Neither Bullets Nor Ballots: Essays on Voluntaryism

By: Carl Watner, George H. Smith, Wendy McElroy

Narrated by: Rodger Paxton

Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

The Voluntaryists are libertarians who have organized to promote non-political strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice as incompatible with libertarian goals.

Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntarists seek instead to delegitimize the state through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends.

©1983 Carl Watner (P)2018 Rodger Paxton

If non violent, non political activism had a manifesto this is it.

This book takes the idea of non violent and non political action and presents logical arguments and historical perspectives. Beginning Wendy McElroy intro defining the movement “The Voluntaryist seeks to reclaim the anti-political heritage of libertarianism.”.

From here a hypothetical and witty dialogue between one for political action and the voluntaryist disputes efficacy of such activity written by George H Smith takes place. Almost every cliché in the affirmative is used and the voluntaryist response unwinds the flaw in each.

The case solidifying the origins and success of non political action and consequences of mixing into politics is presented in the following sections written by Carl Watner and Wendy McElroy.

The Narration by Rodger Paxton is crisp,strong and articulate. Pronunciation is always perfect and volume and tone of the recording is excellent even for listening with the noise from driving or busy environments.

Excellent Explanation of Voluntaryism

I wish I had read this book before I spent a lot of time and money on a campaign for Arkansas Governor. I came to a lot of these Voluntaryist understandings during that campaign and I would have before hand had I taken the time to read this resource.

Anyone who is trying to understand Voluntaryism or simply wants to see the foundations for the belief system would find this read both authoritative and comprehensive. Reading these essays helps dispel a lot of the what-about-ism that keeps many from even scratching the surface of the deep and layered trains of thought in Voluntaryist thinking.

Rodger give an astounding articulation for this book of essays. His tone was solid. He capably portrayed the intentions of the essay authors in a way that was interesting and kept my attention. Finished the book in a day.

right on time

Helps clarify and broadcast concepts of voluntaryism and illustrate the immorality of voting or participating in any political process. Helps the audience see that anarchy is the opposite of chaos, in fact government is chaos. -anampaiseanta.com

A smart book!

a brilliant and scholarly examination of a topic that can be understood through common-sense means or academic means. Carl Warner is brilliant, and one of the greatest voluntaryists and stoics ever to have graced humanity. This book is yet another nail in the coffin of small government Utopia philosophy.

Intriguing

This presents several pieces of the puzzle on whether anarchists should use politics or violence to achieve their ends. I found each piece to be compelling to someone favorable to the position of non violence, but maybe not so much to someone who wants to use politcs or violent revolution.
That is, until I reached the last chapter on the European experience. All the material comes together at this point.This shows that all arguments, all speculation about how things would play out, has repeatedly never favored the anarchists. To look at the evidence and think anarchists just haven't done it right yet is no different than a socialist saying socialism has worked yet because the right people haven't been in charge.

Very informative

A great book for those who are transitioning from statist to anarchist. I am currently on my second listen through. Rodger has a clear, concise voice that makes this a great book to listen to.

Quintessential Treatise for Voluntaryism

Neither Bullets Nor Ballots could be considered a collection of the founding documents of Voluntaryism. Or, at least, some of the most important documents to describe what Voluntaryism is and how it differs from Minarchy, which most people associate with Libertarianism. Most Libertarians start as Republicans or Democrats who have finally opened their eyes to the violent, corrupt Statist nature of the two major parties. Along the path to seeking Liberty most will end up at the Libertarian Party and Minarchy, but the ultimate destination should be true Liberty, which is the absence of any government force in their lives, or Voluntaryism. This book is illumination along that path. Listening to Rodger Paxton's smooth read is as sweet as listening to Bill Withers sing.

Recommend for all

Best non political action book in the market place. Rodger Paxton does a superb job. Wish I could say more but the book speaks for itself and my review won’t do it justice