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Voluntaryism

November 30, 2023

This article is about the political position. For other uses, see Voluntarism.

Voluntaryism (UK: /ˈvɒləntəriɪzəm/,[1] US: /-tɛr-/;[1] sometimes voluntarism[2] /ˈvɒləntərɪzəm/)[3] is used to describe the philosophy of Auberon Herbert, and later that of the authors and supporters of The Voluntaryist magazine, which, similarly to anarcho-capitalism, rejects the state in favor of voluntary participation in society, meaning a lack of coercion and force. This is normally completed through a strict adherence to pacifism, civil rights, and either arbitration or some other mutually-agreed-upon court system between individuals.[4]

As a term, voluntaryism was coined in this usage by Auberon Herbert in the 19th century and gained renewed use since the late 20th century, especially within libertarianism in the United States.

Voluntaryist principal beliefs stem from the idea of natural rights, equality, non-coercion, and non-aggression.[5]

History edit

Movements identifying as voluntaryist edit

17th century edit

Precursors to the voluntaryist movement had a long tradition in the English-speaking world, at least as far back as the Leveller movement of mid-seventeenth century England. The Leveller spokesmen John Lilburne and Richard Overton who "clashed with the Presbyterian puritans, who wanted to preserve a state-church with coercive powers and to deny liberty of worship to the puritan sects".[6]

The Levellers were nonconformist in religion and advocated for the separation of church and state. The church to their way of thinking was a voluntary associating of equals, and furnished a theoretical and practical model for the civil state. If it was proper for their church congregations to be based on consent, then it was proper to apply the same principle of consent to its secular counterpart. For example, the Leveller 'Large' Petition of 1647 contained a proposal "that tythes and all other inforced maintenances, may be for ever abolished, and nothing in place thereof imposed, but that all Ministers may be paid only by those who voluntarily choose them, and contract with them for their labours."[6] The Levellers also held to the idea of self-proprietorship.[6]

19th century edit

The educational voluntaryists[citation needed] wanted free trade in education, just as they supported free trade in corn or cotton. Their concern for "liberty can scarcely be exaggerated". They believed that "government would employ education for its own ends" (teaching habits of obedience and indoctrination), and that government-controlled schools would ultimately teach children to rely on the State for all things. Baines, for example, noted that "[w]e cannot violate the principles of liberty in regard to education without furnishing at once a precedent and inducement to violate them in regard to other matters". Baines conceded that the then current system of education (both private and charitable) had deficiencies, but he argued that freedom should not be abridged on that account. In asking whether freedom of the press should be compromised because we have bad newspapers, Baines replied that "I maintain that Liberty is the chief cause of excellence; but it would cease to be Liberty if you proscribed everything inferior".[7] The Congregational Board of Education and the Baptist Voluntary Education Society are usually given pride of place among the Voluntaryists.[8]

In southern Africa, voluntaryism in religious matters was an important part of the liberal "Responsible Government" movement of the mid-19th century, along with support for multi-racial democracy and an opposition to British imperial control. The movement was driven by powerful local leaders such as Saul Solomon and John Molteno. When it briefly gained power, it disestablished the state-supported churches in 1875.[9][10]

In the United States edit

There were at least two well-known Americans who espoused voluntaryist causes during the mid-19th century.[citation needed] Henry David Thoreau's first brush with the law in his home state of Massachusetts came in 1838, when he turned twenty-one. The state demanded that he pay the one dollar ministerial tax in support of a clergyman, "whose preaching my father attended but never I myself".[11] When Thoreau refused to pay the tax, it was probably paid by one of his aunts. In order to avoid the ministerial tax in the future, Thoreau had to sign an affidavit attesting he was not a member of the church.

