Libertarians Shouldn’t Celebrate the Rich

Libertarians, particularly those found in the Libertarian Party or within the major “libertarian” think tanks, always seem determined to glorify the rich as the creators and progenitors of the modern world. Whether it be by celebrating CEOs or defending the stupid, inefficient acts of corporations, many “libertarians” have a firm belief that modern wealth and its subsequent creations are somehow indicative of the magic of market processes and spontaneous order. But on economic and political fronts, this is just simply untrue. The modern rich as they exist predominantly maintain their wealth through networks and systems of rentierism. Continue reading

The Tenets of Schizophrenic Foreign Policy

Modern foreign policy discourses, particularly those found in the US, revolve around what I call a form of schizophrenia, whereby decisions are made reactively in relation to perceived and existing circumstances. Long term decision making and the cultivation of diplomatic relations are shunned in favour of a militaristic stance which favours aggressive posturing and a belief in strength via dominance.

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Praxeology: The Importance of First Principles

Praxeology maintains its importance precisely because it implies fundamental principles as the guiding action in scientifically studying human action and understanding its dynamics and relations. From coming from these principles, human actions can be understood as having particular reasoning’s and laws which inform how further understandings of human action can be qualitatively determined and mapped.

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No Need to Reject Markets

Anarchists of many shades have tried to show the destructiveness of markets by pointing to capitalism as the exigent system of extreme markets and the construction of a market society. According to these anarchists, markets engender destructive competition and a race to the bottom with firms inevitably monopolising and thus imposing high costs and artificial scarcity upon populations. “Market economies are based on an all out economic war, where a game of economic musical chairs(artificial scarcity) is created”[1]. Of course, this is based on two false propositions: that markets are defined by modern capitalism and that scarcity is something inevitably escapable rather than being a complex of multitudinous social and property relations.

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Regulatory Harmonisation: A Dead End for Libertarianism

The majority of modern “free trade” agreements have one major goal in mind, regulatory harmonisation. Rather than opening up barriers by removing tariffs and costly regulations, which is what free trade actually entails if we follow the ideas of John Bright and Richard Cobden, regulations are harmonised through international product regulation and the creation of one set of regulatory protocols. Increasingly, this is becoming US-centric via FTAs like TTIP and TPP, as well as NAFTA. Continue reading

On the Question of Voluntary Governance

In the short-term I’d like to see smaller, more decentralised nation-states that begin to codify the right of secession. Once that is codified, as it has been in more ancient legal codes such as Saxon law, the monopoly of violence which I think defines the state and from which many other monopolies (such as those defined by Benjamin Tucker) flow from can be more easily broken. I think this is best accomplished today simply because state’s cannot crush movements (localist, decentralist, secessionary, etc.) in an age of mass media and 24 hour news without some form of backlash. Already this can be seen in the increasing importance and significance of nationalist and regionalist movements throughout Europe. There is no possibility that the EU could seriously mount more than a political offensive against such movements who are increasing in power. Continue reading

Crime Statistics are Irrelevant

In seeing the pointless brutality of police shooting Black people who have committed petty crimes (which should not be crimes) and those who have committed no crime, we see the reality of a state constructed for a particular elite, that cannot tolerate autonomy or independence that removes individuals and groups from its grasp. With Black Americans (as well as Black British) that role is of a permanent, entrenched underclass that can serve as a pool of cheap labour and as a source of externalisation for the overconsumption present in capitalism. Cheap jobs and cheap junk finds its way into impoverished neighbourhoods. Further, it serves as a racial barrier, or, in a way, a warning for the poor white people who may dare question the stupidities and excesses that define state capitalism. Those who benefit from state capitalism can smirk and point them towards Black neighbourhoods and show them how life would be for them if they don’t except slightly better conditions. Continue reading

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