent the complete embodiment of submission, inertia, and the denial of life. Christianity preaches a gospel of passive-resistance and disregards the potentials of self-reliance within human beings. The poor and suffering of the world believe that they will find their reward in Heaven and that the rich will be going to Hell. They suffer submissively through their exploitation in this world because of a mystical sentimental promise of happiness after death. The reward awaiting men in heaven is a bait that catches and enslaves him from expansion and growth in this life.

To Goldman redemption through the cross represented a fate worse then eternal damnation. The cross symbolizes a terrible burden put upon humanity. This burden has caused the human soul to be paralyzed in its potential to grow and to learn. Christ asks all of humanity to pay for his death through their absolute eternal devotion. His weakness and lack of courage as a martyr lies in his demand for eternal gratitude from all for his sacrifices. The humiliating dependency of Christianity is a manipulation of ignorance against reason and the joys and glories of life.

Emma Goldman was an advocate of a feminist perspective that embraced Anarchism as a method of liberation. Woman’s emancipation through anarchism was to allow her the possibilities to be fully human by removing all artificial barriers that hindered her growth. Through the process of removing only external barriers women’s emancipation created an artificial being that was robbed of the possibilities of happiness. By achieving economic equality with men women have to sacrifice their energies and physical well-being to compete at the same market value as men. When a woman gains the right to work she is merely trading the narrow and restricting lifestyle of the home for the narrow and restricting lifestyle of the factory or sweatshop. Within either lifestyle true freedom is not achieved while the instincts and nature of women are dulled and stifled.

The right for a woman to vote is only symbolic and does not truly affects her life. The political process is filled with corruption and allowing women to vote will not possibly purify the process. A women’s right to vote simply allows her to chose who will be her exploitative representative after each election. The State and politics are tools of the corporate world to control and exploit the masses of people. The problem doesn’t stem from the lack of political participation from women but in the corrupt political process itself. The key to political freedom for women doesn’t lie in participation or reform, but in completely removing the system that exploits and stagnates her growth.

Goldman advocated a belief in free love between human beings and a women’s right to enjoy sexual activity. A key position in this battle was the legalization of birth control. Birth control represented the possibilities of a woman to be able to control pregnancy and the opportunity to truly enjoy sex. In order to secure motherhood and allow it to endure it is necessary for a woman to have complete control over her body and to be able to decide the number of children she wants and the conditions she wants to raise them under.

A woman’s development needs to be an internal process that is accompanied by removal of all external restraints. Women need to learn to assert themselves as developed individuals and not as sexual objects. The key to freedom is to assert her rights over her own body and to act directly against any forces that attempt to control her. This involves an open rebellion against God, the State, the husband, families, and motherhood if they are used as controlling mechanisms in her life. A woman can make her life deep and meaningful by removing the fear of public opinion and condemnation. Through this process women can find true freedom, love, and harmony with themselves, other women, and their male counterparts.

Emma Goldman’s life and theories have served as inspiration for those trying to free themselves of domination by the State, Religion, and traditional sex roles. In her essay Was My Life Worth Living Emma stated that: "I think my life and work have been successful….I would repeat my life as I have lived it." Her life stood as an example of uncompromising resistance against tyranny of any form. Emma strived to remove all obstacles that she saw as dangerous to human growth, happiness, and full development. Her life was a true devotion to the spirit of revolution that is necessary to secure liberty and freedom for all generations.

-Goldman, Emma. Was My Life Worth Living

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Writings/Anarchism/lifework.html

-Goldman, Emma. The Failure of Christianity

http://www.pitzer.edu/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/failureofchristianity.html

-Goldman, Emma. Anarchism: What It Really Stands For

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Writings/Anarchism/anarchism.html

-Goldman, Emma: The Philosophy of Atheism

http://www.pitzer.edu/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/thephilosophyofatheism.html

-Goldman, Emma: The Tragedy of Women’s Emancipation

http://www.pitzer.edu/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/thetragedywomensemancipation.html

-Goldman, Emma: Marriage And Love

http://www.pitzer.edu/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/marriageandlove.html

-Goldman, Emma: Woman Suffrage

http://www.pitzer.edu/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/suffrage.html

-Morton, Marian. Emma Godman and the American Left. Twayne Publishers: NY City.

1992. Chp 4.