Response to Free Talk Live Discussion

Saturday night, at about 9:15pm est, I was on freetalklive, discussing the recent tour with Liberty on Tour and agorism in general. After the call, Mark, Ian, and Smeg discussed agorism, regarding the need for growing tyranny to result in a large counter-economy and whether that means an agorist would support big government, with Mark quite insistent many do. Here is my reply to that discussion.

Phrasing it as “then we wouldn’t get no government and we gotta have no government because its important and um we’ve gotta do that” is rather disregarding the reasons why its important to anarchists. I understand you’re a minarchist, but to have an elucidating debate and improve oneself’s thoughts, one must take time to understand another’s perspective. Not to mention challenging another’s actual idea will gain a better chance of providing information that would lead to them changing their mind to your idea. I have no issue with government; I have an issue with the state. Many think they’re the same, but there is a nuanced difference. I would define the State as a government organization, but one that maintains a security monopoly over a given area of land, and its inhabitants. Basically, the State won’t let you opt out. If a government decided to be voluntary, I would have no objection to people voluntarily participating and associating. I think it doesn’t make sense and that it would fade away as a popular form of organization, but I’m not going to use force, for those subjective ideas of mine, upon another. I believe in voluntaryism, people associating voluntarily according to their individual subjective desires. And finally, and to the key point behind my objection, the reason it is important to anarchists is because we hold a very high subjective standard for tolerance of organized crime and cannot stand by and do nothing while such tragedy occurs to individuals all over the world daily. That one must act, in whichever way their individual subjective desires lead them to, to end the state.

Regarding other locations for agorism, I agree, and its one of the key reasons for my trip with Libertyon Tour. In the past I’ve thrown around the idea of a Slave State Project, where one finds the worst culturally-similar region and have agorists move there. It would likely help for them to have some wealth beforehand to invest into the region to rejuvenate it with Austrian business cycle knowledge. Then one would connect with the local counter-economy to build its wealth and expand its size, in addition helping destitute people, destitute due to tyrannical state actions, by providing goods and services as well as an income to them. And as the region’s statist occupiers go bankrupt, the wealthy agorists, and their supporters they’ve educated, can do their best to prevent the rebirth of another state. I would note that it depends on the structure of statism in an area whether statist control end, in that the highest sovereign authority must be thwarted to achieve anarchism. Focusing on Detroit  would be difficult (not saying I would oppose it, I like competitive agorist regions for comparative reasons) because while the municipal statists are incredibly tyrannical, there are provincial and national statists that have much more strength. The agora built in Detroit would need to be innovative and wealthy enough to deter those forces from propping up the municipal statists with their larger strength. It would be Detroit's resources against the resources of the entire United States. In the meanwhile before such a project could be built though, I like seeing agorism and the counter-economy grow in regions with different cultural values, crime level (whether private or public crime), economic industries etc. for comparative reasons, demonstrating the expression of subjective desires, and to increase the decentralism that is the strength of the agora.

I’m not “for” big government, I’m for no state. But because I don’t believe that a minarchist state will result in no state, due to the lack of history demonstrating it, I believe that a tyrannical state is the way to no state, which has been demonstrated by history, in addition to the philosophical arguments I find valid and sound. I don’t advocate for the tyrannical state, I do my best to build direct action solutions that resolve social problems and help people, whether through an income, charity work improving people's lives, or providing a good or service. I joke, and I'll honestly admit I’m half serious, that if someone *does* vote, they should vote for the greatest evil to help things move faster. I don't deny the concern that I wonder if there are enough networks built before the final days occur, which is why I’m doing this LoT  tour to help grow them. Despite that, I still believe that libertarians promoting a minarchist state are doing good. I think that not because I believe that their votes or work on legislation will make fundamental change, I think that because it’s a great educational way to promote the ideas of liberty to people and I would never challenge that educational effort. I would note that there are those I encounter who DO advocate for larger government, but they are not numerous at all and I still do think they serve a good point in at least bringing the end closer, I just won’t support their actions of indirect voting action, just as I won’t support minarchists action of indirect voting action. I support the results of their actions, education, and bringing the end closer; I wouldn’t speak against their efforts to promote liberty, just as I wouldn't speak against minarchists efforts to promote liberty. I don’t think I’ve met anyone amongst agorist circles that advocate a violent revolution, these are usually found amongst constitutionalists or far right ex-military types.

