Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) [Home] Clarence Lee Swartz in collaboration with The Mutualist Associates "What is Mutualism?" (1927) Note This is a very interesting and valuable text on Mutualism. It is slightly dated in some points and a bit off the target when dealing with monetary matters. Nevertheless it remains a powerful exposition of the main tenets of Mutualism and a sincere plea in favour of the freedom and autonomy of the individual. MUTUALISM A Social System Based on Equal Freedom, Reciprocity, and the Sovereignty of the Individual Over Himself, His Affairs, and His Products; Realized Through Individual Initiative, Free Contract, Cooperation, Competition, and Voluntary Association for Defense Against the Invasive and for the Protection of Life, Liberty and Property of the Non-invasive. FOREWORD In the preparation of this book, the Mutualist Associates specifically delegated the following of their members to assist the author: Henry Cohen, lawyer and publicist, whose lifelong study of the financial question has particularly fitted him for the formulation of the Mutualist idea of Money, Credit, and Exchange; John K. Freeman, educator and student of sociology, whose wide experience in pedagogy and in various aesthetic pursuits has qualified him to speak competently upon the relation of those subjects to Mutualism; Virgile Esperance, entrepreneur and industrialist, whose familiarity with the various processes of pro-duction and distribution has made him capable of treating those problems with genuine ability; Hans Rossner, libertarian and writer, whose philosophical studies and ripe scientific scholarship have rendered his criticism and constructive advice invaluable. With the division of labor thus indicated, and with the harmonious cooperation of all the collaborators, a comprehensive presentation of ideas has been produced that could have been secured in no other way. Unlike all authoritarian movements for social betterment, Mutualism requires no compulsory measures for its introduction or maintenance. It is eminently practical, and can be adopted at once in ever-widening circles of social and economic life with great advantage to those who practice it; and it 1 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) is based on a logical extension of the past history of mankind: the gradual evolution of free society. Finally, it may be said that, with the exception of Individualist Anarchism, which is not now actively organized in this country, no other proposed remedy for the ills of society has, as one of the cornerstones of its foundation, the unique concept on which Mutualism is built the principle of equal liberty. No other school has this one certain test by which all transactions between man and man can be measured. CLARENCE LEE SWARTZ Los Angeles, California, March, 1927 CONTENTS I. PRIVILEGE AND AUTHORITY The Development of "Big Business" The Growth of Monopoly The State as Oppressor Nefarious Features of Present System II. PROPOSED BUT INADEQUATE REMEDIES Socialism What has happened in Russia Some Socialist Prophecies The Single Tax Other Movements III. THE CASE FOR FREEDOM Mutualism Universally Applicable The Four Great Monopolies CONTENTS 2 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) Co-operation and Competition History of the Term Mutualism IV. MONEY, CREDIT, INTEREST AND EXCHANGE What is Money? The Gold Monopoly The Profits of Banking What is Interest? Benefit to the Workers Power of Interest Price Level Theory Awkward Not More but More Flexible Currency Needed Value of Paper Money Successful Experiments Necessity for Sound Basis for Money What is Credit? Insurance of Credit The Mutual Bank Mutual Bank in Operation The Marginal Producer Benefit to Farmer and Manufacturer Benefit to the Wage Worker V. MUTUALIST PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS What about the big trusts? Forms of Economic Organization CONTENTS 3 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) The Constitution of Price Patents and Copyright Distribution Price without Privilege (Tariffs, Franchises, etc.) Semi-Public Service Enterprises Under Mutualism VI. LAND AND RENT The Rent-Payer Economic Rent Russia's Land Experiment Land Ownership Abolish the Landlord Various Problems Solved VII. SOCIAL ASPECTS The Individual and Society Mutualism Essentially Libertarian Trial by Jury Invasiveness and Futility of the Ballot Mutual Insurance Freedom Instead of Authority The Boycott a Non-invasive Measure Rights Not Natural or Inalienable Mutualism Not Meddlesome VIII. EDUCATION AND THE ARTS CONTENTS 4 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) The Public School System Private Educational Institutions Arts and Culture IX. VOLUNTARY ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION -- THE CO-OPERATIVES The Co-operative Movement Co-operation is Libertarian Voluntary Organization Immediately Practicable Colonies Other Efforts X. METHODS OF REALIZATION Practical Program Ignoration of Laws Passive Resistance Tendency to Evade Taxes Voluntary Association Organized Labor's Opportunity APPENDIX Bio-Bibliography by