Working Translations

Ernest Lesigne, “Socialist Letters” (1887)

I have already told you, my dear friend, that the socialization of the means of production is a dogma; that a dogma is proclaimed, taught, imposed; that it has its faithful, its apostles its sectarians, its priests, its martyrs, and its visionaries; but that it is not opened, justified, demonstrated.

The dogma is by nature mysterious and obscure, and you ask me to throw some light upon it, on the ground that I have taken as my motto, “Whatsoever is not clear is not true.” […]

Working Translations

Principal Tendencies of “l’Unique” (1956)

The sovereignty of the individual as fundamental principle every demand of the social order. – Denial of the utility of the intervention of the State or of the interference of any governmental institution in the relations or agreements between reasonable individuals. – Development of the critical spirit and of initiative in individual education. – Life as will and responsibility. – Violence (dominism, imposition, exploitation, etc.), brutality, use of physical force or of arms, etc. as source of the evils that overwhelm the individual. – Reciprocity as ethic of sociability. […]