For those concerned about not caring about individuals hurt by tyranny, that is not it at all, for I wrote this recently: How One Agorist Cares. Basically, I believe that it should be pointed out that minarchism is often written of as "small" tyranny vs the "large" tyranny and its taken in a still snapshot of time. Obviously, at that very instant large tyranny  is worse than small tyranny. It should be opposed. Minarchists are focused on the now while anarchists are concerned with the end. However, if you look at the full timeline, the wealth and prosperity lost through minarchism in each time as it continues unabated, is incredibly great compared to the immediate short-framed losses when the state collapses. Consider that minarchist states have existed in various forms for hundreds of years. Because of the belief that tyranny must come to achieve anarchism, I support building organizations that provide solutions to problems, improving people’s situation, defending them from statist tyranny whether through hiding information about activities, ability to escape, or, probably not to be used until the state is severely weakened, the market will decide when practicality makes it useful, protection against the agents directly. Tor and Twitter are both examples of ways people have built organizations to be used in self-defense from state; I'm sure there are those amongst us brilliant enough to continue that innovation. Caring agorists, innovating solutions to improving people's lives through various forms of protection and providing goods, services, and income, are the solution to the state's tyrannical actions, not merely running to a lesser state.

The Evolution of Extra Ordinary Action

Ideas are the the theory of the fiber that is the happenings of life. Ideas never die, the test of an idea is their evolution. The evolution of the idea is the antithesis of it's life.

From the practice of life comes fruition of theories, which are derived from ideas. Comes the evolution of ideas, the theories of the participation in existence.
Enveloping from this nexus of radical existence. Which is the seed if allowed to flourish, the action of the evolution.

The counter evolution is the transformation of extraordinary actions, which is the antithesis of sovereignty. Act on this to bring to the fruition of the agora. Act now so that others to follow, will come to know the ideas that will lead them to the actualization of their evolution. Extraordinary actions of sovereign for the win!!!

Free Market Defense; Operation Payback

Two groups of hackers (4Chan & Anonymous) are laying claim to web attacks against MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, and Post Finance( a Swiss bank). Any business causing harm to Wikileaks will in exchanged be harmed.

This is not a picturesque example of free market defense, although we do not choose how free market defense will emerge. To each it's own form, these businesses stand on no moral ground. They enjoy a government granted oligopoly and I bid them no compassion.

This is how the Free Market defense works, activist see a worthy cause and rally around it. Some with support, some running interference. If governments do the inevitable and harm Julian Assange they will bring the wrath of Wikileak's secret cables upon themselves. This is the end game, anyway it plays out, it is Wikileaks for the win.

How One Agorist Cares

I openly believe that in order to truly bring about a voluntaryist, stateless, anarchist society, the state will have to grow more tyrannical first. Because of this, many people accuse me of caring about an idea more than individuals. Yet this is the exact reverse of my sympathies. Its because of the individuals that I care about the idea; indeed, to lose focus on the plight of the individuals in pursuit of an idea would be a great folly, but one I do not believe I'm committing.

Its an unfortunate thing that people, not all, but what tends to be the majority in my observations, accept evil up until the point their survival is endangered. Look at the history of people complying, not necessarily endorsing evil actions. Examine how people consider the evil actions of the American Empire. Contemplate that utilitarian economic arguments persuade people to anarchism more than natural rights ethical arguments. Even I was guilty. In time, I became radicalized and stand by ethical arguments more, but when attempting to provide information to another for them to change their mind, I do my best to remember the economic arguments.

