Essays bt Voltairine de Cleyre
Reviewed by Joseph Uphoff

Authors who have important concepts should remain in the public eye. The editors of this work believe that Voltairine de Cleyre was one such writer. Three sections make up this book. The first is a biographical sketch of de Cleyre by publisher Sharon Presley; the second is a collection of de Cleyre's writings; the final section consists of selected articles from the early 20th century magazine Mother Earth, most by Emma Goldman, and most dealing with the struggle to disseminate birth control information. This review looks at section two, the essays by de Cleyre.

The Dominant Idea In each culture there is a dominant idea. In ours it is an obsession with the production of things regardless of their use or need. While materialism is pervasive, this does not mean that everyone should be a materialist. De Cleyre suggests that, as there were rebels in other eras of history, there should be in this. She advocates that people's lives not be directed toward chasing wealth but something higher. What that something is, she does not say.

Anarchism De Cleyre defines anarchism as follows: "freedom to the soul as to the body, in every aspiration, every growth." She advocates a system in which natural resources are free to all and the worker produces enough for his vital needs. She maintains that capitalism places a "horrible bondage" upon workers. Throughout her writings she decries the evils of capitalism as well as the control of the Church. At the end of this essay, we read what perhaps sums up her view of the anarchist position the best: "Each choose that method which expresses your self-hood best, and condemn no other man because he expresses his Self otherwise."

Anarchism and American Traditions Here she advocates equal liberty for all as the political ideal. She maintains that local government is more important than national She suggests that people, rather than the government, should be supreme with regard to education. She continues by severely criticizing government's involvement in education and wants it removed from education. How this is to be accomplished and what will replace it are not discussed.

Anarchism in Literature The new moral ideal is anarchism, de Cleyre suggests. It will succeed because it grants free choice to the common man contra Greek and Christian philosophies that don't. She then discusses various authors who advocated anarchist principles.

The Making of an Anarchist This essay is an autobiographical sketch giving the reasons why de Cleyre became an Anarchist and what effect it has had on her. Two important thoughts of hers to consider: "All forms of external authority must disappear to be replaced by self-control only." And: "Anarchism finally means the whole unchaining of life after two thousand years of Christian asceticism and hypocrisy."

The Eleventh of November, 1887 De Cleyre's personal thoughts about the Haymarket incident are given. It was through analyzing this event and the people involved that de Cleyre became an Anarchist. In spite of the importance of this event to de Cleyre, she gives only an overview of it, leaving out why the event took place.

Crime and Punishment She suggests that only the individual can judge his own behavior and that his conscience provides all the guilt needed. She believes that laws will not eliminate crime. Nor will jail or rehabilitation. War is seen as the greatest crime and government the greatest murderer. She writes: "The reason men steal is because their rights are stolen from them before they are born." She further denies natural rights. She also sees the existence of property as the reason for most crime. She opposes punishment and jails as cruel and ineffective. Rather than punish, she advocates forgiveness for the criminal. She uses Christ as the example of this, in spite of her antiChurch bias throughout her work.

In Defence of Emma Goldman and the Right of Expropriation De Cleyre believes that the power to take something is more important than the actual taking of that thing. Goldman advocated the latter. Other differences in philosophy between her and Goldman are detailed. In spite of these, de Cleyre supports Goldman in her efforts. She also claims: "Unless material conditions for equality exist, it is worse than mockery to pronounce men equal."

Direct Action A direct actionist is a person who believes he has a right, plan, or difference to assert or settle and does so. She asserts that the basis of all political action is coercion. Much of this essay is devoted to the application of direct action to the union movement.

The Mexican Revolution De Cleyre criticises Diaz' actions toward the Yaqui tribe. The latter's communal lifestyle is praised and perhaps idealized. She sees the primary issues of the revolution as land use and the destruction of a way of life. She postulates that those who use the land are more intelligent than those who theorize about its use. Regarding concepts and their application, she postulates that "no change . . . ever can be worked out in any society, except by the mass of the people." She then contrasts the work ethic of native americans, latinos and anglo-saxons and affirms that different cultures' work ethics should be respected. Imposing one culture's ethic on another doesn't work and leads to rebellion through perceived laziness or armed. To which I am in complete agreement and would extend this concept to the imposition of political and religious philosophies as well.

Thomas Paine Voltairine's take on Paine is unusual and her insight striking. She makes two key points: (1) Paine understood the Constitution's flaws better than even most opponents of the time. He knew that the continuation of slavery would lead to much trouble. He also knew that the over centralization of power would lead to loss of freedom. Voltairine, with her own perspective, thought that Paine foresaw the ills of big business monopolies; in our own day, we believe that Paine foresaw the huge, bloated central government we now have. (2) On Age of Reason, Voltairine agreed with Paine scholar Moncure Conway that Paine was defending the religious frame of reference by attacking the encrustations; that he was opposed to the cynicism and mockery of the Philosophes as much as to the moral vacuity of the orthodox. Above all, she found that Paine was steadfast.

Francisco Ferrer Ferrer was a school teacher in Spain who was executed for educating the people to overthrow Spain's social order via teaching science contrary to the Church's wishes. Americans are criticized for being ignorant of him and what he stood for as well as a lack of understanding of foreign events in general. A biography, his beliefs, and how he came to them are included. She takes another jab at the establishment as follows: "All governments and capitalists want working people to die in their wars."

Modern Educational Reform She sees the state as interested in conformity rather than in answering children's questions, especially the one of why learn something, rather than telling them they will understand when they are older. The complaints of children are seen as true criticisms of the system and should be heeded. She bemoans the lack of physiological education pertaining to reproduction. Cities are perceived as not being a good place to teach children. She favors teaching self-reliance and opposes teaching patriotism. She calls for the establishment of voluntarily supported schools rather than government-supported ones and would like to see these schools ideally be in a rural setting with crafts and nature emphasized.

Sex Slavery Here she discusses Moses Harmon who was jailed for using obscene language. He opposed marriage and saw it as a form of slavery. She agrees with this position and wants control over her body rather than giving that control to a husband or the government. She further criticizes laws pertaining to obscenity and clothing standards.

The remainder of the book, not reviewed here, is a set of articles selected from Mother Earth, the intent being to supply a context for de Cleyre's ideas.

Despite de Cleyre's prose, which can be difficult at times, her ideas come through and are still relevant, and well worth the effort. De Cleyre often refers to matters which were well-known to her contemporaries, but are forgotten today. For modern readers, the editors of this work need to add historical notes. That we as a society still need to be reminded what freedom means is a sad commentary. Reading this anthology upon publication will be such a reminder and can be recommended for anyone interested in having their ideas challenged or desiring a different perspective on a variety of issues.

Loving Freedom, by Voltairine de Cleyre, Emma Goldman, et al @1995.
To be published, in 1996, by Wild Freedom Press, c/o Dr. Sharon Presley, RIT,
484 Lake Park Ave. #24, Oakland, CA
94610. E-mail to: rit@well.com

Joseph Uphoff is a writer of numismatics, history, and book reviews for Truth Seeker. He is a member of Mensa and tends toward libertarian in politics.