Autarchism
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Autarchism is a political philosophy that promotes the principles of individualism and the moral ideology of individual liberty and self-reliance. It rejects compulsory government and supports the elimination of government in favor of ruling oneself to the exclusion of rule by others.
Overview
[edit]Robert LeFevre, recognized as an autarchist by Murray Rothbard,[1] distinguished autarchism from anarchy, whose economics he felt entailed interventions contrary to freedom.[2] In professing "a sparkling and shining individualism" while "it advocates some kind of procedure to interfere with the processes of a free market", anarchy seemed to LeFevre to be self-contradictory.[2] He situated the fundamental premise of autarchy within the Stoicism of philosophers such as Zeno, Epicurus and Marcus Aurelius, which he summarized in the credo "Control yourself".[3]
Fusing these influences, LeFevre arrived at the autarchist philosophy: "The Stoics provide the moral framework; the Epicureans, the motivation; the praxeologists, the methodology. I propose to call this package of ideological systems autarchy, because autarchy means self-rule".[3] LeFevre stated that "the bridge between Spooner and modern-day autarchists was constructed primarily by persons such as H. L. Mencken, Albert Jay Nock, and Mark Twain".[2]
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) biographer Robert D. Richardson described Emerson's anarchy as "'autarchy', rule by self".[4][5] Philip Jenkins has stated that "Emersonian ideas stressed individual liberation, autarchy, self-sufficiency and self-government, and strenuously opposed social conformity".[6]
See also
[edit]- Absolute monarchy
- Anarcho-capitalism
- Autarky
- Autocracy
- Egoist anarchism
- Individualist anarchism
- Rugged individualism
- Self-governance
- Self-ownership
- Voluntaryism
References
[edit]- ^ Rothbard, Murray N. (2007). The Betrayal of the American Right Archived 2014-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, Ludwig von Mises Institute, p. 187. ISBN 978-1-933550-13-8.
- ^ a b c "Autarchy vs Anarchy" by Robert LeFevre Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought Vol. 1, No. 4 (Winter, 1965): 30–49.
- ^ a b "Autarchy" by Robert LeFevre Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer 1966): 1–18.
- ^ Ralph Waldo Emerson (2009). The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Random House Publishing Group. p. 849. ISBN 978-0-307-41991-0.
- ^ Richardson, Robert D Jr. (1997). Emerson: The Mind on Fire. University of California Press. p. 535. ISBN 0-520-20689-4.
- ^ Jenkins, Philip (1995). A History of the United States. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 108. ISBN 0-312-16361-4.
External links
[edit]
- The Nature of Man and His Government by Robert LeFevre – an introduction by Rose Wilder Lane (1959).
