Anarchism

Is It A Market Economy?

This entry was posted in Anarchism Economics Libertarianism on by

Thoreau asks:

When so many major elements of the ostensibly private sector–the press, telecommunications, and oil, just to name a few (I’m not including the “defense” industry, because there’s nothing even ostensibly “private sector” about it)–are part and parcel of our security state and imperial policies, does it make sense to describe this as being even the faintest semblance of a market economy and system of private enterprise?

That is a question that really shouldn’t need asking. The US economy is not a market economy and has not been since, well, pretty much forever.
It is important to remember that every time someone blames the market, or the free market, or some other similar entity for failing that it is a corporate state economy that has failed and the corporate state economy will fail again and again except at achieving its primary objective: scraping wealth off of the backs of the rest of us.

For more details read Kevin Carson’s The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand.

The Totalitarians Amongst You

This entry was posted in Anarchism Government on by

Who are they?

…to the totalitarian, something does not have to be ‘evil’ to warrant the use of force to discourage it, you merely have to have (a) coercive power (b) disapprove of another person’s choices regarding their own life. That is all the justification you need, simply the fact other people are not living the way you think they should, in your presumably infinite wisdom.

Do you recognize any in your community?

Yes, Applaud These Kids

This entry was posted in Anarchism Federal Government Government on by

Ed Brayton encourages us to applaud these kids and I am happy to join him.
They are certainly taking a step in the right direction.
However, why are they reciting any pledge at all?
The only ones who should be reciting a daily pledge are our servants: government employees everywhere.
As I wrote here a couple years ago:

..there is a group who by dint of their position should recite a pledge…probably several times per day. That would be the set of government employees, elected, appointed or hired, throughout the world. Our servants: congress critters, kings and queens, premiers, secretaries of desks and states, governors, presidents, soldiers, firepersons, police, mayors, etc.
They, each and everyone, in every government job throughout the world should start their day with something like:

I pledge allegiance to the people of name your jurisdiction and swear to protect their lives, help them maintain their liberty and assist them in their pursuit of happiness.

…and repeat it frequently throughout the day and once again before going to sleep at night.

Free individuals are under no obligation to recite pledges of allegiance of any kind.

Do You Have A Right To Work?

This entry was posted in Anarchism Government on by

You might agree with Justice Douglas who in dissent said:

The right to work, I had assumed, was the most precious liberty that man possesses.

This, though, is not the case in the United States where, for example, in California you can’t help folks keep pigeons off their roofs with spikes without spending two years learning about pesticides.
A constitution that does not protect the right of consenting humans to employ or perform work for others is no constitution at all. Governments that use their monopoly power to protect one class of people, absent fraud or force, from competition by another class of people has no legitimacy. Its agents, the courts, elected officials and hirelings who enforce such practices are perpetrating crimes against humanity.

Via The Volokh Conspiracy.