An Agorist Primer by Samuel Edward Konkin III

Author:Samuel Edward Konkin III [III, Samuel Edward Konkin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-29T06:46:35+00:00

Libertarianism and the Counter-Economy

Libertarian dissidents, from Polish professors to American students, make up an intellectual field of Counter-Economics. A Yugoslavian theorist, raised in the Marxist tradition, called for removing politics from Socialism and embracing a market economy.

It would appear that there is a natural affinity between the philosophers of freedom and the practitioners of Counter-Economics. Indeed, few libertarians would deny the moral correctness of the latter. An early slogan some radical libertarians put on a button was "Defend The Black Market." Libertarianism in the United States traces its history from the Abolitionist movement to free the slaves, an act of human counter-economics.

And yet, while many abolitionists created and maintained an Underground Railway to assist slaves who freed themselves counter-economically, others called for upholding the law, working within the system and engaging in politics to take over the government and pass laws to free slaves. The same division between activists and reformers afflicts modern libertarians - and many other ideological movements, to be sure.

George Orwell, who came to a type of libertarianism from activism in the Socialist movement of the 1930s, castigated some of his fellow socialists for refusing to dirty their hands in actually fighting for their beliefs on the battlefields of Spain. This perceptive author of 1984 and Animal Farm noted these hypocritical dilettantes' proclivity for hanging around English drawing rooms and waxing eloquent for the socialist cause while contributing precious little else. He called them "Parlor Pinks."

Libertarianism is afflicted with more than its share of "Library Libs" today. Some, though, are horribly paralyzed by the question, "How do we achieve a free society?"

This combination of strategic paralysis, moral lassitude, honest confusion due to the rich variety of libertarian pluralism, and not a little "selling out", has weakened libertarianism to the point where what is presently called the "Libertarian Movement" may no longer be trusted to defend the Counter-Economy and achieve a libertarian society.

The next chapter shows why.

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