The Fifth Estate is one of the longest running anti-authoritarian periodicals in the United States. The magazine has gone through several different phases. Some people prefer the phase in the 1980s and 90s when Fifth Estate was a more theoretical magazine which was cutting important ground on topic like the environment and technology. I prefer the current incarnation of the magazine, which is a more eclectic publication on many topics from a wider range of writers and contributors. Fifth Estate has long been published in Michigan, but recent issues have been published in Tennessee and New York City.

Fifth Estate #378 (vol.43, no.2)

PO Box 201016, Ferndale, MI 48220; Four issues for $10. www.fifthestate.org.

The Fifth Estate is one of the longest running anti-authoritarian periodicals in the United States. The magazine has gone through several different phases. Some people prefer the phase in the 1980s and 90s when Fifth Estate was a more theoretical magazine which was cutting important ground on topic like the environment and technology. I prefer the current incarnation of the magazine, which is a more eclectic publication on many topics from a wider range of writers and contributors. Fifth Estate has long been published in Michigan, but recent issues have been published in Tennessee and New York City.

In an example of fortuitous timing uncommon to quarterly anarchist magazines, the theme of this issue is “Money.” With the crashing world economy on everybody's minds these days, Fifth Estate presents several different takes on the subject of money and economics. The headline essay, “The End of Money”, by Daniel Pinchbeck is a meandering look at the nature of money with mentions of Marx and the liberal writer David Korten. This essay hits an annoying note when the author references Hopi prophecy about great societal transformations and conspiracy nonsense about some Mayan prediction that 2012 will be the end of the world. Peter Lamborn Wilson contributes a dull and boring essay about money and power, surprising because Wilson is usually more eloquent in his writing.

One of the more interesting essays on money in this issue is Don LaCoss' “Counterfeiting Sovereignty.” LaCoss traces the development of currencies in the United States—in the 19th century round 10,000 different currencies were circulating in the United States. He then outlines the efforts by the U.S. government to stamp out currencies other than the one official one issued by the government. LaCoss raises lots of questions about how counterfeiting calls into question the mass belief that official government currency is worth something and that it really is printed and issued by the government. LaCoss also examines different stories and theories about counterfeiting of U.S. currency being conducted by states hostile to the U.S. and possibly by the United States itself. Even if these stories about contemporary statist counterfeiting are false, there are some plausible reasons why states would engage in counterfeiting.

Fifth Estate goes from macroecnomic to the “micro” economics of shoplifting. It's not surprise to find an article sympathetic to shoplifting in an anarchist publication, but this subject is controversial even among anarchists. In “Shoplifting and the Politics of Instant Gratification”, Cookie Orlando provides a refreshingly nuanced treatment of this subject. Orlando incorporates interviews with three anarchists who shoplift into this essay. They come from a variety of anarchist perspectives—one is even a union organizer. None of them think that shoplifting is revolutionary, but they explain the various reasons and motivations for their choice to shoplift.

This issue also has several excellent features unrelated to the economics theme. Cara Hoffman writes about the Rossetti sisters, who were publishing an anarcho-communist newspaper in the late 19th-century in England. Helen and Olivia Rossetti published The Torch for five years during the 1890s. The sisters were active supporters of reproductive rights, sexual freedom, and feminism. They would later write a novel titled A Girl Among the Anarchists.

Walker Lane recounts his recent trip to Cuba in “An Anarchist in Cuba: Socialism or Cell Phones.” Lane makes some interesting observations about the current state of Cuba, but his account comes across as a series of tourist snapshots.

Another excellent feature in this issue is Jim Feast's “The African Road to Anarchism.” This is an analysis of the political situation in West Africa based on the author's recent trip to Gambia. Feast explains that decades of neoliberal policies have undermined military dictatorships and created a swath of weak states across Africa. These states are unable to provide basic government services, so people at the local level are stepping up to provide services via traditional forms of self-organization and cooperation that have always existed across Africa.

Normally, if I weren't reviewing this issue, I would have ignored Joshua Sperber's “Tarot Cards & the Left.” This piece is not about tarot cards. Sperber criticizes how certain leftists like to prognosticate “doom and gloom” scenarios with the intent of waking people up to take action. He brings up recent scare-mongering about the U.S. attacking Iran and explains why he doesn't think this will happen. The present is already horrible enough for billions of people around the world that it doesn't help when some leftist visions for a different world are based on apocalyptic thinking.

This issue also includes remembrances of the late Utah Phillips and Hanon Reznikov, who was an artist with the Living Theater.

Reviewed by Karen Elliott.