Anarchoblogs

The constitution is broken. Either it authorizes this spendthrift maxarchist police state, or it fails to prevent it. Much of those four historic pieces of parchment are dead letter. The president rules by executive order and sends us into wars on his own authority. The second amendment has been eviscerated. The fourth amendment is a cruel joke. The tenth amendment died at least 150 years ago. No matter how you slice it, the constitution is not working out.

Articles of Confederation?

So what comes next? Do we revert to the Articles of Confederation? That was a constitution too! The fact is that parchment and ink will never protect you from theft, fraud, assault or death. And the Articles didn’t even protect us from the (current) constitution. So, no, we can’t evolve backwards.

Secede?

Secession may open a few cracks in the federal state’s iron cage, but beyond that we can expect the tyranny to continue, albeit on a smaller stage. After all, a state is just a small country with a … constitution! If it fails on a large scale, why would it work on a small scale? The facts of the matter remain unchanged. Why trade a tyrant 2000 miles away for one 200 miles away? It’s only a marginal improvement, if that.

Another Kind of Secession

“The only idea they have ever manifested as to what is a government of consent, is this – that it is one to which everybody must consent, or be shot.” – Lysander Spooner

There is another kind of secession though – personal secession. As individuals, we can secede from this forced union of souls. Do you yearn for fiscal restraint, accessibility and accountability from your government? Is government not providing the kind of mutual aid and healthcare you expect? This may be the best solution for you. You decide how much to spend on services formerly provided by government. If your new service providers aren’t accessible or accountable, take your business elsewhere! If you can’t find an acceptable service provider, join with like-minded folks to start your own – no need to lobby Congress for permission first.

Government Services Better Provided by Individuals

The services you expect from government can be, or are already being, provided (better) by individuals. Roads are built and maintained by individuals all the time, whether governments hire them or not. There is already a thriving private market for home and workplace security. Private and family schools have left government ones in the dust. Before government butted in, private mutual aid was not only common but indefinitely sustainable. Healthcare was affordable.

Call it the Statement of Principles

What should follow the constitution then? I propose an agreement among individuals. Call it the Statement of Principles. All signatories agree to not commit aggression and to honor any contracts they voluntarily make (i.e., natural law). The Statement of Principles might go something like this:

I solemnly promise to never commit aggression against a fellow human being, nor to voluntarily and knowingly support the commission of aggression against a fellow human being. I will honor to the letter any contracts that I enter into. Should I fail to honor this promise, I will make all appropriate efforts to reach a settlement with the aggrieved party. If we are unable to reach an agreement, I will voluntarily submit to arbitration by a judge and jury, if need be, that is mutually agreeable to both myself and the complaining party.

300 Million Checks and Balances

How is it enforced though? Where’s the provision for police, national defense, courts, hospitals, the FDA …? If the 3 branches of checks and balances in the constitution appealed to you, consider how 300 million checks and balances would be even better. Parties to any controversies can hire their own judges and juries to hear any disputes they can’t resolve themselves. Communities can voluntarily band together to purchase home security services cheaply, or provide it themselves. Habitual criminals can be locked out of civilized locales. We can work together locally to solve our problems without the artificial constraint of getting it approved by 546 double-dealers in the District of Columbia.

Photo credit: notionscapital. Photo license.

Now that you’ve started practicing agorism – the idea that by trading outside the purview of the state we can bring about complete liberty – it’s time to consider how you’ll continue doing it. This is no small matter to be overlooked or pooh-poohed. It’s easy to start a new project, but not always so simple to keep it going.

It’s About Trade

To practice agorism is considerably less complicated than it might sound. It’s just about trading with your fellow man. Period. Don’t report the transaction to anyone. Don’t charge or pay taxes on the transaction. Just trade and profit. So, many of the same rules that apply to starting a small business, or most any endeavor, also apply to agorism.

7 Ways to Keep Doing Agorism

• Find something you enjoy, and have fun doing it. If you can’t stand making widgets, then that’s not going to be your agoristic endeavor.
• Keep it easy, simple and low-pressure at first. You may go through a dozen ideas before you hit on one that you enjoy and is profitable. Only invest as much as is absolutely necessary to get your project in front of other people. Don’t splurge or assume the project will be a winner. Be agile and ready to move on.

