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…

C4SS Senior Fellow and Karl Hess Scholar in Social Theory Kevin Carson interviewed on the Decline to State podcast. Kevin Carson, a well-known and well-respected mutualist talks to us about mutualism, his views on a free society, and more. We get to hear his views on economics, including his ideas on how to fuse the Labor Theory of…

Gehen Sie zu einer durchschnittlichen libertären Veranstaltung an einem beliebigen Tag, und es ist wahrscheinlich, dass Sie ausführliche Verteidigungen für unternehmerische Globalisierung, Wal-Mart, Offshoring, Nike’s Sweatshops, steigende CO2-Pegel, Einkommensunterschiede und Wohlstandskonzentration, Managergehälter, Pharmaprofite und Microsofts Marktanteil sehen werden, alle basierend auf Prinzipien des „freien Marktes“ – verbunden mit energischem Bestreiten aller wahrgenommenen Übel korporatistischer Macht,…

Tuttle: An introduction to a left libertarian conception of political economy that has emerged from many collaborative and challenging conversations within the market anarchist milieu, known as Freed Market Anti-Capitalism.

Carson: Had the industrial revolution taken place in a genuine free market, our economy today would probably be far closer to the vision of Lewis Mumford than that of Joseph Schumpeter and Alfred Chandler.

Kevin Carson: The large firm and the factory system did not become the dominant economic institutions because of some objective technological imperative, or their superior efficiency in a free market. They became the dominant economic institutions because of their superior effectiveness at controlling labor; and then the state intervened in the market to make them efficient enough to survive.

M. George van der Meer: We are now approaching a breaking point, a culmination of long-unfolding trends that will witness the old forces of rigid hierarchy and centrality collide with the dynamism of the networked, freed market.

Benjamin Tucker: The usurer is the Somebody, and the State is his protector. Usury is the serpent gnawing at labor’s vitals, and only liberty can detach and kill it.

Kevin Carson: I’m not calling for “anarchist politicians” to run for office and exercise political power. Our involvement in politics should take the form of pressure groups and lobbying, to subject the state to as much pressure as possible from the outside.

The following two comments were written by Charles Johnson in response to comments, concerns and misreadings regarding his article Libertarian Anticapitalism.

For every subscription or bundle of the “Market Anarchy Zine Series” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.

For every copy of “The Industrial Radical: Liberty the Mother not the Daughter of Order” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.

SEK3: “Capitalism is state rule by and for those who own large amounts of capital.”

For every copy of Kevin Carson’s “The Subsidy of History” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.

Gary Chartier: Being a libertarian means opposing the use of force to restrain peaceful, voluntary exchange. That doesn’t mean it should be understood as involving support for capitalism.

Charles Johnson: For most of the 20th century, American libertarians were mostly seen as — and mostly saw themselves as — defenders of capitalism. Was that an accurate view of 20th century libertarians were about?

Kevin Carson: If you can get past the flaws in Shermer’s book (things others might prefer to think of as my fixations, hangups, and dead horses), it’s quite an enjoyable read.

For every copy of Kevin Carson’s “The Free Market as Full Communism: Two Essays on Mutual Ownership & Post-Scarcity Market Anarchism” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.

For every copy of “Distributed Technology & Worker Ownership: Five Conversations on the Economics of Anarchy” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.

For every copy of Charles Johnson’s “Socialize, Don’t Privatize” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage.