To be an anarchist is to be anti-nationalist. It is no coincidence that national-anarchists have so often turned out to be white supremacists — the movement itself is crypto-fascist. However, our critique of nationalism and related critiques of things like in-group preferences must deeply understand the differing strategies behind largely distinct forms of nationalism if…

Towards the end of August, Ireland became the subject of much media attention. The reason was quite simple: Pope Francis was scheduled to make a two-day visit to the country, leading many in the media to ask whether “his Holiness” would acknowledge and apologize for the never-ending list of sexual, physical, and psychological abuses the…

The Bootleggers & Baptists allegory is a helpful illustration for understanding the motivations of actors within a regulated industry. Popularized by economist Bruce Yandel, it helps to explain how two seemingly unaligned groups can come together to support the same policy prescription — when they both stand to benefit from the outcomes. It goes like…

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many began to grow increasingly skeptical of the state’s response. Even many of those who were not in the anti-war movement ended up questioning the Bush administration’s reaction. While the official story placed the blame at the hands of al Qaeda who were currently hiding…

Quakers, the religious sect with which I most closely identify, have a long history of radical action. Historically, Quakers were leaders in the American abolitionist movement and adherents have long been allies of black liberation, womens’ rights, and other social justice struggles. Today, that tradition continues, with many meetings (the equivalent of a congregation) explicitly…

Rothbard’s role in shaping the character of the American libertarian movement cannot be overstated. In the early years, the movement was made up of a small number of individuals and, like a small town, everybody knew each other. The rapid expansion since then gave rise to a founder effect. The particular idiosyncrasies of our founding fathers…

With the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel causing so much mainstream controversy, other BDS movements often get overlooked. Alongside the current ongoing prison strike that started August 21st and is stated to go on until September 9th, there is also a BDS movement concerning companies that profit from prisons and prison slave…

Most of us in the radical labor movement are well aware of the historical bait-and-switch pulled with May Day and the modern American holiday established by the state known as Labor Day. Despite this many anarchists still take Labor Day as an opportunity to spread the message of worker liberation and freedom from capitalism. In…

A hot topic among the left right now is the issue of gun control. While  radical leftists have traditionally been in favor of gun rights, some have begun to justify gun control measures in the hope that it might de-fang white supremacist movements and end gun violence against marginalized communities. Many groups, including Dream Defenders…

This piece was co-authored with the late Syd Eastman. Rest in power Syd.  The War on Drugs is a failure. This seems more and more to be the modern consensus among the population as incarceration rates skyrocket only to line the pockets of a few greedy corporations feeding off of cheap prison slave labor. The…

Authoritarian regimes are brutal and untrustworthy. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, an agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in effect from 1939 to 1941, shows how dangerous the schemes of authoritarians can be to people who live within their reach. The Pact helped Hitler launch the racial war he sought, helped Stalin launch his own…

When looking to solve the issue of climate change and other forms of environmental damage, people tend to look at two kinds of solutions: those targeting the individual, such as recycling, turning off your lights, bicycling, and unplugging your electronics when not in use, or more statist solutions, such as banning plastic straws, carbon taxes,…

The cages are rattling again all across the nation. Today marks the launch of yet another nationwide prison strike. Following the wave of strikes this year, from the MLK Day strike to the Juneteenth strike, prisoners are once more organizing to have their demands heard and things only look to get louder and more organized…

“Project Fear,” a strategy used by anti-Brexit forces in the UK, was an attempt to save the status quo by appealing to fears, worst-case scenarios, and the gravest predictions. It’s a common tactic for resisting change. In June, a wave of similarly dark headlines struck a fledgling area of science that could otherwise become the…

I am disabled. According to the conventional world and medical world, I am highly disabled. I am a C6 incomplete quadriplegic. I feel nothing from the chest down. My right side has tricep, bicep, wrist function, and limited hand function (as I type this with one finger); my left side has bicep, a sliver of…

Libertarians and leftists do not speak the same language when it comes to “free trade” but I think there’s something to be said for what both parties are getting at. I’m going to try to do a bit of translating between them that I think might frustrate both teams, hopefully in a good way. When…

Perhaps one of the more striking attacks against libertarian thought is the claim that it, like all other political insights, is just another variation of authority. This argument is exemplified by Engels’ “On Authority” in which he argues that revolution and organization in the anarcho-syndicalist/communist tradition is authoritarian. Revolt is construed into just another assertion…

When facing the walls, fences, and guards that corralled them into the concentration camps and human slaughterhouses of the past century, do you think the victims regretted how impolite they’d been to their captors before finding themselves here? Since the spread of the industrial revolution across the world, our lives have consistently been more and…

The following is republished from the author’s site. I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone it’s Pride Month. It’s been advertised everywhere from Google to Twitter. A coming out party for the wholesale corporate appropriation of an underground movement. It’s not even Queer Pride Month anymore, that title has become too politically incorrect, it…

Promises, as a pledge of one’s efforts and other resources for another, represent the pinnacle of humans’ moral commitments. Yet a promise reveals our deep commitments most clearly when uncoerced and freely discharged. Thinking of social institutions as standing promises simultaneously highlights the desirable aspects of institutions and yet provides the grounds for their criticism….