A Brief Introduction to Agorism

The vision: a free society. The problem: a large criminal syndicate known as “the state” extorts funds from residents in the form of “taxation” and maintains a coercive monopoly on defense services (military, courts, police, etc.). The solution: well, that’s what sets agorism apart.

There are generally three schools of thought on the subject. There are those who believe that a violent revolution against the state with guns and bombs is the way to go. Considering that the United States currently possesses the most powerful and technologically advanced military force the world has ever known, the odds of the success of this strategy are dismal.

There are those who believe that political reform is the way to go, that we ought to work from within the system to gradually reduce the state’s power until it can be successfully challenged by private concerns. While this seems like the most sensible approach, it has yielded little if any fruit, proving to be too costly and time-consuming. Participation in the state’s political apparatus has historically only strengthened it.

Then there are others who believe that the best way to bring about a voluntary society free of the state is to, well, be a voluntary society free of the state. In other words, ignore the state, withdraw your consent, engage in voluntary transactions with your fellow men while ignoring the tax code and state regulations and licenses. Those who go this way are called agorists.

The state is inherently different from other criminal organizations in that many (if not most) of its victims either do not consider themselves victims or they consider the state to be a “necessary evil”, that is, they realize the state is a criminal organization but simply cannot imagine how society would run without it.

Because of this perceived legitimacy, education is a key component of agorist strategy. The more members of society who can be convinced of the illegitimacy of the state and the effectiveness of voluntary alternatives, the less power the state has. Its power is completely dependent upon the consent of its victims. Imagine if everyone in the nation, or even a significant portion of it, decided one year not to pay taxes. There isn’t a thing the state could do about it. They simply would not have the resources, especially without those tax revenues.

The second key component of the agorist strategy is counter-economics. This refers to people engaging in peaceful, voluntary interactions that are forbidden by the state. This may include tax evasion, various agricultural practices, or using alternative currencies for exchange. It is breaking the law when there are no victims or damages and all interactions are consensual and voluntary. It is breaking unjust laws.

There are some agorists who oppose political action (voting, running for office, etc.) as immoral. I, for one, do not believe that such voluntary action is inherently wrong, just that it is less effective. I joined Utah Liberty as a contributor because I think the project’s approach to reform may be complimented by agorism. I think political action and agorism can work side-by-side toward a common goal. I realize that Latter-day Saints make up a significant portion of the project’s intended audience, and that this segment is generally opposed to breaking the law as a means to reform, and that is perfectly fine. For everyone else, there’s agorism.

Additional Reading

• Wikipedia article on agorism
• Samuel Konkin’s New Libertarian Manifesto (PDF)
• Agorism Reddit