Individual Liberty: Selections From the Writings of Benjamin R. Tucker

by Benjamin Ricketson Tucker, C.L.S. (Editor)

Benjamin Tucker was an American anarchist and socialist.A 19th-century proponent of individualist anarchism which he called "unterrified Jeffersonianism", Tucker was the editor and publisher of the American individualist anarchist periodical Liberty as well as a member of the socialist First International.Tucker harshly opposed state socialism and was a supporter of libertarian socialism which he termed anarchist or anarchistic socialism as well as a follower of mutualism. He connected the classical economics of Adam Smith and the Ricardian socialists as well as that of Josiah Warren, Karl Marx and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon to socialism. Later in his life, Tucker converted to Max Stirner's egoism.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Economics

294 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1926

Reviews

[Dio Mavroyannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tucker is a great writer than has to be acknowledged, the non-economics chapters of this book are all great rhetorically very engaging. I might even consider calling myself an anarchist after this, not for sure.

What IS clear is that he thinks very little about the economics issues he is engaged in. He still stuck in the Ricardian frame of mind of comparative advantage, he doesn't seem to appreciate that the strength of anarchism is how robust it is, and its robustness comes from the independence of its components. So his anti-agrarian position is simply untenable in a world with less centralization, it is utterly obvious.

Nevertheless apart from his economics chapters he is a great writer and the book is generally recommended.I should add that he spends way to much time on banking and money, almost as unreadable as Adami Smiths silver digression.

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still new to the concepts of Anarchistic Socialism--a far cry from the stereotyped idea of anarchy symbols spray painted on walls. The financial side, especially, appears to be a wishful pipe dream, while the arguments for liberty are compelling. A worthy thought experiment, as any amount of change inspired by this movement would serve to help the people.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much the entire book is a compilation of Tucker’s responses to other people. While the responses are good and intelligent, it does get really boring seeing him constantly entertaining dumb people.