Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 22:21:34 -0400
From: "M.A. Johnson" <michaelj-AT-america.net>
Subject: Re: New book on anti-capitalism


roger
    as you seem to be confused, please consider the following
    propositions:
    anarchism, seen as a coherent historical political theory as opposed
    to a synonym for chaos, is an outgrowth of socialism and is inherently
    anti-capitalist.
MJ
There was no claim that anarchism was chaos.
Anarchism as a variation of Socialism is also known.
Being AGAINST government-less economics is obvious.

roger
    capitalism, historically, arose in conjuction with and is entirely
    dependent upon the modern state, if only to define and enforce
    property rights.
MJ
Capitalism is not dependent upon a State.


roger
    it is tedious to continue to have to refute the asinine assertions of
    ahistorical capitalists who, for whatever reason, have run out of
    ideas and are looking to cherry-pick anarchism; go think up your own
    stuff.
MJ
Many people believe what they want in order to maintain
their pleasing vision.  Apparently, you are no different.

Regard$,
--MJ

If I had to point out the characteristic trait that
differentiates socialism from [a proper view of the
political economy], I should find it here. Socialism
includes a countless number of sects. Each one has
its own utopia, and we may well say that they are so
far from agreement that they wage bitter war upon one
another. Between M. Blanc's organized social workshops
and M. Proudhon's anarchy, between Fourier's
association and M. Cabet's communism, there is
certainly all the difference between night and day.
What then, is the common denominator to which all forms
of socialism are reducible, and what is the bond that
unites them against natural society, or society as
planned by Providence? There is none except this:
They do not want natural society. What they want is
an artificial society, which has come forth full-grown
from the brain of its inventor... They quarrel over
who will mould the human clay, but they agree that
there is human clay to mould. Mankind is not in their
eyes a living and harmonious being endowed by God
Himself with the power to progress and to survive,
but an inert mass that has been waiting for them to
give it feeling and life; human nature is not a subject
to be studied, but matter on which to perform experiments.
-- Frédéric Bastiat