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| ==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
| ] was the first known American anarchist]] | ] was the first known American anarchist]] | ||
| Early anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th century in America (the individualist school of which was historically called "]" at times, often derogatorily) included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. Contemporary theorists of the same philosophical strain include ], ], ], and ]. | Early anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th century in America (the individualist school of which was historically called "]" at times, often derogatorily) included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. Contemporary theorists of the same philosophical strain include ], ], ], ], and ]. | ||
| The origin of the American tradition draws heavily on Josiah Warren and France's ]. | The origin of the American tradition draws heavily on Josiah Warren and France's ]. | ||
| ===Thomas Jefferson on Anarchy and Government=== | |||
| {{main article|Thomas Jefferson}} | |||
| Thomas Jefferson spoke of his respect for a society with no government. <ref>An example of this can be seen in a letter he wrote to Col. Edward Carrington, on Jan. 16, 1787, </ref>"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretense of governing, they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe." | |||
| Later the influence of the Jeffersonian tradition on the American anarchists was reiterated by ], saying that: 'The anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian democrats. They believe that "the best government is that which governs least," and that government which governs least is no government at all.'<ref>''Liberty'', vol 5, no. 1</ref> | |||
| === Controversies === | === Controversies === | ||
| While all anarchists rejected the state communism advocated by Karl Marx, individualists had a particular focus on the primacy of the individual. For example, Benjamin Tucker argued that Marx sought to make the government everything and the individual nothing.<ref>''State Socialism and Anarchism'': "Just as the idea of taking capital away from individuals and giving it to the government started Marx on a path which ends in making the government everything and the individual nothing, so the idea of taking capital away from government-protected monopolies and putting it within easy reach of all individuals started Warren and Proudhon in a path which ends in making the individual everything and the government nothing....though opposed to socializing the ownership of capital, they aimed nevertheless to socialize its effects by making its use beneficial to all instead of a means of impoverishing the many to enrich the few."</ref> However, while they reject communism, many individual anarchists refer to their philosophy as socialist.<ref>http://www.blackcrayon.com/page.jsp/library/tucker/tucker37.htm</ref> Some even participated in the ], or "First International." |
While all anarchists rejected the state communism advocated by Karl Marx, individualists had a particular focus on the primacy of the individual. For example, Benjamin Tucker argued that Marx sought to make the government everything and the individual nothing.<ref>''State Socialism and Anarchism'': "Just as the idea of taking capital away from individuals and giving it to the government started Marx on a path which ends in making the government everything and the individual nothing, so the idea of taking capital away from government-protected monopolies and putting it within easy reach of all individuals started Warren and Proudhon in a path which ends in making the individual everything and the government nothing....though opposed to socializing the ownership of capital, they aimed nevertheless to socialize its effects by making its use beneficial to all instead of a means of impoverishing the many to enrich the few."</ref> However, while they reject communism, many individual anarchists refer to their philosophy as socialist.<ref>http://www.blackcrayon.com/page.jsp/library/tucker/tucker37.htm</ref> Some even participated in the ], or "First International." | ||
| ==Notable Anarchists== | ==Notable Anarchists== | ||
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| {{main|Murray Bookchin}} | {{main|Murray Bookchin}} | ||
| Murray Bookchin is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of anarchist and ecological thought. He is the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology. | Murray Bookchin is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of anarchist and ecological thought. He is the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology. | ||
| ===Murray Rothbard=== | |||
| {{main|Murray Rothbard}} | |||
| Murray Rothbard was an American economist and political philosopher who is best known for theorizing ], which is a philosophy that opposes the state and supports a free market. Anarcho-capitalism falls within the individualist school and strongly opposes anarcho-communism and other related ideologies that would prefer that wealth be held collectively instead of individually. In anarcho-capitalism the individual has no obligation to any other member of the community that he does not impose on himself. In matters of security the private sector supplies protection. | |||
| ==Contemporary anarchists== | ==Contemporary anarchists== | ||
| Contemporary anarchists in the United States include ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | Contemporary anarchists in the United States include ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | ||
| ==Conflicts within Anarchism in the United States== | ==Conflicts within Anarchism in the United States== | ||
Revision as of 19:11, 23 July 2006
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Anarchism in the United States spans a wide range of Anarchist philosophy. From individualist anarchism to anarchist communism and other less known forms. Individualist anarchism in the United States is strongly influenced by Pierre Proudhon and other mutualists, as well as Max Stirner. Major thinkers, such as Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker, belong to this camp.
