The Gary Schools

Randolph Silliman Bourne

Randolph Silliman Bourne was a progressive writer and intellectual born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University. He is considered to be a spokesman for the young radicals living during World War I. His articles appeared in journals including The Seven Arts and The New Republic. Bourne is best known for his essays, especially his unfinished The State, which was discovered after he died and published posthumously in the 1919 collection Untimely Papers. It includes his famous dictum war is essentially the health of the state, which laments the success of governments in arrogating authority and resources during conflicts.