This is why I believe the counter-economy, with an agorist vanguard, is the most likely way the state will be ended. People being forced into the counter-economy due to an increasingly tyrannical, interventionist state will be breaking the statist law to survive. It has happened historically and can, and I believe will, happen again. The problem has always been preventing the next state, hence the agorist vanguard educating people about anarchism.

However, as I mentioned at the beginning, the state has to get very tyrannical before it collapses. This is horrible for the individual suffering at the hands of the state. Yet it must not be forgotten why this is. The state has lost its veneer of legitimacy and is losing support. It must rely upon entirely brute force to survive. Without the loss of legitimacy, the state continues its tyranny, subtle, but violent to the core. More individuals are harmed in the long-run by a minarchist state, with their posterity inheriting the violent tyranny. More wealth is lost as time continues, building upon past loss wealth. Prosperity and ethics are subtly reduced. Just think of how much different the last 100 years could look like without statist actions. Or two hundred. The violence the state exerts in its last days of brute strength seems horrid, and it certainly is, but its also obvious. The violence the state exerts in its long reign over individuals and posterity is equally horrid, but its subtle and not seen for what it is. The tyranny of a dying state is immediate, but its soon to end (with the door then being open to statelessness or a new state which begins increasing tyranny).

However, not only is the tyranny immediate, but a caring agorist has numerous incentives to provide protection for people as the tyranny increases. As the agora grows, businesses will develop to hide people and actions from the state, publicize aggression by the state, and eventually, physically protect them from statist actions.

To put it in an analogy, society, composed of individuals, is diseased by a parasite, the state. It distorts one's limbs and makes one less efficient and, therefore, less prosperous. However, there is a cure. Unfortunately, its a painful cure. Doctors have learned that amputating your limbs in certain areas will allow the parasite to be stopped. You still have time before it consumes your entire body. It will be painful. But there's an anesthesia called agorism to lessen the pain of removing this life-threatening parasite.

Emergence as applied to the Black Market

Black Markets emerge when their is a disruption between the point in which supply and demand meet. This disruption is known as government. Emergence can be described as the appearance of new properties or species in the course of development or evolution. When we look at the black market through emergence. A Black Market emerges where disruption of supply and demand spawns a market which has exceeded the risk of getting caught. 

As we know governments grow as they grow so do Black Markets. As government economies collapse we see Black Markets flourishing replacing the shell which the government has created between supply and demand. Hence the phrase "creating a new society in the shell of the old." Governed ordered economies die and wither away in the shell that is left over a free society with supply and demand as it's structure will emerge. 

Normally as governments collapse the armed fraction will tend to set up their structure as the new "rule of law." As this process happens more and more in geographic designations. The Black Market which inhabits this area will trump the armed fraction, causing their "rule" to become null and void. The free exchange of this Black Market will come to be a non cohesive way for society to assemble.  

This is order out of chaos which is not chaos at all. It is the emergence of an enslaved humanity's fight against the ever growing tide of cohesion.  As societies around the world come to the point of actualization  that governance as a source of order is an illusion, which is what it has always been.  Free exchange will become the order among the chaos which is human interaction. Societies will regard the Black Market as the Free Market. Let's join the freemen that unwitting strive for this reality that time has not yet made an reality. Agora! Action!! Anarchy!!!

Rose Colored Economics

The Economies of all nation's is a mutated version of how resources are allocated to enslave it's slaves and those who make the emperor's robe. Thank you for dying to keep politicans safe. Thank you for dying so government created oligopolies can pillage another geographic designation. Thank you for being robbed so politicians can say they rebuilt America. Thank you for letting us print more "money," call it stimulus, cause inflation and putting your family on the dole after you lost your job. Thank you for being the cops who beat your fellow serfs down. It is alway easier to justify a slave beating a slave. Thank you for being robbed going over sea's and occupying others nation's giving "their" slaves, justification to crash a plane into a building serfs were robbed for and then dying for our "security."

