Agorism in Cuba helps people survive, but is not the solution

konkin cuba

Samuel Edward Konkin III, the founder of Agorism

Its ironic that I am writing this, considering that it was when I read about Agorism* on Wikipedia almost six years ago that I realized free markets were superior to socialism. But there is much more to libertarianism than agorism. Indeed, I take a broad view of the idea to be a bit more inclusive. While I condemn mutualists and many so-called left-libertarians, they are on the right track, unlike communists. Since that time, Ive moved around a bit. I still like Agorism, but my experience shows that it is just not going to be our savior. It might not even play much of a role in rolling back the state.

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Libertarians should buy local

Screen shot 2015-10-09 at 00.00.39I know half of libertarians will agree and probably already try to buy local; this is common in New Hampshire, where I reside. The other half will cite CATO, Skeptical Libertarian, and assorted memes, claiming that its actually better for costs and the environment to ship strawberries from California. In a sense, both views are correct. In fact, I am not really going to oppose buying from “abroad”, provided it is local to that place. This will make more sense in a few paragraphs.

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Marijuana as a currency

I recently posted an article about the importance of alternative currencies. After posting it, I began to think about other alternatives in this day and age. What could be used as a currency if cash and precious metals werent readily available? A currency needs to be portable, divisible, durable, rare, and fungible. What might arise naturally as a currency temporarily or permanently?

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The Importance of Alternative Currencies

751px-American_CashThere has been a growing movement among the powers that be to get us ready for a cashless society. It has started off with opinion pieces, like one by apostate and Keynesian sociopath Ken Rogoff. They want to see all cash eliminated or hampered with fees. It infuriates them so much that they cant monitor cash transactions and cant steal our money to pay for their failed stimulus programs, bailouts, and inflationing. They also say it would be easy to impose taxes to pay for whatever programs if the government could simply have direct access to your account. How this obviously communist proposal can get mainstream coverage is astounding. The banks are already effectively part of the government, now they want to basically hand over complete control. Why not outright nationalize the entire banking industry and make it a government monopoly? Thats effectively what these terrorists and tyrants are advocating. Now, the Financial Times has come out with a piece arguing for banning the “barbarous relic”, as Keynes referred to gold.

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One Week in the Free State

Well it actually has been more than a week, but I have been a bit busy (thankfully) with meeting people and looking for a job. In any case, if you didnt realize it before, I have relocated from the insane tyrannical reich of New Jersey to the free state of New Hampshire. Just off the bat, I no longer have to pay sales tax (except at restaurants, and its 2% higher) nor income tax. I can now open carry a firearm, which I havent done yet and probably wont for awhile. My cost of living has dropped around 15-25% from my rough estimates. I can cross a street without worrying about getting run over (New Yorkers and New Jerseyans may be jealous), however, it is more difficult to walk out of town or even around town.

No sales tax in New Hampshire!

No sales tax in New Hampshire!

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Traditional Cities and Towns Slash Taxes and Promote Freedom

I have been reading this blog and have previously read another one, both of which promote a concept known as the traditional city. If you have ever lived in an old world city, town, or village, you have almost certainly been in one of these. In Israel, two of the most prominent examples are Old Jerusalem and Sefat. A lot can be said about this way of building settlements, but the one main motif is small streets. They generally say about 8 to 20 feet is the range for the basic street, with 12 to 14 as the best area. And this means frontface of a building to frontface, no lawns in between. Everything else does not really matter, it can be scaled to any size, made of any material, painted any color. What it does is create a “sense of place”. You feel like you belong.

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Homelessness, Charity, and Entrepreneurship

Yesterday, while coming out of the Metro and getting my bearings, a hobo approached me to ask what museum I was looking for. I told him, he showed me on a map, and gave me the map. He then asked if I could help the homeless, and I noticed an Obama logo on his shirt. My default response to hobos is to not give them money, so I said “Sorry I dont have anything.” which was sort of true. I only had some coins and big notes. Continue reading