53 quotes
To demonize state authoritarianism while ignoring identical albeit contract-consecrated subservient arrangements in the large-scale corporations which control the world economy is fetishism at its worst.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
Your foreman or supervisor gives you more or-else orders in a week than the police do in a decade.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
Work is production enforced by economic or political means, by the carrot or the stick.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
Those on the receiving end of coercion don’t quibble over their coercers’ credentials.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
My minimum definition of work is forced labor, that is, compulsory production.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
They don’t denounce what the state does, they just object to who’s doing it.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
Once you drain the vitality from people at work, they'll likely submit to hierarchy and expertise in everything. They're used to it.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
Egoism in its narrowest sense is a tautology, not a tactic.
Preface to The Right To Be Greedy (1983)
I think my basic viewpoint is that everything the left and right say about each other is true. And the reason it's true is because they have so much in common.
All industrial (and office) workers are employees and under the sort of surveillance which ensures servility.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
You find the same sort of hierarchy and discipline in an office or factory as you do in a prison or a monastery.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
A glance at the world confirms that their utopian capitalism just can’t compete with the state. With enemies like libertarians, the state doesn’t need friends.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
I was coming from the New Left of the 60’s, but I was increasingly disgruntled with the left of the 70’s.
Preface to The Right To Be Greedy (1983)
They’ve been mystified by their own metaphors. Like the market, the state is an activity, not an entity.
The Libertarian as Conservative (1984)
The demeaning system of domination I've described rules over half the waking hours of a majority of women and the vast majority of men for decades, for most of their lifespans.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
Anybody who says these people are "free" is lying or stupid. You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work, chances are you'll end up boring, stupid and monotonous.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
An optimal sexual encounter is the paradigm of productive play. The participants potentiate each other's pleasures, nobody keeps score, and everybody wins. The more you give, the more you get.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
Either way, dissent and disobedience are punished. Informers report regularly to the authorities.
The Abolition of Work (1985)
We need anarchists unencumbered by anarchism. Then, and only then, we can begin to get serious about fomenting anarchy.
Anarchism And Other Impediments To Anarchy (1985)