Benjamin Ricketson Tucker

Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was the leading proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century. Benjamin Ricketson Tucker File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Benjamin Ricketson Tucker File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... Josiah Warren is the first American anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Summary

Tucker's contribution to American individualist anarchism was as much through his publishing as his own writing. In editing and publishing the anarchist periodical Liberty, Tucker both filtered and integrated the theories of such European thinkers as Herbert Spencer and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon with the thinking of American individualist activists, Lysander Spooner, William B. Greene and Josiah Warren, as well as the ideas of the free thought and free love movements in order to produce a rigorous system of philosophical- or individualist anarchism that he called Anarchistic-Socialism. However, the meaning of the term "socialism" has changed over time, and his philosophy "cannot be considered collectivist in any politically meaningful sense."^[1] He did not define "socialism" as social ownership or control over the means of production but as the claim that "labor should be put in possession of its own."^[2] Victor Yarros writes: Josiah Warren is the first American anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. ... This article is concerned with the production of books, magazines, and other literary material (whether in printed or electronic formats). ... Liberty was a 19th century peroidical published in the United States by American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker. ... Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher and prominent classic-liberal political theorist. ... Pierre Joseph Proudhon. ... Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ... William B. Green was a 19th century American individualist anarchist and author. ... Josiah Warren was the first American individualist market anarchist Josiah Warren (1798-1874) was an individualist anarchist, inventor, musician, and author in the United States. ... Freethought is a characteristic of individuals whose opinions are formed on the basis of an understanding and rejection of tradition, authority or established belief. ... The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women. ... Individualist Anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on sovereignty of the individual[1] and is generally opposed to collectivism[2]. The tradition appears most often in the United States, most notably in regard to its advocacy of private property. ... Victor Yarros was a 19th century American anarchist and author. ...

He [Tucker] opposed savagely any and all reform movements that had paternalistic aims and looked to the state for aid and fulfillment...For the same reason, consistent, unrelenting opposition to compulsion, he combatted "populism," "greenbackism," the single-tax movement, and all forms of socialism and communism. He denounced and exposed Johann Most, the editor of Freiheit, the anarchist-communist organ. The end, he declared, could never justify the means, if the means were intrinsically immoral—and force, by whomsoever used, was immoral except as a means of preventing or punishing aggression.^[3] Johann Most born in Augsburg, Germany, 1846, died in Cinncinnati, Ohio, 1906, was a German Anarchist during the late 1800s. ...

Tucker shared with the advocates of free love and free thought a disdain for prohibitions on non-invasive behavior and religiously-based legislation, but he saw the poor condition of American workers as a result of four monopolies based in authority: Religious is a term with both a technical definition and folk use. ... Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ...

1. the money monopoly,
2. the land monopoly,
3. tariffs, and
4. patents.

His focus for several decades became the state's economic control of how trade could take place, and what currency counted as legitimate. He saw interest and profit as a form of exploitation, claiming that while not directly examples of coercion^{[citation needed]} (or "invasion" as Tucker preferred to say), they were nevertheless made possible by banking monopoly, which was in turn maintained through coercion and invasion, usually at the hands of the state. Any such interest and profit, Tucker called "usury" and he saw it as the basis for the oppression of the workers. However, Tucker himself received an inheritance which he invested in an annuity from which he earned interest.^[4] Coercion is the practice of compelling a person to act by employing threat of harm (usually physical force, sometimes other forms of harm). ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ... Of Usury, from Brants Stultifera Navis (the Ship of Fools); woodcut attributed to Albrecht Dürer Usury (//, from the Medieval Latin usuria, interest or excessive interest, from Latin usura interest) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ... An annuity (from Latin annus, a year), is an investment that provides a defined series of payments in the future in exchange for an up-front sum of money. ...

He asserted that anarchism is meaningless "unless it includes the liberty of the individual to control his product or whatever his product has brought him through exchange in a free market—that is, private property." But, he made an exception "in the case of land, or of any other material the supply of which is so limited that all cannot hold it in unlimited quantities."^[5] Tucker opposed title to land that was not in use, arguing that an individual would have to use land continually in order to retain exclusive right to it. If this practice is not followed, he believed it results in a "land monopoly."

