The Era of Anarchism

Anarchist Beginnings

H. W., “Anarchism” (1904)

September 8, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
Anarchism aims to establish an ideal state of society based on the “golden rule,” in which all distinctions of castes and privileges are abolished, and in which each individual is expected to labor spontaneously for the welfare of himself and the community. Mutual interests and due respect for each other are the only forces deemed necessary in their social relationship, i. e., each will be a law unto himself. Admitting that such a society could not be inaugurated under the present state of affairs, its advocates are endeavoring to awaken the people to the fact that government creates disorder, and […]
Anarchist Beginnings

C. L. James, “Anarchism Defined by an Anarchist” (1886)

September 8, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
ANARCHISM DEFINED BY AN ANARCHIST. The very impartial article by Professor Ely on “Socialism in America,” which appeared in your June issue, suggests to me that a somewhat less external view of that movement known as anarchism might possibly be interesting. Anarchism, like Protestantism, has no particular author, but the founder of the I. W. P. A. is Karl Marx, and Marx’s work, “Capital,” is fairly entitled to be considered the great text-book of anarchistic socialism. According to anarchists, possession must be carefully distinguished from property. Possession is the power, right, or privilege of using anything which is inseparable from […]
Anarchist Beginnings

George Barrett, “The Anarchist Revolution” (1915)

September 8, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
Introduction An Anarchist is a man who does not believe that government is a good thing for the people. He is, in fact, a man who believes in and strives for liberty. Liberty is to him not a superstition, or a god of which to make images, but a practical theory or plan of action. The first step necessary in establishing liberty will be, clearly, the abolition of government, and this will mean the organisation of industry by the workers themselves, not by any outside power — in other words, the Anarchist Revolution. For the moment this may seem wildly […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Peter Kropotkin, “Anarchy: Its Philosophy and Ideal” (1896)

September 8, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
ANARCHY. ______ (Translated from the German by Harry Lyman Koopman.) ______ Ever reviled, accursed,-n’er understood, Thou art the grisly terror of our age. “Wreck of all order,” cry the multitude, “Art thou, and war and murder’s endless rage.” O, let them cry. To them that ne’er have striven, The truth that lies behind a word to find, To them the word’s right meaning was not given. They shall continue blind among the blind. But thou, O word, so clear, so strong, so pure, That sayest all which I for goal have taken. I give thee to the future! -Thine secure […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Nestor Makhno, “The Anarchist Revolution”

September 8, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
1. ANARCHISM – a life of freedom and creative independence for humanity. Anarchism does not depend on theory or programs, which try to grasp man’s life in its entirety. It is a teaching, which is based on real life, which outgrows all artificial limitations, which cannot be constricted by any system. Anarchism’s outward form is a free, non-governed society, which offers freedom, equality and solidarity for its members. Its foundations are to be found in man’s sense of mutual responsibility, which has remained unchanged in all places and times. This sense of responsibility is capable of securing freedom and social […]
Working Translations

Emile Digeon, “Rights and Duties in Rational Anarchy” (1882)

August 30, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
  Rational anarchy consists of admitting no authority apart from the authority of the people, exercised directly in voting for the laws, and mediated by delegates who are always revocable in the execution of its decisions. (Rational Anarchy, by E. Digeon). I Certain libertarian socialists, seeking, with good reason, to react against the authoritarian tendencies of certain other socialists, have fallen into an excess of individualism which is dangerous to the liberty that they wish to defend. Reasoning as if nature could furnish spontaneously, without human labor, everything that is necessary or agreeable to everyone, several even go so far […]
Anarchist Beginnings

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. […]
Anarchist Beginnings

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 […]
Anarchist Beginnings

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 […]
Anarchist Beginnings

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 […]