Clarence Lee Swartz Some general comments and notes by John Zube Some Web Sites and Documents on Mutualism by GPdB [top] [Home] CONTENTS 5 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) [Home] [Mutualism : contents] Clarence Lee Swartz in collaboration with The Mutualist Associates "What is Mutualism?" (1927) I. PRIVILEGE AND AUTHORITY The Development of "Big Business" The Growth of Monopoly The State as Oppressor Nefarious Features of Present System In the consideration of any system that may be offered for the eradication of the evils that have grown up in the social and economic life of peoples, it is necessary to consider the beginning of those evils. When men became able to accumulate a surplus that is, when the question of property arose then the trouble began; and it has remained with the race to the present time. The first trouble that arose from property was the attempt of one man (or group of men) to take the product of another's labour. Since this started, it has been going on, in varying degree, continuously. From sheer violence or stealth, to the present refined means adopted by political institutions, the element of force has always been present, either directly and boldly, or indirectly and invisibly. From the simple effort of one individual to overcome and rob another, there soon developed the attempt of one clan, tribe, or group to conquer and subjugate another group, thus not merely taking the occasional accumulation of property of a person or persons, but also carrying off and enslaving the persons themselves. From that first primitive act of conquest and subjugation that first act of "governing" as it is known today - came what we now call the State. And through all the ages the State has retained the same old characteristic: it started in conquest, and that characteristic still dominates; it started, by plundering, and that (compulsory taxation) continues to be one of its chief activities. The functions of the State, then, were to overcome and subdue persons, secure and maintain dominion over territory, preserve itself against revolt from within and aggression from without, and, in short, to insure its existence. To do this effectively, it has had to rob, not only the subjugated outsider, but its own component parts under the euphemistic name of taxation; it has had to crush, not merely the invading enemy, but likewise its own subjects, CONTENTS 6 Clarence Lee Swartz : What is Mutualism? (1927) through punishment for treason, when they too strenuously differ from its policies. In other words, it has become the chief aggressor of all history. The State is symbolic of power; over its special domain, and, as far as its individual subjects are concerned, it is the embodiment of omnipotence, and from power naturally flows privilege. If the State may take, it may give; if it may punish, it may reward; if it may be tyrannical, it may be beneficent. So, in a rough way, its actions may be compensatory. It takes from one and gives to another; it oppresses one that it may favor another. Hence, under any State, no matter what its form, there are some persons and classes who are given privileges that all are not permitted to enjoy; in fact, and in almost all cases, they are privileges to prey upon the unprivileged persons or classes. The modern State, with a king at its head, reached its highest development in France in the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), when he was able to say, "I am the State"; but in England, where the power of the king to rule over the whole country had been recognized earlier, it was first successfully challenged by the great Puritan chieftains, and Charles I lost his head (1649). Forty years later came the great Revolution - bloodless, at that and, with the advent of William of Orange, kingly autocracy in England was permanently curbed. In France, where this centralization of power had come later, it lasted longer, and not until 1793 was the king of France beheaded. The revolution which purged France did not stop with sweeping away the power of kings, but included killing and driving out the nobility, confiscating their lands and giving these lands to the farmers. Thus, within a period of some two hundred years, political rulership, in the more advanced States of Western Europe, went from the king to the "people'', and economic rulership was transferred from the lords of the land to the employers of labour in the town. While the condition of the worker has improved, the noble dream of the eighteenth century inventors that machinery would take up all the burdens of labour and carry them like the genii in the Oriental story - has not yet been realized. Authority is now more responsible and responsive to the people, but the largest part of the populace is still dominated by it. With its increasing multiformity authority has become more and more extended. It is no longer a despotic king, but an even more irresponsible majority, acting through its organ, the State, that wields political power, while the landlord and the capitalist exercise economic domination far greater than the king once arrogated to himself.