Might is Right

Might Is Right, or The Survival of the Fittest, is a book by pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard. It is considered to either advocate social Darwinism or satirize it, and was first published in 1890. In Might is Right, Redbeard rejects conventional ideas of human and natural rights and argues that only strength or physical might can establish moral right (a la Callicles).

Libertarian historian James J. Martin called it "surely one of the most incendiary works ever to be published anywhere." ^[1]

Authorship

Some, such as S. E. Parker, suspect Ragnar was a pen name for radical New Zealander Arthur Desmond, a prominent advocate of Henry George's Single Tax.^[2] Some see it as hard to reconcile the difference in their politics. Most who believe that Desmond was Redbeard believe the book to have been a work of satire.

Others believe that Jack London wrote Might is Right.^[3] As with Desmond the difference in politics is great (London's political activism started in the Marxist Socialist Labor Party and ended in the Socialist Party), and mainstream London-scholars have not supported the assertion that Redbeard was London. Claims that London was Redbeard come, in part, from Satanists^{[citation needed]}; Anton LaVey thought him "the most likely candidate".

Ragnar's publication is also the source whence much of the Satanic Bible, authored by the now-deceased Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan, originated, especially the 'Book of Satan.'

Editions

• Auditorium Press, 1890
• A. Uing Publisher, 1896
• A. Mueller Publishers, 1903
• W.J. Robbins Co. Ltd, 1910
• Ross’ Book Service, 1921
• Dil Pickle Press, 1927
• unknown publisher, 1962 (18 page abridged edition)
• same unknown publisher, 1969 (expanded 32 page edition)
• Revisionist Press, 1972 ISBN 0-87700-187-1 (reprint of 1927 Dil Pickle edition)
• Loompanics Unlimited, 1984 ISBN 0915179121
• M.H. P & Co. Ltd., 1996 (Centennial edition, with intro by Anton LaVey)
• 14 Word Press of St. Maries, Idaho, 1999
• Bugbee Books, 2003.
• 29 Books, 2005 ISBN 097485672X (reprint of 1927 Dil Pickle edition)
• Dil Pickle Press, 2005 ISBN 0-97282-330-1 (edited and annotated by Darrell W. Conder)
• Zem Books, 2008.
• Edition Esoterick, 2009 (German Hardcover edition) ISBN 978-3-936830-31-6

References

1. ^ http://www.nonserviam.com/egoistarchive/SidParker/Parker_Ego_06.htm
2. ^ http://www.dpjs.co.uk/criticism/smulo.html#_ftn139
3. ^ http://www.dpjs.co.uk/criticism/smulo.html#_ftn139

External links

• Might is Right Dil Pickle Press Edition - a new edition edited by Darrell W. Conder with over 350 new footnotes and other clarifications.
• Hypocrisy, Plagiarism and LaVey contains side by side comparisons of Might Is Right with The Satanic Bible
• I Beheld Desmond As Lightening Fall--to Chicago! (The Story of Arthur Desmond, 'Ragnar Redbeard' and 'Might Is Right') by Darrell W. Conder