C4SS Feed 44 presents Jason Lee Byas‘s “Who is the Government?” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. On this month 29 years ago, the Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on a row house in order to attack the black liberation organization MOVE. The…

I coined the term “vulgar libertarianism” several years back to describe reflexive mainstream libertarian defenses of the existing corporate capitalist system as if it were the free market, and using “free market” principles to justify the evils of the corporate economy. I recently saw one of the worst examples of this phenomenon ever, courtesy of…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Cathy Reisenwitz’s “Occupational Regulations and the Gender Wage Gap” read by Trevor Hultner and edited by Nick Ford. The truth is neither side has it right. The left says the gender wage gap results from discrimination. The evidence for this is shaky at best. The right says the gender wage gap can be…

After reading Maureen Dowd‘s gripping tale of her recent experience with the devil’s lettuce, a wave of compassion and sadness for her washed over me. Marijuana poisoning is no laughing matter. As she recounts, for hours she lay incapable of moving from her hotel bed. The weed came on strong, mere minutes after she ordered a…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Gregory Boyle’s “Consumer Protection in a Free Society” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. The distributed reputation system of the black market site Silk Road functioned as a brilliant and effective alternative to licensing. Because almost all of the…

Few reading this will find it in anyway a novel insight that the Drug War has always been about control. The elimination of drugs was a useful narrative, but it’s one which has fallen into disfavor. As we learn what little threat these banned chemicals pose, all that is left is the gripping fist of…

A libertarian panel hosted by Lucy Steigerwald, where ranting is encouraged, and smashing the state is mandatory. -Lucy Steigerwald: Columnist for VICE.com, Antiwar.com, Rare.us, and Editor in Chief of The Stag Blog; @lucystag -Jayel Aheram: Writer, antiwar and libertarian activist, Marine and Iraq war veteran, kick-ass photographer; @aheram -Joe Steigerwald: Publisher for The Stag Blog,…

So, two 12-year-olds allegedly stab another 12-year old multiple times in an effort to call forth creepy fictional character “Slender Man.” Two things about that should be immediately obvious to sane adults: The two kids are kids, and the two kids are, in a word, crazy. But an allegedly sane adult has chosen to charge…

Robert Anton Wilson’s 203-page mindbender, Quantum Psychology: How Your Brain Software Programs You and Your World, is more than meets the eye. The subtitle suggests a self-help book, and it appears to be just that in many respects. But twenty pages in, one realizes that there is no labeling this one. It is a psychedelic…

Discussions of technological change in the media are generally coupled with discussions of technological unemployment and the increasing polarization of wealth. A good example is a piece by Eduardo Porter in the New York Times (“Tech Leaps, Job Losses and Rising Inequality,” April 15). Amid talk of all the technological wonders issuing from Silicon Valley,…

This week, the chemist Alexander Shulgin died. Hailed/demonized by the press as the “Godfather of ecstasy”, Shulgin was a pioneer in the science of mind altering substances and an outspoken drug advocate. From a distant enough perspective, Alexander Shulgin was just a chemist often under the employ of the federal government and chemical companies. His…

A libertarian panel hosted by Lucy Steigerwald, where ranting is encouraged, and smashing the state is mandatory. -Lucy Steigerwald: Columnist for VICE.com, Antiwar.com, Rare.us, and Editor in Chief of The Stag Blog; @lucystag -Joe Steigerwald: Publisher for The Stag Blog, technical dude; @steigerwaldino -Michelle Montalvo: Perpetual intern, sci-fi enthusiast; @michelle7291 -Cory Massimino: Student, writer for…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Jason Lee Byas‘s “Toward an Anarchy of Production, Pt. I” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. When your source of food is either owned jointly by everyone or by no one in particular, difficult decisions must be made…

Everyone seems to like privacy — so much so that we often expand the term into the social concept of “privacy rights,” indicating that privacy isn’t just a good thing but something to which we are all entitled. This leaves unanswered an important question: “To what degree and in what respects?” Last month the European…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Grayson English‘s “No Dialogue with War Criminals” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. Brennan’s flippant and dismissive attitude seemed to resonate with several people, who, in various ways, expressed to us that we “should have attended the dinner,” like…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Jeff Ricketson‘s “Markets and Law” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. Instead, if a market were allowed to provide security, the firms protecting individuals’ rights would have every reason to provide the protection their clientele could and would pay…

C4SS Adviser and Contributor Cathy Reisenwitz chats with Jeff from the Anarchast. Cathy Reisenwitz who has sparked a powderkeg of debate in the anarchist community over her views. Jeff exposes her true beliefs in this episode. Topics include: Ron Paul, the Mises Institute, checking your privilege, US police state, Anarchy leads to prosperity, bitcoin will help the poor, knee…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Cory Massimino‘s “The Cult of the Constitution” from the Students for a Stateless Society‘s Volume 1, Issue 1 of THE NEW LEVELLER read by Stephen Ledger and edited by Nick Ford. Stossel’s guest was Timothy Sandefur, the author of The Conscience of the Constitution. Despite acknowledging the Constitution’s repeated failures at restraining the state, Sandefur remained unyielding…

If I had to describe “The Conscience of an Anarchist” in one word, it would be beautiful. Gary Chartier’s 100 page anarchist manifesto concisely and elegantly explains the way anarchists analyze public policy discussions, such as foreign policy, the drug war, regulation, subsidies, education, the two party system, infrastructure, the criminal justice system, police violence,…

Net Neutrality is dead. An unstable equilibrium that’s persisted as the default since the 90s, wherein ISPs and telcoms route all ip packets the same without regard for content, origination or destination, the potential for censorship and chilling effects in the current oligarchical environment is a serious concern. However anarchists have long seen this day…