In my opinion, anarchism is the philosophy of non-aggression. Aggression is an uninvited boundary crossing, a trespass. Rulers, by definition, are initiators of aggression. They trespass on the bodies and property of those they rule. Hence, anarchism, as the philosophy of “without rulers”, is the philosophy of non-aggression. The initiation of aggression is incompatible with…
Tag: rulers
Voluntaryism among Other Philosophies
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original column appearing most Mondays at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. Voluntaryism is the philosophy based on the voluntary principle, that all human relations should happen voluntarily or not at all. In…
On Bosses
When many so-called anarchists think of bosses, they do so with disdain. They consider bosses the same way they consider rulers, ie. illegitimate and unnecessary. Are they? Do they exercise illegitimate authority over workers? And is their place in the business unnecessary? On authority, so long as the worker is not being coerced by the…
On Hierarchy
Hierarchy is an unfortunate misnomer. Etymologically, hier means “sacred” and archy means “ruler”, giving us “sacred ruler” as the etymological definition of hierarchy. Theocracy has hierarchy; you could even say that certain conceptions have God as a hierarch. In popular usage, however, it’s used to refer to echelons of authority, inside and outside of government. Because anarchists…
Qualifying Anarchism
We can qualify our use of anarchism, such as “organizational anarchism” or “pedagogical anarchism”… in which case we’re talking about, most likely, the absence of hierarchy within an organization or educational model (respectively, which may or may not be ideas within the broader context of political anarchism). Without the qualification, anarchism, historically, has been about…
Must We Seek the Divine?
Send him mail. “One Improved Unit” is an original column appearing sporadically on Thursday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OIU-only RSS feed available here. The last time I wrote about my religious beliefs, I said that I was starting over, “rebuilding” my foundation. I…
Euphemisms, Spooner #12, Fallacy #21
Send him mail. “Finding the Challenges” is an original column appearing every other Wednesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Verbal Vol. Verbal is a software engineer, college professor, corporate information officer, life long student, farmer, libertarian, literarian, student of computer science and self-ordering phenomena. Archived columns can be found here. FTC-only RSS feed available here. You will…
On Anarchy
Suffering from a bout of jeffreytuckeritis, I can’t get this most glorious of concepts out of my head. Anarchy. An, without, archy, ruler. Without rulers. Without murderers, slavers, rapists, batterers, and thieves. Without the initiation of aggression and violence and coercion. Every interaction we have with others that is without one party ruling over the…
Anarchism, not Anomism
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original column appearing most Mondays at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. “If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself;…
Voluntaryist Class Analysis
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original column appearing most Mondays at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. Class analysis is a useful tool toward the stratification of society in order to understand different perspectives on political or economic…