Contra the Self-Ownership Principle: The Nightmare of Libertopia

This is an interesting critique of the self-ownership principle, and one that other libertarians ignore at their own stupidity. The lack of nuance that Rothbard sometimes presented in his theoretical and philosophical abstractions is a problem for relating theory to praxis in the case of libertarianism and propertarianism. Lewis rightly points out that the prevailing moral psychologies and legal precedents negate the views of Rothbard on things like children and the totality of a contractual society. However, I disagree with his view that social contractarianism is the negation of a contractual society. Rather I believe they can be complementary in their creation of solid, customary law through common law courts and juries, and the mindset and customs of a natural law society which negate the capabilities of parasitism and state-based coercion. (by the blog author)


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When Will the Labour Party Die?

The Labour Party has proven itself completely ineffectual. They’ve got a leader who can barely develop policy due both to his incompetence and a continually growing cadre of backbench MPs who stand for literally nothing but a centrist, simplistic Labour Party. In a country where the political landscapes are radically changing, with the concept of a centre-ground voting bloc taking a kicking, the Labour Party seems to serve no purpose other than an increasingly small clique of middle class left wingers in London. Continue reading

Entrepreneurs as the Ubermensch

I’ve previously written off the idea of regarding the entrepreneur as akin to the Nietzschean Ubermensch, the superman who will lead man forward to new heights of heroism and creation. In order for the Ubermensch to develop, he must have a will to power that ignores worldly moralities and compassions and instead focuses on the individual’s inner contradictions and capabilities. Out of such comprehensive self-direction develops a radical aristocracy of leaders and innovators who move the world forward, above the herd mentality of the masses. I fundamentally believe in such a concept as a way of developing a society of meritocratic hierarchies and radical traditionalism, shaped by paganistic, European and gnostic values and morals, constructed with private and natural law. Continue reading

What Is Fascism?

An excellent question that is raised by Jonathan Meades on his program about the architecture of Mussolini’s Italy. It seems, as Meades points out, to be a pointless neologism that applies to whatever the forces of anti-fascism believe at any particular time. In many ways, it’s akin to the state’s use of the word extremist, effectively denoting unpopular opinions as beyond the pale. This ironically develops into Orwellian conceptions of a fascist society, where words and thoughts are controlled by the centralised structures of popular culture and statism. Thoughts become unthinkable not by the direct oppression of the state, but through the movements and dynamics of popular political opinion and culture. Continue reading

Markets Ripe for Agorism

Modern markets are fundamentally unfree. Most libertarians and anarchists realise this, and see that centuries of systemic state intervention have created infrastructures that are wasteful, coercive and destructive. The majority of capitalist markets, rather than developing through spontaneous order, are in fact borne out these infrastructures, growing as deformed appendages that have some elements of competition and ground-up innovation, but mostly being suited toward government-created and subsidised corporations who are so capital intensive that they rely on and use these infrastructures to keep their profitability, and with it their monopoly status. Continue reading

Jeffersonian Governance, Burkean Conservatism, and Anarchism

The conceptions of Jeffersonian governance pride equality before the law, the democratic will of the people tempered by intelligent argumentation and natural societal hierarchies, and a belief in limited, decentralised government. Within this tradition, governance should never truly invade the sensibilities and direction of succeeding generations, and should never supersede the choice of governance that one believes in. From such ideas came the Articles of Confederation, a decentralist set of ideas that gave significant autonomy and rights to the individual states of the Union. Further, Jefferson’s concept of sunset clauses naturally implanted within legislation and law-making[1] the decentralist idea of individual sovereignty and the right of the generation of the living to not be burdened by the collective irresponsibility’s of their ancestors. Continue reading

Destructive Consequences: Britain’s Minimum Wage Experiment on the Young

The national minimum wage introduced in 1999 by the Blair government was seen as one of the best policies to tackle exploitative work and the conditions of low pay. What better than to create a floor under which no one can fall. Well it seems that floor was not so stable, as young people have borne the brunt of this misguided policy. Effects as serious as rising youth unemployment, significant underemployment and a range of masking effects have led to a situation of under-saturated labour markets and the continual need for young adults to seek other activities such as university education and government-based training schemes, or simply drop out of the labour market altogether. It has also had the effect of deskilling young people and making them reliant on the welfare state and low-skill, low-pay employment through Jobcentres and Jobseekers Allowance schemes.

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Decentralised Common Law Post-Brexit

One of the most challenging elements to a post-Brexit order is the organisation and understanding of law. Since our accession into the EEC, our laws have been increasingly harmonised with and even led by European Union directives and court judgments. Thus we’ve moved into the position of having legislation more dominant in legal acquiescence than precedent. This is not just the direction of the European Union, it has also been the direction of the British Parliament. Through parliamentary statutes and legislated actions, economic regulation has been led by the idea of one-size-fits-all legislation rather than its acceptance through the particularities of common law and the creation of contracts. Such a direction can also be seen in the dominance of human rights law in legal discourses. Instead of precedence taking the predominant position in questions of legality, human rights are defined a priori, thus leading to the situation of legal abstractions of equality of access and inalienable rights, all of which are ill-defined and based on the fluid decisions of particular judges. Continue reading

A Propertarian Position on Drugs

Propertarianism is a particular ideological position within libertarianism. It bases economic and political characteristics around their voluntary acceptance in a world of legitimate contracts and real private property (not the state-guaranteed property that currently takes the name of “private property”). In this sense, boundaries can be created between particular individuals and communities as this is the remit of private property. At the individual level, this is as simple as preventing uninvited people onto your property. At a collective level, it means a contractual agreement among property owners to decide on particular policies and boundaries. “If fifty people decided voluntarily to set up an organization for common services or self-defense of their persons and properties in a certain geographical area, then the boundaries of that association, based on the just property rights of the members, will also be just”[1].

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The Remain Side Is Showing Its Contempt

I’m sick of hearing from the Remain side that because older generations have voted to leave the EU, their future prospects have been ruined. Because of course it wasn’t the massive wage stagnation and growing youth unemployment developing over the course of the last 30 years. It wasn’t the phony free trade agreements which centralised power into the hands of large corporations and unaccountable government bureaucracies. It wasn’t the destruction of home-grown British industries in the 70s and 80s by the fake rhetoric of free markets and the provision of subsidies to large corporations and behemoth-like management networks. It wasn’t the belief in increasing indebtedness through consumerism and mortgages as a means to economic prosperity. None of this is seemingly relevant to these self-righteous youths. Continue reading