Post by RS Davis on Feb 21, 2004 3:13:23 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Christopher Mayer Wrote:[/glow] Liberty, in this case, refers to the periodical edited and published by the great individualist Benjamin Tucker. In the course of its twenty-seven year existence, Liberty became one of many cauldrons bubbling over with radical thought in late 19th century America. It stands above many of its competitors for the quality of its content, in particular that which flowed from the biting pen of Tucker himself. The pages of Liberty were graced with some of the most prominent personalities in the movement – Lysander Spooner and Auberon Herbert among them (men whose work are still in-print and readily available today). Liberty also feathered its cap with a number of other achievements that further served to solidify its position and importance, as summarized in the book. McElroy writes "Tucker and Liberty were the vital core around which a radical Individualist movement reconstituted itself in the wake of the Civil War and grew."
This radical movement is called Individualist Anarchism and is the name used to describe the political philosophy of Tucker and his merry band. Although it is difficult to characterize any political philosophy in general terms without doing it some injustice, it is safe to say that Individualist Anarchism opposed political solutions to social problems. It was a philosophy built on the primacy of the individual over collective bodies or classes. It supported voluntary associations against coercion. Individualist Anarchism is one of the roots of the libertarian tree of ideas and its influence is under-appreciated. Murray Rothbard, for one, specifically acknowledged his intellectual debt to Benjamin Tucker in his brilliant book Power & Market.
This radical movement is called Individualist Anarchism and is the name used to describe the political philosophy of Tucker and his merry band. Although it is difficult to characterize any political philosophy in general terms without doing it some injustice, it is safe to say that Individualist Anarchism opposed political solutions to social problems. It was a philosophy built on the primacy of the individual over collective bodies or classes. It supported voluntary associations against coercion. Individualist Anarchism is one of the roots of the libertarian tree of ideas and its influence is under-appreciated. Murray Rothbard, for one, specifically acknowledged his intellectual debt to Benjamin Tucker in his brilliant book Power & Market.
- Rick
