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Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. American individualist anarchism includes strong advocacy of private property and a competitive free market economy. For this reason, it is sometimes called market anarchism. Individualist anarchism is sometimes regarded as a form of "liberal-anarchism" by those who see it is a radicalized version of classical liberalism (American Liberal-Anarchism), while many collectivist and individualist anarchists refer to classical individualism as a form of socialism[1][2], although, it is not socialism in the sense of collective ownership of the means of production as is commonly defined today [3]. The most famous individualist anarchist, Benjamin Tucker refers to his philosophy as "unterrified Jeffersonianism." The individualists adhere to a labor theory of value and therefore find profit in trade to be exploitation that is made possible by coercive "monopolies" which reduce competition, often backed by the government. Despite the rejection of capitalism by classical individualists, anarcho-capitalists who adopt the subjective theory of value have no such opposition to profit. Some anarcho-capitalists, such as Wendy McElroy, refer to themselves simply as "individualist anarchists." However, the term is usually used in reference to the classical individualists and its use by anarcho-capitalists is highly contentious. Most of the radical American individualists oppose the initiation of coercion and fraud, believing that force should be reserved for defense. The copyright status of this old image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ...
The copyright status of this old image is undetermined; it may still be copyrighted. ...
Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition that opposes collectivism and has a particularly strong emphasis on the supremacy and autonomy of the individual. ...
For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ...
This page deals with property as ownership rights. ...
A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy...
This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in economics and political economy concerning a market-oriented or commodity-producing society: the theory equates the value of an exchangeable good or service (i. ...
Economic subjectivism is the theory that value is a feature of the appraiser and not of the thing being valued. ...
Wendy McElroy is a Canadian individualist anarchist and individualist feminist. ...
Classical individualist anarchism
Overview Early individualist anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th century in America (historically called "Boston anarchism" at times, often derogatorily) include Josiah Warren, Ezra Heywood, Joshua K. Ingalls, William B. Greene, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Stephen Pearl Andrews, John William Lloyd, Henry Bool, Steven T. Byington, Victor Yarros, Laurance Labadie, and Henry Appleton. Josiah Warren is the first American individualist anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. ...
Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
William B. Green was a 19th century American individualist anarchist and author. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
Steven T. Byington was a noted intellectual and individualist anarchist. ...
Victor Yarros was a 19th century American anarchist and author. ...
Henry Appleton was a 19th century American individualist anarchist. ...
Contemporary theorists of the same philosophical strain include Joe Peacott, Larry Gambone, and Kevin Carson. Joe Peacott is an American individualist anarchist writer. ...
Kevin Carson is a contemporary American individualist anarchist and author. ...
The origin of the American tradition draws heavily on Josiah Warren and France's Pierre Proudhon, though both working without association or apparent knowledge of the other. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon et ses enfants, Gustave Courbet, 1865. ...
The tradition bases its philosophy on what Warren calls the "Soveriegnty of the Individual", which holds that an individual has the exclusive right to dominion over his own body, however he sees fit, against the claims of others. As corollary to this, the classical individualists hold that all individuals own the produce of their labor individually. This contrasts with anarcho-communism where the produce of an individual does not become his property but is pooled collectively with the community. It also differs from capitalism where it is not considered unethical for an individual to be paid less than the "full produce" of his labor, thereby profitting the purchaser of that labor or its produce.
 Liberty, published by Benjamin Tucker, was the leading journal of radical individualist thought from 1881-1908 Private property rights for american individualists includes a right to own the means of production, though many argue against the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth. There are also some important exceptions: Most individualist anarchists hold that land cannot be looked at as property in the same way that the products of labor can be. In this they joined many of the liberals who came before them. For example, Thomas Jefferson says: "Whenever there is any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural rights. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on." Image File history File linksMetadata Liberty_OldPeriodical. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Liberty_OldPeriodical. ...
Liberty was a 19th century peroidical published in the United States by American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Thomas Jefferson (April 13 (April 2 Old Style), 1743 – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), author of the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founders of the United States. ...
