Taking a Wikileak on the State

I have a man crush on Julian Assange. What a bad motherfucker. In the resistance against the the state, Wikileaks has provided a great service. In agorism, part of the counter-economy is a free market of information, with the understanding that with information individual behavior can change, if only slightly. One of the more intriguing aspects of revolutionary market anarchism is that it delivers system disruption via millions of little cuts. Combine this with our comrades in the resistance taking larger, more dramatic steps (breaking windows, burning cop cars, tree sitting, etc.) and you have a formula for large scale shifts, as opposed to the highly toxic, collectivist notion of mass movement.

A few of these slight changes in behavior that deliver little cuts to the state can be giving a bit of cash to a houseless person, not casting one or two votes, quitting voting altogether, grow a garden, save some tadpoles , buying a bit of junk silver, and on and on. Agorism relies on invisibility, and conscious, small acts of resistance throughout ones day are possible for anyone in any environment.

The counter-economy encompasses far more than free market money and trading, it also encompasses small acts of infrastructure rebuilding, wherein the individual is empowered in the details of their lives, and adds that bit of energy to building the new within the shell of the old.

Organizations like Wikileaks help give us a bit of fuel in agorism, for information is a powerful thing, and if it helps us change direction, if only slightly, that is far better than business as usual in this culture of monoply.

The School of Being Ripped Off

A friend of mine who is infuriatingly brilliant (note both my sarcasm and jealousy over his powerful mind), has to retake the GRE because his scores passed some sort of cutoff date. While he agrees with me that this is a complete scam, he argues that state regulation is needed to get rid of these scams. My retort is simply that the hidden costs of regulating said scam is a scam in and of itself, and it becomes a matter of which set of pigs will do the stealing.

The political class, whether capitalist pigs, or state pigs, have no interest in providing accessible, quality education. In other words, we are not dealing with a niche-based, freed market education environment. In even more other words, education in this culture is another mechanism of control on the part of those at the top of the pyramid. Said control is for profit/politics, and NOT for the consumer. If it truly WAS for the consumer then they would be BEGGING my brilliant friend to come to their school.

In a freed market, colleges would actually have to compete. They would have to build a solid, long term reputation for high quality turn out of students. They would also be subject to the desires of the students (customers), and not to the state, or Pepsi, or other kinds of nonsense.

Schools would have to teach what people truly desire to learn.

In a context of state capitalist power and fiat currency, there are virtually NO incentives for real competition.

There is a fundamental reason the political class does not desire a freed market, and this is not because the children need to be protected. This is because in such an environment the power shifts to individuals.

This is not to say that one can't wring a quality education out of this culture of monopoly we live in, it's just to say that it will come through being stolen from by pigs.

Balancing the Books: Free Market Population Control

Turns out, there are a lot of people on the planet. According to some humans are pushing the scale, thus leading the planet toward ecological ruin.

I'd say there are all sorts of things causing issues, one of which is massive overpopulation. But the spin on overpopulation that I take is that people/communities have been monopolized, in more vulgar terms we have been herded into concentrated groups. Lump us all together in a cage and we start to go fucking mental. So, yeah, there are lots of social/ecological problems.

A fundamental aspect to a freed market is the necessity of movement. People must be free to move around whenever they see fit. This requires a broad approach to the principle of property rights, but such is the nature a truly freed market. We must be flexible in our social approaches for long term adaptability and stability.

When people are free to move and work as they please (as long as it is done through non-aggression), or, rather, when they have more options in front of them for their lives, pumping out kids for a living becomes one of many life choices, as opposed to the ONLY life choice.

From an economic point of view, people act according to incentives and disincentives. Therefore, a coercive welfare state and property monopolization place people in an environment where choices become quite narrowed, and they subsequently multiply like fucking gremlins in water.

In essence, a free society would broaden life choices for folks, thereby naturally bringing down overall birth rates, and thereby stabilizing our population. The effect of such a phenomenon would butterfly into social organizing and ecological responsibility. Not because of some mass ideology, but as a product of absolute freedom.

Starbucks and Porcupines: The Stupid Wrongness of Stefan Molyneux

Two guys are my biggest influences as an anarchist. Murray Rothbard and Stefan Molyneux. You might remember, dear reader, that I have a bit of beef with Rothbard, and now I have some with Stef. First of all, thank GAWD. These days many seem to hang on to philosophers like a religionist without a god. I for one am stoked at the opportunity to drop a turd on one of my heroes.

In a recent podcast Stef makes a couple sad assertions. The first is that the participants of the black bloc are not real anarchists. The second is that we should feel sorry for Starbucks when their windows get broken; this being implied by his "poor Starbucks" comment.

Let the turding begin!

As to whether or not the people in the streets are the real deal holyfield resistors, peep this.

Obviously, the notion that those burning cop cars couldn't be anarchists because true anarchists would never destroy property is silly. First, the police institution has no valid property rights as an organization. It is an organization based on theft and corruption (and other assorted uglies), therefore action taken against it is retaliatory and often admirable. It is not an initiation of force. And what if the people setting fire to the cars were undercover cops? GOOD. Finally, my fucking taxes go to something ACTUALLY worthwhile. I'd cast a fucking VOTE for that shit. Fuck ideology, taxes for burning cop cars? Sheeeeeeeee-iiiiiiiiiiit.

