“The revolution is the sudden and unified consciousness of these traditions, their loud assertion, the blow dealt by their indomitable will against the counter force of tyranny. … We, the Anarchists, point to them and say: If the believers in liberty wish the principles of liberty taught, let them never entrust that instruction to any government; for the nature of…
by Voltairine de Cleyre It was suggested to me by those who were the means of securing me this opportunity of addressing you, that probably the most easy and natural way for me to explain Anarchism would be for me to give the reasons why I myself am an Anarchist. I am not sure that they…
“Anarchism rejects any form of the domination of the man by man, and no form of the exploitation of man by man, since it tackles all forms of authority: Political authority: the State. Economic authority: Property. Moral authority: Fatherland, Religion, Family. Legal authority: Courts, Laws and Police Force. All the (authoritarian) social forces receive the vigorous and…
“Anarchism’s lone objective is to reach a point at which the belligerence of some humans against humanity, in whatever form, comes to a halt. And with this end point in mind, people must transcend themselves in the spirit of brother and sisterhood, so that each individual, drawing on natural ability, can develop freely.” — Gustav…
The good news about the presidential election season is that so many voters seem disgusted with career politicians. The bad news is that these voters are naively opting for “outsiders” who in reality are just politicians in another form. They are anti-politician politicians. This, I submit, is not progress. It is certainly a hopeful sign…
C4SS Feed 44 presents Voltarine de Cleyre‘s “Life or Death” read by (in order of appearance) Tony Dreher, Nick Ford, Jeff Riggenbach and Stephanie Murphy, and edited by Nick Ford. A Soul, half through the Gate, said unto Life: “What does thou offer me ?” And Life replied: “Sorrow, unceasing struggle, disappointment; after these Darkness and…
Somehow left-libertarianism (or at least my article “What Is Left-Libertarianism?” Center for a Stateless Society, June 15, 2014) has come to the attention of Heather Johnson, a Libertarian candidate for Senate in Minnesota. And not in a good way. “Left-libertarianism,” she says on her Facebook page, “is as much bull***t as right-libertarianism,” because it “violates……
Two Letters from Voltairine de Cleyre on the McKinley Assassination: McKinley’s Assassination from the Anarchist Standpoint (1907) Six years have passed since William McKinley met his doom at Buffalo and the return stroke of justice took the life of his slayer, Leon Czolgosz. The wild rage that stormed through the brains of the people, following…
The laws of God, the laws of Man, He may keep who will, and can; Not I: let God and man decree Laws for themselves and not for me. –A.E. Housman Political Myth and Self-Hypnosis A rose by any other name Would never, never smell the same And cunning is the nose that knows An…
Imagine the following person. He believes all individuals should be free to do anything that’s peaceful and therefore favors private property, free global markets, freedom of contract, civil liberties, and all the related ideas that come under the label libertarianism (or liberalism). Obviously he is not a statist. But is he an individualist and a…
Libertarians are individualists. But since individualist has many senses, that statement isn’t terribly informative. Does it mean that libertarians are social nonconformists on principle? Not at all. Some few libertarians may aspire to be, but most would see that as undesirable because it would obstruct their most important objectives. Lots of libertarian men have no…
Karl Hess: Presidential Speechwriter Turned Homesteader Interview by Anson Mount (Mother Earth News) (Originally published in Mother Earth News, January/February, 1976 issue) Introduction It was so easy back then — during the 1950’s and early 60’s — to be a Right Thinking Citizen of the United States. Easy because we all knew who wore the…
Following their August 28th debate on left-libertarianism, Sheldon and Walter continued their exchange via a series of emails: __________ Dear Sheldon, Suppose it were proven that racism, prejudice, hatred for homosexuals, etc., was the best way to promote libertarianism. Let us stipulate that this is so, arguendo. Would you then say that libertarians should promote…
Illuminating Discord: An interview with Robert Anton Wilson By Jane Talisman and Eric Geislinger (Columbia Region New Libertarian Alliance) (Originally published in New Libertarian Notes/Weekly 39, September 5, 1976; reprinted at RAWillumination.net) CRNLA: Tell us a little about your background. RAW: I was born into a working class Irish Catholic family in Brooklyn 44 years…
On August 28th, 2015, C4SS’s Sheldon Richman joined Walter Block for a discussion of left-libertarianism and thick vs. thin libertarianism. The discussion was moderated by Lucy Steigerwald and hosted by Liberty.me. The discussion is about 60 minutes.
On August 26th, C4SS’s Sheldon Richman appeared on The Scott Horton Show to discuss libertarian class analysis, its roots, and the contemporary class divide. The interview is about 28 minutes.
As you may know, I’ve got some opinions about capitalism, and about the idea of “anarcho-capitalism.” I think that anarcho-capitalism is an incoherent goal, and in some ways destructive in practice. Not because I’ve got a problem with property, money, competition or market exchange, but because I think the conflation of these market forms with…
Well, kind of. Obviously Benjamin Tucker had no direct opinions about “anarcho-capitalism,” because the term was not even coined until many years after his death, and several decades after his retirement from radical politics. But Tucker did have quite a bit to say about the relationships among anarchism, socialism, and capitalism, and it may be…
Donald Trump may think the media stenographers are out to get him, but if they were really doing their job, his head would be spinning. He doesn’t know how good he has it. Or maybe he does. One need only think about the questions Trump is not asked to see what I mean. Take Trump’s…
…They [anarchists] spring from a single seed, no matter the flowering of their ideas. The seed is liberty. And that is all it is. It is not a socialist seed. It is not a capitalist seed. It is not a mystical seed. It is not a determinist seed. It is simply a statement. We can be…
