Re: [CTRL] Anarchism: Two Kinds / Wendy McElroy

Mon, 20 Dec 1999 03:36:48 -0800 

nessie wrote:
>
>  -Caveat Lector-
>
> >An excellent article that explains this tricky subject really well!
>
> This article is bunk. It is absurd to talk about "American" anarchism and
> "Russian" anarchism. Anarchism, by definition,  recognizes no borders. If
> you're one of us, you're one of us, period. We don't care where you're
> from. It is particularly absurd to atribute the differences between
> individualist anarchism and collectivist anarchism to national origin.

True, it is particularly absurd to attribute the differences between
individualist anarchism and collectivist anarchism to national origin, but
you must admit there are major philosophical differences between great
European Anarchist thinkers like Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin,
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, et al. (collectivist), and great America's
Anarchist thinkers like Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, etc.
(individualist). Their national origin is irrelevant and at most a
coincidence, although their differences in beliefs are not (collectivist v.
individualist, anarcho-syndicalist v. anarcho-capitalist, anarcho-left v.
anarcho-right, etc.). And although all the beliefs of these great thinkers
would not fit neatly into a single 'faction', many of them do, and they
serve to give a rough idea of where they each stand, what type of anarcho
society they advocate, and how to get there. So while the 'national origin'
fallacy is generally bunk, it does not necessarily make the entire article
bunk.

> Both tendencies exist everywhere anarchists exist, which is most places on
> earth.  Both are present in virtually every anarchist individual. We
> believe that self reliance and mutual aid are of equal importance.

True, many anarchist hold a mix of individualist and syndicalist beliefs,
but many do not; consider the following:

About this time last year when Michael Johnson and Joshua2 were constantly
butting heads on this list, it was hard for me not to sum up MJ as an
anarcho-capitalist and J2 as an anarcho-syndicalist. It's sometimes helpful
to look at the big picture from this perspective and break it down from
there. And while MJ and J2 are both political anarchists (even though they
might not use that label to describe their beliefs), and most likely
believe that self reliance and mutual aid (or exchange) are of equal
importance, they can't agree on anything with regards to economics
[although they seem to agree to a similar theory with regards to politics:
(poli=many/tics=parasites)]. The major differences between the two major
anarchist camps are not political, they're economic. Because of this, the
'we' in anarchism is sometimes better left as 'them' and 'us'. I assume MJ
and J2 would agree with this point (and agree to disagree on most others).

> There's a ton of anarchist resources on web. Check some out:

You left out one of the better resources (mostly anarcho-syndicalist):

<http://208.206.78.232/liberty/liberty.html>
Title: Liberty for the People
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Texts concerning the goal of liberty and freedom for the working class individual.
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The following consist of electronic texts relevent to libertarian socialist / anarchist theory, philosophy, organising, & history. Unlike many simmilar pages, this page is not simply a collection of links to other sites. Highlighted links denote local material. Because this page may someday move, please copy articles over to your own web space for your own use rather than linking directly to them at this site. Feel free to link to this home page, however.

Definitions

These are specific definitions of working-class oriented libertarian theories and goals:

General Issues

These texts address issues relevent to the modern anarchist/libertarian socialist movement.

Controversies

Recently right-wing, pro-free market capitalists (who call themselves "anarcho"-capitalists) have started to attack anarchism and in particular the Spanish anarchists and their role in the Spanish Revolution/Civil War. Here we present some replies to their attacks.

More Controversy

(Left) Libertarian Organisational Platforms and Principles

Libertarian Socialist organizations have been around for more than a hundred years and here are just some of the various organizations' statements of principles.

Libertarian Societies and Experiances in the Real World

Questioning & Resisting Authority

  • Civil Disobediance, by Henry David Thoreau
    Expresses the duty of every person to oppose illegitimate authority.
  • No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, by Lysander Spooner
    Spooner expresses how ridiculous the concept "treason against the state" is, with respect to the fact that the Constitution, and even laws, are merely words on paper that we agree to, and it remains neccesary to always question such rules and laws to confirm that their validity is still current to present conditions. (Obviously, if the constitution serves the interests of the property-owning class, then those without property have reason to question the validity of the constitution.)
  • Natural Law, by Lysander Spooner
    Spooner describes the natural morality that humans should abide by in order to live together in harmony and also condemns the exploitation of man by man that violates these natural laws.
  • The Ego and It's Own, by Max Stirner
  • Direct Action, by Voltairine De Cleyre
  • Sabotage, by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
  • Patriotism versus Liberty, by Emma Goldman

Web Pages of a Libertarian/Anti-Authoritarian Nature

Note: While many of these web sites listed below focus on real anarchism, there are some that contain a few texts advocating "drug culture", lifestylism, and even some absurdities such as the Unabomber Manifesto & the "anti-work" ideology of certain "slacker" types. Since this web site is not representative of a specific organisation, it should be made clear that such controvertial articles represent the ideas (or misconceptions) of a few isolated individuals, and not the anarchist movement as a whole.

Specifically Libertarian Socialist Web Pages

Libertarian Organisations Around the World

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