Tucker also opposed state protection of the banking monopoly, the requirement that one must obtain a charter to engage in the business of banking. He hoped to raise wages by deregulating the banking industry, reasoning that competition in banking would drive down interest rates and stimulate entrepreneurship. Tucker believed this would decrease the proportion of individuals seeking employment and therefore wages would be driven up by competing employers. "Thus, the same blow that strikes interest down will send wages up."^[6] He did not oppose individuals being employment by others, but due to his intepretation of the labor theory of value, he believed that in the present economy individuals do not receive a wage that fully compensates them for their labor. He that if the four "monopolies" were ended, "it will make no difference whether men work for themselves, or are employed, or employ others. In any case they can get nothing but that wages for their labor which free competition determines."^[7] The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in classical economics concerning the value of an exchangeable good or service. ...

Tucker opposed protectionism, believing that tariffs cause high prices by preventing national producers from having to compete with foreign competitors. He believed that free trade would help keep prices low and therefore would assist laborers in receiving their "natural wage." Tucker did not believe in a right to intellectual property in the form of patents. This was a source of conflict with the philosophy of fellow individualist Lysander Spooner who saw ideas as the product of "intellectual labor" and therefore private property.^[8] Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...

He also "opposed savagely" all movements thats "had paternalistic aims and looked to the state for aid and fulfillment." Tucker rejected the legislative programs of labor unions, laws imposing a short day, minimum wage laws, forcing businesses to provide insurance to employes, and compulsory pension systems.^[3]

Like many individualists, Tucker did not have a utopian vision of anarchy where individuals would not coerce others.^[3] He advocated that liberty and property be defended by private institutions. Opposing the monopoly of the state in providing security, he advocated a free market of competing defense providers, saying "defense is a service like any other service; ... it is labor both useful and desired, and therefore an economic commodity subject to the law of supply and demand." ^[9] He said that anarchism "does not exclude prisons, officials, military, or other symbols of force. It merely demands that non-invasive men shall not be made the victims of such force. Anarchism is not the reign of love, but the reign of justice. It does not signify the abolition of force-symbols but the application of force to real invaders."^[10]

Tucker was the first to translate into English Proudhon's What is Property? and Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own — which Tucker claimed was his proudest accomplishment. What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government (French: Quest-ce que la propriété?) is the title of a book (written in French) by the 19th century French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Ego and Its Own (German: Der Einzige und sein Eigentum; also translated as The Individual and His Property; a literal translation would read The Sole One and His Property) is the main work by German philosopher Max Stirner, published in 1844. ...

In his column Liberty, he published the original work of Lysander Spooner, Auberon Herbert, Victor Yarros, and Lillian Harman, daughter of the free love anarchist Moses Harman. He also published such items as George Bernard Shaw's first original article to appear in the United States and the first American translated excerpts of Friedrich Nietzsche. Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ... Auberon Herbert (1838-1906) was a writer, theorist, philosopher, and member of the British parliament. ... Victor Yarros was a 19th century American anarchist and author. ... Moses Harman (1830–1910) was an American schoolteacher and publisher noteable for his staunch support for womens rights. ... George Bernard Shaw (George) Bernard Shaw[1] (born Dublin, 26 July 1856 – died 2 November 1950 in Hertfordshire) was an Irish playwright based in England. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 to August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a German philosopher. ...

