An anarchist perspective on the American Dream --whatever that means....
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But remember, if nine out of ten Anarchists are really secret government informers who misrepresent Anarchism, that still doesn't mean Anarchism is what they say it is. I'm a Libertarian, and a lot of these other guys aren't. Having more money, they can make everybody think they are Libertarians.
One of my biggest problems is with "inheritance." On the one hand I do not support inheritance taxes as they strengthen the State. On the other hand, I'm sick of hearing Libertarians and Objectivists say how everything in life must be earned and then they look away and whistle when I say, "True, but how about inheritance? It's not earned."
Perhaps it's because having been born along the East River in New York City, I've never known what it's like to be middle-class and to have the necessities of life handed to me so I'd be set up in life. I've never known any Ayn Rand fans to be Hank Reardens themselves; they seem to be born owners, not renters. I've watched my fellow libertarians sell out as they got older; they no longer care about personal liberty, just economic freedom. They liked to play at being poor by dressing and living "ratty" while in their early twenties, but quickly joined the establishment when their parents helped get them set up in polite society.
Personally, I think the whole Capitalism vs. Socialism argument is a red herring. We're still in medievalism. You tell me what class your daddy was and I'll tell you which one you're in - just like the twelfth century. First, we get out of medievalism, then with everyone starting off equally, we'll see about the Capitalism vs. Socialism bit.
However, you would be doing the real Libertarians a favor if you called these pseudo-Libertarians by their true name: Conservatarians. How would you like it if government-lovers started calling themselves Anarchists and proceeded to embarrass true Anarchists? These phonies, Conservatarians, are far more interested in profit than liberty, that's for damn sure.
Don't blame us because these rich bastards came in since 1980, expropriated our name and disgraced us. It was just like LaRouche taking over the Chicago Democrats. Most people who came in since 1980 are phony and many of those who came in during the '60's sold out - but there are still some real Libertarians left. Don't hurt us by letting them get away with stealing the word Libertarian. At least help us by calling them pseudo-Libertarians or Conservatarians.
These pseudo-Libertarians like to mock the idea of a diligent person being homeless. Diligent? I used to load boxcars in the rain for minimum wage. Considering the rents nowadays, how the hell does one pay them? The modern jerks won't admit to themselves that their parents greased their way through life. It was nothing they did. People I know, including myself, now live in places doubled-up, without even heat or running water. And we're grateful for even that much. Thank goodness for libraries and their warmth between junk jobs. Thank goodness for college shower rooms that one can sneak into to get clean.
More Conservatism posing as Libertarianism - using the average income rather than the mode. Hell, by that reasoning all serfs and slaves were middle-class when you average in the vast wealth of the lord with the zero of the lackeys. Average in one of Reagan's new billionaires with 999 homeless and you get an "average" of one million bucks apiece. I never mix up middle-class with working-class. There was a period in the past when many working-class people made it up to the middle class, but they fell back.
I'm 41, and I've spent a couple of hours a day agitating since 1967. But check out the new Libertarian Party leadership: they once sent me, along with all the other delegates, some necessary forms that had to be filled out, but timed so that they arrived one day before they were due back. When I asked how the hell we were supposed to get them back in time, I was told that rather than use a 25-cent stamp, we should "use overnight mail; it's only twenty dollars." That way they blocked all non-rich Libertarians. These are the tricks people use to put everything into the hands of the born-rich. Still another tactic is to conduct communications as much as possible over expensive computer networks. True Libertarians don't have thousands of dollars
worth of computer crap. [...]
Full outrage:
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