Promises, as a pledge of one’s efforts and other resources for another, represent the pinnacle of humans’ moral commitments. Yet a promise reveals our deep commitments most clearly when uncoerced and freely discharged. Thinking of social institutions as standing promises simultaneously highlights the desirable aspects of institutions and yet provides the grounds for their criticism….

“America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited” by Sheldon Richman. 2016.   The American abolitionist, and pioneering individualist anarchist Lysander Spooner once wrote of the US Constitution “…this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit…

VOLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE PHILADELPHIA’S WOMAN ANARCHIST; HER THEORIES AND VERSES Offspring of a French communist and a New England Puritan Woman, She Was Born to Enthusiasm and Hobbies-Rabid in her Anarchism, and Believes in Unhappiness as Part of the Highest Ideal Life Picture to yourself a tall woman – her age may be 26 years-with…

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…

I am mystified that so many libertarians still see the U.S. Constitution as a landmark achievement in the struggle for liberty. On principle alone, they should have become wary in time. A document that is adored at virtually every position in the political firmament should arouse suspicion among libertarians. Moreover a smattering of historical knowledge…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Roderick Long‘s “Black Jurors Need Not Apply” read by Moses Sayre Sukin and edited by Tony Dreher. The way in which jurors are chosen in the United States is intended to ensure an unbiased jury; and part of that process is the right of “peremptory challenge,” by which the prosecution and…

Un articolo pubblicato il 29 ottobre sul Washington Post prende in esame il piano “rivoluzionario” di Bernie Sander su come cambiare in un solo colpo il sistema bancario e quello postale. L’autore cita il fatto che “dal 1911 al 1967, le poste assunsero anche funzioni bancarie”, permettendo così ai clienti di depositare denaro in un…

An article published on October 29th by the Washington Post discusses Bernie Sanders’s “revolutionary” plan to change the banking system and Postal Service in one fell swoop. The author mentions that “from 1911 until 1967, the Postal Service also served as a bank,” where customers could deposit money into a savings account. Sanders, recognizing that low income…

If you’re black, you may have trouble getting on to a jury. The way in which jurors are chosen in the United States is intended to ensure an unbiased jury; and part of that process is the right of “peremptory challenge,” by which the prosecution and the defense are each allowed to reject a certain…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Chad Nelson‘s “The Boston Marathon Two Years Later – A Policeman’s Delight” read by Joey Clark and edited by Nick Ford. For Constitution-worshippers it is one more tear in the Fourth Amendment, which purportedly guarantees Americans protection from random and baseless searches by the state. But the Fourth Amendment is regularly…

Illuminating Discord: An interview with Robert Anton Wilson By Jane Talisman and Eric Geislinger (Columbia Region New Libertarian Alliance) (Originally published in New Libertarian Notes/Weekly 39, September 5, 1976; reprinted at RAWillumination.net) CRNLA: Tell us a little about your background. RAW: I was born into a working class Irish Catholic family in Brooklyn 44 years…

Benjamin Tucker famously held that property in real estate depends on continued personal occupancy, so that when a landlord undertakes to rent out a plot of land or a building to a tenant, the “landlord” actually surrenders ownership to the “tenant,” who — despite whatever contract she may have signed — has no obligation, enforceable…

Primeiramente, devo afirmar minha convicção de que Lysander Spooner e Benjamin R. Tucker foram inigualáveis como filósofos políticos e que nada é mais necessário hoje em dia que um renascimento e um desenvolvimento de seu legado esquecido para a filosofia política. Na metade do século 19, a doutrina individualista libertária havia chegado a um ponto…

McKay, Iain, 2008 An Anarchist FAQ, Section G: Is Individualist Anarchism Capitalistic? Anarchist Writers, accessed 25 May 2015, McKay, Iain (2012) An Anarchist FAQ: Volume 2 (AK Press) Section G: Is Individualist Anarchism Capitalistic?,   The Anarchist FAQ Collective’s “Anarchist FAQ“ is a massive work, which has been constantly maintained and updated since 1996. The FAQ gives very…

With the second anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing upon us, NPR is running a series called “The Road Ahead”. In its daily segments, NPR examines how everyday lives have been affected by the horrific events two years ago. One unfortunate but seemingly inevitable part of that road entails law enforcement’s stepped-up abuses of its…

Como esperado, as reações ao discurso no Congresso americano do primeiro-ministro israelense Benjamin Netanyahu foi recebido com as conhecidas divisões partidárias tanto nos Estados Unidos quanto em Israel. Aqueles que já são suscetíveis à retórica pró-guerra de Netanyahu ouviram um argumento irrefutável contra qualquer acordo nuclear com o Irã. Aqueles já familiares com a rotina…

Murray Rothbard once opined that there were only two “just wars” in all of American history. The wars in question were the American Revolutionary War and the secessionist war of the Confederate States during the American Civil War. Murray’s reasoning for including, at least, the war of the Confederacy is dubious. To quote his take…

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…

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman finds that “the top 0.1% of [American] families now own roughly the same share of wealth as the bottom 90%.” Furthermore, the study shows that the “recovery” we keep hearing about hasn’t reached the middle class, with only those atop the economic pyramid seeing its benefits. With a…

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 Lysander Spooner‘s “Natural Law” that you purchase through the Distro, C4SS will receive a percentage. Support C4SS with Lysander Spooner‘s “Natural Law“. $1.50 for the first copy. $0.75 for…