Month: June 2018

non-resistance

A. P. Brown, “Why I Am a Non-Resistant” (1890)

June 6, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] WHY I AM A NON-RESISTANT. BY A. P. BROWN. Well, first, because having been at the trouble to be born into this somewhat interesting world I feel inclined to linger in it as long as may be to learn more in regard to its workings, and I have noticed that those who are ready and prone to fight, who believe in fighting and practice it, are more likely not to die of old age than are those who follow after the things that make for peace. There is some risk, to be sure, whichever course […]
anarchist individualism

Victor Yarros, “Why I, as an Anarchist, Will Not Work with Socialists” (1890)

June 6, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] WHY I, AS AN ANARCHIST, WILL NOT WORK WITH THE SOCIALISTS. BY VICTOR YARROS. I find it exceedingly difficult to comply with the editor’s request for a comparatively brief statement of the reason “Why I, as an Anarchist, will not work with Nationalists, Socialists, and Single-taxers.” I doubt not that the editor realizes fully as well as I do the utter absurdity of the question; and if he has put it and has solicited an answer, it must be because the confusion in the mind of what we love to style “the public” is so […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Louisa Sarah Bevington, “Why I Am an Expropriationist” (1894)

June 6, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] WHY I AM AN EXPROPRIATIONIST. BY L.S. BEVINGTON. I advocate and I look forward to wholesale expropriation because I do not believe there is any such thing as a right to property, and because I hold that it is disastrous, nay, fatal, to the welfare of all individuals composing the community, to have to regulate their lives and affairs in accordance with a fictitious abstraction which has no warrant and no basis in the natural laws of life. I desire universal expropriation, not merely because the power that property-holding gives to man over man is […]
From the Archives

William Morris, “Why I Am a Communist” (1894)

June 6, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] WHY I AM A COMMUNIST. BY WILLIAM MORRIS. Objection has been made to the use of the word “Communism” to express fully-developed Socialism, on the ground that it has been used for the Community-Building, which played so great a part in some of the phases of Utopian Socialism, and is still heard of from time to time nowadays. Of Communism in this sense I am not writing now; it may merely be said in passing that such experiments are of their nature non-progressive; at their best they are but another form of the Mediæval monastery, […]
The Why I Ams

The Why I Ams

June 5, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
  THE WHY I AMS Twentieth Century Van Buren Denslow, “Why I Am a Protectionist,” Twentieth Century 4 no. 17 (April 24, 1890): 7–8; 4 no. 18 (May 1, 1890): 6–8 William G. Sumner, “Why I Am a Free Trader,” Twentieth Century 4 no. 17 (April 24, 2890): 8–10. William Lloyd Garrison, “Why I Am a Single-Taxer,” Twentieth Century 4 no. 18 (May 1, 1890): 5–6. Laurence Gronlund, “Why I Am a Socialist,” Twentieth Century 4 no. 19 (May 8, 1890): 5–6. Burnette G. Haskell, “Why I Am a Nationalist,” Twentieth Century 4 no. 20 (May 15, 1890): 5–7. John […]
A Good Word

Benjamin R. Tucker, “Anarchism or Anarchy” (1881)

June 5, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
At the center of this pamphlet is a disagreement about the use of the terms anarchy and anarchism—a topic that has grown in interest for me in recent years. W. H. Tillinghast accuses Tucker of “misusing words” when he uses the term anarchism to describe anarchist beliefs. The proper word, he claims, would be anarchy—or, more specifically, an-archy (from Proudhon’s occasional spelling, an-archie.) He would seem, from a modern perspective, to be a bit confused and Tucker’s response would be correct, if perhaps a bit excessive. It is easy to forget that in 1881 anarchism was still a “rare” word, whether in English or French.

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anarchist linkage

Fernand Fortin, “Anarchist Unity or Linkage?” (1934)

June 5, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[ PROJECT: Varieties of Anarchist Entente ] Unité ou Liaison anarchiste ? De tous côtés ce ne sont qu’appels à l’Unité. Unité syndicale. Unité d’action socialo-communiste. Front unique. « Front commun » cédants la place, pour attirer les radicaux, au « Front populaire » qui, demain — pour défendre les fameuses « libertés républicaines » et attirer les plus timorés — se dénommera peut-être vulgairement « Front… républicain ». En face, « Front national s groupant les éléments dits « de droite ». Droite contre gauche. Blancs contre rouges. * * * Mais… et les anarchistes ? Eux ? Ils se […]
progress reports

Alexander Berkman, “To Our Comrades Everywhere” (1928)

June 3, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0″][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] TO OUR COMRADES EVERYWHERE The anarchist movement is now living through a very difficult time. Reaction is dominant, and as usual it is our comrades who suffer the worst persecution. Moreover, the Russian Revolution and post-war developments have created much confusion in our ranks: there are many vital problems which urgently press for solution. This situation calls for most earnest thought and the closest cooperation of our comrades everywhere in solving the important matters at issue and bringing greater clarity and activity into the movement. But instead of the serious application […]