Stef claims that the real anarchists were to be found at PorcFest, a freedom festival in New Hampshire. From what I've heard, it was peaceful, people's goods laid out in a true, free market fashion, and absolute freedom celebrated. I wish I could have gone. PorcFest is basically an anarchist community realized. It sounds fun as shit.

HOWEVER.

While I agree that PorcFest is a beautiful expression of anarchism as a socio-political theory, SO is the fucking black bloc. The cops fight it and the media spins it because the bloc THREATENS them. And really, think about how fucking restrained those comrades are out there in the streets. They break windows of big businesses and burn cop cars. Oh SHIT, not THAT! The strength in numbers, the decentralized force, combined with what is overall an enlightened group of people filled with some righteous fucking fury, and showing the kind of force they are to be reckoned with merely by donning masks and breaking windows, is fucking amazing and beautiful. They are not beating people in the streets, shooting people, shackling people, abusing people. The police are.

The bloc scares those who know nothing but centralized, monopolized, coercive force.

Fucking STARBUCKS. I can't believe you said poor, fucking STARBUCKS. I really held my breath, waiting for the punchline, but sadly, none followed. Sigh.

For one, Starbucks is not a product of a free market. It is a giant corporation with lots of political connections, that may have started as a small business, but is no longer a business; it is a corporation. It capitalizes hugely on fiat currency. Yes, I know there are studies suggesting that they "help" mom and pop cafes, and blah blah blah. I worked at a Starbucks, it sucks fucking balls. BALLS.

Not to mention that Starbucks is notorious for giving free coffee to cops. Ya know, the people who enforce the laws that we market anarchists apparently hate so much?

THEY ARE NOT OUR FUCKING FRIENDS.

Ya see, I used take the same position. That I, this highly enlightened market anarchist, had puzzled out what the true essence of anarchism was, and could therefore smirk and decry the direct action of others as not truly anarchist.

Then I met some social anarchists. Shared meals with them. Worked with them. And what I found is they are some of the most passionate, freedom loving people you will ever meet. Yeah, we fucking disagree on some shit, debate it hotly, whatever, but they are the real fucking deal. These are people risking their lives in the streets to fight for freedom. It's galvanizing, it's really risky, and yes, we can offer criticisms, but to condemn and write-off off these freedom fighters as false is some serious fucking bullshit. It is spreading the lies of our mutual enemy the state.

Neither Stefan or I will be participating in the bloc anytime soon, I know, but I can say that they are my comrades, my brothers and sisters, and perhaps Stefan would do well to consider them the same.

They fight for you and your family.

Digital Trees Don't Smell Good

So this shitbag wrote an article crying because lame-ass newspapers were going out of business because of digital media. Plus, he blames trees. What a PRICK. So here's the deal, peeps:

This is the era of digitized, decentralized, mass media.

Yeah, the big boys are still around, whipping up fear with bullshit propaganda and misinformation wrapped up in loud and bright graphics, but information is flowing like it never has, and because of that, the old ways of sharing information are being made obsolete. The newspapers are dying.

The more that is virtualized, the better. And before people start bawling about the beauty of tactile shit, shuuuuuuuuuut the fuuuuuuuuuuuck up. Seriously. Go camping, buy a used book, get a sexual partner who will allow you to place your clammy hands on them. There are plenty of tactile experiences that await you beyond the virtual world. Yes, there is a danger of closing ourselves in doors because of the digital age...SO DON'T CLOSE YOURSELF UP IN YOUR HOUSE!!! Stop blaming shit for you not going outside and getting a little exercise. The devil did NOT make you do it. Neither did World of Warcraft.

The wealth of media out there means we have to be discerning. We have to check sources. Or not. Who gives a shit? Get lost in searches for obscure information and opinions. Who knows what you'll stumble upon? Maybe you'll stumble upon this blog and begin exploring agorist and post-civilization ideas? The decentralized media dumps information on you, and you must work to sift through it, but it can be fun work, guided by you and your whims.

I'm not JUST baked and rambling, I DO have an over-arching point that ties into the whole theme of this blog. Part of living successfully and sustainably in a post-civilization world will be through social decentralization. The decentralized mass media allows us to begin participating in the concept. Instead of waiting for civilization's collapse to happen TO us, we can make it something we are in control of through free association and open source information sharing via the digitized world. Groups like this are an example.

So yeah, the old newspapers are starting to collapse and go by-bye. Fuck em. They can't help us transition through the collapse of industrial civilization, peak oil, fiat money, or any of that. The virtual world can. Sure, there are dangers throughout the digitized world, but they are absolutely worth risking, given the unprecedented opportunity we have to connect with each other as free people.

Besides, it's more trees for the planet. I'll trade USA Today for that.

