Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

contrary, it would not be too strong to describe classIcal
liberalism's attitude toward anarchism as one of
both contempt as well as fear. It was contemptuous because
as one classical liberal philosopher wrote, anarchism
"would be practicable only in a world of angels"
and the "liberal understands quite clearly" that "one
must be in a position to compel the person who will not
respect lives, health, personal feelings, or private
property of others to acquiesce in the .rules of life in
soc i e t y • " ( 2 ) And c I ass i cal liberalism had fear edana rchism
because, while encompassing a broad spectrum of
thought ranging from the rampant individualism of Max
St i rner to the communism of Peter Kropotkin, the dominan
t s t r a i n 0 fan archism 0 s tens i bl Y p I aced itsquareI y
within the socialist camp. Daniel Guerin put the matter
succinctly. Anarchism, he says, "is really a synonym
for social ism."(3) And, while acknowledging "Stirner's
complete rejection of all polictical, moral, and tradit
ion a 1 ti e s of t he i nd i v i d ua I , " Max Ad I e r goes· s 0 fa r a s
to argue that Stirner cannot even be considered an anarchist
since anarchism is only "a definite political
trend within the socialist labor movement," and Stirner
was not a socialist.(4)
Hence, not just the state but the capitalist economic
system were the principal evils for the majority of
a narc his t t h ink e r s 0 f the n i net e en t h c e n t ur y • I t wa s
not accidental that in Kropotkin's delineation of the
three cardinal aims of anarchist communism the first was
an. i n j un c t Ion a g a ins t capita 1 ism: " Ema n c i pa t ion from
the yoke of capital; production in common and free consum
p t io n 0 f a 1· I the pro d u c t s 0 f common I abo r • " On I y
after his exhortat ion to abol ish capitalism does one
fInd a call for "emancipation from government" and
"emancipation from religion."(S) The views of the
I t a I i an ana r chi s t, Err i coMa 1ate s t a (6 ) and the
Britisher, William Morris(7) were similar. Both equated
anarchism with communism and called for the free distribution
of all goods. Bakunin, while a collectivist
rather than 8 communist, also advocated ·the liberation
fro m cap ita lis m . ( 8 ) Eve n inthe wr i tin gs 0 f the mo r e
individualist-oriented anarchists one finds condemnations
of capitalism coupled with panegyrics to socialism.
In a striking phrase, Proudhon not only declared
that rrproperty is theft,rr but also exclaimed "What is
the capitalIst? Everything! What should he be?
Nothing!"(9) Similarly, the English anarchist, William
Godwin, asserted that "it follows upon the principles of
equal and impartial justice, that the good things of the
world are a common stock, upon which one man has as
2