Blog - Page 140 of 286 - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Lucy Parsons, “I Am an Anarchist” (1913)

August 30, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

I am an anarchist. I suppose you came here, the most of you, to see what a real, live anarchist looked like. I suppose some of you expected to see me with a bomb in one hand and a flaming torch in the other, but are disappointed in seeing neither. If such has been your ideas regarding an anarchist, you deserved to be disappointed. Anarchists are peaceable, law abiding people. What do anarchists mean when they speak of anarchy? Webster gives the term two definitions chaos and the state of being without political rule. We cling to the latter definition. […]

Victor Yarros, “Anarchism: What it Is and What it Is Not” (1893)

August 30, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

IT was an observation of John Stuart Mill’s that to know a thing it is necessary to realize, not only what it is, but also what it is not. Applying this definition or test to that passage of Mr. Thomas B. Preston’s paper on “Are We Socialists?” (ARENA, December) in which he states and criticises the principles of anarchism, we find ourselves entitled to affirm that Mr. Preston scarcely possesses such familiarity with, and comprehension of, the essential doctrines of anarchism as would justify confident criticism of that school. What is anarchism, and who are the anarchists? Loosely speaking, there […]

London Anarchist Communist Alliance, “An Anarchist Manifesto” (1895)

August 30, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

FELLOW WORKERS, WE come before you as Anarchist Communists to explain our principles. We are aware that the minds of many of you have been poisoned by the lies which all parties have diligently spread about us. But surely the persecutions to which we have been and are subjected by the governing classes of all countries should open the eyes of those who love fair play. Thousands of our comrades are suffering in prison or are driven homeless from one country to the other. Free speech—almost the only part of British liberty that can be of any use to the […]

Joseph Labadie, “The Aims of Anarchism” (1920)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

Let me tell you briefly what Anarchism aims to do: It claims that freedom, liberty, is the greatest factor in bringing material comfort and happiness to the people, and so Anarchism would reduce gradually, even to the vanishing point, the political power and physical control which some people hold over others. It wants to make all unused land free to those who will use it. This will dispense with the colossal expense of supporting the landlord class, and increase the wealth-producing power by turning landlords and the disemployed poor from parasites to producers. . . . It wants to do […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “Anarchism” (1901)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

THERE are two spirits abroad in the world,—the spirit of Caution, the spirit of Dare, the spirit of Quiescence, the spirit of Unrest; the spirit of Immobility, the spirit of Change; the spirit of Hold-fast-to-that-which-you-have, the spirit of Let-go-and-fly-to-that-which-you-have-not; the spirit of the slow and steady builder, careful of its labors, loath to part with any of its achievements, wishful to keep, and unable to discriminate between what is worth keeping and what is better cast aside, and the spirit of the inspirational destroyer, fertile in creative fancies, volatile, careless in its luxuriance of effort, inclined to cast away the […]

Harry Kelly, “Anarchism—A Plea for the Impersonal” (1908)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

THE student of Anarchism must often ask himself why, in this most Anarchistic of all countries, the Anarchist movement has made, and is making, such slow progress. That Anarchism concerns itself with the individual, and that America is the most individualistic of all civilized countries, is hardly debatable; and yet the Anarchist movement, which in itself represents the definite, concrete expression of the Anarchist philosophy, is almost where it was twenty years ago. The Mutualist wing, which found its ablest exponent in Dyer D. Lum is extinct; the Individualist wing has lost so much ground that it can hardly be […]

Emma Goldman & John Most, “Anarchy Defended by Anarchists” (1896)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

To most Americans Anarchy is an evil-sounding word — another name for wickedness, perversity, and chaos. Anarchists are looked upon as a herd of uncombed, unwashed, and vile ruffians, bent on killing the rich and dividing their capital. Anarchy, however, to its followers actually signifies a social theory which regards the union of order with the absense of all government of man by man; in short, it means perfect individual liberty. If the meaning of Anarchy has so far been interpreted as a state of the greatest disorder, it is because people have been taught that their affairs are regulated, […]

César de Paepe, “Anarchy” (1863)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

The two texts that follow are both translations of an excerpt from the speech published as “Discours du citoyen César de Paepe prononcé á Patignies (Namur) en 1863” in 1898. The first, an edited translation, first appeared under the title “Anarchy” in The Commonweal 7 no. 287 (October 31, 1891): 137-139. The second is my own complete translation of the same passage, which includes some remarks on the transition to anarchy not included in the 19th century translation. The ideal of the democracy can only be Anarchy; not Anarchy in the sense of disorder, confusion, but Anarchy in the sense, […]

Emma Goldman, “A Beautiful Ideal” (1908)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

— A — Beautiful Ideal BY EMMA GOLDMAN The lecture which Emma Goldman was to have read before the Edelstadt Social, March 17th, 1908, at Workingmens’ Hall, 12th & Waller Streets, Chicago. But was prevented by Captain Mahoney of Maxwell Street Station with a squad of about fifty police. INTRODUCTORY. In fact and in truth Miss Goldman is a mild mannered little woman who would not kill a. fly or a spider. On the contrary she teaches peace, harmony and brotherly love among all men regardless of race, creed or color. We are publishing this little booklet so that she […]

Gaston Leval, “Libertarian Socialist! Why? (1956)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

In the past, I’ve discussed the “libertarian socialist” current that broke away from language and organizational commitments of the anarchist movement and summarized some of their arguments, but I thought it would be useful to present some of the material in English, starting with a couple of Gaston Leval’s articles. The translation here is a little rough, in part because I don’t yet have a copy of the original publication in hand, and there are some questions about the transcription available online. But I think the general argument is clear enough, and I will update the translation when the original […]