Agorism and the Irrelevance of Cops

With economic downturn we can always expect crime to rise, which is accompanied by increased police violence. Combine the downturn with oppressive laws against non-violent behavior, and the result is even more oppression from the police organization. The laws are oppressive, cops apply said laws in violent and often DEADLY manners, therefore the police organization is a violent and oppressive one. It is also monopoly.

So let's sum up:

The police are a violent, oppressive monopoly.

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?! (I assume you have just shouted this after reading my badass Lost-style reveal that ends up being really obvious and mostly just makes you feel retarded.)

So, it follows that if someone wears the uniform of this organization (no YMCA jokes, please) then it follows that they are members of a violent, oppressive monopoly. As such, they are to be mistrusted, avoided, alienated, and for some folks, FOUGHT.

Now here's my pickle. Not my penis, but pickle, like a problem that is sour and crunchy, and a giant stork is taking a bite out of it and grinning at you, and you have NO idea what to do next. That's what I mean by pickle. NOT my penis. So stop asking me about my penis. Thanks.

So here's my pickle: I'm an individualist, as such I am in the weird position of considering cops as individuals when I meet them in society, which in my case is in food service. There are a couple cops in particular that I like. One seems mellow and laid back, the other seems stern but fair. I know a LOT of people that fit these bills. But these dudes are ALSO members of the aforementioned organization. The violent oppressive one. That's bad. A fucked up conundrum.

Agorism offers a compelling answer to this dilemma. The main issue is that there is demand for security. The illusion is that the police are the solution to that demand. That's partly true, it is A solution, and is a really really really really bad one. Agorism looks to create the new within the shell of the old through counter-economics. Counter-economic activity is decentralized and bottom up trading occurring amongst individuals. This activity, even when unrealized, withdraws support from the power structure, thereby weakening it. Realized, it creates the effects of a mass movement without actually needing a mass movement. In short, agorism offers a viable way to compete with the police institution, and innovating to the point of rendering it obsolete. Engaging in true freed market activity is fertile ground for rapid social and industrial innovation.

For the practical reader I offer a few agorist options:

1. For the Randian survivalist: Buy some guns, dogs, and alarms. Good luck.

2. Trade amongst people you trust. Do you know someone who can work on an engine? Do you know a naturopath? A permaculturalist? A farmer? Working to create these networks of trade lay the groundwork for collective security via voluntary cooperation and mutual aid.

3. Abolish money (as we know it). Try and find any and all reasons to use cash, or better yet: nothing. Trading for free undercuts this fucked market by 100%. Fiat money is FUNDAMENTAL to the oppressive and violent institutions of civilization.

The agorist solution is to withdraw support and build voluntary relationships with those you trust. To answer the demands of communities through decentralized trading and mutual aid.

So be sure to commit an agorist act this week, and begin building the free society NOW in your own life. A society in which the "good" cops find a real place in community security, and the bad cops are held FULLY accountable for their crimes.

The Digital Apocalypse: How the Information Age Scares the Shit Out of Us

It's 1991. I'm at my mom's for the weekend, and her partner is up, chain smoking Moore Lights, and listening to Art Bell. The house is dark, and the silent, intense droning of Art Bell and his guests fills the trailer home with fucking DREAD.

"Who is this?" I ask quietly, my eyes peeled on her smoking visage as she casts the only shadow in the house because of a small desk lamp next to her.

"Art Bell. Quiet," she says in that husky, serious voice I immediately obey.

Fucking Art Bell, man. That dude could scare the shit out of me and I had no clue what he was talking about. All I knew was that the world was about 5 minutes from cracking in half, and the only thing to be done was to sit in a dark kitchen and chain-smoke, listening to the details and hushing interruptions.

I grew up in an apocalyptic religious sect, so end of the world stuff was nothing new to me. I had some gnarly nightmares growing up. But Art Bell could add a gravitas to it that beat out Gawd.

But that was just on the radio. I heard Art Bell once in a great while. I wasn't constantly connected to the information. I got away from it, the apocalypse ebbed.

Then came the information age, and holy shit did doom floweth.

I love the internet. It is basically a new human appendage, well beyond anything we have ever built. That doesn't mean it's not sometimes a pain in the ass. Information increases exponentially every year, not insight, necessarily, but information.

Combine this increase of information with our culture's fascination with its own demise, and you get some scared ass mother fuckers. In virtual reality as in conventional reality, there is a natural human tendency to group with those of a like mind. As such, we can exponentially magnify our cultural mythologies of doom, making them seem more real, more immediate, and often more terrifying.

Since many of us are quite aware of the unsustainable nature of civilization, there is a tendency to reinforce those beliefs, especially within ourselves. Personally, I believe we have some great social opportunities in the information age, in fact, I believe the internet can play a fundamental part in creating a free, sustainable and decentralized society.

If you're feeling scared or uncertain, remember: apocalypse is a part of our culture. Civilization is unsustainable and way deep down we remember this. It permeates our mythologies past and present.

Transition may very well be upon us, and we can make it our best yet.

Now, watch this shit and laugh:

The Complete Guide to the Future from Everything Is Terrible! on Vimeo.

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