Year: 2007

Anarchism

Armies that Overlap – Tucker on Anarchism and Socialism

January 25, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
Here’s another statement from Liberty on the relationship between anarchism and socialism (the topic of this weekend’s Carnival of Anarchy), which originally appeared in the issue of March 8, 1890 (p.4). Armies that Overlap. Of late the “Twentieth Century ” has been doing a good deal in the way of definition. Now, definition is very particular business, and it seems to me that it is not always performed with due care in the “Twentieth Century” office. Take this, for instance: A Socialist is “one who believes that each industry should be coordinated for the mutual benefit of all concerned under […]
Uncategorized

Milo Hastings entry at Wikipedia

January 23, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
Congratulations are in order to the very busy editor who has been working on the Milo Hastings article on Wikipedia. I did a little work on it back in December, shortly after my post on Hastings here. The original editor, who has access to family pictures and other material, has now worked the page up into something very nice. Among the new details: Hastings was the grandson of abolitionist preacher Pardee Butler.
Anarchism

Ernest Lesigne on “The Two Socialisms”

January 23, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
The third Carnival of Anarchy, scheduled for the upcoming weekend, is on “Anarchism and Socialism.” I’ll probably be posted related items off and on all week. Here’s an important item from the pages of Liberty. Ernest Lesigne wrote a series of Socialistic letters for Le Radical, and Benjamin R. Tucker printed some in translation. This one is certainly on-topic this week. Socialistic Letter[Le Radical] There are two Socialisms. One is communistic, the other solidaritarian. One is dictatorial, the other libertarian. One is metaphysical, the other positive. One is dogmatic, the other scientific. One is emotional, the other reflective. One is […]
Anarchism

Josiah Warren – Letter to Louis Kossuth

January 17, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
[This is the first fruits of an expedition through the microfilm available to me of the Boston Investigator. I was particularly in search of the contributions of Lewis Masquerier, many of which ended up in his “instead of a book” compilation, Sociology. Working through an unfortunately fragmentary archive, I have indeed dug up some of those items—including the first two “Godology” essays—as well as quite a few uncollected pieces—such as an exchange on the merits of different phonotypic systems. But I also found several contributions by Josiah Warren, including this “open letter” to Kossuth, which is, in many ways, a […]
Anarchism

“Travelling in Liberty” update, etc.

January 15, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve finally getting things rolling over at Travelling in Liberty, my examination of Benjamin R. Tucker’s thought and journal, and have already drawing a good question on Tucker’s relation to the rest of the anarchist tradition, with regard to wages. (Thanks, Iain!) Joshua King Ingalls’ Reminiscences is taking lots of work to annotate, but it is extremely agreeable work. Ingalls seems to have known everyone, including quite a few folks I was unfamiliar with. When I’m done with the notes on this, libertarians can take up “Three Degrees of Separation from J. K. Ingalls” as our new game. Social Wealth […]
individualist anarchism

Progress and Premises, continued

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
By the time he started Liberty, Benjamin R. Tucker had his trial by fire as a controversialist in the pages of The Index, where he also debated Stephen Pearl Andrews about the merits of Proudhon, had edited The Word for Ezra Heywood and The Radical Review for himself. He was obviously reading voraciously, and making (and breaking) connections with radicals of all stripes. Reading Liberty is, in large part, reading the public record of his reading, or his connections and disconnections. By the end of 1881, the first debates are beginning to take off in the letters section of the […]
individualist anarchism

Progress and Premises

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
At this point, I’m putting together “dummy” issues, with titles for all the major articles, and typing or scanning the bits that I think are most significant. I plan to put random free moments to work filling in the blanks in the early issues, while pushing ahead with the general reading and analysis. If anyone would like to help with the project, let me know and I’ll add you to the team. I’ve read through the issues for 1881 several times now, and am starting to get a feel for Liberty‘s beginnings. As I’ve mentioned before, the state of The […]
individualist anarchism

Saturday, September 3, 1881, Vol. 1, No. 3

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
Vol. I BOSTON, MASS., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1881. No. 3 “For always in thine eyes, O Liberty!Shines that high light whereby the world is saved’And though thou slay us, wewill trust in thee.”John Hay On Picket Duty Wages is not slavery. Wages is a form of voluntary exchange, and voluntary exchange is a form of Liberty. About Progressive People Land and Liberty Within the last two years the above heading probably has decorated every public bulletin-board in this country and Great Britain. Yet probably it owes prominence to the more accidental alliteration, and has no rational significance in the average […]