Tag: freedom
Anarchism Without Hyphens
…They [anarchists] spring from a single seed, no matter the flowering of their ideas. The seed is liberty. And that is all it is. It is not a socialist seed. It is not a capitalist seed. It is not a mystical seed. It is not a determinist seed. It is simply a statement. We can be…
Oltre il Mare
Dalla costa marocchina, nove migranti guardano al di là del Mediterraneo, verso la Spagna. C’è la possibilità di guadagnarsi la libertà, di ritagliarsi una esistenza decente. Sono scappati dalla Siria, il Sudan, lo Yemen, la Libia e da altri paesi in Medio Oriente e Nordafrica. Povertà, guerra, terrore, oppressione e perdita di tutti gli averi…
New Zealand is Trolling with its Anti-Trolling Bill
On June 30th, New Zealand’s parliament passed a bill that attempts to outlaw cyber-bullying and other forms of inappropriate online behavior. The Harmful Digital Communications Bill’s maximum penalties include two years in jail or fines of up to $33,900 in American dollars. The law establishes a new agency to investigate damage caused by digital communications. Digital bullying is…
Across the Sea
On the Moroccan Coast, nine migrants gaze across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. Across the sea lies hope. There is a chance for freedom, a chance to carve out a good life. They have fled Syria, the Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Poverty, war, terror, oppression and…
The Politics of Wilderness on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Grant A. Mincy‘s “The Politics of Wilderness” read by Joey Clark and edited by Nick Ford. “Regarding the ANWR proposal, sit back and watch the depraved political theater unravel before your eyes. This move for conservation depends on congressional Republicans. There is no chance the GOP will approve the wilderness title. Bloomberg notes Alaska…
Down and Dirty Freedom
Thaddeus Russell A Renegade History of the United States Free Press, 2010 For Thaddeus Russell freedom doesn’t come from a political system, a social order, a station in life or any other such institutionalized relationship. It is the practical ability I have to do what I want in my daily life. To the extent that such freedom exists, it…
The Politics of Wilderness
The Obama administration is turning heads by proposing new protections for large portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. ANWR is often referred to as the “Last Great Wilderness” because it boasts 19,286,722 pristine acres of truly wild Alaskan land. The U.S. Department of Interior says this may be one of the largest conservation measures “since Congress…
Reclaiming the Public on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Grant A. Mincy‘s “Reclaiming the Public” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. Common governance awards all members of a given community equal rights — power is equally distributed. There is no coercive body delegating policy. Common governance is rooted in liberty, not enclosed by a monopoly of force and violence. For…
On the Leaves of a Rhododendron
Some of my fondest childhood memories are with my parents hiking around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One memory is particularly vivid. I was six and on the trail to Abrams Falls after a summer rain moved through the forest. The sun was just again peaking through the canopy. As my folks and I…
Howl for the New Year
Another year is over. The New Year holiday is a natural time of reflection. When the ball drops and fireworks pop in the early January sky 2014 will be gone. A whole new year of human history will begin. A whole new year to continue our beautiful struggle. If there is one fact our collective history…
Peace is Goodwill
Peace on Earth and goodwill toward all — in a world of conflict, ’tis the season of peace. Sadly, this holiday season the United Nations released a study indicating that 2014 is among the worst years on record for the world’s children. Chronicled in the report is another disturbing history of war and state violence. An estimated…
Reclaiming the Public
A new study by Duke University scholars Troy H. Campbell and Aaron C. Kay (“Solution Aversion: On the Relation Between Ideology and Motivated Disbelief,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) suggests that politics is the root of all social ills. The research finds that people evaluate issues based on the desirability of policy implications. If said implications are undesirable…
America’s First Revolutionary
There can be no prescription old enough to supercede the Law of Nature and the grant of God Almighty, who has given to all men a natural right to be free, and they have it ordinarily in their power to make themselves so, if they please.–James Otis, Jr. James Otis, Jr. (2/5/1725-5/23/1783) of West Barnstable, Cape…
Memorial Day Thoughts
J. Edward Carp has already written a fine piece on Memorial Day, but I see no reason why there isn’t room for another. One might expect an anarchist such as myself to simply trash veterans as stooges of the state, but I have a more nuanced perspective to offer. Memorial Day is often used by…
Canadian Immigration Authorities
I had my first experience with the Canadian state this week. The immigration authorities questioned me about my trip to Canada. One dicey moment was when the customs officer asked about whether I paid taxes or not. I replied that I only pay sales tax. I haven’t made enough money to pay income tax since…
Perfect Freedom
Perfect freedom is often dismissed as a fantasy. This post is aimed at refuting that notion. A good starting point is the late Ellen Willis’s distinction between personal and sovereign freedom. The former pertains to the ability to do whatever you want as long as you obey the law of equal freedom. This law stipulates…
Pay Taxes or Go Directly to Jail
It’s been more than a month since Toine Manders, tax consultant and former leader of the Dutch Libertarian Party, was arrested and jailed for protecting his clients from theft.  Less than a week away from his son’s first birthday Toine is still held prisoner and his custody has been extended for an additional 90 days….
An Open Letter To The Peace Movement: Reply To A Friend’s Criticisms Expanded
In a previous post; the following was said: You’re more concerned with property values than human freedom. What’s truly destructively selfish is your willingness to use initiatory force to uphold your property values. Freedom matters more. My interlocutor responded to the comment thusly: It’s not that I’m more concerned with property values than personal freedom…
Bradley Manning: The Mighty Fist!
On Wednesday, we learned the fate of American whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning. Manning was sentenced to  35 years in prison for leaking documentation of war crimes to Wikileaks, after conviction on violating key provisions of the Espionage Act (an act which is in and of itself an offense to liberty and repeatedly abused by the…
The Declaration of Independence in American
WHEN THINGS get so balled up that the people of a country got to cut loose from some other country, and go it on their own hook, without asking no permission from nobody, excepting maybe God Almighty, then they ought to let everybody know why they done it, so that everybody can see they are…
Anarchy and Democracy
Fighting Fascism
Markets Not Capitalism
The Anatomy of Escape
Organization Theory