In a similar vein, most individualists believed that unused land should not be protected from those who would like to use it (Warren and Andrews are notable exceptions). They maintain that titles to land should not be granted unless it is occupied or in use since untransformed land is not the product of labor. However, they take this a step further in advocating that title should only be granted to the individual occupying or using the property, as this ensures that an individual cannot charge rent (being paid without laboring). Unused land is not considered to be the collective property of the community --it is simply unowned and therefore no permission is needed to put it to private use and no compensation is due to the community (contrast geoanarchism). Benjamin Tucker said: "Anarchism holds that land belongs not to the people but the occupant and user..." (Liberty X May 19 1894). Geolibertarianism (also geoanarchism) is a political philosophy that holds with other forms of libertarianism that all products of labor should be privately owned and controlled. ...
However, the produce of cultivating land is regarded as private property as it is result of labor. Maintaining that the value of anything is the amount of labor that was performed to produce or acquire it (see the labor theory of value), they assert that equal amounts of labor should therefore be paid equal wages. Or, in other words, an individual who labors for another should be always be paid his "full produce," rather than an employer who was labored less retaining a portion as profit. The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in economics and political economy concerning a market-oriented or commodity-producing society: the theory equates the value of an exchangeable good or service (i. ...
The individualists believe that capital is concentrated in the hands of a privileged few as a result of restrictions on entering the banking business and issuing currency, as well as a result of enforcement of land titles that are not in use. They believe that if any individual is allowed to issue and lend his own currency and enter the banking business, without requiring charters from government, that competition would be so prevalent that the possibility of profiting through lending capital would be nearly non-existent (see free banking). They support private ownership of capital, but they oppose coercive privilege that they believe keeps capital concentrated in the hands of a few. Free banking is a theory of banking which involves only market forces, with a conspicuous absence of central banks and any banking regulations, with only the general commercial laws applicable. ...
Benjamin Tucker says in State Socialism and Anarchism: "Just as the idea of taking capital away from individuals and giving it to the government started Marx in a path which ends in making the government everything and the individual nothing, so the idea of taking capital away from government-protected monopolies and putting it within easy reach of all individuals started Warren and Proudhon in a path which ends in making the individual everything and the government nothing....though opposed to socializing the ownership of capital, they aimed nevertheless to socialize its effects by making its use beneficial to all instead of a means of impoverishing the many to enrich the few."
In contrast to anarcho-communism Individualist anarchists regard the most foundational differences between their economic philosophy (mutualism) and anarcho-communism to be the issue over the ownership of the produce of labor. Individualists believe that the produce of labor should be regarded as property of the individual and the wages should be paid for labor, though they generally argued in favor of equal wages for equal labor. Anarcho-communists oppose individual ownership and believe that the produce of labor should be owned by a collective and that wages should be abolished. In anarcho-communism, one who labors does not individually own his produce, but may only use as much as he needs, being ethically obliged to share surplus production with others who need it. In individualist anarchism, the individual privately owns his produce, having absolute dominion over it, with no ethical obligation to share it with others. This includes labor-produced means of production such as tools and machines. To some degree one may accumulate the produce of labor and keep it from those who may "need" it, or sell it. Where the distribution of goods and services in anarcho-communism can been seen as "to each according to his needs," in individualist anarchism distribution is "to each according to his labor." Proudhon, who was influential on the Americans through Benjamin Tucker, says: "To each according to his works, first; and if, on occasion, I am impelled to aid you, I will do it with a good grace; but I will not be constrained." In anarcho-communism wealth would naturally be evenly-distributed as it is collectively owned. In individualist anarchism, wealth distribution is more uneven as production would vary among the individuals. Benjamin Tucker explicitly supports the social equality of socialism [4], but argues that differences in labor would also lead to small-scale differences in wealth "... there are people who say: 'We will have no liberty, for we must have absolute equality. I am not of them. If I go through life free and rich, I shall not cry because my neighbor, equally free, is richer. Liberty will ultimately make all men rich; it will not make all men equally rich. Authority may (and may not) make all men equally rich in purse; it certainly will make them equally poor in all that makes life best worth living." Mutualism is an economic theory or system based on a labor theory of value that advocates that equal amounts of labor should receive equal pay. ...
Individualist anarchists
Josiah Warren Main article: Josiah Warren Image File history File links JosiahWarrenprofile. ...
Image File history File links JosiahWarrenprofile. ...
Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Josiah Warren (1799-1874) was an American social reformer and commonly regarded as the first individualist anarchist. ...
