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New LibertarianManifestoby Samuel Edward Konkin IIIVital Statistics: Paperback: 148 pages Publisher: KoPubCo (May 1, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 0977764923 ISBN-13: 978-0977764921 Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces REVIEW:Courtesy amazon.comby Jason A. Gagnon If you are looking for an introduction to libertarianism, this is not the place to start. For that, pick up a copy of What It Means To Be A Libertarian by Charles Murray. If you have any involvement with libertarianism, you are well aware of the "cat herding" problem within the movement. But what do you expect from a philosophy that is so deeply opposed to hierarchy and control? SEK3, in this book, lays out his own particular brand of libertarianism that he called Agorism. What is agorism? Agorism, from the greek word for market, is a anarcho-capitalist philosophy that holds that all interactions between individuals should be voluntary. Pretty straight forward libertarianism, one would think, but with his roots in the Old Left, it does have a different flavor than libertarian systems that developed out of the Old Right. The major difference is the focus on rather than Austrian economics. If you are coming to libertarianism from the left, this book will definitely help you explain yourself better to your former comrades. On the minarchist-anarchist debate, this book is solidly anarchist. I tend to favor minarchism and communitarianism, but I do see the validity of SEK3's arguments, and he does a better job than most arguing against minarchism. [A] major weakness [with this title is that] I don't believe you can ignore the state to death. This approach led him to some arguments with the "partyarchs" and the "kochtopus." (his terms), but, this approach does have more compelling things to say about how to live your life that other wings of libertarianism don't. Sure, you can read Reason and vote Libertarian as a main stream libertarian, but as an agorist you will actively work to live your life in ways that purposely exclude the government. The recent surge in libertarianism would do well to be tempered by some of the ideas presented in this book, and to use it to look for new allies on the left, [Which is] somewhere libertarians doesn't usually look. |
