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Difference between revisions of "Agorism"

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(Views on Property)
(Views on Property)
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==Views on Property==
 
==Views on Property==
 
By preferring the term "free market" Agorists are not bound by the implications of the term [[capitalism (word)|capitalism]].  While some Anarcho-Capitalists may believe in replacing all public property with private property, Agorists argue that non-state common property can be legitimate and should be respected.  Like Anarcho-Capitalists, and unlike Libertarian Socialists, they believe that private property extends beyond current possession.  Private property, particularly in land would not continue infinitely, but must actually be used in some regular capacity to avoid being considered abandoned. Whereas some more extreme Anarcho-Capitalists believe that ''all'' property should be private (neo-[[Locke]]an) property (hard propertarianism), Agorists are soft propertarian and believe that collective property is permissible.
 
By preferring the term "free market" Agorists are not bound by the implications of the term [[capitalism (word)|capitalism]].  While some Anarcho-Capitalists may believe in replacing all public property with private property, Agorists argue that non-state common property can be legitimate and should be respected.  Like Anarcho-Capitalists, and unlike Libertarian Socialists, they believe that private property extends beyond current possession.  Private property, particularly in land would not continue infinitely, but must actually be used in some regular capacity to avoid being considered abandoned. Whereas some more extreme Anarcho-Capitalists believe that ''all'' property should be private (neo-[[Locke]]an) property (hard propertarianism), Agorists are soft propertarian and believe that collective property is permissible.
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==Views on Corporations==
  
 
Government favored corporations are viewed by Agorists to link the illegitimacy of the state to many such businesses.  State restrictions that limit liability on corporations are believed to corrupt those businesses such that the upper management acts irresponsibly with corporate assets.  For example, if such businesses excessively pay executives and are then unable to meet contractual debts, many state laws protect the wages of those responsible for the bankruptcy.  Agorists argue that liability cannot simply disappear by act of government and so legitimate business will always have managers or owners who will be held responsible for any actions taken.  Many Agorists also believe that corporations will no longer exist in their current form, arguing that corporations are manufactured and maintained through rule of government.
 
Government favored corporations are viewed by Agorists to link the illegitimacy of the state to many such businesses.  State restrictions that limit liability on corporations are believed to corrupt those businesses such that the upper management acts irresponsibly with corporate assets.  For example, if such businesses excessively pay executives and are then unable to meet contractual debts, many state laws protect the wages of those responsible for the bankruptcy.  Agorists argue that liability cannot simply disappear by act of government and so legitimate business will always have managers or owners who will be held responsible for any actions taken.  Many Agorists also believe that corporations will no longer exist in their current form, arguing that corporations are manufactured and maintained through rule of government.
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==IP==
  
 
Agorists tend to oppose copyrights and patents as an illegitimate monopoly as argued by [[Benjamin Tucker]].   
 
Agorists tend to oppose copyrights and patents as an illegitimate monopoly as argued by [[Benjamin Tucker]].   
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==Relations==
  
 
Often Agorists promote and argue for reconciliation between writings by authors as different as [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[David D. Friedman|David Friedman]] in part by acknowledging terminological differences, most evident by the word "property" itself.  Other words such as "free market", "Socialism" and "Capitalism" are acknowledged by Agorists as major causes in rifts among Anarchists merely because of their connotations, uses and definitions among various factions.
 
Often Agorists promote and argue for reconciliation between writings by authors as different as [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[David D. Friedman|David Friedman]] in part by acknowledging terminological differences, most evident by the word "property" itself.  Other words such as "free market", "Socialism" and "Capitalism" are acknowledged by Agorists as major causes in rifts among Anarchists merely because of their connotations, uses and definitions among various factions.
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Agorists are accepting of most forms of Anarchism, proposing that any Anarchist society is free and therefore people will organise in  a way that they see fit.
  
 
==Three types of capitalists==
 
==Three types of capitalists==

Revision as of 10:27, 30 December 2007

Agorism is a radical left-libertarian political philosophy popularized by Samuel Edward Konkin III, who defined an agorist as a conscious practitioner of counter-economics (peaceful black markets and grey markets). The term comes from the Greek word "agora" meaning "open marketplace."

It might be considered an attempt to reconcile anarcho-capitalism with individualist anarchism/mutualism and even libertarian socialism where possible. [1] Their ideas are usually portrayed as an evolution and superation of those of Murray Rothbard.

Views on Property

By preferring the term "free market" Agorists are not bound by the implications of the term capitalism. While some Anarcho-Capitalists may believe in replacing all public property with private property, Agorists argue that non-state common property can be legitimate and should be respected. Like Anarcho-Capitalists, and unlike Libertarian Socialists, they believe that private property extends beyond current possession. Private property, particularly in land would not continue infinitely, but must actually be used in some regular capacity to avoid being considered abandoned. Whereas some more extreme Anarcho-Capitalists believe that all property should be private (neo-Lockean) property (hard propertarianism), Agorists are soft propertarian and believe that collective property is permissible.

Views on Corporations

Government favored corporations are viewed by Agorists to link the illegitimacy of the state to many such businesses. State restrictions that limit liability on corporations are believed to corrupt those businesses such that the upper management acts irresponsibly with corporate assets. For example, if such businesses excessively pay executives and are then unable to meet contractual debts, many state laws protect the wages of those responsible for the bankruptcy. Agorists argue that liability cannot simply disappear by act of government and so legitimate business will always have managers or owners who will be held responsible for any actions taken. Many Agorists also believe that corporations will no longer exist in their current form, arguing that corporations are manufactured and maintained through rule of government.

IP

Agorists tend to oppose copyrights and patents as an illegitimate monopoly as argued by Benjamin Tucker.

Relations

Often Agorists promote and argue for reconciliation between writings by authors as different as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and David Friedman in part by acknowledging terminological differences, most evident by the word "property" itself. Other words such as "free market", "Socialism" and "Capitalism" are acknowledged by Agorists as major causes in rifts among Anarchists merely because of their connotations, uses and definitions among various factions.

Agorists are accepting of most forms of Anarchism, proposing that any Anarchist society is free and therefore people will organise in a way that they see fit.

Three types of capitalists

Many agorists, like anarcho-capitalists, refer to the free market as capitalism. However, according to Konkin, agorists make a 3-part distinction between participants in capitalism.

entrepreneur (although an entrepreneur is not necessarily a capitalist) or venture capitalist non-statist capitalist pro-statist capitalist
(good) (neutral) (bad)
innovator, risk-taker, producer — the strength of a free market holders of capital, not necessarily ideologically aware — "relatively drone-like non-innovators" "the main Evil in the political realm"

Konkin claimed that anarcho-capitalists tend to conflate the first and second types, and implies that "Marxoids and cruder collectivists" conflate all three. [1]

Political action

Agorists tend to oppose voting and political participation, and at least do not believe that such could ever be an effective means to bring about a free society.

See also

In fiction

Science Fiction writer J. Neil Schulman promoted the ideas in his novel Alongside Night.

Notes

  1. ^  See Klafta and left libertarian reconciliation by Brad Spangler and Libertarian Forum: A Resource for UnCapitalists? by Kevin Carson.

External links

This article contains content from Wikipedia. Current versions of the GNU FDL article agorism on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article WP
  1. Interview with Samuel Edward Konkin III.