Josiah Warren is generally considered to be the first individualist anarchist in the American tradition. He also issued what some believe to be the first anarchist periodical ever published, called The Peaceful Revolutionist in 1833. Warren had participated in a failed collectivist experiment headed by Robert Owen called "New Harmony" and came to the conclusion that such a system is inferior to one where individualism and private property is allowed. In Practical Details he expresses his conclusions in regard to this collectivist experiment. Robert Owen Robert Owen continues to be looked up to in this Manchester statue Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) was a Welsh social reformer. ...
New Harmony is a town located in Posey County, Indiana. ...
In a quote from that text that illustrates his radical individualism, he makes a vehement assertion of individual negative liberty: "Society must be so converted as to preserve the SOVEREIGNTY OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL inviolate. That it must avoid all combinations and connections of persons and interests, and all other arrangements which will not leave every individual at all times at liberty to dispose of his or her person, and time, and property in any manner in which his or her feelings or judgment may dictate. WITHOUT INVOLVING THE PERSONS OR INTERESTS OF OTHERS" (Tucker's capitalization). The philosophical concept of negative liberty is the absence of coercion from others. ...
In True Civilization Warren equates "Sovereignty of the Individual" with the Declaration of Independence's assertion of the INALIENABLE right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." He claims that an person's "instinct" to sovereignty "cannot be alienated or separated from that organism," and that therefore, "this instinct being INVOLUNTARY, every one has the same absolute right to its exercise that he has to his complexion or the forms of his features, to any extent, not disturbing another." Beyond this, Warren coined the phrase, "cost the limit of price", to refer to his interpretation of the labor theory of value. A declaration of independence is a proclamation of the independence of a newly formed or reformed independent state, usually from a part or the whole of the territory of another nation, or a document containing such a declaration. ...
Cost the limit of price is a maxim coined Josiah Warren that holds that it is unethical to charge a higher price for a commodity than the cost of producing or acquiring, and bringing it to market. ...
The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in economics and political economy concerning a market-oriented or commodity-producing society: the theory equates the value of an exchangeable good or service (i. ...
The labor theory holds that the value of a commodity is equal to the amount of labor required to produce or acquire it. From this, Warren concluded that it was unethical to charge a higher price for a commodity than the cost incurred in producing, acquiring, and bringing it to market. He called his normative maxim "Cost the limit of price." In addition, according to Warren, if labor is the ultimate source of value then equal amounts of labor from two different individuals are of equal value.
In 1827, Warren put his theories into practice by starting a business called the Cincinnati Time Store where goods were trade was facilitated by private currency backed by labor. This labor-note experiment is considered to be the first practice of the economic theory of mutualism, which Pierre-Joseph Proudhon later theorized. Warren and Proudhon developed similar philosophies though they had worked without association or apparent knowledge of the each other. Benjamin Tucker says that the idea that profit is exploitative due to its violation of the labor theory of value "was Proudhon's position before it was Marx's, and Josiah Warren's before it was Proudhon's" (Liberty or Authority)." The Cincinnati Time Store was a successful retail store that was created by American individualist anarchist Josiah Warren to test his theories that were based on his strict interpretation of the labor theory of value. ...
Mutualism is an economic theory or system based on a labor theory of value that advocates that equal amounts of labor should receive equal pay. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon et ses enfants, Gustave Courbet, 1865. ...
Warren, like all the American individualists that followed, is a strong supporter of the right of individuals to retain the product of their labor, including means of production, as private property. He had stated opposition to the state granting land titles believing it to create special privileges and monopoly, but, as indicated in Equitable Commerce, he accepted the current arrangement of land distribution and did not oppose a right to own, buy, and sell land as long as it was sold at at "prime cost."
This position, which was shared by fellow anarchist Stephen Pearl Andrews, differs from the many later individualists' ideas on land who had a requirement of "occupation and use." Warren says that "by dispensing with government we shake off the greatest invader of human rights" (Equitable Commerce). James J. Martin says, in Men Against the State: The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America: "The fundamental structure of American anarchism is without doubt based upon the social and economic experiments and writings of Josiah Warren." The writings of later individualists speak of him with noticeable reverence. Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
James J. Martin (September 18, 1916 - April 4, 2004) was an American historian. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews Stephen Pearl Andrews was an individualist anarchist and close associate of Josiah Warren. Andrews was formerly associated with the Fourierist movement, but after becoming acquainted with the work of Warren, converted to radical individualism. Like Warren, he holds the principle of "individual sovereignty" as being of paramount importance. Image File history File links StephenPearlAndrews. ...