Communists include Emma Goldman, a noted anarchist feminist and Big Bill Haywood, a key member of the International Workers of the World, an anarchist trade union.
Overview
Early anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th century in America (the individualist school of which was historically called "Boston anarchism" at times, often derogatorily) included Josiah Warren, Ezra Heywood, Joshua K. Ingalls, William B. Greene, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Stephen Pearl Andrews, John William Lloyd, Henry Bool, Steven T. Byington, Victor Yarros, Joseph Labadie, Laurance Labadie, Henry Appleton, Clarence Lee Swartz, and Albert Jay Nock. Contemporary theorists of the same philosophical strain include Joe Peacott, Larry Gambone, Wendy McElroy, Crispin Sartwell, and Kevin Carson.
The origin of the American tradition draws heavily on Josiah Warren and France's Pierre Proudhon.
Thomas Jefferson on Anarchy and Government
Main article: Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson spoke of his respect for a society with no government. "The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretense of governing, they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe."
Later the influence of the Jeffersonian tradition on the American anarchists was reiterated by Benjamin Tucker, saying that: 'The anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian democrats. They believe that "the best government is that which governs least," and that government which governs least is no government at all.'
Controversies
While all anarchists rejected the state communism advocated by Karl Marx, individualists had a particular focus on the primacy of the individual. For example, Benjamin Tucker argued that Marx sought to make the government everything and the individual nothing. However, while they reject communism, many individual anarchists refer to their philosophy as socialist. Some even participated in the International Workingmen's Association, or "First International."
Notable Anarchists
Josiah Warren
Josiah Warren published a periodical called The Peaceful Revolutionist in 1833. Warren had participated in a failed collectivist experiment headed by Robert Owen called "New Harmony," but was disappointed in its failure. He stressed the need for individual sovereignty. In True Civilization Warren equates "Sovereignty of the Individual" with the Declaration of Independence's assertion of the inalienable rights. He claims that every person has an "insinct" for individual sovereignty, making inalienable and inviolate.
The labor theory holds that the value of a commodity is equal to the amount of labor required to produce or acquire it. In 1827, Warren put his theories into practice by starting a business called the Cincinnati Time Store where goods were trade was facilitated by private currency backed by labor. Warren was a strong supporter of the right of individuals to retain the product of their labor as private possessions. This position was shared by fellow anarchist Stephen Pearl Andrews.
Stephen Pearl Andrews
Main article: Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews was an individualist anarchist and close associate of Josiah Warren. Andrews was formerly associated with the Fourierist movement, but converted to radical individualismafter becoming acquainted with the work of Warren. Like Warren, he held the principle of "individual sovereignty" as being of paramount importance.
Andrews said that when individuals act in order to serve their own self-interest, they incidentally contribute to the well-being of others. He maintained that it is a "mistake" to create a "state, church or public morality" that individuals must serve rather than pursuing their own happiness. In Love, Marriage and Divorce, and the Sovereignty of the Individual he says: "Give up...the search after the remedy for the evils of government in more government. The road lies just the other way--toward individualism and freedom from all government...Nature made individuals, not nations; and while nations exist at all, the liberties of the individual must perish."
Warren and Andrews established the individualist anarchist colony called "Modern Times" on Long Island, NY. In tribute to Andrews, Benjamin Tucker said: "Anarchist especially will ever remember and honor him because he has left behind him the ablest English book ever written in defense of Anarchist principles" (Liberty, III, 2).
