Libertarian Order by Cindy Lin
Today, you might wonder why you should read a book. After all, chat-GTP can answer all our questions efficiently. A book is no longer the most efficient tool for learning some facts. Cindy Lin clarifies with her new booklet why it still makes sense to read books written by people. In Libertarian Order, she lays out some facts about different flavours of anarchism. But above all, it encourages readers to think about it for themselves. The book is not the best way to find out everything about Benjamin Tucker’s favourite food or the name of Michael Bakunin’s goldfish. Some facts could perhaps even be phrased more precisely. But we can investigate these questions after our curiosity has been piqued. And that is what Cindy Lin manages perfectly.
The sub-title may suggest the book is a master’s thesis, but once you have the booklet in your hands, it becomes clear that this is something else. The book contains a large number of colour drawings created by artist Wendy Maserati. Little consideration has been given to conventions in terms of layout. Here and there, the booklet even looks like a collection of poetry.
In discussing what anarchism means, Lin begins with a quote from 19th-century libertarian socialist Benjamin Tucker. Social interactions should be voluntary. She also later clarifies this with the phrase ‘freedom as the power to say no’, which I recognized from contemporary political philosopher and basic income activist Karl Widerquist.
Whereas many people know only one type of anarchism, Lin compares various flavours and their similarities and differences. Not only Proudhon, Tucker, Bakunin and Kropotkin are covered, but also Rothbard and, much to my delight, even the ideas of Henry George and the geoists are touched upon.
In comparing the various flavours, four themes are always considered. Not all anarchists dislike the idea of a free market and trade. Not all anarchists want to overthrow the government through revolution. And, importantly for me, Lin discusses how different kinds of anarchists think about land ownership. After all, anarchism flourished in Spain partly because of anger over feudal relations between small farmers and large landowners. Similarly, Henry George had a large following in Ireland. Although Benjamin Tucker was no fan of Henry George, there are similarities in their views on land. If a small club of people own all the land, others cannot be truly free and exploitation lurks.
Currently, anarchism is often not taken too seriously. Many people think of bombs and chaos when they think of anarchism. Or they only know the variant of anarcho-communism. This is why it makes sense to once again compare the different flavours we can choose from and weigh the arguments of different thinkers. Cindy Lin encourages us to do this with this booklet.
The book is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/cuDH3Di
