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Men Against the State: The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827-1908

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MEN AGAINST THE STATE (1953)
by James J Martin
includes original forward by Harry Elmer Barnes

This book contains the biographies of several men who advocated varyious types of societies without government. They are some of the ideological ancestors of various modern movements including anarcho-capitalism, individualist anarchism, libertarianism and mutualism. Anybody who sympathizes with any of these philosophies should read this book!

'MEN AGAINST THE STATE' has a special place in my own memory because it was the first place that I learned about Josiah Warren. Warren was an interesting guy who actually got to put his economic ideas into practice. He founded various little colonies including "Modern Times" on Long Island, NY and a second incarnation of "Utopia" in southwestern Ohio. Unlike many contemporary anarchists, Warren believed in private property. His ideas were compared with Pierre Proudhon, although he denied any connection. The first four chapters deal with his activities and his influence. In my opinion, the chapters on Josiah Warren are worth the price of the book.

The most famous men in this book are Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker. Both are discussed at length as well as Ezra Heywood, William H Greene, J.K. Ingalls and Stephen Pearl Andrews. You will notice some similarities between many of these men. Several of them started as ministers, and several of them were abolitionists. Nevertheless, many opposed the Civil War on various grounds ranging from simple pacifism to opposition to state aggression to the constitutional right to secession. It is interesting to hear the internal debates over issues that are still relevant today, such as taxation, labor organizing and the role of a central bank. "Individualist Anarchism" was a truly decentralized movement and these men often disagreed. What united them was their observation that government would not instill equality among mankind.

This book will be enjoyed by anybody who has ever been skeptical about whether governments help us or hurt us. I would especially recommend this book to Americans who want to know what happened to the great anti-authoritarian tradition in the generations after the Founders.