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs

• It absolutely must be profitable. This is business, not charity. If you’re not making money, why do it? If you’re taking a loss, you’re doing it wrong. Do what you need to do to make a profit. Ruthlessly cut your costs. Don’t be afraid to charge whatever it takes to make a profit.
• Find some friends to do it with. You don’t have to go in as partners, just find complementary activities you can each do individually. You trade your chicken’s eggs for your friend’s hot peppers. You trade your goat’s milk for another friend’s beef steak. The possibilities are endless and you each come out ahead.
• Start a regular meetup to discuss agorist theory and engage in trade. Keep it laid back. Sell your services and products to the people who attend.
• Investigate your competition in the state-run markets. What are their strengths and shortcomings? Consider how you can incorporate their innovations and improve on their faults.
• Make sure your product or service is competitive with the state economy. Don’t overprice it. Try to provide something better or something that’s missing in the state economy.

Just Keep Going

The most important thing is to just keep going. Your projects may fail. You may get frustrated but you can’t give up. Failure is the prerequisite for success. Keep at it. Keep learning and you will achieve success!

Photo credit: techburst. Photo license.

Are there enough libertarian bloggers? Are potential libertarian bloggers posting all their thought and analysis to Facebook, a walled garden where your accumulated writings can be wiped out in the blink of an eye? I know I am. In fact, I posted about this precisely on Facebook!

I Want More

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of excellent libertarian bloggers. (You can find some of them on the far right side of the page.) I’d just like there to be more of them. And I’d like the existing ones to write more. In order to keep our nascent new society growing, we need a diverse and continuing discussion.

Got Nothing to Say?

“A culture is made — or destroyed — by its articulate voices.” – Ayn Rand

What if you don’t have anything to say? That’s how I felt. I started my first blog in 1999 and for 7 years I had almost nothing to say. Finally in 2006, I started to find my rhythm and have accelerated since them. You can do the same. Once you have the outlet, you will find things to write about. No matter how short or inconsequential it may seem, your writing will be of use to someone. It will help you to think and express yourself better and almost certainly will influence others.

Still Learning?

What if you’re still just learning about liberty? Perhaps you don’t feel you know enough to comment authoritatively. Even better! You’ll run into questions others haven’t considered or gave up on answering. Reasoning through the basics of liberty will help others do the same. You’re more sensitive to the stumbling blocks in learning about something new, and thus have a lot to offer just right there.

Infinite Contexts

Even if you consider the non-aggression principle to be an axiom and therefore not open to question, there are still an infinite number of contexts to which it needs application. Just like good movies can profitably be remade for each new generation, so can the classic concepts of liberty be reformulated in ways more palatable and comprehensible to modern audiences.

We Can Facilitate

Also, this isn’t the end of libertarian history. There are more principles to be discovered, strategies and tactics to be discussed, plans of action to be decided on, news to be reported and links to be shared. We can facilitate a lot of this by blogging.

Get a Freedom Blog Now

To get started, check out our own Mike Gogulski’s Freedom Blogs. It costs nothing and you get everything you need but a brain and some fingers to start blogging today. Don’t forget to let me know about your blog so I can link to it!

Photo courtesy Photos8.com

I‘m a guest this week on Movement Radio’s Anarchy Time show, tonight at 9PM EST. Anarchy Time is an entertaining and informative show hosted by James Cox, Mandie Cunningham and Tom Ender. You can listen online for free every Sunday evening from 9-11PM EST. Almost 140 people have RSVP’d on Facebook for the show, so clearly it’s no joke. I hope you’ll give it a listen and call in with really tough questions for me!

Click here to listen at 9PM EST tonight. (You can also listen to the podcast recording of the show at the same link. It was a good show!)

The government census has extended its reach way beyond its constitutional purview, insists Jerry Day in the above video. We should demand proof of authority from government agents before handing over our information, money, power or liberty to them, he argues. He urges that we ask census agents to reveal exactly where in the constitution it authorizes them to demand your personal information. He also wants us to videotape the exchange.

Why Even Open the Door?

