An Agorist Roadmap

An Agorist Roadmap, by Kyle Bennett, guest poster on Let A Thousand Nations Blossom blog.  A very interesting article. A little light on substance, but heavy on "Rah rah!" And I think the libertarian movement needs a little more of both, so the post is worth a read - and is compelling enough to stimulate some further reading.

The Fed Gov Needs to Stoke a Dubbie

My dad, a medical professional, went to another conference that featured a lecture that picked on a recreational drug (The last drug of ill repute was alcohol and the "discovered" genetic determiner for alcoholism.).

The gist of the talk was that marijuana saps initiative, so it must be kept from the hands of the young.

Well, maybe the Obama administration needs to light up some herb, because the bureaucracy has done far too much.

Natural Law Supercedes the State

It's about time to purge criminals and their government-class code of conduct from the halls of the state.

End state-sanctioned crime.

Decriminalize Freedom.

Freedom is Legal.

A state that violates freedom is illegal.

Your statute does not make my freedom illegal.

Statute ≠ Law

Statute = unNatural Law

Secession As A Foil For World Government

Interview of Hans-Herman Hoppe by Le Québécois Libre, December 7, 2002:
 
QL: Political globalism tends towards the emergence of a world state. Is this phenomenon reversible? How should we oppose it? 
  
H.-H. H.: Interstate competition has indeed the tendency of leading ultimately to the formation of a world state. This phenomenon is reversible, however. For one, people should be reminded that it was precisely the near anarchistic structure of Europe as compared to China, for instance, that explains the rise of capitalism, i.e., the so-called European economic miracle: small states, in direct competition with others, must be moderate to their own population in order not to lose their most productive citizens.  
  
For instance, small states must engage in free trade rather than protectionism. All government interference with foreign trade forcibly limits the range of mutually beneficial inter territorial exchanges and thus leads to relative impoverishment at home as well as abroad. But the smaller a country, the more dramatic this effect will be. A country the size of the U.S. might attain comparatively high standards of living even if it renounced all foreign trade. In contrast, if a territory the size of a city or village engaged in protectionism, this would likely spell disaster or even death.  
  
In order to reverse the trend toward centralization and ultimately the creation of a world government, it is crucial that an alternative vision be promoted and popularized in public opinion. We must promote the idea of secession. Or more specifically, we must promote the idea of a world composed of tens of thousands of distinct districts, regions, and cantons, and hundred of thousands of independent free cities such as the present day oddities of Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Greatly increased opportunities for economically motivated migration would thus result, and the world would be one of small liberal governments economically integrated through free trade and an international commodity money such as gold.  

"1984" In Our More "Sophisticated" Times

"War is peace," but we'll just call it "Defense." "Freedom is slavery," but we'll just call it "Fairness." "Ignorance is strength," but we'll just call it "Mainstream Common Sense."

How I Became An Anarchist

Jeff Berwick always asks his guests on Anarchast podcast: "How did you become an anarchist?"

Well, personally, I was born of two career military personnel, one who had been previously maternally discharged. It seemed, when I met a few Army brats that were not like me, in other words very happy with the brat lifestyle , that I was more like Jim Morrison, yet less self destructive. So in more words, I was developing into a non-bomb-throwing anarchist.

How did I discover that I was an anarchist? More on that later.

Channeling Obama For Purposes Of Commenting On Our Surveillance State

I have been forced by circumstance and a few small people to address the issue of domestic spying.

I made a campaign promise to not spy on innocent Americans, and to , of course, supply law enforcement with the tools they needed to fight crime and terrorism. That was a promise not an oath, I did not swear to it, I did not place my hand on TWO bibles - one from my intellectual hero and one from a person I was politically bound to honor, and I'll let you figure out who was who - I did not place my hand on two bibles, I did not swear to tell the truth. So once I entered the Oval Office, I had to deal with reality. I made a measured response to what I had to deal with. I weighed your freedoms against my quest for power. I came down on the side of crony statism. If you don't get what I'M getting to, then look it up, there are resources out there, even in public libraries, for a while yet.

