Message of a wise Kabouter

WHY THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN

In our society, which has become divorced from the real needs of humanity, aggression and the irresponsible use of science are increasing at a terrifying rate. It is tempting to succumb to the kind of pessimism expressed by a friend of mine from Prague, who once said to me: "You have to feel sorry for Israel, because in a few years' time the Arabs will have atomic bombs, and then the end will be near for every Israeli.' At the time, I replied:'You have to feel sorry for western civilisation, and for humanity in general, because very soon all countries of any importance will have atomic bombs, and then atomic war will be inevitable. And that means the end of everything.'
On the other hand, in human society as well as in nature, there is a powerful co-operative principle at work to which we and all other creatures owe our existence. Its creative power is such that even in a perverse, panic-stricken and bellicose society, we can survive. We can regard the recent uprisings of the 'provotariat and of students in the wealthy countries, and the mounting resistance of the exploite proletariat in the poor countries, as signs of hope. They are the first manifestations of a revolution - both national and international, both political and spiritual - which is now approaching fulfillment. This revolution will remove the conditions in which the world is dominated by power-politicians and military leaders, and in which we ourselves are dominated by our own authoritarian tendencies.
The threat of universal annihilation may itself evoke such a revolutionary reaction - this much cybernetics is able to teach us. It is with cybernetics in mind (as I shall show in my final chapter) that I propose to consider the philosophical work of the man who opened my eyes to the significance of cooperation as a factor in evolution, and who, in his own day, had already linked it with the need for a total revolution: Peter Álexandrovitch Kropotkin.
It is the conditional optimism of Kropotkin's philosophy which releases me from despair; and since his message has already been a stimulus to new activity to me, and many others, I do not feel that this book is simply adding to the pointless publications which clutter up our libraries. It is a call to anti-authoritarian activity.