But why should I even open the door for them? Why, when you have a choice, should you interact with government agents? By doing so, you only risk giving them some kind of justification for coming down on you. If their authority is nonexistent or illegitimate then isn’t it much safer and more consistent to simply treat them like any unwanted door-to-door salesman and ignore their notices and ultimatums? If you won’t give the time of day to a traveling salesman or a tele-marketer seeking to trade with you, why pay any attention whatsoever to a parasite claiming a right to your time and privacy?

No Authority Over Me

“Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience & through rebellion.” - Oscar Wilde

Who cares what documents, certificates, badges, statutes or executive orders census agents have to back up their claim to authority over me? Is my signature on any of them? No? Then they have no authority over me. Not even the constitution is relevant because I never agreed to it. Not even the founders signed the constitution in the sense of a contract. They only signed in witness of.

Do Not Comply

Don’t pay them any attention! That’s my strategy. There’s no point in embarrassing census agents. If you want them to back off, just ignore them. Do not comply. Consider it civil disobedience in the grand spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

Related Articles on the Census

• The Census: Vehicle for Social Engineering
• The census and the death of civil society

Are you a libertarian anarchist swept up in Free State Project hype? Can’t get your head around “Free State” being an oxymoron but still want in on all that FSP fun? Don’t sweat it. The FSP isn’t just for minarchists anymore. It’s also ripe for anarchist co-option.

Fertile Ground

Many, if not most, FSP members are minarchists. They get liberty, at least partially. So, in the best case, they’re fertile ground for anarchist outreach and in the worst case they’re statists who will think twice before aggressing against us. Also, these folks have a good bit of spare time in their liberty activism programs. They only vote a couple times per year. Throw in a few big protests and their schedules are wide open for direct action, counter-economics and self-improvement.

Anarchist Projects Well Underway

Some anarchist projects are already well underway. There are rumors of an active agorist culture. Plans for an agoristic marketplace at the Porcupine Festival this summer can be seen on Facebook. Free Keene appears to be populated largely by voluntaryists, agorists, spoonerites and other anarchists. The Alternatives Expo is going on its fourth year of giving the Liberty Forum a run for its money, with non-political, practical and independence-minded presentations available alongside the big-ticket Liberty Forum headliners.

Wanted: Buyers and Sellers

So if you’re a voluntaryist, agorist, Spoonerite, Thoreauvian or any other kind of market anarchist or an-cap, come on up to New Hampshire! The new society is actively forming in the shell of the old. More buyers and sellers are needed. At least, check out the AltExpo and PorcFest!

Photo credit: Moosealope. Photo license.

Am I powerless? My vote doesn’t count. My voice is not heard in the corridors of power in Washington. My bank account is too small to fund political change. My salary is siphoned off into FICA taxes, income taxes, gas taxes, mortgage payments, credit card payments and inflated grocery bills before I see a dime. At any time I could be assaulted by the cops, fined by meter maids, tasered by the state police, murdered by the ATF, seized by the FBI or left penniless by the IRS. I am a punching bag standing patiently in line for my turn in the wringer.

My Future is Wide Open

Be that as it may, I am powerful. I can ignore Washington. I can start a business and stop paying FICA and income taxes. I can move to a smaller house and pay down my debts. I can raise some or all of my own food in a home garden. I can learn how to defuse cop attacks, fight parking tickets, defend myself and stave off the IRS. I have choices. I have a brain. I can’t change my past but my future is wide open! Anything is possible. I can do it!

When I’m Frustrated

When I’m frustrated I remember that none of it matters. It doesn’t matter that the wrong candidate won office. He doesn’t rule me! He only has as much power as I voluntarily grant him. I never agreed to be bound by the laws he passes. I live my own life with integrity and honor by following the natural law: I do not aggress against others and I keep my word.

Personal Change

I don’t care about political change, only personal change. And that doesn’t require a large bank account. I can start living a better life right now. I can eat better right now. I can treat my loved ones and myself better right now. I don’t have the power to change others, but I have complete power over my own actions. I start rearranging my affairs now!

I Can Provide for Myself

I can live more frugally. I can stop buying expensive processed foods, eat out less often and start cooking from scratch. I can move to a smaller home or rent instead of owning. I can start a side business and pay off my debt. Soon I am self-employed and boycott the FICA and income taxes because I never agreed to those. I can provide for myself.

