“Power” or even specifically “political power” should not be the target for anarchists to attack. The enemy is what the current political power is based on: authority, the notion that some people have the right to command others due to their rank.

Solidarity and principled opposition to authority can form the basis of a different type of political power. To topple the current political power, we must create an environment of individual empowerment. Empowered individuals must rely on each other and the commitment to liberty in order to to live without authoritarian political powers and then replace authority. The social power of solidarity, and the economic power of the counter-economy can provide political power that undermines authority, instead of having a symbiotic relationship with it.

Because the goal is not to seize the reigns of authority but to sever the bonds, our actions should always work toward the goal of building a free world. Things will need to be seized and subverted, but the creation of a libertarian society is the guiding star.

Last night’s Thinking Liberty is now archived at patriotradio.com.

Because I didn’t really elaborate on the statement that “my life is more important than anybody else’s to me” it’s easy to read it the wrong way. Everyone exists for the pursuit of their own lives and the meanings they attach to them. If we do not protect the things that give meaning to our lives – our values, our loves, people who would do the same for us – then we risk losing what is most precious.

Korpiklaani – Northern Fall

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