Conversion to Egoist individualist anarchism

Tucker's periodical also served as the main conduit of Stirnerite Egoism, of which Tucker became a proponent. This led to a split in American Individualism between the growing number of Egoists and the contemporary Spoonerian "Natural Lawyers". Both Egoists and Natural Law theorists rejected coercive authority, involuntary legislation, and the notion of a "social contract." However, they differed over the philosophical basis for their individualism: Natural Law theory derived it from a conception of a natural individual right to be free from coercion, whereas Egoism defended anarchism as a pragmatic compromise in a system where each individual sought only self-interest and where nothing was immoral. As a result of Tucker's egoist foundation, he began to favor conseqentialism over deontological rules. For example, he believed that aggressing against other was justifiable if doing so led to a greater decrease in "aggregate pain" than refraining from doing so. He said: Egoism may refer to any of the following: psychological egoism - the doctrine that holds that individuals are always motivated by self-interest ethical egoism - the ethical doctrine that holds that individuals ought to do what is in their self-interest rational egoism - the belief that it is rational to act... Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ... Natural law or the law of nature (Latin lex naturalis) is a law whose content is set by nature, and that therefore has validity everywhere. ... The term social contract describes a broad class of philosophical theories whose subject is the implied agreements by which people form nations and maintain social order. ...

the ultimate end of human endeavor is the minimum of pain. We aim to decrease invasion only because, as a rule, invasion increases the total of pain (meaning, of course, pain suffered by the ego, whether directly or through sympathy with others). But it is precisely my contention that this rule, despite the immense importance which I place upon it, is not absolute; that, on the contrary, there are exceptional cases where invasion--that is, coercion of the non-invasive--lessens the aggregate pain. Therefore coercion of the non-invasive, when justifiable at all, is to be justified on the ground that it secures, not a minimum of invasion, but a minimum of pain. . . . [T]o me [it is] axiomatic--that the ultimate end is the minimum of pain ^[11]

Tucker now said that there were only two rights, "the right of might" and "the right of contract." He also said, after converting to Egoist individualism, "In times past...it was my habit to talk glibly of the right of man to land. It was a bad habit, and I long ago sloughed it off....Man's only right to land is his might over it."^[12] Principles such as "equal liberty" and "occupancy and use," taken out of the realm of "natural law," could then be rethought as examples of a species of "generally trustworthy guiding principle of action," derived from the two fundamental rights.^[13] Though he believed that non-invasion, and "occupancy and use as the title to land" were general rules that people would find in their own interests to follow, he said that these rules "must be sometimes trodden underfoot."^[14] Having rejecting natural law individualist anarchism, Liberty also abandoned the remaining advocates of natural rights, considering their moral philosophy to be old-fashioned and superstitious.^{[citation needed]}

Late life

In his later years Tucker said: "Capitalism is at least tolerable, which cannot be said of Socialism or Communism", speaking of the state forms of these systems, and he continued to oppose anarcho-communism, claiming that "'Anarchism' in Spain is a misnomer" and that Spanish anarchists are a "crazy bunch".^[15] Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately[1] owned and operated for profit, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free market. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

Dates, places and events

Born April 17, 1854 in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

• 1872 — While a student at M.I.T., Tucker attended a convention of the New England Labor Reform League in Boston, chaired by William B. Greene, author of Mutual Banking (1850). At the convention, Tucker purchased Mutual Banking, True Civilization, and a set of Ezra Heywood's pamphlets. Furthermore, Free-love anarchist, Ezra Heywood introduced Tucker to William B. Greene and Josiah Warren, author of True Civilization (1869).
• 1876 — Tucker's debut into radical circles: Heywood published Tucker's English translation of Proudhon's classic work What is Property?.
• 1877-1878 — Published his original journal, Radical Review, which lasted four issues.

August 1881 to April 1908 — published the periodical, Liberty, "widely considered to be the finest individualist-anarchist periodical ever issued in the English language." Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... William B. Green was a 19th century American individualist anarchist and author. ... The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women. ... 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. ... Josiah Warren was the first American individualist market anarchist Josiah Warren (1798-1874) was an individualist anarchist, inventor, musician, and author in the United States. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Pierre Joseph Proudhon. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

