#anarchist theory

The friends of freedom are offended by selfishness, because in their religious striving for freedom they cannot free themselves from divine “self-abnegation,” Egoism upsets libertarians, because an egoist does not care about a thing for the sake of the thing. If he or she cares about anything, it is for her or his own sake. It is egoistic not to ascribe an “absolute” value to anything, but to seek the value of everything in me.

-Max Stirner, Freedom and Self-Ownership

My freedom is diminished if I cannot impose my will on something outside of myself, whether something inanimate, such as a boulder, or something wilful, such as a government or an individual boss. I diminish my self-ownership if I resign myself to the loss of my freedom, give up, yield, or humiliate myself in loyalty or submission. It is one thing to discontinue an enterprise which is not succeeding, or turn off a wrong road, and quite another thing to surrender. I go round a boulder, until I have enough gunpowder to blast it out of the way. I circumvent the rule of a nation, until I have gathered the strength to overthrow it. I cannot reach the moon, but does that mean I must regard it as “sacred”? I do not surrender to you, I only wait. When I can come at you I will; and meanwhile, if I can find any weakness in you, I will draw it to your attention…

-Max Stirner, Freedom and Self-Ownership

To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated, regimented, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, evaluated, censored, commanded; all by creatures that have neither the right, nor wisdom, nor virtue… To be governed means that at every move, operation, or transaction one is noted, registered, entered in a census, taxed, stamped, priced, assessed, patented, licensed, authorized, recommended, admonished, prevented, reformed, set right, corrected. Government means to be subjected to tribute, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, pressured, mystified, robbed; all in the name of public utility and the general good. Then, at the first sign of resistance or word of complaint, one is repressed, fined, despised, vexed, pursued, hustled, beaten up, garroted, imprisoned, shot, machine-gunned, judged, sentenced, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed, and to cap it all, ridiculed, mocked, outraged, and dishonoured. That is government, that is its justice and its morality!

PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON

Man is truly tree only among equally free men.

MICHAEL BAKUNIN

Every State is a despotism, be the despot one or many.

MAX STIRNER