Another assertion by Marxists is that anarchists have "liberal" politics or ideas. For example, one Marxist argues that the "programme with which Bakunin armed his super-revolutionary vanguard called for the 'political, economic and social equalisation of classes and individuals of both sexes, beginning with the abolition of the right of inheritance.' This is liberal politics, implying nothing about the abolition of capitalism." [Derek Howl, "The Legacy of Hal Draper," International Socialism, no. 52, p. 148] That Howl is totally distorting Bakunin's ideas can quickly be seen by looking at the whole of the programme. Simply put, Howl is knowingly quoting Bakunin out of context in order to discredit his ideas.

Howl is quoting from item 2 of the "Programme of the Alliance." Strangely he fails to quote the end of that item, namely when it states this "equalisation" was "in pursuance of the decision reached by the last working men's Congress in Brussels, the land, the instruments of work and all other capital may become the collective property of the whole of society and be utilised only by the workers, in other words by the agricultural and industrial associations." If this was not enough to indicate the abolition of capitalism, item 4 states that the Alliance "repudiates all political action whose target is anything except the triumph of the workers' cause over Capital." [Michael Bakunin: Selected Writings, p. 174] Howl's dishonesty is clear. Bakunin explicitly argued for the abolition of capitalism in the same item Howl (selectively) quotes from. If the socialisation of land and capital under the control of workers' associations is not the abolition of capitalism, we wonder what is!

Equally as dishonest as this quoting out of context is Howl's non-mention of the history of the expression "political, economic and social equalisation of classes and individuals of both sexes." After Bakunin sent the Alliance programme to the General Council of the International Workingmen's Association, he received a letter date March 9, 1869 from Marx which argued that the term "the equalisation of classes" "literally interpreted" would mean "harmony of capital and labour" as "persistently preached by the bourgeois socialists." The letter argues that it was "not the logically impossible 'equalisation of classes', but the historically necessary, superseding 'abolition of classes'" which was the "true secret of the proletarian movement" and which "forms the great aim of the International Working Men's Association." Significantly, the letter adds the following:

"Considering, however, the context in which that phrase 'equalisation of classes' occurs, it seems to be a mere slip of the pen, and the General Council feels confident that you will be anxious to remove from your program an expression which offers such a dangerous misunderstanding." [Marx-Engels, Collected Works, vol 21, p. 46]

And, given the context, Marx was right. The phrase "equalisation of classes" placed in the context of the political, economic and social equalisation of individuals obviously implies the abolition of classes. The logic is simple. If both worker and capitalist shared the same economic and social position then wage labour would not exist (in fact, it would be impossible as it is based on social and economic inequality) and so class society would not exist. Similarly, if the tenant and the landlord were socially equal then the landlord would have no power over the tenant, which would be impossible. Bakunin agreed with Marx on the ambiguity of the term and the Alliance changed its Programme to call for "the final and total abolition of classes and the political, economic and social equalisation of individuals of either sex." [Bakunin, Ibid.] This change ensured the admittance of the Alliance sections into the International Workingmen's Association (although this did not stop Marx, like his followers, bringing up the "equality of classes" years later). However, Howl repeating the changed phrase "equalisation of classes" out of context helps discredit anarchism and so it is done.

Simply put, anarchists are not liberals as we are well aware of the fact that without equality, liberty is impossible except for the rich. As Nicolas Walter put it, "[l]ike liberals, anarchists want freedom; like socialists, anarchists want equality. But we are not satisfied by liberalism alone or by socialism alone. Freedom without equality means that the poor and weak are less free than the rich and strong, and equality without freedom means that we are all slaves together. Freedom and equality are not contradictory, but complementary; in place of the old polarisation of freedom versus equality — according to which we are told that more freedom means equals less equality, and more equality equals less freedom — anarchists point out that in practice you cannot have one without the other. Freedom is not genuine if some people are too poor or too weak to enjoy it, and equality is not genuine is some people are ruled by other." [Reinventing Anarchy, p. 43] Clearly, anarchists do not have liberal politics. Quite the reverse, as we subject it to extensive critique from a working class perspective.

