70 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
70 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
Numerous authors have speculated that [libertarian
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socialist](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink") and anarchist thinking has
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a number of forerunners throughout history - or people and movements who
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expressed similar ideas long before
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[Bakunin](Mikhail_Bakunin "wikilink") was born.
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## Examples of Forerunners
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### Among Movements
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#### Agriculturalism
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Agriculturalism (sometimes called the School of the Tillers) was a
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philosophy that emerged in ancient China (around 770BCE to 221BCE) which
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argued that agriculture was the key to a stable and prosperous society.
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They also advocated for ideas that can be seen as forerunnners of
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libertarian socialism, such as having a "king" who worked alongside
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peasants in the fields and consulted with others before reaching a
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decision. They also believed in the abolition of economic inequality and
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communal ownership of land.\[1\]
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[David Graeber](David_Graeber "wikilink") summaried the movement as
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believing that: "both merchants and government officials were both
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useless parasites, and attempted to create communities of equals where
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the only leadership would be by example, and the economy would be
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democratically regulated in unclaimed territories between the major
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states. Apparently, the movement was created by an alliance between
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renegade intellectuals who fled to such free villages and the peasant
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intellectuals they encountered there. Their ultimate aim appears to have
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been to gradually draw off defectors from surrounding kingdoms and thus,
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eventually, cause their collapse."\[2\]
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#### Maroons
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The maroons refers to a variety of communities formed in the Americas of
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alliances between free slaves and indigenous people. Maroons formed a
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variety of self-governing communities and defended themselves from
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colonialists.\[3\]
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#### Quakers
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The Quakers are a [Christian](Christianity "wikilink") denomination that
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emerged out of Protestantism in the 1600s who have often been identified
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as being similar to libertarian socialism. They are famous for being
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consistently one of the most liberal and forward thinking sects of
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Christianity. Quakers tend to believe that all people are capable of
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finding god, and avoid building hierarchical structures. They have
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historically advocated against war, for the [abolition of
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slavery](Abolition_of_Slavery "wikilink"), against drinking alcohol and
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for wearing plain clothes. Quakers are most famous historically in
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England and North America, but are located all over the world.\[4\]
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### Among Individuals
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#### Socrates
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Some have argued that Socrates' insistence on critical thinking and
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arguing with power structures makes him something of a proto-anarchist,
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although Socrates never explicitly advocated for the end of the
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state.\[5\]
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<references />
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1. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculturalism>
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2. David Graeber, *The Democracy Project: A History, A Crisis, A
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Movement* (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2013), 188-189
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3. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroons>
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4. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers>
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5. Peter Marshall (1993) - Demanding the Impossible: A History of
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Anarchism |