The State: Its Historic Role

1 in history I thought it would ivsp..nd tat this moment : that of thoroughly examining tkd very idea of the State, of studying its essence, its rfile in the past, and th»may he called upon to play in the future. It is especially on the "State" question that Socialists are di Amidst the number of fractions existing among us and correspoii to different temperaments, to different ways of thinking, and especially to the degree of confidence in the coming Revolution, two main currents can be traced. On the one hand, there are those who hope to accomplish the Social Revolution by means of the State : by upholding most of its fund; by even extending them and making use of them for the Revolution And there are those who, like us, see in the State, not only in its actual form and in all forms that it might assume, but in its very essence obstacle to the Social Revolution : the most serious hindrance to the budding of a society based on equality and liberty ; the historic form elaborated to impede this budding — and who consequently work to abolish the State, and not to reform it. The division, as you see, is deep. It corresponds to two divergent currents which clash in all philosophy, literature, and action of our times.…