1872 Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Bakunin on Life, Harmony and Struggle (1872)

August 28, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

These are excerpts from a letter written by Bakunin to Celso Ceretti, in Locarno, Switzerland, March 13-27, 1872. There is a great deal more in the letter worth examining, but the translation will have to wait for another day. I have been very distressed to see that the General [Garibaldi?], dismayed by the clashing of democratic and socialist opinions in Italy, has ended, so to speak, by giving up the idea of assembling this Congress, or else putting it off to an undetermined time, when there will be more harmony in ideas. I believe that if you wish to wait […]

Proclamations for 1872

January 15, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_1third] EMPEROR NORTON PROJECT: [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end] January 6, 1872 Proclamation. Whereas, we observe that certain newspapers are agitating the project of bridging the Bay; and whereas, we are desirous of connecting the cities of San Francisco and Oakland by such means; now, therefore, we, Norton I, Dei gratia Emperor, do hereby prohibit the Ravenswood scheme being carried into effect, and order that the bridge be built from Oakland Point to Telegraph Hill, via Goat Island. Norton I. ——— The authorities of Los Angeles are held responsible for the outrages perpetrated on the Chinese in that city recently, if every person […]

Bakunin, “To the Brothers of the Alliance in Spain” (1872)

March 17, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

Marx, as a thinker, is on the right track. He has established as a principle that all the political, religious and legal evolutions in history are not causes, but effects of the economic evolutions. It is a great and productive thought, that he has not absolutely invented: it has been glimpsed, expressed in part, by many others than him; but finally, to him belongs the honor of having solidly established it and having posited it as the basis of his whole economic system. On the other hand, Proudhon understand and felt liberty beaucoup much better than him—Proudhon, when he did not engage in doctrine and metaphysics, had the true instinct of the revolutionary—he adored Satan and he proclaimed an-archy. It is quite possible that Marx could raise himself theoretically to an even more rational system of liberty than Proudhon—but he lacks Proudhon’s instinct.

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Adhémar Schwitzguébel, “Collectivism” (First Letter) (1872)

February 12, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] COLLECTIVISM[1] Adhémar Schwitzguébel First article. Socialism first presented itself to the laboring classes in the form of different systems, each having its more or less numerous adepts, and each presenting itself as the infallible Gospel which must save society. These different socialist systems, hatched in the offices of speculative thinkers, have been succeeded by a much more popular socialism, which has been embodied in the International Workingmen’s Association. When we study the different socialist authors, we perceive straightaway that fantasy plays a considerable role in their writings; while the […]

Mikhail Bakunin, “Nechayev: Is He a Political Criminal or Not?” (1872)

January 11, 2013 Shawn P. Wilbur

NECHAYEV Is he a political criminal or not? We have published, on August 16, a document protesting against the arrest of a man who is held, rightly or wrongly, for Nechayev, the Russian political agitator. In publishing this document, we have had the strongest desire to see this beau right that the Swiss guarantee aux émigrés, this right of asylum which we enjoy, preserve intact its original purity and sanctity. The Russian government pursues Nechayev, as every despotic government does, when a man has made an attempt, even a fruitless attempt, to overthrow it. Everyone understands how, at any price, […]