Thoreau's overnight imprisonment for his failure to pay another municipal tax, the poll tax, to the town of Concord was recorded in his essay "Resistance to Civil Government", first published in 1849. It is often referred to as "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" because in it he concluded that government was dependent on the cooperation of its citizens. While he was not a thoroughly consistent voluntaryist, he did write that he wished never to "rely on the protection of the state" and that he refused to tender it his allegiance so long as it supported slavery. He distinguished himself from "those who call[ed] themselves no-government men", writing that "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government". This has been interpreted as a gradualist, rather than minarchist, stance,[12] given that he also opened his essay by stating his belief that "government is best which governs not at all", a point that all voluntaryists heartily embrace.[11]

Another one was Charles Lane. He was friendly with Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau. Between January and June 1843, a series of nine letters he penned were published in such abolitionist's papers as The Liberator and The Herald of Freedom. The title under which they were published was "A Voluntary Political Government" in which Lane described the state in terms of institutionalized violence and referred to its "club law, its mere brigand right of a strong arm, [supported] by guns and bayonets". He saw the coercive state on par with "forced" Christianity, arguing: "Everyone can see that the church is wrong when it comes to men with the [B]ible in one hand, and the sword in the other. Is it not equally diabolical for the state to do so?" Lane believed that governmental rule was only tolerated by public opinion because the fact was not yet recognized that all the true purposes of the state could be carried out on the voluntary principle, just as churches could be sustained voluntarily. Reliance on the voluntary principle could only come about through "kind, orderly, and moral means" that were consistent with the totally voluntary society he was advocating, adding: "Let us have a voluntary State as well as a voluntary Church, and we may possibly then have some claim to the appeallation of free men".[13]

Modern-era voluntaryists edit

Although use of the label voluntaryist waned after the death of Auberon Herbert in 1906, its use was renewed in 1982, when George H. Smith, Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner began publishing The Voluntaryist magazine.[14] Smith suggested use of the term to identify those libertarians who believed that political action and political parties (especially the Libertarian Party) were antithetical to their ideas. In their "Statement of Purpose" in Neither Bullets nor Ballots: Essays on Voluntaryism (1983), Watner, Smith and McElroy explained that voluntaryists were advocates of non-political strategies to achieve a free society, and effectively appropriated the term on behalf of right-libertarianism. They rejected electoral politics "in theory and practice as incompatible with libertarian goals" and argued that political methods invariably strengthen the legitimacy of coercive governments. In concluding their "Statement of Purpose", they wrote: "Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate the withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends".

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Voluntaryism". Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Not to be confused with political voluntarism as the political facet of philosophical voluntarism, holding that political authority emanates from a will.
  3. ^ "Voluntarism". Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
  4. ^ Perry, Sarah (2020-02-03). "What is Voluntaryism?". Voluntaryism in Action. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  5. ^ "What Is Voluntaryism?". The Nassau Institute. 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  6. ^ a b c Aylmer, Gerald E. (1975). "The Levellers in the English Revolution". Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 68, 80. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ George H. Smith (1982). "Nineteenth-Century Opponents of State Education". In Robert B. Everhart (ed.). The Public School Monopoly. Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing. pp. 121–124.
  8. ^ Clark, E.A.G. (1982). "The Last of the Voluntaryists: The Ragged School Union in the School Board Era" (PDF). History of Education. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Molteno, P. A. The Life and Times of John Charles Molteno. Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape. London: Smith, Elder & Co., Waterloo Place, 1900.
  10. ^ Solomon, W. E. C: Saul Solomon – the Member for Cape Town. Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1948.[ISBN missing][page needed]
  11. ^ a b Thoreau, Henry David (1960). "Walden, or Life in the Wood and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, with an Afterword by Perry Miller". New York: New American Library (Twenty-first printing): 33, 222–223, 232. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ Drinnon, Richard (1962). "Thoreau's Politics of the Upright Man". The Massachusetts Review. 4 (1): 126–138. JSTOR 25086956.
  13. ^ Carl Watner, ed. (1982). A Voluntary Political Government: Letters from Charles Lane. St. Paul: Michael E. Coughlin, Publisher. p. 52.
  14. ^ "voluntaryist.com". Retrieved 18 March 2018.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Voluntaryist.com
  • Five Steps To Anarchy – What is Voluntaryism?
  • Center for a Stateless Society
  • The Voluntaryist articles[permanent dead link]

