Guest post by Carl Watner. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, February 1988. The Constitution is one of the most revered symbols of the United States. Over the years, it has taken on all the trappings of sovereignty, commanding the loyalty of almost every American. The Constitution is “America’s uncrowned king,” because “it is above party,…
Tag: writing
Mark Crovelli
“Toward Freedom” is an Everything-Voluntary.com series sharing personal stories about the journey toward freedom. Archived stories can be found here. Submit your story to the editor. Originally published at Voluntaryist.com. While most of my friends would find it difficult to imagine today, I have not always been a loudmouthed, pain-in-the-ass, libertarian anarchist. In fact, if…
A Fine and Functioning Anarchy
Guest post by Alex R. Knight, III. A recent acquaintance of mine – I’ll call him Larry, for purposes of anonymity (the further relevance of which shall become clear shortly) – related a story just earlier at the time of this writing, in which a friend of his referred to a certain venerable organization as…
The First Execution for Religion on American Soil
Guest post by Murray Rothbard. The first Quakers to arrive in America came to Boston in July 1656. They were two Englishwomen, Ann Austin and Mary Fisher. Although no law had yet been passed in Massachusetts prohibiting the arrival of Quakers, the two women were immediately imprisoned and searched carefully for “witch-marks.” Deputy Governor Richard…
America as an Historical Advance in Political Ethics
Guest post by Spencer Morgan. As an advocate of stateless human organization, or voluntaryism, I’ve often been faced with the dilemma of how to evaluate America in light of that ethical position. Is there any amount of reverence or appreciation warranted or does the nationalistic mythology about freedom need to be entirely discarded? Below are…
Chapter 29 – Raising Children Compassionately
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Five – Chapter 28 – “10 Ways We Misunderstand Children” by Jan Hunt 29 Raising Children Compassionately by Marshall B. Rosenberg I’ve been teaching Nonviolent Communication (SM) to parents for 30 years. I would like to share some of the things that have been helpful to both myself and to…
Chapter 23 – Grown Without Schooling
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Four – Chapter 22 – “Unexpected Benefits of Unschooling” by Sandra Dodd 23 Grown Without Schooling by Jason Hunt This interview was given to five unschoolers for a feature story in the Spring 2010 issue of German magazine Unerzogen. What are your current interests and plans for the future (that’s…
Chapter 11 – I, Pencil
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Two – Chapter 10 – “Secular Theocracy” by David J. Theroux 11 I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read I am a lead pencil – the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write. Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all…
Chapter 21 – Whose Goal is it, Anyway?
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Four – Chapter 20 – “What is Unschooling?” by Earl Stevens 21 Whose Goal is it, Anyway? by Pam Laricchia It all started with a plant. My husband was talking about training a plant – just the right combination of water and fertilizer, the right soil and sun conditions, a…
Chapter 20 – What is Unschooling?
Table of Contents Previous – Section Four – Chapter 19 – “The Right to Control One’s Learning” by John Holt 20 What is Unschooling? by Earl Stevens “What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” – George Bernard Shaw It is very satisfying for…