Image File history File links StephenPearlAndrews. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 - May 21, 1886) was an anarchist. ...
François Marie Charles Fourier was a French utopian socialist. ...
Andrews says that when individuals acted in order to serve their own self-interest that they incidentally contribute to the well-being of others. He maintains that it is a "mistake" to create a "state, church or public morality" that individuals must serve rather than pursuing their own happiness (Love, Marriage and Divorce, and the Sovereignty of the Individual). In Love, Marriage and Divorce, and the Sovereignty of the Individual he says: "Give up...the search after the remedy for the evils of government in more government. The road lies just the other way--toward individualism and freedom from all government...Nature made individuals, not nations; and while nations exist at all, the liberties of the individual must perish."
Warren and Andrews established the individualist anarchist colony called "Modern Times" on Long Island, NY. In tribute to Andrews, Benjamin Tucker said: "Anarchist especially will ever remember and honor him because he has left behind him the ablest English book ever written in defense of Anarchist principles" (Liberty, III, 2). This is a list of past and present anarchist communities. ...
William B. Greene William B. Greene did not become a full-fledged anarchist until the last ten years of his life, however, being involved with the movement for much longer he was instrumental in developing the economic ideas of the individualists. Whereas Warren provided the basis of the individualists' economics in asserting "Cost the limit of price," Greene is best known for expanding on this by being instrumental in bringing the idea of a "mutual bank" to American anarchism (though, Spooner had previously developed mutualist banking ideas in his writings, working without association with the other anarchists until later). He is sometimes called the "American Proudhon," for the similarities of his mutualist banking ideas with those of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Image File history File links WilliamBGreene. ...
Image File history File links WilliamBGreene. ...
William B. Green was a 19th century American individualist anarchist and author. ...
William B. Green was a 19th century American individualist anarchist and author. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon et ses enfants, Gustave Courbet, 1865. ...
His famous and widely reprinted is entitled Mutual Banking. Benjamin Tucker said: "I am indebted to Col. Greene's Mutual Banking more than to any other single publication for such knowledge as I have of the principles of finance--the most compact, satisfactory, keen and clear treatise upon mutual money extant" (Liberty VI, 1).
Greene saw a great need for banks, holding that they perform the service of being a medium so that those with capital to spare could provide it to those with a need for capital. He believed that the requirement of that one must obtain permission from government (charter) to establish a bank, severely thwarted the meeting of these with mutual interests by reducing the number of banks that would otherwise arise. Greene acknoweldged that rates are set by supply and demand, but believed that if truly free competition were allowed in lending that interest rates would seek a level that would accord with the "natural rate," which he believed would be one that would not accommodate the possibility of profit.
He proposed that these mutual banks should be an agreement among individuals to monetize any property of their choice, and severely criticized the government enforcement of government-issued money being the "legal tender" in payment of debts. Greene and other notable individuals campaigned assiduously to obtain a charter from government, but were denied permission to establish a mutual bank. This only emboldened the individualist anarchists opposition to the "banking monopoly."
Ezra Heywood Ezra Heywood is another individualist anarchist, influenced by Warren and other classical liberals, who was a ardent slavery abolitionist and feminist. He wrote one of the first feminist anarchist essays. Heywood saw what he believed to be the disproportionate concentration of capital in the hands of a few to be the result of government-backed priveleges to certain individuals and organizations. Image File history File links EzraHeywood. ...
Image File history File links EzraHeywood. ...
Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
Ezra Heywood was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. ...
He says: "Government is a northeast wind, drifting property into a few aristocratic heaps, at the expense of altogether too much democratic bare ground. Through cunning legislation, ... privileged classes are allowed to steal largely according to law."
He believed that there should be no profit in rent of buildings. He did not oppose rent, but believed that if the building was fully paid for that it was improper to charge more than what is necessary for transfer costs, insurance, and repair of deterioriation that occurs during the occupation by the tenant. He even asserted that it may be encumbent on the owner of the building to pay rent to the tenant if the tenant keeps his residency in such a condition that saved it from deterioration if it was otherwise unoccupied. Whereas, Warren, Andrews, and Greene supported ownership of unused land, Heywood believed that title to unused land was a great evil.
