The Conscience of an Anarchist

129 Pages·2012·0.88 MB·English

EXPLORATIONSOFASTATELESSWORLD
The Conscience of an Anarchist

The
Conscience
of an Anarchist
Why It’s Time to Say Good-Bye to the State
and Build a Free Society
GARY CHARTIER
COBDEN PRESS • Apple Valley, CA
Copyright©GaryChartier2011
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TheConscienceof anAnarchist:
WhyIt’sTimetoSayGood-ByetotheStateandBuildaFreeSociety
Includesbibliographicreferences
1.Anarchism.2.PoliticsandGovernment—UnitedStates.
I.Title
ForElenor

Contents
Contents vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:OpenYourMindtoAnarchy 1
1. TheDissentof theGoverned 5
2. Fish,Bicycles,andtheState 11
3. TheState,BigBusiness,andEconomicPrivilege 25
4. TheState,War,andEmpire 53
5. TheStateandPersonalFreedom 69
6. WhereDoWeGofromHere? 87
Resources:Stuff toCheckOutontheWaytotheFuture 105
Notes 115
AbouttheAuthor 119

Acknowledgments
T
HISBOOKREFLECTSMYattempttobringtogetherinsightsIhavehadsinceI
firstbegantoreadaboutanarchismoveraquarter-centuryago,insightsfre-
quently gained as a result of my encounters with other writers. I have drawn
freely on the ideas of a variety of anarchist thinkers who have argued, in dif-
ferentways,forthesuperiorityof cooperationoverviolence,of peaceoverag-
gression,of freedomovercoercion.Thus,whileIhaveasmuchaspossibleavoid-
edspecificreferences,Ihaveattachedalistof resourcesforthebenefitof any-
onewhowantstothinkmoreaboutanarchism.
Iamgratefultoavarietyof peoplewhodevotedtimeandenergytoread-
ingandreflectingonsomeorallof thisbookduringitsdevelopment:KevinA.
Carson,BradSpangler,TeresaWarmke,SheldonRichman,ThomasL.Knapp,
Stephan Kinsella, D. Frank Robinson, James Tuttle, and Gene Mayes. Jeff
Riggenbach, David Henderson, Tom de Lorenzo, Pennelope Aletras-Leight,
andArmandoBenitezcopy-editedthemanuscriptandsavedmefromembar-
rassment at multiple points. Eduardo Brugman, Esteban Salcido, Brandon
Snider,A.AndrewTruong,andRoderickT.Long,amongothers,contributed
helpfullytothedesignprocess.Theassistanceof JimPersonandtheothermem-
bersof theCobdenPressteamhasensuredtheproductionandrapiddistribu-
tionof anattractiveandaffordablebook.I’mverypleasedbyandappreciative
of theirwork,andI’mhonoredtobeassociatedwiththePress’seponym,Richard
Cobden,co-founderof theAnti-CornLawLeague,whochallengedaristocrat-
icprivilegesthatlimitedordinarypeople’saccesstoinexpensivefood,promot-
edthecauseof peaceandnon-intervention,urgedreductionsinmilitaryspend-
ing,andrejectedtheevilof slavery.
Andthanks,of course,totheusualsuspects:ElenorWebb,JeffreyCassidy,
AnnetteBryson,AenaPrakash,AlexanderLian,AndrewHowe,AngelaKeaton,
x THECONSCIENCEOFANANARCHIST
Anne-Marie Pearson, Bart Willruth, Carole Pateman, Chelsea Krafve, Craig
R.Kinzer,DavidB.Hoppe,DavidR.Larson,DeborahK.Dunn,DonnaCarl-
son,EllenHubbell,EvaPascal,FritzGuy,JanM.Holden,JesseLeamon,Joel
Sandefur, John Elder, John Thomas, Julio C. Muñoz, Kenneth A. Dickey,
LawrenceT.Geraty,LigiaRadoias,MarcA.Benzakein,MariaZlateva,Michael
Orlando,NabilAbu-Assal,PatriciaCabrera,RogerE.Rustad,Jr.,RonelHar-
vey, Ruth E. E. Burke, Sel J. Hwahng, W. Kent Rogers, and Wonil Kim. I am
particularly indebted to Elenor for moral and logistical support and for wel-
comeopportunitiesfordialogueandexchange.
Iintendtodonateallof theauthorroyaltiesIreceivefromthesaleof this
booktoAntiWar.com.Iamenormouslygratefulfortheongoingcontributions
those associated with this remarkable journalistic endeavor make to the cause
of creatingasocietyorganizedonthebasisof peaceful,voluntarycooperation.