“Freedom” the anarchist paper to close

[ALB]

This from their website:

http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2014/03/10/a-statement-from-the-freedom-collective/

Sign of the times or sign that it was no good?

[DJP]

ALB wrote:

Sign of the times or sign that it was no good?

The latter I think. If you see the kind of traffic that libcom.org gets there's clearly still much interest in anarchist type ideas..

[alanjjohnstone]

I use to be a regular reader during the 70s. The had a series of excellent centre pull-outs on particular themes. I'm sad to see it go.But i see they will make it a e-zine which i think we should also do for the Socialist Standard (some day)…make it weekly..make it daily… on the internet. So where does that leave the Socialist Standard…have we now got top billing as the longest surviving 'libertarian socialist'  journal in the UK perhaps even the oldest existing political monthly…(not sure about the mainstream statesman and spectator history)??

[ALB]

I'm not sure that "Freedom" could have claimed to have been "the longest surviving 'libertarian socialist' journal". It wouldn't have described itself as such as it catered for all brands of anarchism (except anarcho-capitalism) including individualist anarchists who regarded socialism as an extension of "the tyranny of the majority" they saw democracy as being.Second, it ceased publication between 1932 and 1945. It was never clear either who owned and controlled it, but it was something more like the tyranny of the minority, a precaution against being taken over by a group of organised anarchists (if that's not a contradiction).I used to subscribe to it too a long time ago and I suppose it is sort of sad to see it go under. In the 40s, 50s and 60s it expressed what the nebulous concept of anarchism meant at that time in this country.

[Author]

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