54 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
54 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
This article is from the Daily Illini, the local student
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newspaper on November 23, 1993.
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Scholar says anarchism is logical end to liberal thought.
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News story by Elaine Richardson, pg. 5.
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Anarchism is the logical end to the classical liberal ideology that stemmed
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from the Enlightenment, a University visiting scholar said Friday during
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a speech.
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"Anarchism is the best political answer we have to the questions posed
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by this generation," said Carl Estabrook in his speech titled "Anarchism:
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The Conclusion of Liberalism," given to the Friday Forum at the University
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YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign. The speech was the last in an 11-part
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series called "Sustaining Ideologies: What's Left to Believe In?"
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Estabrook said that when people think about anarchism they automatically
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think it suggests anarchy.
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"Anarchism comes from the Greek and means without a chief or leader," Estabrook
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said. "When it came into English, anarchism meant a terrible person who
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threatened to throw the country into chaos. But Democrats and Republicans
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used to mean the same thing."
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Estabrook said anarchism, or libertarian socialism, is historically left
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of center in the socialist movement and does represent a lasting ideology.
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"It is a sustaining ideology. I'm uncomfortable with the term ideology
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because libertarian socialism is not an ideology in terms of a doctrine.
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It's a historical idea, a thought. I think it will continue as a permanent
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strain," Estabrook said.
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Estabrook said that anarchism, rather than the political ideologies people
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now adhere to, is the true and right conclusion to liberalism.
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"Anarchism is the true heir to the classical liberal political tradition
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which descended from the Enlightenment and which both Democrats and Republicans
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in this country claim to represent," Estabrook said.
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Classical liberalism theory believes that state intervention should be
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minimal and stress freedom, which is in direct opposition to the "wage
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slavery" of industrial capitalism, he said.
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"Classical liberal thought seems to lead directly to anarchy when combined
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with an understanding of industrial capitalism," Estabrook said.
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Anarchism also has connections to socialist theory, he said.
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"To be an anarchist one must first be a socialist. Socialism we understand
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as a democratic control of production," Estabrook said. "The judgment of
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history that socialism has been tried and failed is false."
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Estabrook said the two main arguments against anarchism are that the ideal
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of freedom in economic life is incompatible with human nature and that
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anarchism will not work in a complex economy.
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"The idea that it won't work is funny with all the ideas of free market
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and free enterprise that drips off us these days," Estabrook said. "Anarchism
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is a heuristic--a way of finding out what questions need to be asked."
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People need to establish a common position, Estabrook said, not surrender
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to the idea that nothing can be done.
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"We're hearing a lot about Malcolm X this week," Estabrook said. "He said,
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'I think there will be a clash between those who are oppressed and those
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who do the oppressing. I think there will be such a clash, but I don't
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believe it will be based on the color of the skin.' "
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