The end to this cycle is to opt out, starve the state and their oligopolies. Build an economy in the shell of the old and let the monster starve. Anarchy, agorism, action, end the illusion that is the white market. Join the counter evolution and the coercion is over. Their "money" will be worthless before we run out of time. Remember time is on our side it always has been.

The Dancing Mice

In this day and age we are inundated with information, this can only be a good thing, the more informed individuals are the better decisions they will be able to make, or so the theory goes.  I think this theory leaves out two very important factors, those who are willfully ignorant and I think by and far the most important, distraction of dancing mice.  The first factor is a matter of individual choice, I will not place an absolute value judgment but I will opine that I believe it is poor way to go through one’s life; blissful ignorance is like complacent slavery.  Not to forget, the former leads to the latter.  I believe it is more important to think about the distraction of the dancing mice, the willfully ignorant do not detract from the numbers who are thinking and informed the distracted, however are.



Yay! Dancing MICE!!!

Traditionally people believe there is false information out there and that is all there is to be wary of, I personally disagree, I think there is also a lot of true information that individuals might as well ignore, especially if you are among the ranks of the well informed.  False information does not last in the light of the skeptic’s lanterns; lies often fall away and are forgotten by well informed individuals, specifically because they question everything.  What doesn’t fall away are things with a shred of truth, if there is a nugget of fact in a story however small or trivial it gives the notion of the whole story some sort of ontological validity.  I think the adaptation of the human to this reality is the discriminating mind, being able to discern the important from the trivial, the vital from the dancing mice.

Let me please highlight some examples of what I am speaking of:

Bradley Manning

I have friends who are working in support of this project deeply, Pvt. Manning was arrested is being held and if he is not dead he will be severely traumatized if he is ever allowed his freedom again.  I do not understand the infatuation with this young man, a great injustice has been done unto him but people are kidding themselves if they truly believe anything they are doing will improve his fate one iota.  I will never suggest that people abandon Pvt. Manning; surely if he did what he is accused of he is a man of heroic stature.  Though I will mention I do find it a bit peculiar that this man is still alive, that some terrible accident or terrorist car bombing did not befall him before he was “caught” is short of miraculous to say the least.

 Julian Assange

What he is doing through Wikileaks is an astounding effort, he is doing something the mass media has dropped the ball on for far too long, with that said, people are advertising every trivial piece of flair about this man.  He is not releasing anything any truly informed individual is ignorant of, we all know the reality of the occupation of the Middle East was based on a sham, we all know  the military is doing a smash up job of killing children.  Now we are supposed to be benefitted by knowing the exact details regarding the government being a piece of shit in regard to other national representatives whose homelands we are not currently dropping bombs in the children thereof?  Was this something we were uncertain of, are we being honest with ourselves?  Individually are we truly enlightened to know the internal business of banks, we long admit are in the pocket of the aforementioned corrupt government, that are not on the up and up?  Much like Manning, especially in the light that the DHS has taken down 70+ websites in the last (was it a week?) without any judicial approval, I am a little bit skeptical because Wikileaks still exists, that and Julian is still walking the Earth.

The TSA

Another event everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon of is the TSA scanners and mass scale second base attempts, anyone who does not live under a rock knows the scanners are not reliably safe, there is a lot of dissenting opinion of their safety in the medical field, need I say more?  Any idiot should be able to reason that getting a pat down when you are not in custody (that means under arrest) is a violation of your privacy and personal property.  George Donnelly and his We Won’t Flycampaign is on the right track, but that is it, stop flying, boycott air travel all together, there is enough media buzz about this that one cannot honestly believe they will convince people who are about to go into a terminal to not get on that plane.  I feel for Meg, subjectively she went through a shitty situation when all she wanted was to go home, but she is not the only one who has gone through this type of thing, surely she will not be the last.  Much of the last decade I was getting felt up by TSA agents every time I was going to fly, maybe I should have cried, we could be that many years ahead on this one, or maybe we should just stop talking and start doing?

