A Narc-Iism

One thing I wonder about anarchism is the place, size, and variability of the autonomous commune. Where is the balance between the individuality and democracy of a small collectivist organization and its ability to be stabilized within a larger network of collectives? As I understand it more decentralized communes help to diffuse any centralization of power, however, isolated communities are vulnerable to regional instability, such as drought or natural disaster, subjecting it to the goodwill of neighboring communities. This would, in a way, subject it to the authority of neighboring prosperity, which could be called authority. I am pretty much convinced of anarchist ideology, however, I am still wrestling with implementation. The other main question I have is to the ability of an anarchist society to sustain itself within a varied society. It seems that, aside from a few instances (not to discount such cases), that anarchist/libertarian-socialists/etc. societies are often highly unstable (this not itself to discount their importance). This having been said, the likelihood of an entire, instantaneous, worldwide shift to some kind of anarchist society being unlikely, how would a shift to such a society take place? I understand that great strides have often been made with autonomous communes popping up in various societies. How, however, are these societies not unlike the Paris commune in their ultimate ephemeral nature when it comes to the society at large? Isn't a decentralized, autonomous entity ultimately vulnerable to any predatory, antagonistic outside entities?

Murray Rothbard on War

Libertarianism - "A System" Anarchist Mutualism - "An Ethic?"

I've been struggling recently with two, seemingly contradictory, idealogical impulses. One is a libertarian impulse to let people freely organize and exchange goods and services as they will with minimal government intervention. The other is the impulse toward mutual benefit through collective organization and the benefits of sharing mutual risks and benefits respectively. It occurred to me that these could be considered as not as mutually exclusive as a might have once thought. If you viewed libertarianism as a system in which people operate, and mutualism as an ethic by which people operate, than they are not necessarily exclusive.

Interesting Videos on Anarcho-Capitalism

Presidential Election

I live in California so, barring some major event, our electoral votes will go to Obama/Biden. This having been said its fair to ask, especially for swing state voters, which would be the best choice for either Libertarian or (possibly harder to ask) more Libertarian Socialist voters. The answers to these to categories obviously need not be the same.

Second, for non-swing-state voters like myself, how do the third party candidates stack up from Libertarian and other views (pretty vague I know).

Statement of Intentions

This is a political/social commentary blog coming from a perspective that I feel is more common than maybe represented by other blogs out there. I feel that I am relatively informed, yet also rather confused and ignorant on many issues. I try not to beat myself up about it, no-one can know everything.

I hope to mostly explore one of the main contradictions in my life, namely my sympathies for both libertarian capitalism, mixed economies and anarchist communism. These often seem greatly at odds even though they both share certain values of freedom... whatever that might mean.

I am interested in issues ranging from national to local. I live in Humboldt County California. I am open to all ideas as long as they are logically defensible and would like to avoid oversimplification. I know there are limits to all of this but I hopefully can find a happy medium.

If this blog contradicts itself at times don't be surprised. You could think of it as a debate with myself. I think that too often people get caught in the trap of cognitive dissonance, once having assumed a stance on an issue they refuse to concede any ground on it. This can serve a purpose as the over-whelming plurality of views can cause paralysis.

Hopefully I can clarify that up for myself and might be able to start some interesting debates, and or educate myself and possibly others.

Thanks