O sistema de medicina dos Estados Unidos é corrupto, ineficaz e desnecessariamente caro. Esses resultados decorrem da violência do estado em favor da elite politicamente bem relacionada (especificamente seguradoras privadas, médicos, empresas farmacêuticas e de equipamento médico). Escassez artificial, superfaturamento, má alocação de financiamento de pesquisa e supressão de terapias alternativas (não patenteáveis) podem ser…

In the late 19th century, the decentralizing potential of the Second Industrial Revolution — the introduction of electrical power into industry — was a common theme in social analysis. The idea was that electrical power was destroying the technical rationale for large factories. The main reason for the Dark Satanic Mills of the First Industrial…

There are a growing number of complex wicked problems facing natural ecosystems and human civilization. In recent years we have seen that social movements can advance and uphold public welfare, seek justice and progress society. Throughout history, people’s movements have challenged institutions and power structures. Today these movements are beginning to address our most urgent…

Ich setze als bekannt voraus, dass kein Politiker mehr als Hohn und Spott verdient, dass sie samt und sonders ein System der Macht und Privilegien repräsentieren, das auf legalisierten Raub in einem gigantischen Maße hinausläuft. Nun, nachdem das gesagt wurde, mögen Republikaner – für ihre verblüffende Fähigkeit, sich von der Realität loszulösen – den Preis für…

Muitos economistas acham que a próxima bolha a estourar em nossa atual crise será a dos empréstimos a estudantes. A dívida de empréstimos a estudantes encontra-se em alta histórica, e as taxas de empréstimos federais estão prestes a dobrar, de 3,4% para 6,8% – a despeito de pequeno esforço para fazer com que os juros dos empréstimos a estudantes acompanhem…

VRIJE MARKT: De inrichting van de samenleving waarin alle economische transacties voortvloeien uit vrijwillige keuze, zonder dwang. DE STAAT: De instelling die de Vrije Markt belemmerd via de directe uitoefening ban dwang of het toekennen van privileges (gesteund door dwang). BELASTING: Een vorm van dwang en belemmering van de Vrije Markt waarin de staat tribuut…

Every once in a while I’m inspired to write a column by looking through my feeds and stumbling across two items that dovetail together so well the column almost writes itself. This is one of those times. There are several hard realities that most liberals — as opposed to those of us on the genuine…

Many economists think that the next bubble to burst in our current crisis will be student loans. Student loan debt is at a historic high, and federal loan rates are about to double, from 3.4% to 6.8% – despite a small effort to have student loan interest rates mimic the rates government grants big banks. This…

The following section of the book, The Illuminatus! Trilogy,  is translated into Deutsch from the English original, written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. FREIER MARKT: Der Zustand der Gesellschaft in dem alle ökonomischen Handlungen (Geschäfte) auf Freiwilligkeit basieren, nicht auf Zwang. DER STAAT: Die Institution die den freien Markt behindert durch die direkte Anwendung von…

Since November, more than a thousand Bangladeshi garment workers have perished in two tragic factory calamities: a fire in Tazreen and a building collapse in Savar, outside the capital, Dhaka. Bangladesh is a major exporter of apparel to the West and “is set to become the world’s largest apparel exporter over the next few years,”…

The following article is translated into Portuguese from the English original, written by Kevin Carson. De todos os comentários pretensamente libertários que tentam colocar a tragédia das confecções de peças de vestuário de Bangladesh em “perspectiva,” o de Benjamin Powell é provavelmente o pior (“Sweatshops Em Bangladesh Melhoram A Vida De Seus Trabalhadores, E Estimulam Crescimento,” Forbes, 2…

Of all the self-styled libertarian commentaries attempting to put the Bangladesh garment factory tragedy in “perspective,” Benjamin Powell’s is probably the worst (“Sweatshops In Bangladesh Improve The Lives Of Their Workers, And Boost Growth,” Forbes, May 2). In Bangladesh, Powell writes, “some 4,500 garment factories employ approximately 4 million workers. In the grand scheme of…

The American medical system is corrupt, ineffective and unnecessarily costly. These outcomes are due to state violence on behalf of the politically connected elite (namely private insurers, physicians, pharmaceutical and medical device companies). Artificial scarcity, price-gouging, misallocation of research funding and the suppression of alternative (non-patentable) therapies can be ameliorated

The following article is translated into Deutsch from the English original, written by Kevin Carson. Es gibt einen brillanten Satz dafür, wie Kapitalismus in der realen Welt funktioniert (ich bin mir nicht sicher wer zuerst drauf kam, aber ich verbinde ihn mit Noam Chomsky): die Sozialisation von Risiko und Kosten, und die Privatisierung von Profit. In…

In a speech last month about proposed gun control legislation, President Obama decried opponents’ attempts to encourage “suspicion about government.” “The government’s us,” he responded. “These officials are elected by you. They are constrained as I am constrained, by a system that our founders put in place.” But if government were “us,” why would we…

I recently translated a chronicle of the recent violent crackdown on the Alberdi Hall artists collective in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s a perfect case study of statist attack on public property, on an autonomous initiative that produced a highly valued cultural offering for the community with a clear potential of standing on its own financial…

In the final speech Avrich collected in The First Mayday, Voltairine explains why August Spies and the martyrs all alike held the traits of the common-man and why this is an admirable trait. She goes at length admitting many so-called “faults” of the common-man but then reversing the dialogue and conversation and showing it as…

“I don’t try to make you believe something you don’t believe, but to make you do something you won’t do.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein “Over and over, you’re falling, and then catching yourself from falling. And this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time.” — Laurie Anderson I’ve written before about the importance of Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions for left-libertarians. Here’s another…

In a new paper in the Cato Institute’s Policy Analysis, K. William Watson and Sallie James contend that American companies have increasingly used domestic “regulation as a way to disguise protectionist policy,” a growing problem that advantages U.S. companies at the expense of consumers. The authors counsel a skepticism toward “regulatory proposals backed by the…

In the time after the Haymarket Affair it was most likely pretty common to have many big questions in the anarchist “scene” at the time about the incident. One of which was probably, “was the sacrifice worth it?” “how should we feel about it?” and in the first speech in this compilation de Cleyre tries…