Tag: politics
Anarchism and American Traditions
“The revolution is the sudden and unified consciousness of these traditions, their loud assertion, the blow dealt by their indomitable will against the counter force of tyranny. … We, the Anarchists, point to them and say: If the believers in liberty wish the principles of liberty taught, let them never entrust that instruction to any government; for the nature of…
Why I Am an Anarchist
by Voltairine de Cleyre It was suggested to me by those who were the means of securing me this opportunity of addressing you, that probably the most easy and natural way for me to explain Anarchism would be for me to give the reasons why I myself am an Anarchist. I am not sure that they…
The Revolutionary Forces
“Anarchism rejects any form of the domination of the man by man, and no form of the exploitation of man by man, since it tackles all forms of authority: Political authority: the State. Economic authority: Property. Moral authority: Fatherland, Religion, Family. Legal authority: Courts, Laws and Police Force. All the (authoritarian) social forces receive the vigorous and…
Why I Am a Market Anarchist
In 1897, then well-known anarchist-without-adjectives, Voltairine de Cleyre, addressed the question of why she was an anarchist by answering “because I cannot help it.” In her honor, I seek to address the same question with my own personal reasons. It is our responsibility to honestly evaluate all sides of an issue, and to follow whichever…
Anarchism in Germany
“Anarchism’s lone objective is to reach a point at which the belligerence of some humans against humanity, in whatever form, comes to a halt. And with this end point in mind, people must transcend themselves in the spirit of brother and sisterhood, so that each individual, drawing on natural ability, can develop freely.” — Gustav…
The Anti-Politician Politician
The good news about the presidential election season is that so many voters seem disgusted with career politicians. The bad news is that these voters are naively opting for “outsiders” who in reality are just politicians in another form. They are anti-politician politicians. This, I submit, is not progress. It is certainly a hopeful sign…
Why Libertarians are Failing at Politics
Jerry Taylor of the Niskanen Center dropped a truth bomb on the beltway in his recent piece for Fox News about the decline of Rand Paul. Taylor notes that the alleged growth of the libertarian movement in the wake of the Ron Paul campaign was largely illusory. The alienated populists and conspiracy theorists that filled…
Lessig Would Use a Scalpel Where a Machete is Necessary on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Chad Nelson‘s “Lessig Would Use a Scalpel Where a Machete is Necessary” read by Mike Godzina and edited by Nick Ford. Lessig isn’t wrong to detest the baldly corrupt American political system. In the 2016 presidential race, less than 400 of the country’s wealthiest families will contribute nearly half of the overall…
Hate Crimes: Bernie Sanders’s Political Theater on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Ryan Calhoun‘s “Hate Crimes: Bernie Sanders’s Political Theater” read by Katrina Haffner and edited by Nick Ford. Somehow Sanders has managed to escape criticism for a similarly bad piece of legislation he supported — the Local Law Enforcement Against Hate Crimes Act — another virtual gift bag for police departments. Hate…
If You Can’t Knock Down Left-Libertarianism, Knock Down Straw
Somehow left-libertarianism (or at least my article “What Is Left-Libertarianism?” Center for a Stateless Society, June 15, 2014) has come to the attention of Heather Johnson, a Libertarian candidate for Senate in Minnesota. And not in a good way. “Left-libertarianism,” she says on her Facebook page, “is as much bull***t as right-libertarianism,” because it “violates……
Doing Anarchism Yourself
Introduction by Chad Nelson Involvement in the anarchist movement sometimes feels like a futile enterprise. How to get from here to there in a “real” world dominated by statists and authoritarians is a dilemma that confounds even the most sure-footed of anarchists. And when attaching oneself to an anarchist organization, it’s easy to be pessimistic…
Leader of the Opposition?
While the election of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party has injected some novelty into the utterly stale state of affairs that is British party-politics, he leaves much to be desired for those seeking radical change. My fellow traveller, Pete James put it rather well: It took me most of the week…
Sanders’s Immigration Comments Prove We Need a Radical Left on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Cory Massimino‘s “Sanders’s Immigration Comments Prove We Need a Radical Left” read by Tony Dreher and edited by Nick Ford. When individuals are free to move and travel without asking permission from government bureaucrats, they are capable of crafting meaningful lives and communities that enable everyone to advance their well-being on…
Border Authoritarianism is Not Only an Institution of the Outwardly Racist on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents T.J. Scholl‘s “Border Authoritarianism is Not Only an Institution of the Outwardly Racist” read by Thomas J. Webb and edited by Nick Ford. Anti-immigrant sentiment has found a home in political platforms across the nation and on both sides of the aisle. One such politician is Wisconsin Governor and 2016 Republican…
The New Deal’s Legacy of Corporate Welfare on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Nathan Goodman‘s “The New Deal’s Legacy of Corporate Welfare” read by Tony Dreher and edited by Nick Ford. Mainstream progressives tell us that the New Deal was a victory for the working class and the public interest. But New Deal corporate welfare programs like the Ex-Im Bank and the Raisin Administrative…
So-Called “Criminals’ Rights” Protect the Rest of Us on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “So-Called ‘Criminals’ Rights’ Protect the Rest of Us” read by Mike Godzina and edited by Nick Ford. It’s a standard trope among right-wing “law and order” types to equate procedural protections against cops with protection of the alleged criminals they’re in pursuit of, or to equate due process rights…
The Boston Marathon Two Years Later – A Policeman’s Delight on Feed 44
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…
Release Kim Davis, Destroy Her Power
It was 1975 when the first same-sex Americans were “permitted” to marry one another. It was Clela Rorex who processed these licenses illegally. This act of sabotage against the state’s marriage monopoly was eventually discovered, and Rorex quit — many calling for her to face legal punishment. She’s said of her activism, “I didn’t want…
Lessig Would Use a Scalpel Where a Machete is Needed
Harvard law professor and political activist Lawrence Lessig is mounting an intriguing run for President. Lessig’s symbolic campaign will be entirely funded by crowdsourced donations since he has a one-issue platform: campaign finance reform. If elected president, Lessig would attempt to pass a single law through Congress which would scrap existing private campaign financing in…
Just When I Managed to Stop Laughing… on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents Kevin Carson‘s “Just When I Managed to Stop Laughing…” read by Joey Clark and edited by Nick Ford. Most of the top 1% today are senior corporate management, high-paid attorneys and other professionals, reflecting the growing managerialization of American society and the incorporation of a white collar New Class into the…
Anarchy and Democracy
Fighting Fascism
Markets Not Capitalism
The Anatomy of Escape
Organization Theory