Lower the Risks

I can lower the risk of government attacks by ignoring and boycotting government to the best of my ability. I remember that when government agents have my back against the wall, the only choice I have is to comply - for now. I live on to fight another day. I build up my strength in community with other good people until the day comes when I declare my independence.

I Can

As I grow more happiness and independence in my own life, I will help others do the same. I’ll boycott the strategies, agencies, options and involuntary obligations that once led me into vulnerability. I’ll exhort others to do the same. Soon we will be free, happy, at peace and prosperous. I am powerful. I have many options. I can overcome. I can make a better life for myself. I can.

Photo credit: aka_Kath. Photo license.

We can’t change the folks doing business as the US government. We can’t stop the wars or the torture. We can’t end the Federal Reserve. We can’t legalize marijuana. Holding unregulated cops accountable for their abuses is outside our purview. Freeing non-violent prisoners is beyond our reach. There are a lot of wrongs we simply are unable to right. But what we can do - right now - is live in strict alignment with our principles. Living in alignment with the principles of liberty not only revivifies the voluntary society but it also personally sustains us - our hopes, dreams and relationships - through these troubled times.

Unlike Conquerors and Politicians

Unlike conquerors and politicians, we don’t force people to change or trick them into it. All we can do is live right, prosper, self-actualize, reach out to others and set a good example. But that is a lot, and certainly more effective over the long term than using fraud and aggression. We can right the wrongs in our own lives. We can ban aggression from our thoughts and our deeds. We are the kernel of the voluntary society. We can make it happen, but only if we find the commitment and discipline to do so.

A Life Transition

With that in mind, my wife Nora and I have decided on a life transition. We’ve conserved water and cut our electricity use. Cable TV service is long gone. Processed foods are nearly absent from our diet. We’re buying land out in the middle of nowhere. We’re studying up on solar panels, organic gardening, tiny house building and other resilient technologies needed to sustain our lives close to nature.

Romanticized Pastoral Life?

Why are we taking this drastic step? Since we met eight years ago it’s been our dream to someday live on a farm. We both grew up close to the earth. She raised chickens with her mom. I gardened with my grandparents. Are we romanticizing the pastoral life? Maybe. But it’s also become an economic and ethical necessity.

Life in the Statist Ecosystem

The cost of life in the statist ecosystem is going up. And the value of our Federal Reserve Notes is declining. Our rent is exorbitant because housing prices recently bubbled to new highs. The $100 that fed a family of 6 for a week in 1984 just doesn’t go as far for our family of 3 in 2010. The houses around here are built to waste heat. They’re too big and too poorly insulated. The backyards are tiny - where are we to garden? In short, the suburban space around here is built for dependence on fragile corporate food supply chains and state utility monopolies. We have no flexibility and little room to improve our lives. We can’t take a break from the treadmill of modern life without risking serious economic difficulties.

A Hidden Budget Line Item

Ethically, our monthly budget has a hidden line item that supports the government and its cronies. As long as we live here, we must pay property tax to a township whose cops park in front of the fire hydrant down the street so they can catch folks breaking the ridiculously low speed limit of 25 miles per hour. We pay sales tax to the folks doing business as the Pennsylvania commonwealth. Since so much of the produce we buy comes from far away, we have no idea what other taxes we may be paying. Our ability to withdraw support from government aggression is limited. We have no choice but to support wars and other immoral aggression.

Tiny Home

On our land, we’ll build our own tiny home and heat it with renewable wood. We’ll collect energy to power our electrical devices with solar panels and wind turbines. We’ll get our water from the rain and/or a well. Instead of shopping at Costco for our food, we hope to produce most of it ourselves and barter directly with other producers for the rest - thus cutting off our subsidy of large corporations, and by extension governments. We won’t be able to escape all taxes, of course, but we’ll do our best.

Reduce Support for Aggression

The point is not to go primitive or “green”, though there’s nothing wrong with that, but instead to reduce our support for the government gangs and limit our exposure to their perverse unintended consequences. We want to reduce our monthly cost of living budget and decouple ourselves from inflated government money. We’re taking charge of our health by producing what we eat. Too much mass-market food comes with contaminants. We hope to improve our quality of life, and not sacrifice anything other than that hidden line item in our budget.