November 30, 2023
voluntaryism, this, article, about, political, position, other, uses, voluntarism, sometimes, voluntarism, used, describe, philosophy, auberon, herbert, later, that, authors, supporters, voluntaryist, magazine, which, similarly, anarcho, capitalism, rejects, s. This article is about the political position For other uses see Voluntarism Voluntaryism UK ˈ v ɒ l en t er i ɪ z em 1 US t ɛr 1 sometimes voluntarism 2 ˈ v ɒ l en t er ɪ z em 3 is used to describe the philosophy of Auberon Herbert and later that of the authors and supporters of The Voluntaryist magazine which similarly to anarcho capitalism rejects the state in favor of voluntary participation in society meaning a lack of coercion and force This is normally completed through a strict adherence to pacifism civil rights and either arbitration or some other mutually agreed upon court system between individuals 4 As a term voluntaryism was coined in this usage by Auberon Herbert in the 19th century and gained renewed use since the late 20th century especially within libertarianism in the United States Voluntaryist principal beliefs stem from the idea of natural rights equality non coercion and non aggression 5 Contents 1 History 1 1 Movements identifying as voluntaryist 1 1 1 17th century 1 1 2 19th century 1 1 3 In the United States 1 2 Modern era voluntaryists 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksHistory editThis section possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Movements identifying as voluntaryist edit 17th century edit Precursors to the voluntaryist movement had a long tradition in the English speaking world at least as far back as the Leveller movement of mid seventeenth century England The Leveller spokesmen John Lilburne and Richard Overton who clashed with the Presbyterian puritans who wanted to preserve a state church with coercive powers and to deny liberty of worship to the puritan sects 6 The Levellers were nonconformist in religion and advocated for the separation of church and state The church to their way of thinking was a voluntary associating of equals and furnished a theoretical and practical model for the civil state If it was proper for their church congregations to be based on consent then it was proper to apply the same principle of consent to its secular counterpart For example the Leveller Large Petition of 1647 contained a proposal that tythes and all other inforced maintenances may be for ever abolished and nothing in place thereof imposed but that all Ministers may be paid only by those who voluntarily choose them and contract with them for their labours 6 The Levellers also held to the idea of self proprietorship 6 19th century edit The educational voluntaryists citation needed wanted free trade in education just as they supported free trade in corn or cotton Their concern for liberty can scarcely be exaggerated They believed that government would employ education for its own ends teaching habits of obedience and indoctrination and that government controlled schools would ultimately teach children to rely on the State for all things Baines for example noted that w e cannot violate the principles of liberty in regard to education without furnishing at once a precedent and inducement to violate them in regard to other matters Baines conceded that the then current system of education both private and charitable had deficiencies but he argued that freedom should not be abridged on that account In asking whether freedom of the press should be compromised because we have bad newspapers Baines replied that I maintain that Liberty is the chief cause of excellence but it would cease to be Liberty if you proscribed everything inferior 7 The Congregational Board of Education and the Baptist Voluntary Education Society are usually given pride of place among the Voluntaryists 8 In southern Africa voluntaryism in religious matters was an important part of the liberal Responsible Government movement of the mid 19th century along with support for multi racial democracy and an opposition to British imperial control The movement was driven by powerful local leaders such as Saul Solomon and John Molteno When it briefly gained power it disestablished the state supported churches in 1875 9 10 In the United States edit There were at least two well known Americans who espoused voluntaryist causes during the mid 19th century citation needed Henry David Thoreau s first brush with the law in his home state of Massachusetts came in 1838 when he turned twenty one The state demanded that he pay the one dollar ministerial tax in support of a clergyman whose preaching my father attended but never I myself 11 When Thoreau refused to pay the tax it was probably paid by one of his aunts In order to avoid the ministerial tax in the future Thoreau had to sign an affidavit attesting he was not a member of the church Thoreau s overnight imprisonment for his failure to pay another municipal tax the poll tax to the town of Concord was recorded in his essay Resistance to Civil Government first published in 1849 It is often referred to as On the Duty of Civil Disobedience because in it he concluded that government was dependent on the cooperation of its citizens While he was not a thoroughly consistent voluntaryist he did write that he wished never to rely on the protection of the state and that he refused to tender it his allegiance so long as it supported slavery He distinguished himself from those who call ed themselves no government men writing that I ask for not at once no government but at once a better government This has been interpreted as a gradualist rather than minarchist stance 12 given that he also opened his essay by stating his belief that