There are books that are really unique. This is one of them. It's for the real anarchists:

About the book

Might is Rights was published first in 1890 by the pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard. It advocates for the right of the mighty, similar to the speech of Callicles in the Gorgias dialoque of Plato and the teachings of the greek Sophists. It also resembles thoughts of Friedrich Nietzsche. The book is in my view the purest outline of the philosophies of individual anarchism and social darwinism, it is a fundamental work of anarchist capitalism. James J. Martin, an anarchist historian, called the book „surely one of the most incendiary works ever to be published anywhere.“

The person behind the pseudonym Ragnar Redbeard is still unknown. Some suspected Jack London to be that person, others argued for Arthur Desmond. But this question doesn’t have interest to me. The book speaks for itself. 

A copy of the book can be downloaded at archive.org. It's already public domain.

So let’s take a look at this „incendiary“ book. At the beginning of it, Redbeard describes in brief his view of the world and of life:

„The natural world is a world of war; the natural man is a warrior; the natural law is tooth and claw. All else is error. A condition of combat everywhere exists. We are born into a perpetual conflict. It is our inheritance even as it was the heritage of previous generations. This ‚condition of combat‘ may be disguised with the holy phrases of St. Francis, or the soft deceitful doctrines of a Kropotkin or Tolstoi, but it cannot be eventually evaded by any human being or any tribe of human beings. It is there and it stays there, and each man (whether he will or not) has to reckon with it. It rules all things; it governs all things; it reigns over all things and it decides all who imagine policemanized populations, internationally regulated tranquility, and State organized industrialism so joyful, blessed and divine.“ (introduction)

In the first chapter Redbeard is proclaiming „Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong“ and debunks all conventional moral codexes as illusions that enslave the people that following them:

„The Commandments and laws and moral codes that we are called upon to reverence and obey are themselves the insidious enginery of decadence. It is moral principles that manufacture beggars. It is golden rules that glorify meekness. It is statute laws that make spaniels of men.“ (chapter 1,2.)

That’s exactly what Callicles is telling about moral principles in the Gorgias dialogue of Plato. 

Redbeard advocates for the free individual with strong words:

„Freemen should never regulate their conduct by the suggestions or dicta of others, for when they do so, they are no longer free. No man ought to obey any contract, written or implied, except he himself has given his personal and formal adherence thereto, when in a state of mental maturity and unrestrained liberty. It is only slaves that are born into contracts, signed and sealed by their progenitors. The freeman is born free, lives free, and dies free. He is (even though living in an artificial civilization) above all laws, all constitutions, all theories of right and wrong. He supports and defends them of course, as long as they suit his own end, but if they don’t, then he annihilates them by the easiest and most direct method. There is no obligation upon any man to passive obedience, when his life, his liberty and his property are threatened by footpad, assassin or statesman.“ (chapter 1,4.)

His anarchist belief can be found throughout the book in a very open expression:

„Masterful men laugh with contempt at spiritual thunders, and have no occasion to dread the decisions of any human tribunal. They are above and beyond all that. Laws and regulations are only for conquered vassals. The free man does not require them. He may manufacture and post up Decalogue regulations, to bind and control dependents with, but he does not himself bow down before those inventions of his own hands, — except as a lure. Statute books and golden rules, were made to fetter slaves and fools. Very useful are they, for controlling the herds of sentenced convicts, who fill the factories and cultivate the fields. All moral principles therefore are the servitors, not the masters of the strong. Power made moral codes, and Power abrogates them.“ (chapter 1,5)

Redbeard outlines a political philosophy, that is not against power. It admires power actually. His political philosophy condemned the subordination to power and praises the exercise of power. That makes it very special:

„How did government of man by man originate?
By force of arms. Victors became rulers.
But among US government force is abolished?
That is a popular delusion. It is stronger than ever.
How is it that we do not see it clearly?
No need of compulsion with inferiors ever eager to obey.
How can the Mastership of man be destroyed?
It can never be destroyed. It is essential.
But for one man to reign over another is wrong?
What is ‘wrong’? The Strong can do as they please.
Who are the ‘Strong’?
They who conquer. They who take the spoil and camp on the battlefield. All life is a battlefield.
How did subjectiveness originate?
The first slave was a defeated fighter, afterwards tamed by hunger and blows. His descendants being born and trained to submissiveness are more tractable. All the Servile Classes are posterity of beaten battlers.
Then vassalage still flourishes as of yore?
Certainly. In the pitiless strife for existence, all weaklings and feeble-minded persons are justly subordinated.
But we are taught ‘all men are created equal’?
You are taught many a diplomatic Lie.
How can a slave recover his liberty?
By re-conquering his conqueror. If he feels that he not man enough then he MUST submit, cut his own throat, or die fighting unsubdued.
But freedom may be granted to him?
‘Freedom cannot be granted, it must be taken’.
Then Strife is perpetual, inevitable, nay, glorious?
Yes! It is intended as an ordeal, a trial by combat. It unmistakably divides the guilty from the non-guilty.
But that is a harsh philosophy?
Nature is harsh, cruel, merciless to all unlovely things. Her smile is only for the Courageous, the Strong, the Beautiful and the All-Daring.
You have no comfort for the ‘poor and lowly’, the ‘innocent ones’, the ‘downtrodden’?
The poor and lowly are a creeping pestilence — there are no innocent ones, and the downtrodden are the justly damned — sinners in a hell they’ve made.
You praise the Strong, you glorify the Mighty ones?
I do. They are Natures noblemen. In them she delights: the All-Vanquishers! the Dauntless Ones!“ (chapter 3, The Philosophy of Power)

There is much more worth mentioning in this book, especially the rejection of christian moral, but this should have given you a good view of it’s content. And maybe the inspiration to read it for yourself.

How "Might is Right" inspired me

„Freedom“ is a word that dominates the political sphere today like no other. But what is freedom? Am I free when I have a job that provides me money to buy food and shelter? Is freedom the absence of material suffering and open torture by my masters? Or am I free, when I bend to know rules and live a self-determined live with all the risks that comes with it. This two forms can shortened into two kinds of freedom:

1. Freedom as the absence of material suffering and torture - paid by sticking to several rules of society.

2. Freedom as the ability to do whatever I want - paid with the burden of bury the consequences of my actions.

It seems to me, that the modern and democratic understanding of freedom is lacking something essential - the notion of being free in the sense of the wild animal or the ancient warrior. You can call the first form of freedom the relative freedom and the second the absolute freedom. 

What kind of freedom do you choose first?

There is one simple text question: What is best in life?

Is it to lay in the sun at a pool in your two weeks of holidays from your job, while reading in a magazine about the fancy life of celebrities and texting with your friends about what to shop next?

This is the imagination of the best in life for many people today. Compare this to the answer of a free man in the sense of Ragnar Redbeard. Let’s ask Conan:

What is best in life, Conan?

These are the words of a free man.

The point is that most of the people have nearly forgotten the second form of freedom and that someone has to fight for this kind of a free life. - Of course in a world of mighty states and corporations the freedom to do whatever you like is limited. But that brings the need for fighting against the oppression. 

This fight could be expressed in different ways: living in the mountains, be self-employed, using cryptocurrencies ... you name it.

Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard is for me a distinct reminder of absolute freedom and the inevitable struggle to get it and keep it. It is exaggerated in its philosophy but therefor very clear and intriguing. It helps me to escape the mental bonds of modern life and thinking. It is the tool against the falling into the modern slavery of consumerism. It is a reminder of the other world, the world of the free man. And the way to achieve real freedom.

What do you think?

Let's have a discussion about the book in the comment section of this article. 

Previous books in this series

#1 „Atlas Shrugged“ by Ayn Rand

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