This, and several other issues, were a source of conflict with Warren, though they maintained respectful relationships. Heywood's philosophy was instrumental in furthering individualist anarchist ideas through his extensive pamphleteering and reprinting works of Warren and Greene.
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Tucker, being influenced by Warren (who he credits as being his "first source of light"), Greene, Heywood, Proudhon's mutualism, and Stirner's egoism, is probably the most famous of the American individualists. Tucker defines anarchism as "the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the State should be abolished" (State Socialism and Anarchism). Image File history File links BenjaminTuckerYoung. ...
Image File history File links BenjaminTuckerYoung. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Benjamin Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon et ses enfants, Gustave Courbet, 1865. ...
Mutualism is an economic theory or system based on a labor theory of value that advocates that equal amounts of labor should receive equal pay. ...
Egoism may refer to any of the following: psychological egoism - the doctrine that holds that individuals are motivated by self-interest. ...
Like the individualists he was influenced by, he rejected the notion of society being a thing that has rights, insisting that only individuals can have rights. And, like Spooner, he opposes the governmental practice of democracy, as it allows a majority to decide for a minority. Tucker main focus, however, is on economics. He opposes profit, believing that it is only made possible by the "suppression or restriction of competition" by government and vast concentration of wealth.
He believes that restriction of competition is accomplished this by the establishment of four "monopolies": the banking monopoly, the land monopoly, the tariff monopoly, and the patent and copyright monopoly --the most harmful of these, according to him, being the money monopoly. He believes that restrictions on who may enter the banking business and issue currency, as well as protection of unused land, were responsible for wealth being concentrated in the hands of a privileged few.
However, Tucker makes clear his opposition to collectivist notions such as economic egalitarianism, believing unequal wealth distribution to be a natural result of liberty (Economic Rent). Like most anarchists Tucker argued against state socialism, proposing that anarchism was based on "stateless" socialism, "The two principles referred to are Authority and Liberty, and the names of the two schools of Socialistic thought which fully and unreservedly represent one or the other of them are, respectively, State Socialism and Anarchism. Whoso knows what these two schools want and how they propose to get it understands the Socialistic movement. For, just as it has been said that there is no half-way house between Rome and Reason, so it may be said that there is no half-way house between State Socialism and Anarchism." [The Anarchist Reader, p. 150]"
Tucker believes that economic monopolies forced nearly everyone to engage in usury. But, again, he believes this would not be possible with the abolition of the banking monopoly --the "chief sinner" is the State which makes it possible and the "chief usurers" are not ordinary individuals who pursue profit, but those who enjoy the monopoly privileges (Capital, Profits and Interest). Though Tucker regarded the taking of interest to be "usury," he opposed forbidding individuals from taking interest, believing that individuals should be allowed to contract for whatever terms they wish, so long as these contracts were not enforced to the point of causing human suffering or death: "In defending the right to take usury, we do not defend the right of usury" (Liberty I,3). He believed that if everyone were allowed to lend, rather than requiring charters from a government, that the increased competition would result in the practical inability to lend at a profit. Hence, government was the chief usurer that made private usury possible and that was the enemy he focused upon.
Tucker, opposes protection of unused land, asserting that titles should only be granted for land being occupied or used. He believes that private ownership of capital would be more diffused across society if these "monopolies" were broken. This, in turn, would result in increased competition in lending and employment markets, rendering profit-making nearly impossible. Tucker inititially premised his philosophy on natural law. But, by the influence of his reading of Stirner's egiost individualism, he maintained that morality and rights did not exist without contract and that therefore contract, guided by self-interest, is the proper basis of private law. . The natural law or law of nature is a system of the justice that exists independently of the positive law of a given political order. ...
Self-interest can refer to these articles: Egoism Selfishness Ethical egoism Psychological egoism Individualism Objectivist ethics Hedonism Happiness Epicureanism Utilitarianism This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
Tucker published a periodical called Liberty that was instrumental for the development of individualist anarchist theory. Tucker describes his philosophy as "unterrified Jeffersonianism." He advocates private defense of individual liberty and private property property [5] including "private police" [6]. Liberty was a 19th century peroidical published in the United States by American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker. ...
