Liberty Archives - Page 3 of 4 - The Libertarian Labyrinth

What We Mean

May 28, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

“What We Mean,” Liberty, 1, 19 (April 15, 1882), 2. What We Mean. Our purpose is the abolition, not only of all existing States, but of the State itself. Is not this a straightforward and well-defined purpose? There can be no mistaking it, and it admits of no equivocation. The least that our enemies can say of us is that we stand in the market-place of thought and action with a square protest and a square assertion. And what is the State? It is not a thing that can be especially defined by Russia, Germany, Great Britain, or Massachusetts. The […]

Tucker on Right and Rights, 1882

May 1, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

There have been a series of discussions / arguments / pointless pissing contests in recent months, revolving around the question of just what sorts of property, and what sorts of actions, are authorized by mutualist theory. Mutualism begins—literally, in Proudhon’s What Is Property?—with a sense that “property” may be a problem without a really satisfactory solution. What, then, does that mean about the mutualist understanding of property relations, particularly in a setting where other property systems may be in place, or in competition. The short answer is probably that mutualism authorizes very little. If the best we can do is […]

individualist anarchism

1881 – the first three

January 29, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

[Ah, for the settled life of a scholar, where I could tackle my 1.104 issues of Liberty each day, and keep a regular schedule, rather than the constant fire-fighting and scrambling that goes with part-timing. But the show must go on, however fitfully.] So what actually appears in the pages of Liberty? The staple, stable source for Tucker’s opinions remained, from first to last, the “On Picket Duty” column. From the first issue, of August 6, through the remainder of 1881, this occupied the first two columns on the front page of nearly every issue, while a collection of clippings […]

Armies that Overlap – Tucker on Anarchism and Socialism

January 25, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Here’s another statement from Liberty on the relationship between anarchism and socialism (the topic of this weekend’s Carnival of Anarchy), which originally appeared in the issue of March 8, 1890 (p.4). Armies that Overlap. Of late the “Twentieth Century ” has been doing a good deal in the way of definition. Now, definition is very particular business, and it seems to me that it is not always performed with due care in the “Twentieth Century” office. Take this, for instance: A Socialist is “one who believes that each industry should be coordinated for the mutual benefit of all concerned under […]

Ernest Lesigne on “The Two Socialisms”

January 23, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

The third Carnival of Anarchy, scheduled for the upcoming weekend, is on “Anarchism and Socialism.” I’ll probably be posted related items off and on all week. Here’s an important item from the pages of Liberty. Ernest Lesigne wrote a series of Socialistic letters for Le Radical, and Benjamin R. Tucker printed some in translation. This one is certainly on-topic this week. Socialistic Letter[Le Radical] There are two Socialisms. One is communistic, the other solidaritarian. One is dictatorial, the other libertarian. One is metaphysical, the other positive. One is dogmatic, the other scientific. One is emotional, the other reflective. One is […]

“Travelling in Liberty” update, etc.

January 15, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve finally getting things rolling over at Travelling in Liberty, my examination of Benjamin R. Tucker’s thought and journal, and have already drawing a good question on Tucker’s relation to the rest of the anarchist tradition, with regard to wages. (Thanks, Iain!) Joshua King Ingalls’ Reminiscences is taking lots of work to annotate, but it is extremely agreeable work. Ingalls seems to have known everyone, including quite a few folks I was unfamiliar with. When I’m done with the notes on this, libertarians can take up “Three Degrees of Separation from J. K. Ingalls” as our new game. Social Wealth […]

Progress and Premises, continued

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

By the time he started Liberty, Benjamin R. Tucker had his trial by fire as a controversialist in the pages of The Index, where he also debated Stephen Pearl Andrews about the merits of Proudhon, had edited The Word for Ezra Heywood and The Radical Review for himself. He was obviously reading voraciously, and making (and breaking) connections with radicals of all stripes. Reading Liberty is, in large part, reading the public record of his reading, or his connections and disconnections. By the end of 1881, the first debates are beginning to take off in the letters section of the […]

Progress and Premises

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

At this point, I’m putting together “dummy” issues, with titles for all the major articles, and typing or scanning the bits that I think are most significant. I plan to put random free moments to work filling in the blanks in the early issues, while pushing ahead with the general reading and analysis. If anyone would like to help with the project, let me know and I’ll add you to the team. I’ve read through the issues for 1881 several times now, and am starting to get a feel for Liberty‘s beginnings. As I’ve mentioned before, the state of The […]

individualist anarchism

Saturday, September 3, 1881, Vol. 1, No. 3

January 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Vol. I BOSTON, MASS., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1881. No. 3 “For always in thine eyes, O Liberty!Shines that high light whereby the world is saved’And though thou slay us, wewill trust in thee.”John Hay On Picket Duty Wages is not slavery. Wages is a form of voluntary exchange, and voluntary exchange is a form of Liberty. About Progressive People Land and Liberty Within the last two years the above heading probably has decorated every public bulletin-board in this country and Great Britain. Yet probably it owes prominence to the more accidental alliteration, and has no rational significance in the average […]

Progress of the project

January 4, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Am I behind yet? I’m wrestling with the best approach to these early issues, and to the archiving end of things in general. It may be that I end up creating pdf files of some of these early issues that are useful to read in their entirety, just to get a sense of the jumping-off place for this expedition, but which aren’t all that exciting in comparison to later periods of Liberty. In any event, my scanning and posting chores are not always going to line up neatly, as other projects, such as the new Lab Reports, cause me to […]