Freed markets, not capitalism... The terms capitalism and capitalist are misnomers. They do not nor have they ever referred to a freed market economic system or ideology. As an example, Koch Industries is a private, capitalist entity. The Koch brothers are by the only definition the word has ever had, capitalists. Corporatism cannot be applied to the Koch brothers nor Koch Industries because they nor their businesses are corporations. They do not use the protection of the states monopoly over the use of violence to legally shield their capital assets from the liabilities of participating in the worlds regulated markets. They do however use capital, as have all capitalists throughout history since Thackeray and Marx coined the term, to influence and coerce states and governments and to exercise power and authority over other individuals. What the Koch brothers do with their capital is capitalism. It has always been what capitalism means. Its what the capitalist bourgeoisie in France used their private, non-corporate capital to do when they overthrew the French monarchy during the French Revolution. Its what private English, Dutch, Spanish, French, and Portuguese merchants used their private, non-corporate capital to do in the North American colonies, the West Indies, the East Indies, India, China, and Africa before the founding of the East India Company, the worlds first corporation which obtained a liability shield for the capital assets invested in the company from the British Crown. Its what the American merchants and planters used their private, non-corporate capital to do when they overthrew the British Colonial Governments in North America during the American Revolution. Its what those same merchants and planters used their private, non-corporate capital to do when they overthrew the Articles of Confederation and illegally established the U.S. Constitution as the de facto government of the USA in 1789. Capitalism is not a freed market system. Its a system where private owners of capital use their capital to increase their capital and/or influence society to their own personal benefit even if that means using it to influence and coerce states, governments, and other individuals by obtaining power and authority for themselves in society. Anarchism is order without power or authority; therefore when I describe my own position, I do not use the word capitalism for the simple reason that the word does not mean what our anarcho-capitalist colleagues claim it means. They are attempting to redefine the term to mean something that they wish it meant rather than simply abandoning the term in favor of freed markets, which does mean exactly what they themselves mean when they use the term capitalism. By doing this, anarchists free themselves and their views from the negative end of the word capitalism in favor of the positive parts of the term referring to private freed market enterprise. By all means, use whatever term you wish. We are anarchists after all. This is merely my two cents. Take it or leave it.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 13:16:18 +0000
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