Fred Woodworth is an anarchist

Anarchism

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 and atheist

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 based in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He is an anarchist without adjectives, saying: "I have no prefix or adjective for my anarchism. I think syndicalism can work, as can free-market anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market...

, anarcho-communism, even anarcho-hermits, depending on the situation. But I do have a strong individualist streak. Just plain anarchism—against government and authority—is what I'm for."

The Match!

Since 1969 Woodworth has published the internationally-known anarchist zine

Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

, The Match! from his home in Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

. The Match!, with about 2,000 readers, has consistently questioned authoritarian government, society, and religion since the magazine’s inception. Computers, organized religion, the police, the U.S. Census, jury duty, and the bookselling industry are just a few of the institutions regularly disparaged in its pages.

The Match! is known not only for its non-digital typography and graphics, but also for its extensive letters section.

Ethical anarchism

Woodworth is a proponent of the philosophy of ethical anarchism (what some might call treating the means as the end in progress).

Woodworth is often seen as American individualist anarchism's ethical

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 counter-weight to writers such as Bob Black, Tad Kepley, John Zerzan

John Zerzan

John Zerzan is an American anarchist and primitivist philosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of prehistoric humans as an inspiration for what a free society should look like...

, Feral Faun

Wolfi Landstreicher

Wolfi Landstreicher is the former nom de plume of a contemporary anarchist philosopher involved in theoretical and practical activity...

 and organizations such as CrimethInc.

CrimethInc.

CrimethInc., also known as CWC , is a decentralized anarchist collective of autonomous cells. CrimethInc. emerged in the mid-1990s, initially as the hardcore zine Inside Front, and began operating as a collective in 1996...

, Killing King Abacus, and Venomous Butterfly Publications that support theft

Theft

In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...

 and violence

Violence

Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

 as an expression of egoist and individualist political activism (primarily of the illegalist

Illegalism

Illegalism is an anarchist philosophy that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland during the early 1900s as an outgrowth of individualist anarchism...

 and insurrectionist

Insurrectionary anarchism

Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which emphasizes the theme of insurrection within anarchist practice. It is critical of formal organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political programme and...

 type). Woodworth has criticized these individuals and groups in articles within The Match! and even sparred with some of them in the very extensive letters pages on occasion.

Health and financial situation

In 2005 Woodworth had to undergo major surgery. A plea went out throughout the zine and anarchist communities to help him out with donations since he's never had healthcare coverage.

External links

• Dream World, by Kent Winslow

Works by Woodworth

Articles and Essays

• How to Smash the State, by Fred Woodworth
• Definition of Anarchism, by Fred Woodworth
• Religion Scores Another Hit (from Sept. 11, 2001 issue of The Match!), by Fred Woodworth
• The Koran: A Review (from Sept. 11, 2001 issue of The Match!), by Fred Woodworth
• A Few Reasons Not to Serve on Juries, by Fred Woodworth
• It Rests on You!, by Fred Woodworth
• Fingerprint Evidence: The Opening Salvo, by Fred Woodworth
• A Printer Looks at Fingerprints, by Fred Woodworth

Letters

• Letter to the Editor of Port Of Call, by Fred Woodworth
• Second Letter to the Editor of Port Of Call, by Fred Woodworth