To the claim that anarchism "combines a socialist critique of capitalism with a liberal critique of socialism," anarchists say that this is mistaken. [Paul Thomas, Karl Marx and the Anarchists, p. 7] Rather, anarchism is simply a socialist critique of both capitalism and the state. Freedom under capitalism is fatally undermined by inequality — it simply becomes the freedom to pick a master. This violates liberty and equality. Equally, as regards the state. "Any State at all," argued Bakunin, "no matter what kind, is a domination and exploitation. It is a negation of Socialism, which wants an equitable human society delivered from all tutelage, from all authority and political domination as well as economic exploitation." [quoted by Kenafick, Op. Cit., pp. 95-6] As such, state structures violate not only liberty but also equality. There is no real equality in power between, say, the head of the government and one of the millions who may, or may not, have voted for them. As the Russian Revolution proved, there can be no meaningful equality between a striking worker and the "socialist" political police sent to impose the will of the state.

This means that if anarchists are concerned about freedom (both individual and collective) it is not because we are influenced by liberalism. Quite the reverse, as liberalism happily tolerates hierarchy and the restrictions of liberty implied by private property, wage labour and the state. As Bakunin argued, capitalism turns "the worker into a subordinate, a passive and obedient servant." [The Political Philosophy of Bakunin, p. 188] As such, anarchism rejects liberalism, although (as Bakunin put it), "[i]f socialism disputes radicalism, this is hardly to reverse it but rather to advance it." [The Basic Bakunin, p. 87] Therefore, anarchism rejects liberalism, not because it supports the idea of freedom, but precisely because it does not go far enough and fails to understand that without equality, freedom is little more than freedom for the master.

Lastly, a few words on the mentality that could suggest that anarchist concern for liberty means that it is a form of liberalism. Rather than suggest the bankruptcy of anarchism it, in fact, suggests the bankruptcy of the politics of the person making the accusation. After all, the clear implication is that a concern with individual, collective and social freedom is alien to socialist ideas. It also strikes at the heart of socialism — its concern for equality — as it clearly implies that some have more power (namely the right to suppress the liberty of others) than the rest. As such, it suggests a superficial understanding of real socialism.

Ultimately, to argue that a concern for freedom means "liberalism" (or, equally, "individualism") indicates that the person is not a socialist. After all, a concern that every individual controls their daily lives (i.e. to be free) means a wholehearted support for collective self-management of group affairs. It means a vision of a revolution (and post-revolutionary society) based on direct working class participation and management of society from below upwards. To dismiss this vision by dismissing the principles which inspire it as "liberalism" means to support rule from above by the "enlightened" elite (i.e. the party) and the hierarchical state structures. It means arguing for party power, not class power, as liberty is seen as a danger to the revolution and so the people must be protected against the "petty-bourgeois"/"reactionary" narrowness of the people. Rather than seeing free debate of ideas and mass participation as a source of strength, it sees it as a source of "bad influences" which the masses must be protected from.

Moreover, it suggests a total lack of understanding of the difficulties that a social revolution will face. Unless it is based on the active participation of the majority of a population, any revolution will fail. The construction of socialism, of a new society, will face thousands of unexpected problems and seek to meet the needs of millions of individuals, thousands of communities and hundreds of cultures. Without the individuals and groups within that society being in a position to freely contribute to that constructive task, it will simply wither under the bureaucratic and authoritarian rule of a few party leaders. As such, individual liberties are an essential aspect of genuine social reconstruction — without freedom of association, assembly, organisation, speech and so on, the active participation of the masses will be replaced by an isolated and atomised collective of individuals subjected to autocratic rule from above.

Ultimately, as Rudolf Rocker suggested, the "urge for social justice can only develop properly and be effective, when it grows out of man's sense of personal freedom and it based on that. In other words Socialism will be free, or it will not be at all. In its recognition of this lies the genuine and profound justification for the existence of Anarchism." [Anarcho-Syndicalism, p. 20]