Tuckers says that "defense is a service like any other service; that it is labor both useful and desired, and therefore an economic commodity subject to the law of supply and demand; that in a free market this commodity would be furnished at the cost of production; that, competition prevailing, patronage would go to those who furnished the best article at the lowest price; that the production and sale of this commodity are now monopolized by the State; and that the State, like almost all monopolists, charges exorbitant prices;... and, finally, that the State exceeds all its fellow-monopolists in the extent of its villainy because it enjoys the unique privilege of compeling all people to buy its product whether they want it or not" (Instead of a Book).
Lysander Spooner Lysander Spooner is an individualist anarchist who apparently worked with little association with the other individualists of the time except for brief periods later in his life when he wrote his most noted essays, but came to approximately the same conclusions. In this time, his philosophy evolved from appearing to support a limited role for the state to opposing its existence altogether. Spooner was a staunch advocate of "natural law," maintaining that each individualy has a "natural right" to be free to do as one wishes as long as he refrains from initiating coercion on others or their property. Lysander Spooner File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Lysander Spooner File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 - May 14, 1887) was an American political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...
With this natural law came the right of contract, which Spooner found of extreme importance. He holds that government cannot create law, as law already exists naturally; anything government does that is not in accordance with natural law (coercion) is illegal. Maintaining that government does not exist by contract of every individual it deems to govern, he came to believe that government itself is in violation of natural law, as it finances its activities through taxation of those who have not contracted. He rejects the popular idea that a majority, in the case of democracy, can consent for a minority; a majority is bound to the same natural law against coercion that individuals are bound: "...if the majority, however large, or the people enter into a contract of government called a constitution by which they...destroy or invade the natural rights of any person or persons whatsoever, this contract of government is unlawful and void" (The Unconstitutionality of Slavery).
Spooner, like his compatriots, strongly emphasizes private property. He says that "...the principle of individual property... says that each man has an absolute dominion, as against all other men, over the products and acquisitions of his own labor." He says that there are two ways private property may come about: "first, by simply taking possession of natural wealth, or the productions of nature; and, secondly, by the artificial production of other wealth." (The Law of Intellectual Property).
He asserts that merely by picking a piece of fruit, for example, it becomes private property since labor has been exerted to procure it, and includes land as property by the application of labor: "A man must take possession of the natural fruits of the earth, and thus make them his property, before he can apply. them to the sustenance of his body. he must take possession of land, and thus make it his property, before he can raise a crop from it, or fit it for his residence" (Law of Intellectual Property).
He asserts that it is only by natural resources becoming private property through labor that man is able to rise above the level of a " shivering savage," asserting that "The only way, in which ["the wealth of nature"] can be made useful to mankind, is by their taking possession of it individually, and thus making it private property." (Law of Intellectual Property). However, unlike Tucker, he also maintains that the ideas of an individuals should be considered their private property; he supports intellectual property rights. He says: "So absolute is an author's right of dominion over his ideas that he may forbid their being communicated even by human voice if he so pleases."
Spooner does not oppose the charging of interest, but merely thinks interest rates are kept artificially high by government restrictions on whom may start a bank. He says: "All legislative restraints upon the rate of interest are arbitrary and tyrannical restraints upon a man's natural capacity amid natural right to hire capital, upon which to bestow his labor" (Poverty: Its Illegal Causes and Cure). Spooner also has no opposition to employee/employer arrangements: "And if the laborer own the stone, wood, iron, wool, and cotton, on which he bestows his labor, [he] is the rightful owner of the additional value which his labor gives to those articles. But if he be not the owner of the articles, on which he bestows his labor, he is not the owner of the additional value he has given to them; but gives or sells his labor to the owner of the articles on which he labors." (The Law of Intellectual Property)
Spooner started and operated a private mail delivery business called American Letter Mail Company to compete with the United States Post Office by offering lower rates, but was thwarted by the U.S. Government which enforces the USPS's coercive monopoly. Benjamin Tucker called Spooner "one of the profoundest political philosophers that ever added to the knowledge of mankind" (Liberty VII, 6). American Letter Mail Company stamps The American Letter Mail Company was started by Lysander Spooner in 1844 order to compete with the United States Postal Service monopoly. ...
A USPS Truck at Night A U.S. Post Office sign The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the United States government organization responsible for providing postal service in the United States and is generally referred to as the post office. ...
A coercive monopoly is a monopoly that arises and and whose existence is maintained as the result of any sort of activity that violates the principle of a free market and is therefore insulated from competitive forces that would otherwise be a potential threat to its superior status. ...
