The best thing that could happen to the anarchist movement as a whole, in my opinion, would be for every self-declared anarchist to start working with those around them that feel the same on building their own little vision of what society should look like

To which I reply: I think agorism as a revolutionary strategy has a far better chance of success than sit-ins and demonstrations. It re-invents the “invisible hand”. It’s micro-revolution. Incremental victory. Start by being 1% more free than you were yesterday. You can’t change the world for everyone in it. Admit that. Focus those for whom you can change the world, for whom you can make a difference.

If everyone were to start there, instead of going to some black bloc circle-jerk, I think we’d all be surprised at how rapidly we could effect real change.

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For what it’s worth, the winner isshould be Thor’s Mitre Saw:

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It’s absurd to define an ideology as pure on paper and refusing to acknowledge the consequences it brings in real life. If “true” socialism is so hard to achieve, or if it most times ends up becoming a paranoid genocidal system of tyranny, that pretty much speaks for itself.

Now the same goes for “capitalism”. It’s equally unconvincing to argue, “Well, we’ve never had really free markets, either.” No, we haven’t ever had “really free markets” and we haven’t ever had “true communism.” Like it, or not, what we’ve got is an institution, or system of institutions the historical roots of which all trace back to violent conquests and usurpations[1]; not, as the communists suggest, to property (even though much property is the result of conquest and usupration).[2]

And yet, all incarnations of “communism” (true, or not) have ushered in evils the likes of which we must admit are equally offensive to any which might happen under a “free market” (true, or not). The results have been as bad, or worse, than those perversions they were intended to cure.

1. Oppression and subjugation? Check.
2. Exploitation? Check.
3. Parasitic Ruling Class? Check.

Discussing the “ruling class“, Sean Gabb differentiates:

The main difference between Marxist and libertarian theories of class is in where each side locates the source of class power. For the Marxists, class power derives from ownership of the means of production…

[T]herefore, the source of class power lies in wealth, and political power follows from wealth. This explains the Marxist belief that a communist revolution, by abolishing class domination, will rid the State of its oppressive nature. The State may then be dispensed from the liberal requirements of limitation and due process, and can be safely used as an instrument for ending such class power as remained. It will then, of itself, wither away.

Neat and tidy, right? Gabb notes that the anti-Marxist “class theory” is less palatable precisely because it is not nearly as black-and-white[3], to the non-Marxist libertarians, the State is a bit more nebulous:

[T]he State is not something created by the already powerful. It is, instead, something captured by those who want to become powerful – and who cannot become powerful by any other means. Without a state, there can be no exploitation.

I’ve always felt that Marx’s theory is overly simplistic. Its simplicity makes it palatable—your opponents easy to identify: they’re the ones who have the stuff. Unfortunately, this theory of class revolution is a dead letter, as numerous real-world examples attest to the impracticability of using the State to eliminate itself (cf. every instance of State Communism in recorded history).

But the very same core problem which renders communist revolutionary theory impotent, plagues much of American libertarianism: we cannot topple the system by working within its accepted rules and boundaries (cf. “minarchism”). We cannot use the State to destroy the State. It doesn’t work that way.

Agorism—individuals creating a counter-economy, by establishing communities and  relationships based on mutual aid, value creation, trust, understanding and compassion—has a chance to succeed where other revolutionary theories have failed. Agorism does not aim to reform the system, or to fix it, or even for the impossible task of toppling it from within; rather it aims to make the system obsolete, to destroy it by circumvention.

1. Oppenheimer, Franz. — The State. “[T]he State, as a class-state, can have originated in no other way than through conquest and subjugation…”
2. Oppenheimer. “This assumed proof is based upon the concept of a ‘primitive accumulation,’ or an original store of wealth, in lands and in movable property, brought about by means of purely economic forces; a doctrine justly derided by Karl Marx as a ‘fairy tale.’”
3. Curiously, the parasite/productive dichotomy is more pronounced in State communist regimes (i.e., nomenklatura) than it is in State capitalist regimes.

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In response to the occasional disagreement/dispute/argument/flamewar that arises between anarchists of different stripes on teh interwebz, at Polycentric Order, Michael comments on Why I’m Not a Voluntaryist:

Anarchism is such a radical break with the present order – in fact, so theoretical in nature (the meager handful of historical examples aside), and society itself so complex with almost an infinite number of inputs, contexts, and situations, that envisioning not only what should be, but what is sustainable and what will work, to be next to impossible.

I agree, Michael. It’s stupid to spend our time debating what is essentially unknown.

The problem is that the other people always assert that they do know how things will be, or how they ought to be. And they like to accuse those with whom they disagree of being evil or exploitative or class-traitors, etc.

It’s hard to sit back and take that lying down.

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I get people who tell me “Yes, the government is bad, but look at it this way, things could be worse”. It’s true that I could be living in some other country under conditions that are even worse, but that’s not the point.

