Let us see what the basic institutions of the market economy are. We may subdivide them for convenience of discussion into (1) private property, (2) free markets, (3) competition, (4) division and combination of labor, and (5) social cooperation. As we shall see, these are not separate institutions. They are mutually dependent: each implies the other, and makes it possible.
Tag: business
Seize or Build the Means of Production?
You often hear left anarchists (anarcho-communists, anarcho-syndicalists, etc.) promoting the idea of “seizing the means of production” and smashing corporate hierarchy, and whatnot (regular communists and syndicalists, too, of course). But aside from corporate hierarchy that persists as the result of political privilege, why should anyone seize the means of production rather than building the means of production for themselves?
Who Benefits From Upper Class Wealth?
Many a social democrat and left anarchist decry the existence of wealth inequality, considering it evidence that a crime somewhere, some time has been committed, and that justice must be made through violent confiscatory and re-distributive government programs. To them such is perfectly just because it is the righting of a wrong. The state is a tool that may used in this way, just as for small government libertarians it may be used in self-defense. This is a type of self-defense by the have-nots against the haves. It make me wonder, however, just how beneficial wealth is to the haves, and even to the have-notes? Let us count the ways.
On Social Progress
Social progress. The true sense of the phrase is ennobling. Make no mistake, if there is to be a leap in human evolution, social progress is the requisite precursor. I long to see an era of broad, lasting social progress.
Maybe Anarchism is Capitalism and Communism
Maybe anarchism, the political philosophy of rulerless society, is capitalism and communism. Hear me out.
Why Would Anyone Want a President?
Apart from employees of the executive branch, or active-duty members of the military who have been called into service by Congress, no American really has a “president.” The office was intended to be peripheral to the daily concerns of Americans, rather than the central focus of their existence. What a wonderful thing it would be if Americans of all persuasions adopted the motto “Not My President” – and then learned to regard the state itself with the proper mixture of hostility and contempt.
You’re Afraid of Power, Not Trump
You aren’t scared of Trump the person. Trump has been on this earth for 70 years and other than a general distaste for him, no one ever feared for their life because Trump walked the earth. He could do what he wanted because he didn’t affect your life. He had no control over you. What you fear is the power he now wields.
Secession Is a Solution for Deep Political Division
The slavers were forced to live under the same roof as the abolitionists, the pro-lifers with the pro-choicers, the Left with the Right, the Trump crazies with the Clinton lunatics, individualists with collectivists, the pro-liberty people with everyone else, and the list goes on and on. But why?
The American Left’s Crushing Defeat By the Global Alt-Right
The disgraceful and shameful rhetoric coming from the anti-Trump left has been telling. Thankfully not many of my friends have participated in it, and that is appreciated. Keep it classy. But the vile, and hate, and violence I have seen geared towards not just pro-trump people, but white people, males – especially “straight white males”…
Do Anarchists Have Any Reason to Celebrate?
Watching the media squirm, spin, and do everything it could to prevent the image of Trump’s total annihilation of Hillary Clinton has been entertaining, if not sad, to say the least. As an Anarchist, I don’t, nor did I, support either of these candidates, but even Anarchists have some reasons to be pleased tonight. What are those reasons?