Others Voltairine de Cleyre was an individualist anarchist for several years before abandoning the philosophy. In contrasting herself to anarcho-communist Emma Goldman she said: "Miss Goldman is a communist; I am an individualist. She wishes to destroy the right of property, I wish to assert it. I make my war upon privilege and authority, whereby the right of property, the true right in that which is proper to the individual, is annihilated. She believes that co-operation would entirely supplant competition; I hold that competition in one form or another will always exist, and that it is highly desirable it should." De Cleyre argued in favor of the right of those in dire need to expropriate food, though she remained neutral to its advocacy given her concern for the safety of the dispossessed, "I do not think one little bit of sensitive human flesh is worth all the property rights in N. Y. city... I say it is your business to decide whether you will starve and freeze in sight of food and clothing, outside of jail, or commit some overt act against the institution of property and take your place beside TIMMERMANN and GOLDMANN." However, she later embraced anarchism without adjectives, reasoning that: "Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom." Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866–June 6, 1912) was, according to Emma Goldman, the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced; yet, even among most anarchists, she is today almost completely unknown. ...
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
American individualist anarchists were not without influence outside U.S. borders. John Henry Mackay is a German individualist anarchist who was heavily influenced by Benjamin Tucker. John Henry Mackay (Greenock, Scotland, 1864 - Stahnsdorf 1933). ...
Contemporary American individualist anarchists include Robert Anton Wilson, Joe Peacott, James J. Martin, Kevin Carson, Larry Gambone, and Keith Preston. Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson or RAW (born January 18, 1932) is a futurologist, libertarian, and novelist. ...
Joe Peacott is an American individualist anarchist writer. ...
James J. Martin (September 18, 1916 - April 4, 2004) was an American historian. ...
Kevin Carson is a contemporary American individualist anarchist and author. ...
Anarcho-capitalism Main articles: Anarcho-capitalism, Individualist anarchism and anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Benjamin Tucker is the most famous 19th century individualist anarchist Murray Rothbard is the most noted 20th century anarcho-capitalist. ...
Anarcho-capitalism differs from traditional individualist anarchism in that it does not accept the labor theory of value. As a result, anarcho-capitalists do not regard profit as exploitative. Also, whereas most of the classical individualists oppose titles to unused land, anarcho-capitalists support it as long as it was acquired by the possessor through labor (in the case of unowned land) or trade --it need not be in continual use to retain title. Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Terminological disputes The tradition of individualist anarchism that originated in the 1800's is opposed to profit-making, and hence, capitalism as it is commonly defined today. Nevertheless, anarcho-capitalism, which has no opposition to profit, is sometimes regarded as a form of individualist anarchism. For example, contemporary individualist anarchist Daniel Burton says that anarcho-capitalism is a type of individualist anarchism, though he states that most individualists today are anti-capitalist Individualist anarchism vs. Anarcho-capitalism. Contemporary individualist in the anti-capitalist tradition, Joe Peacott, argues that individualist anarchism rejects capitalism, but also states that, "the capitalist anarchists, like Wendy McElroy, Sam Konkin, Murray Rothbard, David Friedman, and the Voluntaryists, are individualists" (Individualist Reconsidered). Other individualist anarchists, like Larry Gambone, believe that anarchism itself is incompatible with capitalism. Gambone states, "for anarchists, capitalism is the result of the development of the state and therefore, all capitalism is in one sense, state capitalism." [7] But, Gambone points out that there is a definitional problem. He says that when "classical anarchists" speak of capitalists, they are referring to "those who had gained wealth from the use of governmental power or from privileges granted by government" whereas modern free market libertarians refer to capitalism as "free exchange" and oppose "government aided business"; he says that what the libertarians call "mercantilism", which they oppose, is what classical anarchists call "capitalism" (Any Time Now Spring 1998 No. 4). Hence, anarcho-capitalists also oppose capitalism as the classical anarchists define it. The view that in the absence of a state there could be no capitalism in the sense of profit-making is made by contemporary anti-capitalist individualist anarchists Kevin A. Carson (The Iron Fist...). Anarcho-capitalist Wendy McElroy calls herself an individualist anarchism, and Italian anarcho-capitalist Guglielmo Piombini regards anarcho-capitalism as a form of individualist anarchism (Per l'Anarco-Capitalismo). Historian Ralph Raico regards it as "a form of individualist anarchism" (Authentic German Liberalism...). However, historian Peter Sabatini argues that capitalist claims to anarchism are void of meaning ([8]). Individualist anarchist author Iain McKay argues that individualism is essentially anti-capitalist and that anarcho-capitalists claims to the tradition require reading individualist anarchists out of context ([9]). Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ...
