COMING ATTRACTIONS In IC27 we shall be reprinting another article by HAROLD WALSBY, entitled: ‘What is the Answer?.’ Written in 1951 it draws attention to a problem facing purist ‘socialists’: Have their numbers kept pace with the increase in world population? THE LETTER in this issue from Austin Meredith takes off from the suggestion, made… read more »
Dear Editor, I found the Outline Sketch of Systematic Ideology to be, superficially at least, quite an interesting pamphlet. However, closer investigation revealed that behind the words there was little of substance. Also, the reasoning contains several flaws. On page 29 appears: A purely eidodynamic society could not do so [i.e. survive]. Every society, if… read more »
IN THIS issue we print letters from Austin Meredith and Shane Roberts; further Letters to the Editor are invited. Please try not to exceed 500 words – “Small is beautiful.” If you want your letter to appear unedited or not at all, please say so. ANARCHISTS proclaim themselves in favour of freedom, and they (sometimes… read more »
THE GOOD AND THE BAD It is tempting in politics to see things in stark black and white terms: if a regime is obviously “bad” then those who oppose it are necessarily “good.” This tendency to reduce complex situations to simplistic terms has nowhere been more evident in recent times than in the Philippines: Marcos… read more »
Systematic ideology claims to deal with practical matters as well as theoretical, and there is nothing much more practical than wages. The limited conception of ideology commonly used, both in everyday discussion and by the academics, occupies a different sphere from wages. Ideology in this sense is “false consciousness,” it belongs to the realm of… read more »
We recently attended a meeting at which a professor of sociology was speaking on ideology. What we have to say about his talk is not intended to be hostile and is not directed only at the ideas held by him personally, but it may be regarded as uncomplimentary, so it is perhaps better not to… read more »
Andre Spies, of Belgium, sent us a package “Introducing the Freenetwork.” It started off: The Freenetwork is being organized as a world-wide means for Freepersons to establish contact with one another, so they can develop effective ways (including enjoyable and profitable ways) of promoting individual freedom. The motto of the Freenetwork is: FREEDOM IN ACTION…. read more »
In 1845, in Bayreuth, Johann Kaspar Schmidt published a book. Why should this interest IC? Because he used the pseudonym “Max Stirner” and the book was Der Einziger and sein Eigentum, appearing in English as The Ego and his Own; the Case of the Individual Against Authority. The copy in front of us has been… read more »
Supernatural Powers: “When I wrote Chinese Looking Glass, certain superficial critics in England sneered at me for suggesting that superstitious belief and religious custom had survived Communism in China itself. The Chinese Communists, being rather better acquainted with the subject, have repeatedly admitted that the supernatural has been among their most stubborn ideological foes.” (Dennis… read more »
The Socialist Party of Great Britain is a small organisation which repudiates the gradualism and reformism commonly associated with the term ‘socialist.’ It declares itself ‘determined to wage war against all other political parties,’ but there is one political movement which is not a party and cannot become one. How does the Socialist Party relate… read more »