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Anselme Bellegarrigue, “The Revolution” (1 of 4)

February 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Anarchy: A Journal of Order Anselme Bellegarrigue Issue Two Foreward The editor of Anarchy, tackling head-on a word which the politicians have used to intimidate the population and hold it for ransom, has proposed two things: First, to prove that order is a popular and anti-governmental element. The best argument that can be furnished in support of this thesis is that the monarchist papers openly greet the civil war as a Providence. Second, to establish that the Revolution is purely and simply a matter of business. The indifference and political skepticism to which the people abandon themselves more and more, […]

Paule Mink, “Poor Old Man” (1894)

February 6, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Panting, along the gray road, which lost itself in the distance in a damp autumn fog, an old man walked, doubled over. Feet bare in worn-out shoes, trousers ragged and dirty, dressed in a thin shirt of blue cloth which covered him without protecting him from the bitter north wind that blew, a cheap cap pulled down over his eyes, an empty beggar’s bag on his back, and in his hand a gnarled stick which he supported his tottering only with great difficulty: his whole aspect inspired a distressing sadness.

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Anselme Bellegarrigue

February 2, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a translation of a biographical account of Anselme Bellegarrigue, written in 1862 by Joseph Noulens, an old friend and collaborator of Bellegarrigue. It’s absolutely jam-packed with entertaining stories and useful details of Bellegarrigue’s life and career. But it’s really just the tip of the iceberg. It’s already led me to Bellegarrigue’s contributions to La Mosaïque du Midi and Le Palais de Cristal, which were not political, but are certainly interesting, and it’s given me enough clues to have substantially widened my search for texts and biographical material. Give it a read, and stay tuned for more information.

A biographical account of Anselme Bellegarrigue

February 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

A GASCON Minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of San-Salvador AT PARIS. We are going to present a sketch of a bizarre and independent type who, through the adventures of his cosmopolitan life and especially the singularity of his ideas, might have obtained and maintained a great vogue in British society. Among us, his way of life passed unnoticed. That difference in taste between the two nations arises, as we have said elsewhere, from the breakdown of individual originality by the weight of a leveling unity. So we have different sorts. In England, they favor bizarre natures with a gracious and […]

Open Letter on Libertarian Feminism

February 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Stephan Molyneux has recently graduated from shoddy to What is this I don’t even…, with a pair of videos on feminism, which he describes as “socialism with panties.” There is a hopeful part of me that would like to believe that nobody could take “Stef” seriously on his best days—and it is definitely not those we see in these videos—but the rest of me knows better. So I would like to draw attention to “An Open Letter to Stefan Molyneux and Other Anti-Feminists,” written by a group of good folks, including Sharon Presley, Charles Johnson, Nathan Goodman, and Ross Kenyon—and […]

Contr'un

The trial of Joseph Déjacque

February 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

An account of Joseph Déjacque’s 1851 trial for inciting hatred and contempt between classes, and against the government, is now available in English translation, over on From the Libertarian Library. It’s a lot of fun, and even the poetry translated relatively well.

The trial of Joseph Déjacque, October 23, 1851

January 31, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] Courts and Tribunals COURT OF ASSIZE OF THE SEINE. M. d’Esparbès de Lussan, presiding. Offense involving the press. The Lazarenes. Mr. Joseph Déjacque, a paper hanger, thirty years of age, author of a work entitled The Lazarenes, Social Fables and Poems is arraigned before the jury and accused of the crimes of: l) exciting hate and contempt for the government of the republic; 2) having sought to disturb the public peace by exciting the contempt or hatred of the citizens against one another; 3) justifying acts described as criminal […]

Proudhon and intellectual property

January 28, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Apparently I missed a post on the C4SIF site last March, claiming that Proudhon was an advocate of intellectual property. Now, as I am a notorious softy on that question (or self-serving reactionary, depending on who you ask), I’m less inclined to “pistols at dawn” than some might be, but it doesn’t sound much like the Proudhon I know. You can check the comments for some discussion with Stephan Kinsella about the question, which is rendered more difficult because the text at issue is from the half-translated and notoriously difficult System of Economic Contradictions.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Explanations Presented to the Public Prosecutor” (1842)

January 23, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Explanations Presented to the Public Prosecutor on the Right of Property — COURT OF ASSIZE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DOUBS (Session of February 3, 1842.) Last February 3, there appeared before the jury of Besançon, the author of a brochure entitled Warning to the Proprietors, or Letter to M. Considerant, editor of la Phalange, on a defense of property, on the charge: 1) of attacking property; 2) of provoking various classes of citizens to hatred; 3) of inciting hatred and contempt of the government and king; 4) of offense against the catholic religion. It is not our intention to […]

Déjacque’s “Authority—Dictatorship,” revised translation

January 22, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a revised translation of Joseph Déjacque’s essay, “Authority—Dictatorship,” also known by the title “Down with the Bosses!” My original working translation was not the most elegant of attempts, and it’s nice to have a substantially improved version available to readers. Slight revisions of “The Universal Circulus” and “The Theory of Infinitesimal Humanities” are on their way as well, as I start to work seriously on an anthology of Déjacque’s work. I’ve combed through library catalogs and the pages Le Libertaire for important and representative material, and it looks like these texts are key: Down with the Bosses! The […]