And for all you out there who speak of tyranny and that flexible, adaptable, breakable document called the Constitution: You ... Haven't ... Seen ... Nothing ... Yet.

Market Failure Theory

From Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government by Thomas DiLorenzo:

Market failure theorists, whose epicenter was for many years the Harvard and M.I.T. economics departments, had three main characteristics: 

First, they concocted mathematical models that were usually far removed if not totally detached from economic reality. ...

The second characteristic of the market failure theorists is a con- sistent application of what UCLA economist Harold Demsetz labeled “the nirvana fallacy.” The game is played as follows: First, construct a totally un- realistic theory of “perfect” competition that assumes away all real-world competition with assumptions of perfect information, homogenous prod- ucts and prices, free or costless entry and exit from industry, and “many” firms. Second, compare real-world markets to this utopian Nirvana state and condemn the markets as “imperfect” or “failed.”

The third characteristic of market failure theories is to recommend intervention by presumably perfect government that is assumed to suffer from no failures and which will correct the failures of the market. (p. ix-x)

"Crony Capitalism" Is An Affront To Capitalism

What is the best term for our current system that has merged corporate and federal state power (not to mention, devolved to the local level of business and town power)?

I had settled on "crony capitalism," but I am uncomfortable with including capitalism in the term, because the behavior or activity is more about privilege than capitalism.

An element of our current system is "socialism," but that only describes a portion of the system. Socialism seems to only served as a panacea for the masses - and a weapon to wip free-market actors.

"Fascism" seems to be what I constantly return to. Mussolini was purported to have called it "corporatism," but "corporatism" can refer to an entirely state-run or civic entity, and Mussolini probably didn't say the quote anyway. Also, "fascism" is such a loaded term with connotations with rabid nationalism (though our system is nationalistic, e.g. "community of nations" crap, etc.) and racism (the current use of race bating and urban-favoring rhetoric illustrates the fault in that vein of the current federal administration).

"Corporatism" excuses the local businesses that crony up to city councils and mayors.

So what can I finally settled on? The state is the final nexus of control over individual's lives, no matter how complicit mega banks and mega corporations are in that control. The state is the nexus of evil, worshipped unconsciously by subjects and overtly by the "supercitizens."

For now, I'm settling on "crony statism," because the state coops the power of corporations, civic organizations, individuals, and other businesses in exchange for favor and protection.

UPDATE: And I can't claim to have invented the term, so I might be onto something:

Submitted by Ed Thompson, Jan 20, 2012 18:11

To quote Mr. Kudlow, “Strong stuff. Good stuff.” But it’s crony *statism*, not crony capitalism. Crony capitalism reverses cause and effect. It is government that is selling favors it has no right to sell. It should stop. There should be laissez-faire, complete separation of economics and state. See www.PrinciplesOfaFreeSociety.com.

http://www.nysun.com/comments/81013

But neither can Ed Thompson:

Apparently  T.M. Callagny can claim inventing the term around 1990. See page 4 at the link below, "Child Soldiers In the Civil War in Sierra Leone:"

http://repository.forcedmigration.org/pdf/?pid=fmo:3365

NEXT: Searching for a blanket term to label the privileged class of individuals in a crony-statist system. "

Individualism vs. Collectivism

There is a vast casm between the philosophies of individualism and collectivism. The vast majority of Americans occupy the space in between - until collective action affects an individual.

If a collective action benefits an individual, then the individual leans towards collectivism. If a collective action harms an individual, then the individual leans towards individualism.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans, in that vast casm, are clustered on the statist bank of collectivism. Pragmatically, the individual garners exponentially more on the free bank of individualism by virtue of - freedom. Fortunately, there is a great awakening in our country. People are seeing the error of putting faith in the state and the truth that rights and sovereignty are inherently individualistic.