government is best which governs not at all a point that all voluntaryists heartily embrace 11 Another one was Charles Lane He was friendly with Amos Bronson Alcott Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau Between January and June 1843 a series of nine letters he penned were published in such abolitionist s papers as The Liberator and The Herald of Freedom The title under which they were published was A Voluntary Political Government in which Lane described the state in terms of institutionalized violence and referred to its club law its mere brigand right of a strong arm supported by guns and bayonets He saw the coercive state on par with forced Christianity arguing Everyone can see that the church is wrong when it comes to men with the B ible in one hand and the sword in the other Is it not equally diabolical for the state to do so Lane believed that governmental rule was only tolerated by public opinion because the fact was not yet recognized that all the true purposes of the state could be carried out on the voluntary principle just as churches could be sustained voluntarily Reliance on the voluntary principle could only come about through kind orderly and moral means that were consistent with the totally voluntary society he was advocating adding Let us have a voluntary State as well as a voluntary Church and we may possibly then have some claim to the appeallation of free men 13 Modern era voluntaryists edit Although use of the label voluntaryist waned after the death of Auberon Herbert in 1906 its use was renewed in 1982 when George H Smith Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner began publishing The Voluntaryist magazine 14 Smith suggested use of the term to identify those libertarians who believed that political action and political parties especially the Libertarian Party were antithetical to their ideas In their Statement of Purpose in Neither Bullets nor Ballots Essays on Voluntaryism 1983 Watner Smith and McElroy explained that voluntaryists were advocates of non political strategies to achieve a free society and effectively appropriated the term on behalf of right libertarianism They rejected electoral politics in theory and practice as incompatible with libertarian goals and argued that political methods invariably strengthen the legitimacy of coercive governments In concluding their Statement of Purpose they wrote Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education and we advocate the withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends See also edit nbsp Liberalism portal nbsp Libertarianism portalAgorism Anarcho capitalism Anarcho pacifism Campaigns against corporal punishment Categorical imperative Consent theory Contractarianism Counter economics Deontological libertarianism Freedom of contract Hans Hermann Hoppe Argumentation ethics Individualist anarchism Issues in anarchism Legal pluralism Non aggression principle Panarchism Personal jurisdiction Pluralism political philosophy Polycentric law Privatism Propertarianism Refusal of work Right libertarianism Self ownership Sharing economy Unschooling Voluntary association Voluntary SocialismReferences edit a b Voluntaryism Random House Unabridged Dictionary Not to be confused with political voluntarism as the political facet of philosophical voluntarism holding that political authority emanates from a will Voluntarism Random House Unabridged Dictionary Perry Sarah 2020 02 03 What is Voluntaryism Voluntaryism in Action Retrieved 2022 06 12 What Is Voluntaryism The Nassau Institute 2018 08 29 Retrieved 2022 06 12 a b c Aylmer Gerald E 1975 The Levellers in the English Revolution Ithaca Cornell University Press 68 80 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help George H Smith 1982 Nineteenth Century Opponents of State Education In Robert B Everhart ed The Public School Monopoly Cambridge Ballinger Publishing pp 121 124 Clark E A G 1982 The Last of the Voluntaryists The Ragged School Union in the School Board Era PDF History of Education a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Molteno P A The Life and Times of John Charles Molteno Comprising a History of Representative Institutions and Responsible Government at the Cape London Smith Elder amp Co Waterloo Place 1900 Solomon W E C Saul Solomon the Member for Cape Town Cape Town Oxford University Press 1948 ISBN missing page needed a b Thoreau Henry David 1960 Walden or Life in the Wood and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience with an Afterword by Perry Miller New York New American Library Twenty first printing 33 222 223 232 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Drinnon Richard 1962 Thoreau s Politics of the Upright Man The Massachusetts Review 4 1 126 138 JSTOR 25086956 Carl Watner ed 1982 A Voluntary Political Government Letters from Charles Lane St Paul Michael E Coughlin Publisher p 52 voluntaryist com Retrieved 18 March 2018 Further reading editHerbert Auberon 1908 The Voluntaryist Creed being the Herbert Spencer lecture delivered at Oxford June 7 1906 and a plea for voluntaryism Oxford Oxford University Press Liberty Fund OCLC 276305265 McElroy Wendy 2008 Voluntarism In Hamowy Ronald ed The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism Thousand Oaks CA Sage Cato Institute pp 524 525 doi 10 4135 9781412965811 n320 ISBN 978 1412965804 LCCN 2008009151 OCLC 750831024 External links editVoluntaryist com Five Steps To Anarchy What is Voluntaryism Center for a Stateless Society The Voluntaryist articles permanent dead link Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Voluntaryism amp oldid 1186583052, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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