Joe Peacott is an American individualist anarchist writer. ...
This article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. ...
A painting of a French seaport from 1638, at the height of mercantilism. ...
Further discussion of the relationship between individualism and anarcho-capitalism can be found in the article individualist anarchism and anarcho-capitalism. Benjamin Tucker is the most famous 19th century individualist anarchist Murray Rothbard is the most noted 20th century anarcho-capitalist. ...
Conflicts within American individualist anarchism There has been much debate on whether individualist anarchism is properly justified in natural law or egoism. Josiah Warren and Lysander Spooner base their philosophical system on inalienable natural rights, while others such as Benjamin Tucker believe that rights can only exist by contract. Tucker says: "I see no reason, as far as moral obligation is concerned, why one [man] should not sub-ordinate or destroy the other. But if each of these men can be made to see that the other's free life is helpful to him, then they will agree not to invade each other; in other words, they will equalize their existences, or rights to existence by contract. . . Before contract is the right of might. Contract is the voluntary suspension of the right to might. The power secured by such suspension we may call the right of contract. These two rights -the right of might and the right of contract -are the only rights that ever have been or ever can be. So-called moral rights have no existence." The natural law or law of nature is a system of the justice that exists independently of the positive law of a given political order. ...
Egoism may refer to any of the following: psychological egoism - the doctrine that holds that individuals are motivated by self-interest. ...
See also Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden (available at wikisource) on simple living amongst nature and Civil Disobedience (available at wikisource) on resistance to civil...
Mutualism is an economic theory or system based on a labor theory of value that advocates that equal amounts of labor should receive equal pay. ...
The Cincinnati Time Store was a successful retail store that was created by American individualist anarchist Josiah Warren to test his theories that were based on his strict interpretation of the labor theory of value. ...
Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition that opposes collectivism and has a particularly strong emphasis on the supremacy and autonomy of the individual. ...
Liberty was a 19th century peroidical published in the United States by American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker. ...
In English speaking countries, anarchist ideas and practises initially developed within the context of radical Whiggery and Protestant religious dissent. ...
Benjamin Tucker is the most famous 19th century individualist anarchist Murray Rothbard is the most noted 20th century anarcho-capitalist. ...
External links - State Socialism and Anarchism: How far they agree, and wherein they differ, Economic Rent and Liberty, Land, and Labor by Benjamin Tucker
- The Boston Anarchists by Henry Appleton
- Bibliographical Essay by James J. Martin from his book Men Against the State: The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827-1908
- Benjamin R Tucker & the Champions of Liberty: A Centenary Anthology edited by Edited by Michael E. Coughlin, Charles H. Hamilton and Mark A. Sullivan
- Ingalls, Hanson, and Tucker: Nineteenth Century American Anarchists by Jack Schwartzman
- American Anarchism, The Schism Between Individualist and Communist Anarchism, and Individualist Anarchism vs. "Libertarianism" and Anarchocommunism by Wendy McElroy
- American Liberal-Anarchism from The Conquest of Power, by Albert Weisbord
- Manifesto, Plan of the Cincinnati Labor for Labor Store and Equitable Commerce by Josiah Warren
- Mutual Banking by William B. Greene
- Uncivil Liberty: An Essay to Show the Injustice and Impolicy of Ruling Woman Without Her Consent (1873) by Ezra Heywood
- The Law of Intellectual Property: or an essay on the right of authors and inventors to a perpetual property in their ideas. by Lysander Spooner, 1855
- Henry Bool’s Apology for His Jeffersonian Anarchism by Henry Bool, 1901
- Links to various documents dealing with American individualist anarchism
- Anarchist Socialism and Anarchist-Mutualism by John William Lloyd, contributor to Liberty and one-time individualist anarchist, who tried to reconcile individualist and communist anarchism
- Individualism Reconsidered and An Overview of Individualist Anarchist Thought by Joe Peacott
- The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand: Corporate Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege by Kevin A. Carson
- Individualist Anarchist Society of UC Berkeley
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