One question that libertarians and anarchists never stop hearing is “without government, who will build the roads?” Given Bridge-Gate — an intentionally manufactured traffic jam on New Jersey’s George Washington Bridge — one might ask “without government, who will block the roads?” The scandal emerged after four grueling days of inexplicably awful traffic turned out…

In my last blog post; I discussed some criticisms of Roderick T. Long’s, An Open Letter to the Peace Movement, by a non-anarchist or non-libertarian friend. This post continues that discussion. It contains responses to a part of my friend’s response not previously dealt with. The earlier comments will be given a second look in…

Foundation The Industrial Revolution is typically regarded as a story of capitalism, free enterprise, and progress in technology and living standards. This paper attempts to disentangle the threads of capitalism, free enterprise, and progress, in the context of the Industrial Revolution, with a focus on Britain and the United States. It aims to bring some historical perspectives into…

A recent emailing of Roderick Long’s, “An Open Letter to the Peace Movement,” precipitated some criticisms from a non-libertarian and non-anarchist friend. This post will be a response to those criticisms. The author’s name will be withheld. If he so chooses, he can reveal himself in the comments section. The original text of the piece…

Los aficionados de la tecnología y defensores de la privacidad observaron atentamente el ataque que Microsoft lanzó a finales de 2013 contra el sistema operativo Chrome de Google. Por un lado, es inusual que una empresa gaste los dólares de su presupuesto publicitario atacando a sus competidores en lugar de promover sus propios productos. Por…

Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty of New York City is shaping up as a textbook example of Roderick T. Long’s account of how electoral politics works in practice: “… via a façade of opposition between a purportedly progressive statocracy and a purportedly pro-market plutocracy. The con operates by co-opting potential opponents of the establishment; those who…

Scrivo spesso della scarsità artificiale come sorgente di rendita per le classi possidenti, e sul ruolo che ha lo stato nell’imporla. Ma l’altra faccia della moneta è il ruolo che ha lo stato nel rendere artificialmente abbondante, per le classi privilegiate, ciò che è scarso in natura. Un esempio lo vediamo dalle notizie che parlano…

Tech aficionados and privacy advocates took notice in late 2013 when Microsoft rolled out an attack on Google’s Chrome OS computers. For one thing, it’s unusual for any company to spend its advertising dollars attacking its competitors rather than promoting its own products. For another, Microsoft’s position atop the computer operating systems market is such that…

Glenn Broadnax, di Brooklyn, New York, soffriva di ansia e depressione. Secondo i documenti recentemente resi pubblici dal tribunale, il pomeriggio del 14 settembre stava “parlando con i suoi parenti morti che erano nella sua testa”, una cosa che lo spingeva a “buttarsi davanti alle auto per uccidersi”. Poiché intralciava il traffico, arrivò la polizia….

C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “The Libertarian Road to Egalitarianism” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. But we needn’t regard inequality as a weak point in our arguments for economic freedom, or as an issue on which we simply cannot win. Existing economic relations are not the product of freedom of exchange or…

C4SS Senior Fellow Gary Chartier talks to right libertarian John Stossel about Markets Not Capitalism and why advocates of freed markets should oppose capitalism. http://youtu.be/INfSOUgLHG8

Libertarianismo é um projeto redistributivo. Esse é um outro ponto de vista em que o anarquismo radical de mercado é justamente visualizado como parte da tradição socialista. Estatistas de esquerda e direita são a favor da redistribuição da riqueza. Libertários, pelo contrário, se assumem muitas vezes como totalmente contrários a toda forma de redistribuição. Mas…

Durante tutta la durata della “chiusura” del governo americano, i politici democratici hanno paragonato i loro rivali repubblicani ad “anarchici”, dicendo che la “chiusura” dimostra la necessità di un governo. Un esempio è un recente intervento al senato della senatrice Elizabeth Warren, democratica. I fraintendimenti del suo intervento sono rampanti. Confonde cooperazione e governo dicendo: “Nella nostra…

Recently Mike Konczal (“‘Corporatism’ is the Latest Hysterical Right-Wing Accusation,” The New Republic, December 15) attacked “corporatism” as a pernicious right-wing meme, ostensibly aimed at exposing Obama’s policies for “enriching the well-off” but in reality a “reactionary” agenda freeing big business from accountability. I think he underestimates the extent to which the “corporatism” and “crony…

The Canadian Supreme Court recently struck down the anti-prostitution laws of the country. This sound legal decision provides an occasion for a deeper discussion of the dynamics of sex worker politics. In particular, it allows for a dialectical or contextual left-libertaian analysis. Chris Matthew Sciabarra ably describes dialectics as: “Dialectics is the art of context-keeping….

“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want…

In the wake of the Duck Dynasty controversy, Tom Woods recently made a post connecting the matter to his grievances surrounding “thick libertarianism.” Woods defines the distinction between “thin” and “thick” libertarians as follows: Some libertarians say the traditional libertarian principle of nonaggression is insufficient. That is merely “thin” libertarianism, they say. We also need…

The annual digests continue. Let’s get moving on number 9! Stephen Masty has a quiz to decide whether you’re an imaginative conservative or not. Matthew Feeney discusses 5 hot foreign policy subjects of 2013. Gene Healy discusses the myth of isolationism surrounding a foreign policy of non-intervention. Laura Carlsen discusses the setbacks for women’s rights…

In einer Ansprache, die die Luftangriffe auf Libyen durch die USA und ihrer Verbündeten zum Thema hat, sagte Präsident Obama, dass das Scheitern zu handeln „ein Verrat an uns selbst wäre“, dass ein Massaker in dem Land „das Gewissen der Welt beflecken“ würde. Jedes mal wenn die Elite der Außenpolitik des Imperiums anfängt davon zu…

I write a lot about artificial scarcity as a source of rents for the propertied classes, and the role of the state in enforcing it. But the other side of the coin is the role of the state in rendering naturally scarce things artificially abundant to the privileged classes. We can see this in recent…