Benjamin Tucker
Benjamin Tucker
Benjamin Ricketson Tuckerwas a proponent, in the 19th century, of American individualist anarchism, which he called "unterrified Jeffersonianism," and editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth17 April 1854
CityDartmout, MA
CountryUnited States of America
ignorance punishment may
And capital punishment, however ineffective it may be and through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to, is a strictly defensive act, - at least in theory.
mean answers may
The Anarchists answer that the abolition of the State will leave in existence a defensive association, resting no longer on a compulsory but on a voluntary basis, which will restrain invaders by any means that may prove necessary.
men liberty may
If I go through life free and rich, I shall not cry because my neighbor, equally free, is richer. Liberty will ultimately make all men rich; it will not make all men equally rich. Authority may (and may not) make all men equally rich in purse; it certainly will make them equally poor in all that makes life best worth living.
american-activist defence effected initiation principle state though
Defence was an afterthought, prompted by necessity; and its introduction as a State function, though effected doubtless with a view to the strengthening of the State, was really and in principle the initiation of the State's destruction.
admitted allowed american-activist control individual larger liberty maintain matter state though
The right of such control is already admitted by the State Socialists, though they maintain that, as a matter of fact, the individual would be allowed a much larger liberty than he now enjoys.
american-activist borne claim history individual intimate life private relations state
The claim of the State Socialists, however, that this right would not be exercised in matters pertaining to the individual in the more intimate and private relations of his life is not borne out by the history of governments.
american-activist forbids human insist invaded life principle sacred society themselves valid whatever
I insist that there is nothing sacred in the life of an invader, and there is no valid principle of human society that forbids the invaded to protect themselves in whatever way they can.
affairs american-activist doctrine men voluntary
This brings us to Anarchism, which may be described as the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the State should be abolished.
based capital human principle punishment seen society stated worst
I have also seen it stated that Capital punishment is murder in its worst form. I should like to know upon what principle of human society these assertions are based and justified.
society
But this is not to say that the society which inflicts capital punishment commits murder.
socialism communism said
Capitalism is at least tolerable, which cannot be said of Socialism or Communism
government liberty purpose
Government is the assumption of authority over a given area and all within it, exercised generally for the double purpose of more complete oppression of its subjects and extension of its boundaries.
men individual-choice choices
First, then, State Socialism, which may be described as the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by the government, regardless of individual choice.
hate men love-and-hate
Commanded love of all men indiscriminately is an obliteration of distinction between love and hate, and therefore is not love at all.