Life, Love, and Liberty

Things are picking up steam again on Studies in Dialectical Libertarianism. Here’s the outline for the first part that I’ve recently begun writing.

1. The meaning of libertarianism–

A. Control of the individual over their lives.

B. By extension, control of collectives over their affairs.

2. Political level–

A. Political level is defined as when it’s appropriate to use force.

B. Answer being only in retaliation thus establishing non-aggression principle.

C. Definition of liberty following from principle centered around freedom from aggression.

D. Natural law and subsequently natural rights as justification for answer.

E. Logical end point of justification and non-aggression principle is anarchism.

3. Economic level–

A. Economic level is defined as trade in goods and services.

B. Completely free market in the sense of Sam Konkin’s quote that “The Market is the sum of all voluntary human action. If one acts non-coercively, one is part of the Market.”

C. Preferred conception of property rights to underlie the free market.

4. Cultural level–

A. Cultural level is defined as the dominant disposition towards what is and isn’t acceptable. Think of a continuum with extreme liberalism on one end and extreme conservativism the other.

B. Culture that supports individuals being their authentic selves (extremes noted).

C. Extreme cultural liberalism and tolerance being the most conducive to this.

D. Subsequent importance of genuine liberation for outcast groups such as drug users and sex workers.

Update: Compliments to Matt Jenny for inspiring a word change from coercion to aggression.

From Lady Aster’s online Salon with minor revisions.

One of the joys in this world is hearing the personal stories of kindred spirits. As a more extended introduction, I wrote a piece talking about my political-philosophical journey. I became an anarchist at age 14 and eventually dropped out of school under the influence of unschooling/John Taylor Gatto after 10th grade to provide the backdrop.

An intense interest in radicalism began for me after September 11th. Before that day, I’d dabbled some in the social sciences but nothing particularly radical. If my memory serves me correctly, http://www.sfgate.com/ columnist Mark Morford’s piece Evildoers of Evil was my first post 9-11 commentary on its political aftermath. What began with leftist Mark Morford led to a dive into the literature of radical leftism on multiple topics. Eventually, I discovered anarchism and was attracted to its libertarian spirit. Much exploration was accomplished via books and the http://www.infoshop.org/ anarchist FAQ. Somehow, I stumbled upon Keith Preston’s site http://www.attackthesystem.com/ with an eventual discovery of Kevin Carson’s http://www.mutualist.org/ too. Both of these sites contributed to a major expansion of my horizons. I learned that there were free market thinkers who departed from the status quo. This was my first exposure to loads of right-libertarian material. I read pieces on http://www.lewrockwell.com/ and Murray Rothbard’s work. I also became a devout reader of Arthur Silber’s blog at Light of Reason. I was drawn in by his passionate and intense writing. Eventually, I emailed him to let him know my gratitude and invite commentary upon some writings I’d put together. He provided good suggestions and extremely positive feedback. A reading list came up and Arthur had Chris Matthew Sciabarra of http://www.notablog.net/ email me with it. From becoming good friends with Chris, I explored Ayn Rand’s writings as well as his Dialectics and Liberty trilogy. My current project includes a book titled Studies in Dialectical Libertarianism that presents a trinity of anarchism, free market economics, and cultural tolerance as an interrelated whole using the method of social inquiry outlined in his trilogy. I also run the site http://www.lifeloveandliberty.com that I invite people to leave constructive feedback at. Today, my views are based on the above mentioned trinity.

Political-natural law or rights deduced from reason.

Economic-Sam Konkin’s conception of the market as anything non-coercive with a leaning towards mutualist property rights as expounded by Kevin Carson.

Cultural-bohemianism or super tolerance with respect for people being their authentic selves.

Hoping to entice others to share their stories with this ( :”

Here’s an effort to update Sam Konkin’s classic MLL pamephlet War or Liberty: The Real Choice.

Times of war often bring smears to those who dissent. Liberty is said to be under attack and war critics its detractors. Necessity allegely dictates that government “defend” your freedom. This is a false choice between preserving freedom and war you have been given.

Where has the real threat to freedom often come from in wartime? The state!

Just look at American history.

Civil War brought the military draft on both sides and Linclon’s 1861 suspension of habeas corpus.

World war 1 saw censorship, conscription, and the Palmer raids of 1919.

World War 2 continued conscription and left us the legacy of Japanese American concentration camps.

Cold war produced the Kent State shootings and peacetime draft

Wartime state enroachment upon liberty continues today with the unending “war on terror’s” Patriot Act and illegal NSA wiretapping.

Think of the above as the first page of the brochure with the second page below.

What can you do to resist the state’s warmaking? The Movement of the Libertarian Left has some suggestions for interested individuals.

Tax Rebellion (not just “avoidance”)

Draft Resistance

Smuggling (increase Free Trade!)

Wage and Price Control Breaking

Censorship Evasion

Networking with like-minded freedom fighters and peace activists

Disseminating the revelations of Revisionist History that expose manipulations to drag us into war after war.

Let go of the false dichotomy between peace and security. Enter the agora (true, open free market) via Counter-Economics. Educate yourself and your friends about the anarchist alternative to statism.

My approach was to take the best from the old brochure and slim it down.