C4SS Feed 44 presents “Big Business and the Rise of American Statism” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Roy A. Childs, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. The purpose of this particular essay is simply to apply some of the principles of libertarianism to an interpretation of events in a very special and important…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Ryan Calhoun‘s “Jon Stewart, Jester for the Warfare State” read by Erick Vasconcelos and edited by Nick Ford. The difference between Carlin and Stewart is that Carlin was not beholden, he kept nothing as sacrosanct and by the time of his death had at one point offended the sensibilities of every demographic on the…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Thomas L. Knapp‘s “‘Intellectual Property’ is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” read by Erick Vasconcelos and edited by Nick Ford. I came late to the news of Twitpic‘s impending (and thankfully partial) closure and even later to an explanation for it. … That may not seem like a big deal but it was,…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “Economic Calculation in the Corporate Commonwealth” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Kevin Carson, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. Try as he might, Mises could not exempt the capitalist corporation from the problem of bureaucracy. One cannot define bureaucracy out of existence, or overcome the problem of distributed knowledge,…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “I Thought Monopoly Was the Whole Point of ‘Intellectual Property‘” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. Bear in mind that DRM itself — Digital Rights Management — was adopted at the behest of music companies, who saw anti-copying protections on proprietary content as central to their business model….

C4SS Feed 44 presents Thomas L. Knapp‘s “If You Vote — or Don’t Vote — Complain” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. If anything, those who DO vote are the ones giving up their rightful prerogative of complaint. They agreed to the process, filled out the paperwork, cast their ballots. They own the outcomes….

C4SS Feed 44 presents “Does Competition Mean War?” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Benjamin Tucker, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. When universal and unrestricted, competition means the most perfect peace and the truest co-operation; for then it becomes simply a test of forces resulting in their most advantageous utilization. As soon as…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Cory Massimino‘s “Ron Paul: Thick or Thin?” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. And what is underlying this respect for human rights? Paul rightfully says it’s tolerance, “…liberty is liberty and it’s your life and you have a right to use it as you see fit.” In other words, the…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Trevor Hultner‘s “Paul Krugman: “Leave Obama Alone”” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. http://youtu.be/eBs0x9ieCp8 Krugman believes that the president has “[changed] the country for the better,” despite bitter opposition from the GOP in Congress and people from the left, right and center on the outside. Krugman believes that the supposedly…

C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “Blue or Red, They’re All About the Green” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. To glimpse the true relationship between big business and the State, we need only briefly examine the data on how the political action committees (PACs) of the nation’s largest and most influential companies…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “Obama to GOP: Our Billionaires are Better Than Yours!” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. That’s not to say that the plutocratic constituencies of the two parties are identical, or that life might not be more tolerable for working people under one party’s agenda than the other’s. But…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “Corporations versus the Market; or, Whip Conflation Now” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Roderick Long, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. I don’t mean to suggest that Wal-Mart and similar firms owe their success solely to governmental privilege; genuine entrepreneurial talent has doubtless been involved as well. But given…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Roderick Long, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. Some will say that such rights are needed in order to give artists and inventors the financial incentive to create. But most of the great innovators in history operated without…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Valdenor Júnior‘s “Victims of Abortion Criminalization” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. I agree with jurist Ronald Dworkin in his book Life’s Dominion. He states that people wish to ban abortion because they understand there is some intrinsic value to life that must be preserved. However, that sacred value is…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Chad Nelson‘s “Challenging the Motives Behind War” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. But in war, all the war-making murderer needs is a place where he or she claims bad people exist. To hell with other details or circumstances. The rest of the war-making murderer’s conduct gets blanket immunity so…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Joel Schlosberg‘s “Crashing the Party of Lincoln” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. A closer look at the party’s history instead corroborates Kevin Carson’s assessment that from its inception, “the Republican Party is the direct heir to a long line of Hamiltonians, all seeking to use state power to promote…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “Fairness and Possession” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Gary Chartier, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. C4SS trustee and senior fellow Gary Chartier is a Professor of Law and Business Ethics, and Associate Dean of the School of Business, at La Sierra University. He is the author of Economic Justice…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “How Libertarians Should — And Should Not — Approach Millennials” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. Millennials are used to networked collaboration. In the workplace they view such collaboration with their peers as the way to get things done, and see traditional corporate managerial hierarchies as a form of…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “From Whence do Property Titles Arise?” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by William Gillis, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. Forgive the digression to my 90s Nickelodeon childhood, but in illustration I am reminded of an episode of Angry Beavers in which the brothers suddenly discover that they each have…

C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “The Black Hole of the American Injustice System” read by Christopher B. King and edited by Nick Ford. And while consumers pay top dollar for the prisoners’ expensive wares — and companies like Colorado Corrections Industries rake in millions — the prisoners themselves often make as little as 60 cents per…