The first Anarchist manifesto, written in 1850, declares "Anarchy is order, whereas government is civil war" and argues - with language as sharp even now as any - against the delusion that voting does any good for anyone but politicians. It firmly puts the anarchist case that the established power structure is a gigantic crime against humanity. "Every individual who, in the current state of affairs, drops a paper into the ballot box to choose a legislative authority or an executive authority is - perhaps not wittingly but at least out of ignorance, maybe not directly, but at least indirectly - a bad citizen. I repeat what I have been saying and take back not a single syllable of it."

Anselme Bellegarrigue