• 1892 — moved Liberty from Boston to New York
• 1906 — Opened Tucker's Unique Book Shop in New York City — promoting "Egoism in Philosophy, Anarchism in Politics, Iconoclasm in Art".
• 1908 — A fire destroyed Tucker's uninsured printing equipment and his 30-year stock of books and pamphlets. Tucker's lover, Pearl Johnson — 25 years his junior — was pregnant with their daughter, Oriole Tucker. Six weeks after Oriole's birth, Tucker closed both Liberty and the book shop and moved his family to France.
• 1913 — Tucker comes out of retirement for two years to contribute articles and letters to The New Freewoman which he called "the most important publication in existence"
• 1939 — Tucker died in Monaco, in the company of his lover Pearl Johnson and their daughter, Oriole, who reported, "Father's attitude towards communism never changed one whit, nor about religion.... In his last months he called in the French housekeeper. 'I want her,' he said, 'to be a witness that on my death bed I'm not recanting. I do not believe in God!"^[16]

1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The New Freewoman was a monthly London literary magazine owned by Dora Marsden and edited by Harriet Shaw Weaver. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ...

See also

• Anarchism in the United States
• Liberty, Tucker's periodical

Anarchism in the United States spans a wide range of anarchist philosophy, from individualist anarchism to anarchist communism and other less known forms. ... Liberty was a 19th century peroidical published in the United States by American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker. ...

References

1. ^ McElroy, Wendy. The Debates of Liberty. Lexington Books. 2003. pp. 147-149
2. ^ Tucker, Benjamin. State Socialism and Anarchism.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Victor Yarros (1936). "Philosophical Anarchism: Its Rise, Decline, and Eclipse". The American Journal of Sociology 41 (4): 470-483. 
4. ^ Avrich, Paul. “An Interview with Oriole Tucker,” in Benjamin R. Tucker and the Champions of Liberty, ed. Michael E. Coughlin, Charles H. Hamilton, and Mark A. Sullivan (St. Paul and New York, Michael E. Coughlin and Mark A. Sullivan Publishers, 1987), pp. 20-27.
5. ^ Tucker, Benjamin, "Instead of a Book", page 61
6. ^ [1] Libertarian Heritage No. 23. ISSN 0959-566X ISBN 1-85637-549-8, Libertarian Alliance, 2002.
7. ^ Tucker, Benjamin. Instead of a Book. p. 274
8. ^ Spooner, Lysander. The Law of Intellectual Property: or an essay on the right of authors and inventors to a perpetual property in their ideas., Chaper 1, Section VI.
9. ^ "On Picket Duty." Liberty. Jul 30, 1887; 4, 26. p4.
10. ^ Tucker, Benjamin. Liberty October 19, 1891.
11. ^ "Land Tenure Again." Liberty. Oct 19, 1895; 11, 12; p.3.
12. ^ Benjamin R. Tucker, "Response to 'Rights,' by William Hansen," Liberty, Dec 31, 1892; 9, 18; pg. 1
13. ^ Benjamin R. Tucker, "The Two Conceptions of Equal Freedom," Liberty, Apr 6, 1895; 10, 24; pg. 4
14. ^ Tucker, "Land Tenure Again"
15. ^ Letters from Benjamin R. Tucker to Ewing C. Baskette (1933-1935). Baskette Collection.
16. ^ Paul Avrich (1996). "Oriole Tucker Riché", Anarchist Voices. Princeton University Press, 11. ISBN 0-691-04494-5. 

Victor Yarros was a 19th century American anarchist and author. ... The American Journal of Sociology (AJS) is one of the most important scientific journals in the field of sociology and the first U.S. scholarly journal in the field. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Benjamin Tucker

• Tucker on Property, Communism and Socialism
• BlackCrayon.com: People: Benjamin Tucker
• Benjamin Tucker Anarchy Archives
• Benjamin Tucker, Liberty, and Individualist Anarchism by Wendy McElroy
• Benjamin Ricketson Tucker from "CLASSicalLiberalism" archive
• Benjamin Tucker and His Periodical, Liberty by Carl Watner
• Benjamin Tucker, Liberty and Taxation
• Memories of Benjamin Tucker by J. William Lloyd (1935)
• An Interview With Oriole Tucker Tucker's daughter reveals biographical information, by Paul Avrich
• Benjamin R Tucker & the Champions of Liberty - A Centenary Anthology Edited by Michael E. Coughlin, Charles H. Hamilton and Mark A. Sullivan
• Works by Benjamin Tucker at Project Gutenberg