The Individualist-Anarchist has been generally philosophical, practical, yet slightly removed from reality by virtue of his philosophical tendency, and at the same time highly self-conscious…. His philosophy stresses the isolation of the individual – his right to his own tools, his mind, his body, and to the products of his labor. To the artist who embraces this philosophy it is “aesthetic” anarchism, to the reformer, ethical anarchism, to the independent mechanic, economic anarchism. The former is concerned with philosophy, the latter with practical demonstration.
— Eunice Minette Schuster, “Native American Anarchism,” page 10
I love this stuff.
i am pretty sure I read this quote in ” A People’s History Of The United States ” by Howard Zinn…. An excellent statement, with or without any context needed to set the scene. Keep putting this stuff out there, some people are still unaware of the voices that came before them.
Fantastic ! Love this stuff, keep it up.
Yes, it does sound familiar as it appears on pages 24-25 of the book that has made many of us re-think the way we approach woodworking and the tools we use. The book is;
“The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”
Which I’m sure was apparent to most. Yet another meaningful entry by Mr. Schwarz.
Thanks for all you do!
Michael
Chris, today I finished dovetailing the shell of my toolchest together. It was the most satisfying feeling I have ever gotten from hand-work. The pitch of the sound rising as I drive the joints up tight, watching the gaps disappear one by one. This is the music of aesthetic anarchism; I just wanted to thank you for providing me with the sheet music. Vive l’anarchie!
Ryan
Wait; where in all this talk of Noble Independence is the recognition of the worth of our connections to each other? No man is an island. United we stand, divided we fall. E pluribus unum. While thinking for one’s self (good anarchy) is undoubtedly useful, glorifying oneself as a self-sufficient champion (bad anarchy) is just destructive vanity. All our individual accomplishments are achieved standing on the shoulders of others (or at least standing side by side with them). Feeding only the Myth that one can go it alone starves the real source of our strength, our interrelation with each other. Isn’t that the point of the Lost Art Press, to share the knowledge of others?
Eric. My understanding of Anarchism is that it is more about the claiming of what is rightly ours, ie our labour, mind etc, and it is from this state we then interrelate. Rather than it being about isolating ourselves from other people. Anarchism was a response to the specialisation introduced during the industrial revolution. Where a persons labour was but one part of a production line, and where the ownership of the final product was not theirs.
then again i could be wrong!
Reading John Ralston Saul introduced me to an african concept for considering human existence. Where western culture goes with “I think therefore I am”, one african concept is “You are therefore I am”.
Chris, you’ve done it again. Whodathunk that you could get a bunch of woodworkers talking philosophy! We’re supposed to be knuckle-dragging, beer guzzling Neanderthals, didn’t you know that? Well, I guess we’re not! I find that not only encouraging, but delightful!
I’ll pass on anarchism, thank you. It speaks to an individualism that forgets what we owe to others and delights in the conceit that we are wholly self-made men.