Jim Lesczynski’s review of Bring a Gun to School Day is one of the many worthwhile articles in the latest Serf City. Look for them on the streets or download the .pdf.

I was going to make a picture of the Empire State Building holding a gun for this entry but I’m busy.

Friday morning I’m heading up to New Hampshire for PorcFest 2008, where I will try to peddle my books on Friday and Saturday. Should be an awesome time with some awesome people. Then on sunday I’ll be back down for Father’s Day and Maiden in MSG. So I’ll be disinterneted for a while.

I’ll try not to rock too hard.

Tough I am an anarchist, I still use the government post office to ship my books. This is the most cost-effective way I’ve found to ship 1 or 2 books at a time. Of course, I don’t expect much in the way of service, as government monopoly has a way of creating lines. And I realize that the only reason it is more cost effective is because government uses force to give it unfair advantages over potential competition.

I don’t consider this a compromise of principle. As a strategy-oriented anarchist I take advantage of anything not that is not immoral instead of preaching total separation from the state that will take my money anyway.

Using the post office doesn’t initiate force on anyone. Until widespread discontent meets a viable alternative, the post office will continue to exist regardless of who handles my packages. My choice does not increase taxes – politicians take whatever they can get and nothing less. If services are underfunded, the balance almost always goes to political cronies and not to the true private economy. Also, the post office will not be harmed if I take my money elsewhere, as it is supported by government regardless of its performance.

Saying that an anarchist should not use the post office is an example of how statists try to lock us out by twisting our principles and telling us what we should do with them. Such a statement is about as weak as claiming that things done primarily by government now could never be done in a freed market (i.e. “You’re a libertarian? I guess you don’t like roads har har har!”). We must never let others take control of our principles by saying what they mean for us.

I will not let the state and its adherents designate resources as “off limits” to me. When I use state-controlled resources for my purposes, I am confiscating stolen property, not being complicit. If I’m feeling extra revolutionary, I will claim to be “seizing” them. In doing so I improve my life without aggressing against anyone else.

Let’s get one thing straight. When I talk about breaking into the mainstream, I don’t mean begging at the door. I’m talking about kicking in the door and rearranging furniture with a bat.

While I am targeting libertarian readers with Bring a Gun to School Day, I am also playing the “controversial, unique, and innovative” angles to get it in front of a wider audience. Although some want fiction to be an introduction to libertarianism, I don’t consider the book an introduction to anything. Instead it is a story that explores several political and philosophical themes within the narrative.

As part of my campaign for a wider audience, I got some friends together to make the above video advertisement for the book. Credit is due to Ryan Gerbehy, Ian Roberts, and especially Kevin Scally for production.