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WTF Crypto-Anarchy??

Crypto-anarchism is a political ideology that advocates the use of cryptography and other technologies to protect individual privacy, freedom, and autonomy from state interference. Crypto-anarchists believe that by encrypting their communications and transactions, we can create a decentralized and voluntary society that is immune to censorship, surveillance, and taxation. The term crypto-anarchism was coined by Timothy C. May in his 1988 "Crypto Anarchist Manifesto", where he declared: "Crypto Anarchy is the cyberspatial realization of anarchism, transcending national boundaries and freeing individuals to make the economic arrangements they wish, consensually." May was one of the founders of the cypherpunk movement, a group of activists and hackers who promoted the use of cryptography and digital currencies to challenge the authority of governments and corporations. The cypherpunks were influenced by libertarian and anarchist thinkers such as Murray Rothbard, David
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The Trouble With Dave Smith

 




On the issues, Dave & most agorists can find agreement 99 out of 100 times, but as libertarians we have a habit, a pastime - a duty even, to seek out & argue over the 1% of things we don’t agree on. In keeping with that tradition friends, I've got to tell you, when it comes to strategy, Dave Smith seriously fumbles the ball.

The fundamental issue is that @comicdavesmith is interested in creating libertarians, whereas agorists are interested in creating liberty. Dave has a classic case of @perbylund’s Savior Complex - the irrational desire of individualists to save the collective whole of society.

There are lots of problems with this, but even if creating libertarians is a worthy goal, does that mean the Libertarian Party is the best vehicle to accomplish this task? Has anything the Libertarian Party ever done caused even a slight retreat of statism?


Dave rightly points to his own success at spreading the message of liberty. It's true, no one - save Ron Paul or Tom Woods - has converted more people over the past ten years than Dave, but he did it all through entrepreneurship - podcasting, comedy specials, public appearances, etc - not politics or partyarchy.

Now Dave justifies his new approach because Ron Paul did it thirteen years ago. But Ron Paul did it from one of the two major political parties, not a minor third party that lacks representation on the Federal Election Commission & thus, has no real shot of ever being allowed on their debate stage or being given the sort of exposure Dave is after.

But I’m not justifying the paleo approach either. Even from within the duopoly, Ron Paul’s success at spreading the message was an isolated example, an outlier, an anomaly - and it's unwise to base any long term strategy on anomalies.


As Per Bylund has said, “politics is not a means to achieve freedom from politics.” More on this & other non-political approaches to liberty in my forthcoming book, Anti-Politics, scheduled for release later this month..


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