The Kingdom of God is Within You: Agorism: So Now What?

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Agorism: So Now What?

Website of interest:

http://agorism.info/start

Last episode: Phases of the Agora

Next episode: Organization at Phase II

4 comments:

Canuck said...: Ok.. this sounds like the philosophy behind "Fight Club", great movie.

I have to applaud you for having the courage to put this stuff out there. Although, I also would caution you that their is a difference between having confidence vs. demonstrating bravado. What you are describing here may be classified as a form of terrorism. Under the Military Comissions Act 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Commissions_Act_of_2006#Unlawful_and_lawful_enemy_combatant

The U.S. is already a police state.. its too late. The dream of Franklin and the American forefathers will not be realized. I view what you are doing as a sort of passive resistance, refusing to take part in the political/economic state. I encourage you to continue. Although, I will warn you that passive resistance only ever works when it elicits some sympathy from others who can intervene on your behalf. Myself, I will always be free of heart and free of conscience. Only because I chose to pattern my life after the ultimate rebel of any time, Jesus Christ. The government doesn't prevent me from practicing: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness and temperance. Yet, accepting these traits as my birthright from God and living my life accordingly certainly enables me to be the ultimate rebel, against all that sux in this world; January 15, 2008 9:33 PM
Niccolo said...: I've moved past fear of the state. My life means nothing to me, because I live for so much more than it.
Also, living the way of Christ certainly is a Christian act, but Christ also tells us that He will make us fisherman of men and that being a Christian means more than just professing love for Christ; we must also act with love for Christ by spreading His word of justice. Should we not follow the will of God out of fear for man? This is not what the Lord would have us do. Isaiah 41:9-13 tells us this,

"9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent. “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’"

Thank you for your comments though. I will take them into account.; January 15, 2008 10:26 PM
Soviet Onion said...: Good stuff, with some very genuine passion shining through. We definitely need more of that. A couple thoughts:

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by separating ourselves from statist society, but it sounds a little excessive. One common tactic of black marketeers (advocated by Konkin himself) is keeping at least small portion of your income "white market" so as to elude suspicion. A legit job helps with that. Jobs can also be a means of meeting sympathetic people and establishing connections, at least they have been in my experience (I've actually met people who were already getting payed in cash, or keeping income unreported). Agorists certainly need to be practitioners before anything else, but there are practical benefits to keeping a toe in the door, at least at this point in time. It can simultaneously be a field office and a smokescreen for the state.

I also think your description of counter-economic activities prevents them as something entirely different and apart from the mainstream. In the current underground economy, the line between legitimate and illegitimate activity is pretty blurry, with people and businesses playing both roles interchangeably. Examples abound: tipped employees, craftmen and repairmen doing side jobs for cash or favors, truckers smuggling extra things alongside legitimate cargo, or anyone working a legit job to avoid suspicion while they make most of their money elsewhere.

Any white market activity can be made partially or even completely counter-economic with a little tweaking. By presenting underground activity as something totally different than what we do now, it just serves to make it look more distant and inaccessible to the average novice.

Aside from those quibbles on emphasis, I agree with your general assessment. A networked cell structure where "everybody knows somebody who knows somebody" sounds like the most consistent model of anarchist organization, aside from also being the best and most practical. Have you ever run across John Robb's blog? He's a former counter-terrorism expert who focuses on the links between network structures, black markets and insurgencies. Brad Spangler seems to be a fan.

Some relevant posts:

The Guerrilla Bazaar
The Google of Online Crime
On Open Source Guerrilla Vanguards; January 16, 2008 10:46 PM
Niccolo said...: Soviet Onion, thank you. What I meant by "separating ourselves from the statist society" had more to do with a mindset or a psychological/metaphysical existence along the lines of promoting a separate mentality from them - or merely understood as acknowledging that we are different, we are special, we have come to a forefront on the understanding of the nature of the real world to what we desire the world to be. I don't want it to be thought that I advocate complete shut off from society in general, just an acknowledgment that you are no longer one of them, but rather you are one with interaction with them.

Also, I didn't mean for it to come across as though these are the only things an Agorist cell can do, but that organizing projects are to be something Agorist cells will most likely participate in.; January 17, 2008 11:04 AM