In Volume Two of Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, subtitled The Emergence of the New Anarchism (1939–1977), I document the remarkable resurgence of anarchist ideas and action following the tragic defeat of the Spanish anarchists in the Spanish Revolution and Civil War, and the mass carnage of the Second World War. Below, I have collected additional writings from many of the people who were responsible for that resurgence. Herbert Read, Marie Louise Berneri, Paul Goodman, David Wieck, Daniel Guerin, Alex Comfort, George Woodcock and the Noir et Rouge group in France were among those who made anarchism relevant again, despite its critics’ attempts to consign it to the dustbin of history.
Volume Two of ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
A population of twelve thousand people - Christians of the Universal Brotherhood," as the Dukhobors, who live in the Caucasus, call themselves
are at the present moment in the most distressing circumstances.
Without entering into argument as to who is right: whether it be the governments who consider that Christianity is compatible with prisons, executions, and above all, with wars and preparations for war ; or whether it be the Dukhobors, who acknowledge as binding only the Christian law (which renounces the use of any force whatever, and condemns murder), and who therefore refuse to serve in the army, one cannot fail to see that this controversy is very difficult to settle. No government could allow some people to shun duties which a... (From: Wikisource.org.)
everyone has long known that nothing is sacred in the modern era so only a few are shocked when everything is marketed. currently, a mini-debate is raging over the propriety of selling a large range of products bearing an “X” on them with the advent of the release of “Malcolm X,” Spike Lee’s cinematic depiction of the slain black leader’s life.
it is ironic that the symbol taken by members of the nation of islam to their “slave name” and widely publicized by a man reviled by white society and parts of the black community as well, now appears on everything from baseball caps to potato chip bags. Betty Shabazz, Malcolm’s widow, even has a lawyer tracking down those who use the tra... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The Millenium Dome is a huge construction being built on derelict land on the banks of the river Thames in South London. It is a prestige project, effectively a re-run of the Great Exhibition of 1850 (history repeating itself as farce) which trumpeted the wonders of the Industrial Revolution, and of British Capitalism. This time around the structure is only intended to be temporary, lasting 25–30 years, and it will be a snip at a mere 758 million pounds.
Why oh Why?
The Dome will ‘celebrate the Millennium’ — the year 2000 (though a number of people argue that it falls in the year 2001!), and promote Britain plc and New Labor. British Capital will be promoted to investors and consumers abroad in terms of ‘lo... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The Crystal Palace is Dostoevsky’s crowning symbol for the barrenness of industrial civilization ... In the Crystal Palace everything will be provided, man’s every desire will be satisfied, he will be insulated from pain — but the more he becomes the automaton consumer the more he will also suffer from excruciating boredom ... The Crystal Palace is the supreme economic manifestation of the utilitarian, liberal-rationalist philosophy: and it is the bourgeois paradise.
— John Carroll
The Crystal Palace burned down, of course, in 1936. But like a phenix, or dragon’s teeth sown in the earth, it sprang up everywhere as the shopping mall.
May 1998
Earth First! amnesiacs complain that c... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Personally, I don’t think “the left” ultimately represents much of anything coherent, but rather constitutes a historically contingent coalition of ideological positions. Bastiat and other free market folks sat on the left of the french assembly, and while we might try to claim that as part of a consistent leftist market tradition, we should be honest that one’s position in that particular revolution — much less revolution in general — is hardly indicative of very much. There are always revolutionaries who desire systems far worse than our own, and similarly there have been many broadly recognized “leftists” whose desires were utterly anathema to liberation.
It’s popular these day... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Emelyán was a laborer and worked for a master. Crossing the meadows one day on his way to work, he nearly trod on a frog that jumped right in front of him, but he just managed to avoid it. Suddenly he heard some one calling to him from behind.
Emelyán looked round and saw a lovely lassie, who said to him: 'Why don't you get married, Emelyán?'
'How can I marry, my lass?' said he. 'I have but the clothes I stand up in, nothing more, and no one would have me for a husband.'
'Take me for a wife,' said she.
Emelyán liked the maid. 'I should be glad to,' said he, 'but where and how could we live?'
'Why trouble about that?' said the girl. 'One only has to work more and sleep less, and one can clothe and feed onesel... (From: Wikisource.org.)
In memory of Vincente Mari
Tho’ the continents sink
the Oceans dry up,
or the rays of the Sun be extinguished,
and the darkness permeates the Earth;
Tho’ the poles compress
and meet at the equator,
or the Planet be pulverized,
vanishing in the Ether.
Tho’ the Universe lose its rhythm
the Worlds shatter
and everything disintegrates
in the Infinite.
Tho’ Eternity be today;
today, a minute;
the minute and instant,
and the Instant Nothing.
Tho’ everything be lost,
that nothing remains Nothing
and the Cosmic vacuum
be without end or boundary;
There always will be a flame
perhaps minuscule, but visible,
which will show us, as a perennial guide,
the way... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This new characteristic has not yet appeared within the thought of classical democracy, which, following in the footsteps of Ledru-Rollin and Mazzini[29], is still raving about the Utopia of an impossible alliance between capital and labor, an impossible harmony between the exploited and the exploiters. Socialist philosophy expressed it as the social ownership of all means of production and exchange.
So, the socialist movement represents a progress over the old democratic doctrine, which used to lull us to sleep with its old nursery songs about alliances and harmony.
Such progress becomes more and more evident as the huge proletariat of all nations, called to action and insurrection by the new social theories, inspires and hastens the sel... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
It is not a defense that I present to you. I am not in any way seeking to escape the reprisals of the society I have attacked. Besides, I acknowledge only one tribunal — myself, and the verdict of any other is meaningless to me. I wish merely to give you an explanation of my acts and to tell you how I was led to perform them.
I have been an anarchist for only a short time. It was as recently as the middle of the year 1891 that I entered the revolutionary movement. Up to that time, I had lived in circles entirely imbued with current morality. I had been accustomed to respect and even to love the principles of fatherland and family, of authority and property.
For teachers in the present generation too often forget one thin... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
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