Practically none of us desire to see a world that’s a worse place to live in, in fact many of us routinely dig deep, even during tough times, to help out those less fortunate, so why presume that we’d let it become something worse?

This is an objection raised on propaganda: People imagine “things could be worse” because they imagine a world without any of the “good” things which governments provide*. The government builds roads, maintains the police, provides for law and order, ensures the quality of our foods, etc., so without government there would be neither roads, nor police, nor law nor order and we’d all eat naught but poison until we die.

It’s clearly stupid to believe this, but many people do because they’ve been conditioned to believe it, and they’ve never been taught to think for themselves (a reflection on the sorry state of public education, I might add).

They are afraid that things would be worse, without a government to control and influence nearly every aspect of their personal lives**. But this is a very untenable assumption unless one unconditionally supports everything the government has ever done and will ever do. And for the record, “everything” includes “Don’t ask, don’t tell”, housing projects, rent control, restrictions on your rights to peacefully assemble, to bear arms, to speak freely, to love who you want to love, to drive an SUV, whether and what to smoke, to eat organic foods, etc. “Everything” also includes internment camps, apartheid, chattel slavery, civilian massacres, corporate welfare, Agent Orange, trashing the environment, destroying our cities, etc.

People are so preoccupied with the how-bad-things-might-become in the worst-case scenario, that they’ve entirely neglected how bad things actually are.

If you say, “Things could be worse,” I challenge you to instead imagine how things could be better.

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* In the real world, all of the “good things” come at a the expense of something worse: Either these “good things” rely on violence (in order to pay Peter, the government must first rob from Paul) or, due to the law of unintended consequences, inadvertently cause something else undesirable.

** Every intereference in the market, whether tax, subsidy, regulation, or prohibition, ultimately has an effect on the other tradeoffs and decisions we make.

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But it’s worse than “jobless”, which suggests job neutrality.  In reality, jobs are disappearing.

Last November it was big news when the FT reported[1] that the world’s economies lost 80,000 jobs. Now, we learn that the American economy shed 263,000 jobs in the month of September[2] alone, sending the national unemployment rate close to 10%. Adding insult to injury, people are remaining unemployed longer than ever: more than 50% of them have recently exhausted their public benefits. What happens to these people?

Even though young college graduates with a few years of work experience have suffered the least (so far), they’ve still been relatively hammered over the past year. Ihe unemployment rate among college graduates 25 years old has nearly doubled since 2008, approaching 5% for 2009[3].

If the aggregate unemployment rate for people 25-34 is 10.1%, and college grads are pacing 4.5%, what’s happening to those without a degree?  Do the math: they’re faring far worse.  These people are supposed to be just starting out, but how will they ever get out of their own way when they start with such a severe handicap? They’ll be 26, 27, 28 years old with no relevant work experience. If and when the economy recovers, there will be a new class of college graduates, competing with the classes of 2006 through 2009, who have been diligently pumping gas and waiting tables at TGIFriday’s for the last five years, patiently waiting for an opportunity to toil for the same people now responsible for their collective misfortune.

Fifteen million people want to work (more precisely, they want to earn), but can’t find employment. I’ve previously written that whenever resources are idle and needs are unsatisfied, there is something fundamentally wrong. But it goes beyond fundamentals when this amount of dis-coordination persists for any measurable amount of time. It is evidence that errors have not been corrected, malinvestments have not been liquidated, resources and labor have not been reallocated towards valuable output, etc.  This amount of disequilibrium can only be effected force, suppression, and exploitation.  People aren’t working because they’re not allowed to work.

Economic crises are part of State capitalism.  Crises, their concomitant mass-unemployments, discoordination and idleness of capital resources, are the means by which the power structure is sustained by the few, subjugating the many to lingering fears of total collapse and destitution.  Without widespread economic crises, the hierarchy flattens and power disperses.  Individuals retain their wealth, they retain control of their lives and livelihood.

Now, individuals need to take the power back.  We’ve been waiting for orders our entire lives, and where has it gotten us?

Don’t ask for permission, don’t wait for orders. Take life into your own hands.  As long as there are needs yet unment (and there are), there are jobs that need to be done.  People need to do these jobs.   We can wait for the jobs to come back, or we can create them ourselves.  Withdraw, as much as possible, from the slave economy.  Pay fewer taxes (or none at all).  Ignore stupid regulations. Take care of your neighbor and your neighbors take care of you.  Grow community.

The only sustainable recovery occurs when people no longer fear “the economy”, when people realize that they, in their individual capacities are “the economy”.

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1. More than 80,000 jobs cut in just five days. (Permalink from FT.com, may no longer be active)
   

2. Jobless Report Is Worse Than Expected; Rate Rises to 9.8%
   

3. BLS data: Series LNS14027662 – Seasonal unemployment, 25yrs+, BS or higher education, Series LNS14000000 – Seasonal unemployment (Total) [link] and BLS Table A-13 Employment status of the civilian non-institutional population by age, sex, and race.

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