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George Walford: Freedom in Freedom

August 27, 2012

Interest in theory grows with ideological development. The expedient group hardly attempts to justify its behaviour, while towards the eidodynamic end of the range attention becomes focused on theory, even to the point where practical application drops out of sight. Anarchists tend to place high value upon concepts, logically unassailable, which do nothing to help… read more »

George Walford: Notes & Quotes (61)

August 27, 2012

NIAT: ‘Perfect co-ordination is achieved only when there is nothing to co-ordinate.’ (C. N. Parkinson). NIAT: Bob Black offers a statement (from Harpo Marx) which is absolutely true, not in any way false, questionable or even conditional: ” .” NOTHING washes whiter than Persil. CAPITALISM causes war? Might as well say that computers cause calculation…. read more »

George Walford: Notes & Quotes (60)

August 30, 2012

IC 57 invited readers to send in new titles for IC. The limited response suggests that few find the present one bad enough to justify a search for alternatives and nobody, we are glad to say, proposed SISYPHUS. ENGLISH Heritage, managing Hampstead Heath, have one excellent arrangement: small railed-off areas in which dogs can attend… read more »

Alan Bula, Donald Rooum, John Rowan, Bob Black: Letters

September 1, 2012

TERMINOLOGICAL EXACTITUDE Sir, Having read Beyond Politics I agree with Zvi Lamm and Freedom that it is lucid, an invisible quality complemented by its almost stark black, white and yellow physical presence. All this, combined with the unfashionably theoretical nature of the subject, made the book a delight to read. Yet, as I neared the… read more »

George Walford: Notes and Quotes (58)

November 6, 2012

FREEDOM of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one. If you doubt that, try getting a piece on systematic ideology into the Socialist Standard. DEATH with his scythe leading the victim away, they pass Santa Claus: ‘I bet you didn’t believe in him, either.’ NATIONALISATION of telegrams in 1870 and telephones in… read more »

George Walford: Editorial (58)

April 16, 2013

MEET S.I., on the inside front cover, undergoes constant revision; it now incorporates two changes made at the suggestion of Trevor Blake, a new reader. From the account of the revolution ideology the clause: ‘Attempts to impose Marxist communism but fails for lack of support’ has been deleted, not for any unsoundness but because it… read more »

George Walford: The Red and the Green

September 3, 2012

Issue No.3 of Spanner has just arrived. It concentrates on greenism, and since the journal retains its stance in favour of socialism (though preferring to call it a non-market economy) a question of priority arises. Let us agree, to start with, that the greenists have a solid point. We clearly cannot go on treating our… read more »

George Walford: Editorial Notes (53)

September 12, 2012

CHRISTMAS cards, Birthday cards, Get Well cards, Mother’s Day cards… IC introduces the GO AWAY! card. Carry a supply, hand them out to bores, pests, and botherers. EDMUND Burke: “the British House of Commons… is… filled with everything illustrious in rank, in descent, in hereditary and acquired opulence, in cultivated talents, in military, civil, naval… read more »

George Walford: Friendly Reason

September 6, 2012

In “Reason as Enemy” [1] Frank Antosen says that as an anarchist he wants a way of thinking more flexible than logic or reason (he uses these terms interchangeably), and proposes to find it by a ‘marriage of opposites,’ joining reason and imagination. “We must not,” he says, “worship our ‘rational’ sides and scorn our… read more »

George Walford: Perfect Nonsense

September 9, 2012

Any appearance of “absolute” causes IC‘s pointy ears to prick up; NOTHING is Absolutely True. Our present example of an assertion to the contrary comes from Elisee Reclus: “Fundamentally anarchy is nothing but perfect tolerance, the absolute acknowledgment of the liberty of others.” An admirable sentiment, one that will go directly to the heart of… read more »