Spooner sobre os aluguéis
Benjamin Tucker notoriamente defendia que a propriedade sobre a terra dependia da ocupação pessoal contínua do dono, de forma que quando um indivíduo deseja alugar um terreno ou uma construção a um locatário, o “senhorio” efetivamente cede seu direito de propriedade ao “inquilino”. Este — a despeito de quaisquer contratos assinados — não tem qualquer…
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…
Smashing the State for Fun and Profit Since 1969
Smashing the State for Fun and Profit Since 1969 An Interview With the Libertarian Icon Samuel Edward Konkin III (a.k.a. SEK3) (originally published at spaz.org) Samuel Edward Konkin III (SEK3), author of the “New Libertarian Manifesto” coined the term “agorism” to describe his ideology.  Although very similar to anarcho-capitalism, unlike anarcho-capitalism it opposes intellectual property. …
Copyright vs. The Desktop Regulatory State: Online Communities Strike Back!
The Bible Reloaded is a Youtube channel, in which hosts Hugo and Jake review films, kids shows, religious comics and more from an atheistic, secular humanist perspective. Their work tends to be humorous and the targets of their criticism are often religious films. They watch these Mystery Science Theater style and comment on bad acting,…
An Unholy Trinity of Corporatism
It’s hardly news that Charles and David Koch are longtime supporters of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). For example, Institute for Humane Studies “Koch fellows” are heavily represented in staff jobs at ALEC, and frequently go on to head the task forces that draft model legislation. The Kochs stated some time ago their preference…
Trump’s Trade Snake Oil
Donald Trump may think the media stenographers are out to get him, but if they were really doing their job, his head would be spinning. He doesn’t know how good he has it. Or maybe he does. One need only think about the questions Trump is not asked to see what I mean. Take Trump’s…
Uber: NOT the Networked Successor Economy You’re Looking For
An article at Medium (Tim O’Reilly, “Networks and the Nature of the Firm — What’s the Future of Work?” August 14) describes Uber and Airbnb as “textbook examples” of “the way that networks trump traditional forms of corporate organization, and how they are changing traditional ways of managing that organization.” Um, no. What Uber and…
The Expropriation Continues
Contrary to mainstream classical political economy, which treated the “original accumulation of capital” as the result of thrift, saving and reinvestment on the part of the capitalist, Marx argued in the first volume of Capital that capitalism — as opposed to simple market exchange — was founded on the separation of the peasantry from their…
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Kevin Carson as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde By Walter Block [1] Kevin Carson’s (2004) Studies in Mutualist Political Economy is an infuriating book. On the one hand, its author shows great familiarity with many of the most important libertarian [2] contributors to the field of political economy. Taking them in alphabetical order, they include:…
Spooner on Rent
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…
Toward a New Lexicon of Liberty on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents David S. D’Amato‘s “Toward a New Lexicon of Liberty” read by Dylan Delikta and edited by Nick Ford. Libertarianism is viewed in the mainstream political conversation as the ideology of capitalism, of corporate greed and a toxic expression of globalization, McDonalds, Nike, and all the rest nodding along to rote libertarian…
How Not to Promote Economic Equality
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,”…
Thank You Pirate Bay on Feed 44
C4SS Feed 44 presents James C. Wilson‘s “Thank You Pirate Bay” read by Joey Clark and edited by Nick Ford. While lawyers and courts argue whether a web address should be seen as an accessory to a crime, the rest of us should be asking what crime? All that The Pirate Bay has done is…
Stop Being Idiots? Only When IP is a Historical Novelty
Over at WIRED, a website I once held more respect for, an article by Jordan Crucchiola called, “Dear Idiots, Stop Leaking Comic-Con Trailers” has drawn some recent attention. For those who (somehow) don’t know, Comic Con is an international event for all things geeky, but especially (or at least, supposedly) related to comic books. The…
An Open Letter to the Greek People
To the people of Greece. We at Center for a Stateless Society extend our sympathies for your recent disappointment from the Syriza government’s acceptance of the austerity regime imposed on you by the European Union. Unfortunately, movements that focus on capturing the state as the primary axis of struggle find themselves, not only not empowered,…
Move Over, Hollywood: Stossel’s Writing His Own Fantasy
Every time I write a commentary on one of John Stossel’s godawful columns, I tell myself I’ll lay off him for a while. But good lord, this latest wretched little piece of pro-corporate apologetics (“Corporations Have Become Hollywood’s Go-To Villains,” Reason, July 1) is about the worst thing he’s ever done. The biggest challenge any…
Fiorina Claims She’s Not Part of the “Professional Political Class”
Carly Fiorina’s main talking point throughout her time as 2016 Republican presidential candidate has been that she is an outsider.  Posturing herself as Hilary Clinton’s real challenger, Fiorina takes every opportunity to accuse Clinton of being a career politician.  On this, Fiorina is right.  During a recent Fox News appearance, Fiorina cited a poll that…
Greece: If You’re Taking Out the Trash, Don’t Forget the Garbage
I. The Nonexistent Ethical Dilemma The showdown between Greece and the EU is one of those events that brings out in stark contrast the dividing line between libertarians whose main concern is genuine economic freedom, and the sort of libertarian whose priority is the interests of big business and the propertied classes. In an exchange…
Why Does Ron Bailey Hate Free Markets?
Reason‘s science editor Ron Bailey (“Pope Francis and Naomi Klein Both Hate Free Markets, Technological Progress, and Economic Growth,” Reason, June 29) refers to Naomi Klein as a “prominent hater of free markets,” adding that she also hates “technological progress and economic growth.” But based on my readings of both Klein and Bailey, I think…
Another Silly Jab at Libertarianism
The problem with responding to Alan Wolfe’s feeble attempt to critique libertarianism is that one might appear to be defending the particular people he targets: namely, Rand Paul and Ayn Rand. (Rand Paul was not named after Ayn Rand. At least Wolfe avoided that error.) I want to defend the libertarian philosophy without defending Rand…
Anarchy and Democracy
Fighting Fascism
Markets Not Capitalism
The Anatomy of Escape
Organization Theory