David Graeber. The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy (Brooklyn and London: Melville House, 2015). This book is, properly speaking, not a book at all, but a collection of essays loosely clustered around the common theme of bureaucracy. Of the material in the book, only the long introductory essay…

Murray Bookchin. The Next Revolution: Popular Assemblies & the Promise of Direct Democracy. Foreword by Ursula K. Le Guin (New York and London: Verso, 2015). This book is a collection of Bookchin’s essays on libertarian municipalism and communalism, extending from the period when he still considered himself an anarchist until his final post-anarchist phase. In…

In an anti-libertarian rant titled “You’re Not the Boss of Me! Why Libertarianism Is a Childish Sham,” David Masciotra charges that libertarianism amounts to the petulant selfishness of a child who resents all restrictions on his or her behavior. Masciotra conveniently focuses on libertarians’ saying “you have no right to impose stuff on us,” while…

I keep resolving not to comment on any more of Alternet‘s by-the-numbers anti-libertarian puff pieces, but a recent one from David Masciotra (“You’re Not the Boss of Me: Why Libertarianism is a Childish Sham,” February 26) is in its own category of wretchedness. Masciotra’s commentary includes two seemingly contradictory lines of argument. In the first,…

In una intervista a microfoni spenti rilasciata al conduttore di Real time Bill Maher, il divulgatore scientifico e conduttore televisivo Bill Nye ha spiegato come ha cambiato idea sui cibi geneticamente modificati. Nye, che in passato si è occupato dell’impatto ambientale di specie transgeniche, ora dice: “Ho visitato la Monsanto, dove ho trascorso molto tempo…

As a libertarian masochist who keeps up with the regular by-the-numbers attacks on libertarianism at Alternet and Salon, I almost dared to hope for something at least marginally better from Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect (“The Libertarian Delusion,” Winter 2015). I was disappointed. “The stubborn appeal of the libertarian idea persists,” Kuttner writes, “despite…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “Education and the “Progressive” Corporate State” read by Ian Anderson and edited by Nick Ford. The official White House happy talk, predictably, takes the corporate state’s assumptions for granted: “In our growing global economy, Americans need to have more knowledge and more skills to compete — by 2020, an estimated 35 percent…

It is difficult to take a political work seriously with the word “nanny” in the title, but Dean Baker’s 2006 book the “Conservative Nanny State” is a serious book and a decent introduction to some often overlooked market distortions that benefit the rich at the expense of everyone else. It also has the advantage of…

Il venti febbraio è scoppiata una rivolta nella struttura correttiva di Willacy, un carcere texano per “immigrati illegali”. Duemila detenuti hanno protestato contro l’incuria e il superlavoro. La situazione è peggiorata rapidamente quando i detenuti sono venuti in possesso di armi contundenti, invadendo il cortile e smantellando o bruciando quelle strutture a cui erano incatenati…

In a backstage interview at Real Time with Bill Maher, science educator and entertainer Bill Nye expressed a change of mind on genetically engineered food. Formerly concerned about the environmental impacts of transgenic species Nye now says: “I went to Monsanto and I spent a lot of time with the scientists there, and I have…

Il venti febbraio, i parlamentari americani Jared Polis (democratico, Colorado) e Earl Blumenauer (democratico, Oregon) hanno presentato due nuove proposte di legge che mirano alla legalizzazione della marijuana a livello federale. La pratica di arrestare, multare, opprimere e stigmatizzare chi usa la marijuana è un fatto tragico che ha danneggiato l’esistenza di tanti. La fine…

Il venti gennaio, la Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) ha annunciato il progetto Apollo 1201, un tentativo di sradicare le barriere digitali (DRM) dal mondo del commercio in rete. Guidato dal ben noto Cory Doctorow, il progetto punta ad “accelerare il cammino verso l’abrogazione delle leggi che proteggono il DRM” e “dare subito inizio ad un…

C4SS Feed 44 presents “Confiscation and the Homestead Principle” from the book Markets Not Capitalism, written by Murray Rothbard, read by Stephanie Murphy and edited by Nick Ford. The homesteading principle means that the way that unowned property gets into private ownership is by the principle that this property justly belongs to the person who finds, occupies, and transforms…

C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “The Biggest Baddest Gang in Town” read by Ryan Calhoun and edited by Nick Ford. Police departments do exactly what monopolies always do — abuse and cheat consumers and, in the words of Benjamin Tucker, “furnish poison instead of nutriment.” As monopolies, police departments are exempt by law from any competitive…

In an article I wrote several years ago (“Free Market Reforms and the Reduction of Statism,” The Freeman, Sept. 1, 2008), I stated some principles that are relevant to the current debate on “net neutrality”: Some forms of state intervention are primary. They involve the privileges, subsidies, and other structural bases of economic exploitation through…

The Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS) has had a bumpy start to 2015, tragedy in January and controversy (of sorts) in February. But not all of those bumps were bad or stressful, most of them were just our crew, shoulder to the wheel, cranking out thousands of words of content. The past couple of months has…

A riot broke out on February 20 at Willacy Correctional Facility, a Texas prison for “illegal immigrants.” 2,000 inmates demonstrated against their subjection to neglect and overwork. The situation quickly escalated as inmates armed themselves with blunt instruments, swarming the yard and dismantling and setting fire to the structures they’d been shackled to for too long. As the…

In his ongoing quest to remain relevant, Rudy Giuliani recently accused president Barack Obama of not loving America. In the ensuing outrage, Giuliani quickly backpedaled, clarifying that he doesn’t doubt Obama’s love of country, but instead believes Obama’s policies are wrongheaded, representative of someone who doesn’t know what’s in America’s best interests, as set forth in the Rudy…

We’ll get to the book in a bit, but first I have to say a few things about the phenomenon of Russell Brand himself. Frankly, I’m a bit worried for Russell Brand. He has shown tremendous personal courage in recent years, transforming himself from a bad-boy British comedian/celebrity, whose comedy revolved around his own dionysian…

On February 20, US Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced two new bills for federal marijuana legalization. The US government’s practice of imprisoning, fining, harassing and stigmatizing marijuana users is tragic and has damaged many lives. Ending prohibition is a welcome change, but these bills have severe problems. If passed, they would turn marijuana…