William B. Greene
Main article: William B. Greene
William B. Greene did not become a full-fledged anarchist until the last ten years of his life, however, being involved with the movement for much longer he was instrumental in developing the economic ideas of the individualists. Whereas Warren provided the basis of the individualists' economics in asserting "Cost the limit of price," Greene is best known for expanding on this by being instrumental in bringing the idea of a "mutual bank" to American anarchism (though, Spooner had previously developed mutualist banking ideas in his writings, working without association with the other anarchists until later). He is sometimes called the "American Proudhon," for the similarities of his mutualist banking ideas with those of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
His famous and widely reprinted is entitled Mutual Banking. Benjamin Tucker said: "I am indebted to Col. Greene's Mutual Banking more than to any other single publication for such knowledge as I have of the principles of finance--the most compact, satisfactory, keen and clear treatise upon mutual money extant" (Liberty VI, 1).
Greene saw a great need for banks, holding that they perform the service of being a medium so that those with capital to spare could provide it to those with a need for capital.
Ezra Heywood
Main article: Ezra HeywoodEzra Heywood was another individualist anarchist influenced by Warren, who was an ardent slavery abolitionist and feminist. Heywood saw what he believed to be a disproportionate concentration of capital in the hands of a few as the result of a selective extension of government-backed privileges to certain individuals and organizations.
He said: "Government is a northeast wind, drifting property into a few aristocratic heaps, at the expense of altogether too much democratic bare ground. Through cunning legislation, ... privileged classes are allowed to steal largely according to law."
He believed that there should be no profit in rent of buildings. He did not oppose rent, but believed that if the building was fully paid for that it was improper to charge more than what is necessary for transfer costs, insurance, and repair of deterioriation that occurs during the occupation by the tenant. He even asserted that it may be encumbent on the owner of the building to pay rent to the tenant if the tenant keeps his residency in such a condition that saved it from deterioration if it was otherwise unoccupied. Whereas, Warren, Andrews, and Greene supported ownership of unused land, Heywood believed that title to unused land was a great evil. Heywood's philosophy was instrumental in furthering individualist anarchist ideas through his extensive pamphleteering and reprinting of works of Warren and Greene.
Benjamin Tucker
Main article: Benjamin Tucker
Benjamin Tucker, being influenced by Warren (who he credits as being his "first source of light"), Greene, Heywood, Proudhon's mutualism, and Stirner's egoism, is probably the most famous of the American individualists. Tucker defined anarchism as "the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the State should be abolished" (State Socialism and Anarchism).
Like the individualists he was influenced by, he rejected the notion of society being a thing that has rights, insisting that only individuals can have rights. And, like all anarchists, he opposed the governmental practice of democracy, as it allows a majority to decide for a minority. Tucker's main focus, however, was on economics. He opposed profit, believing that it is only made possible by the "suppression or restriction of competition" by government and vast concentration of wealth.
He believed that restriction of competition was accomplished by the establishment of four "monopolies": the banking monopoly, the land monopoly, the tariff monopoly, and the patent and copyright monopoly --the most harmful of these, according to him, being the money monopoly. He believed that restrictions on who may enter the banking business and issue currency, as well as protection of unused land, were responsible for wealth being concentrated in the hands of a privileged few.
Lysander Spooner
Main article: Lysander Spooner
Lysander Spooner was an individualist anarchist who apparently worked with little association with the other individualists of the time, but came to approximately the same conclusions. In this time, his philosophy evolved from appearing to support a limited role for the state to opposing its existence altogether. Spooner was a staunch advocate of "natural law," maintaining that each individualy has a "natural right" to be free to do as one wishes as long as he refrains from initiating coercion on others or their property.
