A very interesting, yet politically depressing, near post WWII pamphlet (1951), The World Scene from the Libertarian Point of View by the Free Society Group of Chicago can be found on the Labadie Collection's website. I say politically depressing because you have Augustin Souchy and Rudolph Rocker, more or less, extolling the virtues of liberal democracy in opposition to totalitarian societies of the Stalinist hue.
That said, there are some interesting articles in the pamphlet (including one by Albert Meltzer). And, for better or worse, the pamphlet reflects a certain post-WW II viewpoint by many who
lived through the rise of anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism and two world wars.
Trusting this link works:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/labadie/2917139.0001.001?view=toc;q1=ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM
There's sort of a garbled
There's sort of a garbled online version of this, available here: http://anarvist.freeshell.org/The_World_Scene_from_the_Libertarian_Point_of_View__by_Free_Society_Group_of_Chicago_.htm
It would be good if someone
It would be good if someone could tidy it up and put it up in the library here!
It's a very depressing
It's a very depressing pamphlet
syndicalist wrote: It's a
syndicalist
yes, but worth preserving for posterity/reference
Steven. wrote: syndicalist
Steven.
Not a knock, just an observation
Got this 95 page pamphlet in
Got this 95 page pamphlet in the mail today as part of the materials purchased from the libcom.org fundraiser.
Pretty good summary of what some key figures in anarchism were thinking, a half decade after the end of WW2, as the Iron Curtain and Cold War were solidified and as the last Spanish partisans were caught or killed by Franco's forces.
Quite pessimistic. You have Maximoff and Rudolf Rocker basically arguing for an alliance with Western capitalism against Soviet totalitarianism. There's an essay by the editor of Freie Arbeiter Stimme about how anti-Semitism may be an irreversible Gentile moral deficiency. Another essay from someone else about how pacifism is the only answer against the Cold War.
When I finish it, and after its digitized and put online, I'll probably write a review. I think there's some lessons in there for today.
^^^^ prolly one of the more
^^^^ prolly one of the more depressing international documents I read
Value, of course, but depressing
Fwiw, the most depressing reports and articles I've read are those from 1938, 1939
(Pages of the NYC Challenge) and the immediate post war reports and letters from the Anarchist
Red Cross
As I have a copy, I'd be curious which articles you've found of interest
I'd like to Reread them again