Wendy McElroy

The Voluntaryist - 1982-1986 Wendy McElroy

Published since 1982, THE VOLUNTARYIST newsletter has been one of the leading representatives of those who reject voting and the legitimacy of the State, and who believe that a non-violent and stateless society is both moral and practical. As their Statement of Purpose puts it:
Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political, non-violent strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately depends.
This volume should serve as rich source material for anyone interested in a fringe aspect of the late 20th Century libertarian movement. This book is a complete reprint of the first twenty-two issues of the newsletter, and includes discussions of the ethics of voting, biographies of Auberon Herbert (1838-1906, a late 19th Century disciple of voluntaryism), (R. C. Hoiles (1878-1970, publisher of The Freedom Newspapers) and Robert LeFevre (1911-1986, founder of Freedom School), a review of the history of the American Revolutionary War from a voluntaryist perspective, book reviews of two books written by Gene Sharp, the world's leading exponent of non-violence, and commentaries on Libertarian Party politics. In addition there are articles on the history of prison slavery, the origin of time zones, the anarchist response to World War I, the history of Freedom School, and discussions of copyright and abortion.