With this natural law came the right of contract, which Spooner found of extreme importance. He holds that government cannot create law, as law already exists naturally; anything government does that is not in accordance with natural law (coercion) is illegal. Maintaining that government does not exist by contract of every individual it claims to govern, he came to believe that government itself is in violation of natural law, as it finances its activities through taxation of those who have not contracted with it. He rejected the popular idea that a majority, in the case of democracy, can consent on behalf of a minority; as a majority is bound to the same natural law against coercion to which individuals are bound: "...if the majority, however large, or the people enter into a contract of government called a constitution by which they...destroy or invade the natural rights of any person or persons whatsoever, this contract of government is unlawful and void" (The Unconstitutionality of Slavery).
Voltairine de Cleyre
Main article: Voltairine de Cleyre.gif)
Voltairine de Cleyre was an individualist anarchist for several years before abandoning this label to embrace the philosophy of anarchism without adjectives. In explaining her views on anarchism she said: "Anarchism...teaches the possibility of a society in which the needs of life may be fully supplied for all, and in which the opportunities for complete development of mind and body shall be the heritage of all... teaches that the present unjust organisation of the production and distribution of wealth must finally be completely destroyed, and replaced by a system which will insure to each the liberty to work, without first seeking a master to whom he must surrender a tithe of his product, which will guarantee his liberty of access to the sources and means of production... Out of the blindly submissive, it makes the discontented; out of the unconsciously dissatisfied, it makes the consciously dissatisfied... Anarchism seeks to arouse the consciousness of oppression, the desire for a better society, and a sense of the necessity for unceasing warfare against capitalism and the State."
De Cleyre was held in high esteem by many anarchists. Emma Goldman called her "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced", and de Cleyre argued in Goldman's defense after Goldman was imprisoned for urging the hungry to expropriate food. In this speech, she condoned a right to take food when hungry but stopped short of advocating it: "I do not give you that advice... not that I do not think one little bit of sensitive human flesh is worth all the property rights in New York City... I say it is your business to decide whether you will starve and freeze in sight of food and clothing, outside of jail, or commit some overt act against the institution of property and take your place beside Timmermann and Goldman."
When she embraced "anarchism without adjectives", de Cleyre reasoned that: "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom."
"Big" Bill Haywood
Big Bill Haywood, was a prominent figure in the American labor movement. Haywood was a leader of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World, an anarchist trade union.
Emma Goldman
Main article: Emma GoldmanEmma Goldman was Lithuanian born, but she immigrated to the United States at seventeen. Goldman played a pivotal role in the development of anarchism in the US and Europe throughout the first half of the twentieth century. She was later deported to Russia, where she witnessed the results of the Russian Revolution. She was imprisoned in 1893 at Blackwell's Island penitentiary for publicly urging unemployed workers that they should "Ask for work. If they do not give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, take bread." She was convicted of "inciting a riot" by a criminal court of New York, despite the testimonies of twelve witnesses in her defense. The jury based their verdict on the testimony of one individual, a Detective Jacobs. Voltairine de Cleyre gave the lecture In Defense of Emma Goldman as a response to this imprisonment. While serving her one year sentence, Goldman developed a keen interest in nursing.
Alexander Berkman
Main article: Alexander BerkmanAlexander Berkman was a Russian writer and activist who was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the United States. Along with Emma Goldman, he led the libertarian critique of the Soviet Communist Party, denouncing what they saw as the betrayal of the revolution. While they helped persuade the main organizations of the international anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement not to participate in the Third International controlled by the Russians, their impact on the wider world was only partially successful.
Murray Bookchin
Main article: Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of anarchist and ecological thought. He is the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology.
Murray Rothbard
Main article: Murray RothbardMurray Rothbard was an American economist and political philosopher who is best known for theorizing anarcho-capitalism, which is a philosophy that opposes the state and supports a free market. Anarcho-capitalism falls within the individualist school and strongly opposes anarcho-communism and other related ideologies that would prefer that wealth be held collectively instead of individually. In anarcho-capitalism the individual has no obligation to any other member of the community that he does not impose on himself. In matters of security the private sector supplies protection.