 SB-510

I have a personal bone to pick with this one, I mean FUCKING REALLY, who the hell is surprised?  This is a particular point I severely disagree with Dr. Rothbard, engaging the system is a complete waste of fucking time, call your senators and congress people, it does not make a lick of difference.  As we have seen in the 2010 cycle there was no overwhelming majority of government reducing candidates to choose from and did any of them make it into office, the answer is FUCK NO!  Now what, the government is on the verge of making rain water collection illegal as well as having loose enough language in the bill to eliminate small farm competition on the food market and potentially personally grown food?  Is anyone who is marginally informed about the government surprised, anyone who is not directly affected by this does not care, when they will feel the effects of higher food prices it will be too fucking late anyhow!

There are a plethora of other issues, baby Cheyenne, police brutality, the list is endless and I feel for all the people who suffer needlessly at the hands of the state they do not consent to, but at the same time I can’t help but imagine what strides could be taken if people would look at the situation and say, “Damn that’s Fucked Up!” and then move on to something more productive.

It is almost as if we are being set up to be lost to astonishment, no one who is in any shape or form truly informed has a doubt that tyrants kill, with sadistic glee, does it follow that when their panties are in a bunch, they are not killing people off because of it?  What people are doing may be honorable but we have to look beyond that, and see that natural cause and effect is being violated.  Maybe these people are allowed to live solely because it is advantageous to have the information distraction?  It seems to me that this is more a seamless web of existence to someone trying to control a large population with an information addiction.

I know Ayn Rand is not so popular with many people, but I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned from her first novel We the Living, a depiction of life in Soviet Russia in the years following the Bolshevik Revolution.

  One of the things she notes about communist life is that there is always some busy work to do, between clubs, organizations, party meetings that if you were not involved in, you were suspect to being a party traitor.  The insight she makes of this is very relevant to the topic, it seems to her through her character personification Kira, that all the “volunteer” activities are really just a distraction to keep people from thinking.  Maybe informed individuals too are given enough information rope to hang ourselves with, to keep us stagnant and there is obvious peer pressure to keep up to date with the latest state sponsored atrocities.

I know is it almost guaranteed that someone is going to say, “But Harry, they are providing the proof for the people who deny the truth, it is a valuable weapon for recruitment.” I have an answer for that, those who are willfully ignorant will remain as such and it is their will.  This is not a fight for “hearts and minds” this is a fight for survival, time is short and getting shorter every day, is it wiser to try to enlighten someone who wishes to reject it or to begin working toward your own future?  I also know someone will say, “It is not about my life but that of the children, I am sacrificing myself for them.” And I am calling bullshit on that as well.  If there was no expectation for even a marginal improvement in one’s own life, there would be no logical point to keep doing this, as there is no guarantee that someone will pick up the torch after you and continue the job when you are dead.  If the thought then goes to recruiting people, scroll your ass back to the top of this paragraph and read it again.

I do not mean to sound pessimistic, I do not mean to be rude, but at this point maybe we should not be wasting so much time being involved on spreading spread news, keeping up with the Jones’ on the amount of factoids we can cram into our heads.  Maybe we should be looking to hone skills that will bring ourselves or prepare ourselves for the next level of the game.  There is stagnation, it is the wall between theory and practice that many seem almost unwilling to scale and overcome, I am unsure if it is fear or that people do not believe the talk they are talking but one thing is certain, people are not doing very much.

Various efforts are showing things are not working, collecting in a specific area to effect the elections is obviously not, bringing messages to the masses is not, maybe doing things that do not work is not the way to go.  In the words of my good friend Jim Davidson in an unrelated topic, “Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.” at this point I can fairly ascertain much of what is being done is not working what so ever.  What is getting a lot of lip service is agorism, but again I do not see much of that being done, maybe that is an indication of the tree bearing much fruit, maybe not, either way it is walking the walk rather than talking the talk.  The Dancing Mice are all well and good I am sure the .0001% of the population enlightened by their presence is of some value but at this juncture we can either get busy living in their system or get cracking in a counter-economic system, the choice is yours.

 

Yep, teh katz r zmarter than u!

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