Guest post by Rick Falkvinge. One of the most persistent myths about the copyright monopoly has been that it’s needed to make money. This assertion turns out to be false for a very large number of observed cases, but the plural of anecdote is never statistics. So let’s look at some sound statistical evidence for…
Tag: monopoly
Paper Money = Despotism
Guest post by Wendy McElroy. “Fiat” is money with no intrinsic value beyond whatever an issuing government is able to enforce. When it enjoys a monopoly as currency, fiat inevitably turns the free market functions of money inside out. Instead of being a store of value, the currency becomes a point of plunder through monetary…
Technology IP, Homesteading, and Food Labeling
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original weekly column appearing every Monday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. This past week, Everything-Voluntary.com passed the 50,000 page view mark, a month short of our one year anniversary. This week…
Voluntaryism Transcends Anarchism
Post by Skyler J. Collins: I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had, and some ways that my mind has compartmentalized concepts and ideas relating to voluntaryism. Watch a video exploration of these ideas here. In my humble opinion, voluntaryism is more than just a political philosophy, as I explained in the introduction of my…
Individualism, Collectivism, and Other Murky Labels
Imagine the following person. He believes all individuals should be free to do anything that’s peaceful and therefore favors private property, free global markets, freedom of contract, civil liberties, and all the related ideas that come under the label libertarianism (or liberalism). Obviously he is not a statist. But is he an individualist and a capitalist or a socialist and a collectivist?
An Agorist Manifesto in 95 Theses
Guest post by Human Advancement. Suitable for nailing to an appropriate door near you… agora (1) – n. A place of congregation, an ancient Greek marketplace.agora (2) – n. A market free of forceable regulation, taxation, and government(The) Agora – The aggregate of all such markets of any size.95 Theses 1. Free, unregulated, untaxed, and…
On “Illuminati”, “New World Order”, Etc.
Regarding “secret combinations” such as the “Illuminati” and their plan for a “New World Order“, I don’t pay much attention to these “political machinations” because I want to see it abolished in toto. Secret combinations need a power structure to infiltrate and “combine” with. I oppose any establishment of a monopoly power structure, ie. the…
Button Pushing and the Radical Libertarian
Post by Skyler J. Collins. Originally written August 2011. Since I once claimed to be a radical libertarian, the question presents itself, “What is a radical libertarian?” Though I’ll give my own thoughts on the question, I could not answer this any better than one of the greatest of radical libertarians, Murray Rothbard: The true…
The State is a Tragedy of the Commons
Guest post by Michael Suede. Some of you may already be familiar with the economic law called “the tragedy of the commons,” but for those of you who are not, I shall explain it. The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally…
Parents as the State
Written by Skyler J. Collins. Parents have a unique responsibility. They have the power to create life, and then the duty to protect it and raise it into a functioning adult. But can we say that this life that they create is theirs in the sense of materialistic ownership? I don’t think we can. If…