James Tuttle alerted me to an appendix discussing Hayek’s conception of coercion in Murray Rothbard’s, The Ethics of Liberty. It serves as the jumping off point for a broader discussion of what constitutes coercion. Let us begin by contrasting the definitions of coercion employed by Hayek and Rothbard. Rothbard defines coercion thus: the invasive use…

Recently, a rebuttal of my previous article “Anarcho-Capitalism is Impossible” was brought to my attention. The author, Christopher Cantwell, made some points that are worth addressing and my own thoughts on the matter have shifted somewhat over time. Therefore, I think it would be worth revisiting the topic with fresh eyes. In his introductory paragraphs,…

C4SS has teamed up with the Distro of the Libertarian Left. The Distro produces and distribute zines and booklets on anarchism, market anarchist theory, counter-economics, and other movements for liberation. For every copy of Barbara Sostaita & Judith Ayers’s “Liberty Beyond White Privilege” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage. Support C4SS with Barbara Sostaita & Judith Ayers’s “Liberty…

Amanda Marcotte discusses the tribalism of the religious right. William Norman Grigg discusses police brutality. David R. Hoffman discusses the NSA and CIA as criminal enterprises. Arthur Silber discusses psychological manipulation and lying. Arthur Silber discusses atrocity in the context of war. Arthur Silber discusses neurosis and terror as national policy. Arthur Silber discusses a…

Transfer of Power Arguably the most powerful person in the United States (even rivaling the POTUS), Ben S. Bernanke, has left the Federal Reserve. Since 2006 he has sought to make the economy his marionette. Fed policies, under his direction, worked to manage a collapsed housing market, busted mortgage industry and the 2008 global financial crisis –…

The Jacobin recently published a good piece by Peter Frase titled “The Left and the State.” In it he discusses a recent attack on Glenn Greenwald, Edward Snowden, and Julian Assange. This attack was published in the well known liberal magazine, The New Republic. He makes use of another good piece by libertarian, Will Wilkinson….

“From Crossbows To Cryptography: Techno-Thwarting The State” [PDF] was written by Chuck Hammill and presented for Future of Freedom Conference, November 1987. Public Domain: Duplicate and Distribute Freely You know, technology—and particularly computer technology—has often gotten a bad rap in Libertarian circles. We tend to think of Orwell’s 1984, or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, or the proximity detectors keeping East…

John Stossel recently penned a piece titled Equality vs Liberty. In it, he argues that wealth inequality is not a serious issue. This post is the beginning of a lengthier response to him. It will be expanded into an opinion editorial. Quotations from Stossel will be used in both pieces. Stossel remarks: It’s true that…

More than a few libertarians appear to hold the view that only rights violations are wrong, bad, and deserving of moral condemnation. If an act does not entail the initiation of force, so goes this attitude, we can have nothing critical to say about it. On its face, this is strange. If you observe an…

Carlton Hobbs recentemente desafiou a tendência da corrente principal dos libertários, defensores do livre-mercado e anarco-capitalistas a favorecer a corporação capitalista como modelo primário de propriedade e atividade econômica e a assumir que qualquer sociedade de livre-mercado futura será organizada no padrão do capitalismo corporativista. Como alternativa a essa forma de organização, Hobbs propôs a…

Carlton Hobbs recently challenged the tendency of mainstream libertarians, free marketers and anarcho-capitalists to favor the capitalist corporation as the primary model of ownership and economic activity, and to assume that any future free market society will be organized on the pattern of corporate capitalism. As one alternative to such forms of organization, Hobbs proposed…

Konkin offered a scenario [PDF], using agorist class theory, to illustrate the difference between a limited-government libertarian and an agorist: “Consider the individual standing at the corner of the street. He can see two sides of the building behind him as he prepares to cross the street. He is hailed and turns around to see an acquaintance from the…

Jacob Huebert has penned a very informative introductory text to libertarian philosophy called Libertarianism Today. It was a pleasure to read, but this left-libertarian market anarchist has some qualms to raise. A detailed review is in the works, so this will be a brief exploration. Quotations from the book will be provided for the reader’s…

O editor do The Freeman, Sheldon Richman, discursando na George Mason University, levantou a questão sobre o que os libertários convencionais querem dizer quando chamam um país de “capitalista”. O que qualifica um país como “capitalista”? Muitos países com índices relativamente baixos de liberdade econômica (incluindo aqueles classificados como “majoritariamente não-livre”) são normalmente considerados “capitalistas”, e referenciados…

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…