Agorism
Agorism generally refers to a political philosophy founded by Samuel Edward Konkin III that holds as its ultimate goal the bringing about of a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics.[1]
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[edit] Etymology
The term comes from the Greek word "agora," referring to an open place for assembly and market in ancient Greek city-states.[citation needed]
[edit] Origins
Konkin's treatise New Libertarian Manifesto,[1] was published in 1980. Previously, the philosophy had been presented in J. Neil Schulman's science fiction novel Alongside Night in 1979. Ayn Rand's example, presenting her ideas in the form of a work of fiction in Atlas Shrugged, had inspired Schulman to do likewise. Konkin's afterword to the novel, "How Far Alongside Night?", credited Schulman with integrating the "science of counter-economics" with Konkin's basic economic philosophy.[2]
[edit] Ideology
Most agorists consider themselves market anarchists, while some proponents characterize it as a form of left-libertarianism.[3][3] Agorists generally oppose voting for political candidates and political reform. Instead, agorists stress the importance of alternative strategies rather than politics to achieve a free society. Agorists claim that we can achieve a free society more easily and sooner by employing such alternative methods.[citation needed] Such alternative strategies consist of education, direct action, entrepreneurship, and counter-economics.[citation needed] Agorists advocate promoting awareness of libertarianism and Austrian economics.[citation needed]
[edit] Konkin's class theory
Konkin developed a class theory which includes entrepreneurs, non-statist capitalists, and statist capitalists:
| entrepreneur | 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 while agorists see these three classes differently, anarcho-capitalists tend to conflate the first and second types and implied that "Marxoids and cruder collectivists" conflate all three.[3]
[edit] Criticisms
Agorists' opposition to voting differs from the views of Murray Rothbard, who defended the act of voting.[4] Rothbard openly denounced Konkin's agorism[5], claiming:
“Konkin’s entire theory speaks only to the interests and concerns of the marginal classes who are self-employed. The great bulk of the people are full-time wage workers; they are people with steady jobs. Konkinism has nothing whatsoever to say to these people. To adopt Konkin’s strategy, then, would on this ground alone, serve up a dead end for the libertarian movement. We cannot win if there is no possibility of speaking to the concerns of the great bulk of wage earners in this and other countries.”—Murray Rothbard
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Konkin, Samuel Edward. New Libertarian Manifesto
- ^ Afterword by Samuel Edward Konkin in Alongside Night. Pulpless.Com, 1999. p. 271–290. ISBN 1-58445-120-3, 9781584451204
- ^ a b c Smashing the State for Fun and Profit Since 1969: An Interview With the Libertarian Icon Samuel Edward Konkin III (a.k.a. SEK3)
- ^ Rothbard, Murray N. The State versus Liberty.
- ^ Rothbard, Murray. "Konkin on Libertarian Strategy". http://www.anthonyflood.com/rothbardkonkin.htm.