Contemporary anarchists
Contemporary anarchists in the United States include Kevin Carson, Noam Chomsky, Larry Gambone, James J. Martin, Joe Peacott, Keith Preston, Crispin Sartwell, Robert Anton Wilson and John Zerzan.
Conflicts within Anarchism in the United States
There has been much debate on whether individualist anarchism is properly justified in natural law or egoism. Josiah Warren and Lysander Spooner based their philosophical system on inalienable natural rights, while others such as Benjamin Tucker believed that rights can only exist by contract. Tucker said: "I see no reason, as far as moral obligation is concerned, why one should not sub-ordinate or destroy the other. But if each of these men can be made to see that the other's free life is helpful to him, then they will agree not to invade each other; in other words, they will equalize their existences, or rights to existence by contract. . . Before contract is the right of might. Contract is the voluntary suspension of the right to might. The power secured by such suspension we may call the right of contract. These two rights -the right of might and the right of contract -are the only rights that ever have been or ever can be. So-called moral rights have no existence."
Many individualist anarchists oppose the Lockean conception of property in land, which maintains that if an individual mixes his labor with land, it becomes his property even if he ceases using it. It was Benjamin Tucker's position that an individual could only have title to land so long as he continually uses it. Lysander Spooner, however, accepted the Lockean conception and did not require any condition of "occupancy and use." This was a source of some conflict between Tucker and Spooner, with Tucker expressing dissatisfaction with the latter's position on land. (Spooner Vs. Liberty, Carl Watner) Josiah Warren also did not place occupancy and use restrictions on the ownership of land.
See also
- Henry David Thoreau
- Mutualism (economic theory)
- Cincinnati Time Store
- Individualist anarchism
- Liberty (1881-1908)
- Anarchism in the English tradition
- Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism
- Labor theory of property
Notes
- An example of this can be seen in a letter he wrote to Col. Edward Carrington, on Jan. 16, 1787,
- Liberty, vol 5, no. 1
- State Socialism and Anarchism: "Just as the idea of taking capital away from individuals and giving it to the government started Marx on a path which ends in making the government everything and the individual nothing, so the idea of taking capital away from government-protected monopolies and putting it within easy reach of all individuals started Warren and Proudhon in a path which ends in making the individual everything and the government nothing....though opposed to socializing the ownership of capital, they aimed nevertheless to socialize its effects by making its use beneficial to all instead of a means of impoverishing the many to enrich the few."
- http://www.blackcrayon.com/page.jsp/library/tucker/tucker37.htm
- de Cleyre, Voltairine (1907) McKinley's Assassination from the Anarchist Standpoint"
External links
- State Socialism and Anarchism: How far they agree, and wherein they differ, Economic Rent and Liberty, Land, and Labor by Benjamin Tucker
- The Boston Anarchists by Henry Appleton
- Bibliographical Essay by James J. Martin from his book Men Against the State: The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827-1908
- Benjamin R Tucker & the Champions of Liberty: A Centenary Anthology edited by Edited by Michael E. Coughlin, Charles H. Hamilton and Mark A. Sullivan
- Ingalls, Hanson, and Tucker: Nineteenth Century American Anarchists by Jack Schwartzman
- Manifesto, Plan of the Cincinnati Labor for Labor Store and Equitable Commerce by Josiah Warren
- Mutual Banking by William B. Greene
- Uncivil Liberty: An Essay to Show the Injustice and Impolicy of Ruling Woman Without Her Consent (1873) by Ezra Heywood
- The Law of Intellectual Property: or an essay on the right of authors and inventors to a perpetual property in their ideas. by Lysander Spooner, 1855
- Henry Bool’s Apology for His Jeffersonian Anarchism by Henry Bool, 1901
- Anarchist Socialism and Anarchist-Mutualism by John William Lloyd, contributor to Liberty and one-time individualist anarchist, who tried to reconcile individualist and communist anarchism
- Individualism Reconsidered and An Overview of Individualist Anarchist Thought by Joe Peacott
- The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand: Corporate Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege by Kevin A. Carson