The Labor Theory of Value: A Critique of Carson’s Studies in Mutualist Political Economy By Robert P. Murphy [1] Kevin Carson’s Studies in Mutualist Political Economy (2004) is an impressive work. It first attempts to rehabilitate the classical labor theory of value (by giving it a subjectivist spin), and then traces the history of capitalism to…

First, I [1] must begin by affirming my conviction that Lysander Spooner and Benjamin R. Tucker were unsurpassed as political philosophers and that nothing is more needed today than a revival and development of the largely forgotten legacy that they left to political philosophy. By the mid-nineteenth century, the libertarian individualist doctrine had reached the point…

… So we see, even assuming an “anarcho-capitalist” property regime, anything recognizable as “capitalism” to anyone else could not exist. In fact the society would look a lot like what “anarcho-socialists” think of as “socialism”. Not exactly like it, but much closer than anything they’d imagine as capitalism. However, under anarchism, even such a strict…

For the next few weeks, C4SS will be publishing and hosting copies of Volume 20, Number 1, of the Journal of Libertarian Studies. This particular volume contains the Symposium on Kevin Carson’s Studies in Mutualist Political Economy. The articles on and selections from Carson’s book you can look forward to: “Editorial to Symposium on Mutualist…

Many of the nineteenth-century individualist anarchists, and in particular those thinkers associated with Benjamin Tucker’s journal Liberty, sought to combine a political theory based on individual sovereignty and self-ownership with an economic theory based on the labor theory of value. Like Marxists, they tended to condemn the wage system as oppressive, and interpreted profit, rent,…

At the Washington Post, Max Ehrenfreund argues (“Hillary Clinton’s top goal as president could be effectively impossible to achieve,” July 20) that Hillary Clinton may be hampered in her stated goal of raising middle class incomes and reducing economic inequality by factors beyond her control. These factors include forces such as “technological automation and globalization,”…

Dylann Roof, who murdered nine black parishioners because they were black has been charged by the central government with committing hate crimes. Words cannot adequately express the evil of Roof’s actions at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and no decent person would want to say anything that be could possibly be construed…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “It Doesn’t Even Matter What the Law Is” read by Dylan Delikta and edited by Nick Ford. States exist to serve economic ruling classes. Trying to capture the apparatus of the capitalists’ state and reform the system is a losing game. In any case, with liberatory technologies like cheap,…

In a July 10 article at Reason, David Harsanyi (“Bernie Sanders is the Future of the Democratic Party“) describes the rise of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as “a completely predictable outcome of the Democratic Party’s trajectory,” and a portent of the party’s “socialistic future.” I’m more worried about what Harsanyi portends for the future…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Eduardo Lopes‘s “Not New Recife: The Old Collusion, The Old Elitist Left” read by Erick Vasconcelos and edited by Nick Ford. Only civil disobedience, squatting of state and otherwise unused land, and the protection of occupations can soften the effects of the state monopoly on land. Only the dissolution of the…

Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant nationalism has positioned him far to the right of his fellow 2016 GOP hopefuls and has given him a serious boost in the polls. Such support for a man who made, and repeatedly defended, the patently racist claim that undocumented Mexican immigrants are “rapists” should serve as a clear indicator of the depth…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “Rio Tinto: A Real-Life “Billy Jack” Villain” read by Dylan Delikta and edited by Nick Ford. Rio Tinto is, without qualification, one of the most evil corporations in the world. It has colluded with repressive regimes going back to Franco’s use of troops to suppress strikes in Rio Tinto’s…

Conservatori e libertari non appartengono alla stessa parrocchia. Anche quando i conservatori usano le stesse espressioni dei libertari, spesso il significato è diverso. Così il loro “libero mercato” diventa una giustificazione dello status quo economico e del predominio aziendale; la loro “uguaglianza davanti alla legge” è riservata solo ai tradizionali gruppi esclusivi e privilegiati (pensiamo…

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…

Steven Fake discusses what Israel could have taught Dixie. Lucy Steigerwald discusses U.S. sensitivity to civilian deaths. David S. D’Amato discusses anarchism and minarchism in American history. Sheldon Richman discusses Clarence Thomas. John Feffer discusses ISIS and the terrible twos. Franklin Lamb discusses Palestine and ISIS. Robert Parry discusses Libya and Hilary Clinton. Chris Toensing…

C4SS Feed 44 presents James C. Wilson‘s “The Homer Simpson Economy” read by Tony Dreher and edited by Nick Ford. While the Simpsons is better known for its liberal or progressive politics, “Homer’s Enemy” gives left-libertarians, individualist anarchists and anti-work activists much more to bite into. Indeed the Homer Simpson economy bares some resemblance to what…

The Export-Import Bank’s charter finally expired on June 30th. Ever since it was created during the New Deal, the Ex-Im Bank has supported exports by American corporations, all at taxpayer expense. The top recipients of Ex-Im Bank subsidies were big corporations, with the war-profiteers at Boeing receiving more Ex-Im largess than any other company. The…

Un sondaggio recente della Gallup ha scoperto che gli americani, con un margine di 52 contro 45, pensano che lo stato “debba… ridistribuire la ricchezza aumentando le tasse sui ricchi” (Matt Yglesias, “Americans want the government to ‘redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich,’” Vox, 5 maggio). Tra il 1940, quando la domanda fu…

Trattamento sanitario obbligatorio indica la capacità dello stato di ricoverare un malato di mente contro la sua volontà. Forse la legge più famosa al proposito è la Baker Act, approvata in Florida nel 1971, legge che autorizza il ricovero coatto di una persona che (a) potrebbe soffrire di disturbi mentali, e (b) potrebbe essere pericoloso…

C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “The Free Market as Class Warfare” read by Mike Godzina and edited by Nick Ford. That is, if a “free market” just means a system in which free individuals are able to associate and contract with one another without outside interference, protected in their legitimate private property rights, then the…