Samuel Edward Konkin IIINew Libertarian Manifesto

Samuel Edward Konkin III's New Libertarian Manifesto could be seen as the "Final Revelation" of libertarianism. While Murray Rothbard synthesized Austrian free-market economics and classical liberalism to create the philosophy of libertarianism (aka "market anarchism" or "anarcho-capitalism"), SEK3 takes things a step further, and offers a strategy for achieving "agorism" -- libertarianism in practice. That strategy is "counter economics.""Counter economics" probably needs a new name. It is short for "counter-establishment" economics, and was widely understood as such in the aftermath of the "counter culture," but now the term "counter economics" sounds like "un-economic" or "anti-economic." Regardless, SEK3 was anything but "anti-economic" -- he was a student of the Austrian school, and dedicated the New Libertarian Manifesto to Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard (and Robert LeFevre). What is meant by "counter-establishment" economics is eschewing the "white" market -- that is, the state controlled market -- for black (illegal, non-violent) and grey (of questionable legality) markets. The idea is that evasion, avoidance, and ignoring of the state will lead to its demise.Konkin also discusses a "red" market -- that of violence. This is distinguished from the black market, even if both are deemed illegal by the state. Prostitution, where the prostitute is voluntarily engaging in the sale of sex for money, is a black market activity. But where the girl is forced to prostitute herself by an abusive pimp, it is red market, and not condoned.Konkin makes the case that there are already millions of black- and grey-market operators throughout the U.S. Not only drug dealers and prostitutes, but unlicensed auto mechanics and plumbers, underground hair dressers and daycare providers, and countless independent contractors who underreport their taxable income. The "New Libertarian" strategy, says Konkin, should be for libertarians to mix with these people and convert them to libertarian philosophy. This will allow them to shed their guilt and give up their dreams of "going straight" once they have enough money. Konkin wants to libertarianize "counter economists" (black-market participants) and "counter-economize" libertarians.The Manifesto also contains critiques by Murray Rothbard, Robert LeFevre, and "Dirty Pierre" (whoever that is). As an avowed Rothbardian, it was painful for me to read Rothbard's entirely off-base critique, in which he levels at least two absurd allegations against Konkin, champions the "Libertarian" Party and political action in general, and even defends the despicable Kochtopuss. One key issue is that Rothbard says SEK3 is against wage labor -- it's absurd, since that is clearly not the case. But SEK3 responds (the responses to the three critiques are also contained here) that while there's nothing morally wrong with wage labor, it is strategically inferior to independent contracting due to tax withholding and regulation.Rothbard scores one solid point in his critique, though, which is that it's much harder for large-scale manufacturing businesses to be fully "black market." This is true, but if Rothbard were alive today, he'd see there was little manufacturing left in the U.S. anyway, and all those wage workers he said Konkin abandoned are in constant danger of losing their jobs -- many already have. It seems that independent contracting is thus not only preferable for agorist strategy but also for personal freedom and security.LeFevre's criticisms rest upon his asinine pacifism, and Dirty Pierre's are swiftly rebutted by Konkin. Perhaps the Manifesto could have been better and longer, but as the dedication to Chris R. Tame says, it was better that SEK3 got it written than perfectly right. Unfortunately, "Agorism" -- which was to be what Das Capital was to NLM's Communist Manifesto -- was never completed before Konkin's death. I wish there were more old agorist literature, particularly because the people who've taken up "agorism" today have blended it with socialism, social anarchism, mutualism, etc., (none of which are mentioned in the NLM), but on its own, this Manifesto is definitely more than enough to make the case for agora, anarchy, action!

For years, this book has remained an entirely relevant guide to pushing the state into irrelevance. Though he is now deceased, Samuel Edward Konkin (SEK3) has forever made his mark within the minds of radicals who feel all functions of government should either be privately provided or done away with altogether.The central idea this book illuminates that distinguishes it from typical anarcho-capitalist writings is what SEK3 has dubbed "Agorism." This is both an ideology as well as a tactical plan for how to do away with the state. There are two main pillars that the book highlights as being part of agoric thinking. First, it is an adaptation of Robert LeFevre's concept of agoric institutions. This is basically a preference over individual contractors as opposed to large corporations. The book rightfully describes big corporations not as flowing from a free market, but instead as creatures of the state.This preference for individual contractors makes perfect sense; if a business performs a service poorly because of the mistakes of a single employee, should the business be held accountable or should the client have the choice of selecting a different employee for the task? Obviously the latter is ideal since large businesses are simply "voluntary" versions of collectivist enterprise.Simply put: Corporations don't screw up, individuals do. The New Libertarian Manifesto also gives an brief but excellent account for how an agoric society would operate in practice. SEK3 describes how market-based actors could provide safety and security, and his account for how the role of insurance would play in the process was truly an eye-opener for me.Pages 28 through 30 contain a swift account for how agorism would deal with crime, and I would highly recommend that readers lay out the process such a system would deal crime in a step by step fashion to really grasp the beauty and ingenuity of what Konkin is advocating. His description of restoration (in the form of restitution, time preference, and apprehension) is a must-know for all those who call themselves anarcho-capitalists, market anarchists, agorists, etc.Secondly, agorism has a very potent way of eradicating the state far better than parliamentary political activity. Think about it, can you recall a single election when voting reduced the size of government? While I think this book overstates the case against voting by condemning it as "evil," it does demonstrate that agorism is far more powerful in downsizing government. In a nutshell, it consists of minimizing governmental contacts by keeping all economic activity in the black (or gray) markets. Here the government is hopeless in taxing what you produce, and eventually if the private sector becomes powerful enough, the state will no longer have any power over you. The full details of how this would play out are outlined both in this book and in another book that he died before completing called  An Agorist Primer Included in this edition are critiques of the manifesto by a few other Libertarians, but each coming from slightly different influences. The one I agreed with the most would be the one presented by Murray N. Rothbard. While I would side more with Konkin's response, Rothbard did bring up some pretty good points about how there are some limitations to what agorism can do, that "voting" in and of itself isn't "evil," and that there isn't anything wrong with Charles Koch deciding to donate large sums of money to Libertarian organizations. But Rothbard unfortunately seems to really miss the power of the arguments SEK3 presents for agorism.In short, the New Libertarian Manifesto is undoubtedly an excellent take on how we go from statism to liberty. Those who like this book may also like James Ostrowski's recent book,  Direct Citizen Action: How We Can Win the Second American Revolution Without Firing a Shot

I have been an anarchist for about 3 years, Rothbard is one of my favorite authors but SEK3 is my favorite. Beautifly lays out the moral ways to bring down the state. If you don't mind reading on a computer or tablet get the digital version, you can find it for free. I only say this because this is one of the "watchlist" books. If you weren't already on the watchlist, buying this off amazon will get you on it.

SEK3 digs right into Libertarianism identify history, the present and making plans for the future. Although decades old NLM remains as relevant as ever. There is a lot to be learned from what SEK3 was working through but even more to gained from reflecting on where the movement has gone and where we find ourselves now pushing into a new digital frontier.Samuel Edward Konkin the Third was truly a radical. We need more leaders like him

Loved it! A great addition to my collection of books. The shipping came right on time and in good condition. A classic I think anyone who is Libertarian should read.

Clear exposition of writer' s views, good polemic format.

Great Book!

Hey dude, I have no idea what this book is presenting. I bought it for my father who is an Economics Professor and it was a 5 star gift.