Autodidact anarchist Charles Johnson ("Rad Geek") posted an essay Jan
25 criticizing anarchists who subscribe to former LP Chair Steve
Dasbach's "Freedom Train" metaphor:Avoiding points of conflict between
anarchists and minarchists means either studied silence or mumbling
prevarication on issues that ought to be absolutely central for any
anarchist worth her salt — among other things, the right of (state,
local, neighborhood, individual) secession, the moral illegitimacy and
practical futility of appeals to the Constitution, the arrogance and
abusiveness of monopoly police forces, the illegitimacy of any and all
forms of taxation [...] [W]hat will happen on this ride is that once
the train pulls into the minarchy station, the minarchists will get off
the train — and then they will try to block the tracks and threaten to
open fire on the rest of us if we try to take the train any further
towards the end of the line. That’s what being a minarchist means:
government always comes out of the barrel of a gun, and that’s true
whether the government is unlimited or limited, maximal or minimal. If
you try to move, in any concrete way, from minarchy towards anarchy,
those minarchists you spent so many years working with are still going
to try to shoot you. Personally, I have no desire to join any movement
whose members will turn around and shoot me in the end.Johnson is
almost right, except we minarchists will only shoot him if he commits
aggression or takes up arms against a sea of minarchist troubles and by
opposing tries to end them.Starchild adds a comment there counseling
libertarian anarchists not to hyphenate themselves and thus implicitly
concede that straight anarchism isn't necessarily libertarian.
(Starchild claims not to be an anarchist himself, but the only force
initiation I've ever gotten him to endorse has to do with forcing
alleged aggressors to stand trial.)-- Posted By Brian Holtz to Libertarian Intelligence at 1/30/2008 08:42:00 PM