In the Shell of the Old

We’ll also associate more closely with like-minded folks and thus grow even further the voluntary society. We’ll trade outside the confines of the statist ecosystem. We’ll build a free space for the next generation. We’ll build the new society in the shell of the old. With more free time and hopefully an extended life expectancy, we will do our part to build space for free choice.

What’s the Point?

If you can’t live in alignment with your principles, what’s the point? If the environment where you create your life includes a hidden cost that pays for the destruction of all that you hold dear, why do you continue in that lifestyle? Liberty starts with each of us. If we can’t make the voluntary society happen in our own lives, what hope is there of making it happen on a large scale? Change requires that good people set good examples. If nothing else, your efforts will keep the promise of liberty alive until conditions become more favorable. It’s our best option. No one will make this happen but ourselves. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Photo credit: sarniebill1. Photo license.

The million-dollar question - how do we start doing agorism? We’re convinced the right way out of this tyrannous morass is to starve the bastards out by trading outside of their purview. We’re giving up on voting in their sham elections. We’re tired of begging them for relief from their own tyranny. We’re locked out of their monopoly in-justice system. Now what? What is agorism and how do we get started doing it?

Create a Product

To approach the question as simply as possible, all you have to do is come up with a product - something people want, something you can produce better or cheaper than the state sector already does. Then sell it discreetly. The customer does not have to understand agorism; they don’t even have to be interested in liberty. Most importantly, you must not report the transaction to the state, you must not collect or pay taxes on it in any form and you must ignore state regulations if they interfere with the proper operation of your business. Absolutely do not even think about registering this effort with the state as some kind of corporation.

Not Strict Agorism

Now this isn’t really strict agorism. But it’s a good way to start thinking about it. It’s critical to start, even if your initial efforts are rough. As long as you initiate and sustain at some level your entrepreneurial ventures, they will bear fruit. And I’m not just talking about money. Your life will become more flexible. You’ll have more time for your friends, your family, your hobbies, your kids, you name it. You’ll stop worrying about paying your bills and have more time for yourself.

Don’t Have to Start a Business

If you’re not interested in starting your own business, you can still practice agorism! Just work for cash. Work under the table, don’t do any W-2 or 1099 jobs. The agorist entrepreneurs surely have many different kinds of jobs they need done. You can do them. Little commitment or risk but you still earn a tax-free wage.

Agorism Nationwide

There are agorists all over North America. Leverage that! Maybe you’ve got some great maple syrup. Trade that to folks in Georgia for some juicy organic peaches. You can make your own solar panels and hire agorists in other areas to market them for you. The possibilities are endless.

Disguise Yourself!

Worried about law enforcement interest? Disguise yourself! Create a barter network - there are tons of them so you’ll blend right in. Give it a vanilla name, nothing even remotely connected to liberty. Call it the Granite Barter Network. That doesn’t sound subversive at all!

Co-Opt the Statists

And that’s just how you want it because now that you’ve disguised agorism and created a paradigm anyone can plug into, you co-opt the minarchists and other statists into joining you. They spend so much time on counter-economics they forget all about voting and protesting. Since they’re spending more time with market anarchists, they radicalize. Soon it becomes easier to patronize the counter-economy than the official one. Certified agoristic products flood the shelves. Now we’re winning!

Agorism is Just Trade Without Government

Agorism may sound complicated, but it’s just extra-governmental trade. Anyone can do it. In fact, you’re probably already doing some of it. Anyone can be successful at it. You can earn extra income, become self-employed and advance liberty all at the same time. What could be better? Get started today raising organic vegetables, baking pies, manufacturing solar panels, importing hemp and stevia or doing a million other productive things.

Join the Conversation

For more information on agorism, explore agorism.info. It’s full of pamphlets, books and other resources on agorism and market anarchism. Subscribe to the Center for a Stateless Society’s website to keep up with the international agorist conversation.

Photo credit: blupics. Photo license.

I emailed Mr Mark Goldberg of Warwick police yesterday after our encounter with my questions and my specific complaints. Here is our correspondence. [Mr Goldberg:] Mr. Donnelly: I received your e-mail regarding your specific complaint and questions. I have “cut and pasted” it into this document, and addressed your issues in blue. [Me:] I’d like to bring [...]

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