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 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

            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

            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

            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 Gian Piero de Bellis

 


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