Comments on Revolutionary Violence

by ,

Fifth Estate # 288, December 1977

Muswell Hillbillie Responds: Hi FE Folks, After reading the two letters (FE #287, October 28, 1977) responding to my article in the August FE (#285, August, 1977), I have decided to abandon the use of the term “terrorism,” because I …

Comments on Revolutionary Violence Read More »

Industrialism & Domestication

by ,

Fifth Estate # 287, October 28, 1977

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the rise of capitalism was met by bitter and intense resistance. Its establishment was only effectuated by the imposition of the factory system as a method of social control. The result was …

Industrialism & Domestication Read More »

New York, New York

by ,

Fifth Estate # 285, August, 1977

“Amid All the Camaraderie is Much Looting this Time; Seeing the City Disappear.” —Wall Street Journal headline, July 15 The Journal went on to quote a cop on what he saw, as the great Bastille Day break-out unfolded: “People are …

New York, New York Read More »

Notes on Captivity

by ,

Fifth Estate # 284, July, 1977

“Few books today are forgivable. Black on the canvas, silence on the screen, an empty white sheet of paper, are perhaps feasible.” — R.D. Laing, The Politics of Experience

Medieval Revolts against Church and State

by ,

Fifth Estate # 274, July 1976

In a fairly recent booklet, I came across a very standard view of pre-modern class society. It was stated that the life of the individual was completely controlled, and based on something quite external to him. “The central mode of …

Medieval Revolts against Church and State Read More »

“Revolt Against Work” or the End of Leftism?

by ,

Fifth Estate # 281, March, 1977

FE Note. The December 1976 Fifth Estate carried a critique by Charles Reeve (see “The Revolt Against Work or Fight for the Right to Be Lazy,” p. 9) of the contentions of John and Paula Zerzan that the crisis point …

“Revolt Against Work” or the End of Leftism? Read More »

Who Killed Ned Ludd?

by ,

Fifth Estate # 271, April, 1976

The argument that the advent of capitalism brought a rise in the standard of living for workers has been refuted before, but is shown graphically in these two prints. Prior to the dominance of the capitalist economy and the establishment …

Who Killed Ned Ludd? Read More »

Examining Zerzan

by , , , ,

Fifth Estate # 368-369, Spring-Summer, 2005

Much of primitivist theorist John Zerzan’s early work appeared in the Fifth Estate. His Cassandra-like predictions of imminent collapse of modern society began in 1976 with his FE article, “The Decline and Fall of Everything” [FE # 268, January, 1976]—a …

Examining Zerzan Read More »

The Decline and Fall of Everything

by ,

Fifth Estate # 268, January, 1976

The landscape of capitalism is a global one, existing everywhere with only minor variations. But this universal reign of the paycheck and the price-tag is approaching a state of crisis, becoming noticeable to all but those whose idea of politics …

The Decline and Fall of Everything Read More »

Top